Guillotine gates and civil war.

Well the tiger turned out to be a pussy cat. Jill took great care and we went through no problem although

the sight of a tombstone alongside one of the locks was not reassuring.
We pulled in to Billing Aquadrome looking for water and decided to have a couple of days of "civilisation". It's not bad, eight quid a night and totally secure moorings and despite the close proximity of the main bar it has been quiet.
We do like the mild eccentricity of the British and were pleased to find that that august body of men and women, the Sealed Knot, were top of the bill.

They are re-enactors of the civil war. That was the time when a group of major land owners, led by a devious and untrustworthy megalomaniac, who thought they had the absolute right to run the country fell out with a group of major land owners, led by a devious and untrustworthy megalomaniac, who thought they had the absolute right to run the country. Both side using their workers as cannon fodder. Well of course if the royalists had won they would of disbanded parliament and ruled with the king as a military dictator. Luckily the parliamentarians won and disbanded parliament and ruled with Cromwell as military dictator. The losers of course were the p.b.i. The same as every war.

But today the battle lines were soon drawn, drums beating, flags waving and

cannons blazing away.

The musketeers matchlocks poured leaden death at the opposition and then it came down to

push of pike. Actually more like a large rugby scrum with big sticks. They were really enjoying themselves out there.

I don't know what they use as powder but it doesn't have the sulphurous reek of gunpowder.
In the end the forces of parliament carried the day and they all went off down the beer tent to relive the events.
Of course after Cromwell turned his toes up the Stuarts came back for a while but parliament only regained any power when a rather minor prince from Hannover was invited over and became George I. The large land owners then lost power as the industrialists rose to power. It wasn't until the Reform Act of 1832 that the rotten boroughs were done away with and the franchise expanded although there were still property requirements. It was not until the 1920's that we gained universal suffrage. So don't give me the old guff that Cromwell had anything to do with democracy.

Watch this space........