Battle lines drawn in Otley on Marston Moor anniversary

HUNDREDS of troops have descended on Otley this weekend on the anniversary of a key battle in the English civil war.

By The Newsroom

Published 3rd Jul 2016, 10:52 BST

Updated 3rd Jul 2016, 12:57 BST

The re-enactment at Wharfemeadows Park, Otley. Picture by Simon Hulme

Members of the Roundhead Association are at the town’s Wharfemeadows park to re-stage the events of July 1644, when Cromwell’s troops apparently drank a pub dry on the eve of the Battle of Marston Moor.

The battle itself, in York, was one of the biggest ever fought on English soil.

Otley is famed for its high number of pubs per head of population, and the idea for this weekend’s event was hatched by TV’s Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers, during a filming session at the Black Bull, where the troops gathered.

The weekend-long event features muskets, pikes and cannons, as well as a Living History display of life in the 17th century, including a working forge, cooking and carpentry.

Otley York