Midlands Trip

Had a few days away in the Midlands.  Visited Lichfield and Ashby de la Zouch and found quite a bit of useful information to generate some small scale ECW encounters. The garrison at Ashby were active in raiding Parliamentarian convoys and also had their provisioning parties attacked by enemy cavalry.  Lichfield was the scene of three sieges.  I hadn't appreciated the importance of the area as a link between the Royalist sympathisers in the West and North East.

We also made time to visit the National Memorial Arboretum which is quite close to Lichfield.   The site is maintained by the Royal British legion and I would recommend everyone to visit.  The central feature is the Armed Forces Memorial which recognises the members of all arms of the services who have lost their lives since the end of World War II.  The sheer number of names on the memorial stops you in your tracks.  We tend to perceive the post-war period as one of peace, with isolated campaigns; the truth is that there is barely a year since 1945 when the services have not been in action somewhere. 

The Armed Forces Memorial from the RAF Memorial

 

Of course there are dozens of other memorials, to units, or campaigns.  To see them all and walk around the whole site would take at least half a day.  If you get a chance, visit the site. 

The magnificent bronzes within the Armed Forces memorial