- Joined
- Sep 27, 2002
- Messages
- 3,411
There has been a gunpowder mill at Waltham Abbey since the 1660's. During the Napoleonic Wars, there was considerable concern about the quality of commercially produced gunpowder, which was of very variable performance and not infrequently failed to go off altogether. So the government took over this site and greatly expanded it in order to produce large quantities of standardised gunpowder.
The superior quality and consistency of British gunpowder over French was a significant factor in the regular British victories on land and sea in the latter years of the wars.
In later years, the site was enlarged to produce guncotton, cordite and nitro-glycerine. More recently still, rocket motors were developed and manufactured here, the site only closing down in the 1980's.
Many of the buildings have been demolished and the system of waterways which once allowed the movement of explosives and the ingredients thereof around the site lies in ruins.
An interesting museum has been created on the site about the history of explosives and there is a fairly large collection of firearms on display, some of which can be handled and dry-fired by the public. Some of the unbuilt-on acres are now a haven for wildlife, a green lung for what is a faily built-up area on the edge of London.
http://www.royalgunpowdermills.com/victorian_experience.htm
Last weekend saw a Victorian themed event which gave my youngest son a chance to see some real Victorian Redcoats in Action!
http://www.thediehards.co.uk/
One of the canals on site.
Joined up!
Roll Call.
Raising the flag.
Trying out a real Martini-Henry.
The .577/.450 cartridge counts as an obsolete calibre so you don't need a firearms certificate to own a Martini-Henry, so long as you don't have any ammunition for it.
If you plan to shoot it however, you must obtain your certificate first.
Traction Engine, this was in steam.
We got to meet the Queen!
On the left, a trooper of the 17th Lancers, brought in to South Africa in 1879 as part of the reinforcements after the disaster of Isandlwana. On the right a Natal Carbineer. The Natal Carbineers were a volunteer unit raised from the upper crust of Natal. They died to a man at Isandlwana.
A Gatling gun and a couple of Boer irregulars.
Volley fire from the 24th regiment of foot.
The superior quality and consistency of British gunpowder over French was a significant factor in the regular British victories on land and sea in the latter years of the wars.
In later years, the site was enlarged to produce guncotton, cordite and nitro-glycerine. More recently still, rocket motors were developed and manufactured here, the site only closing down in the 1980's.
Many of the buildings have been demolished and the system of waterways which once allowed the movement of explosives and the ingredients thereof around the site lies in ruins.
An interesting museum has been created on the site about the history of explosives and there is a fairly large collection of firearms on display, some of which can be handled and dry-fired by the public. Some of the unbuilt-on acres are now a haven for wildlife, a green lung for what is a faily built-up area on the edge of London.
http://www.royalgunpowdermills.com/victorian_experience.htm
Last weekend saw a Victorian themed event which gave my youngest son a chance to see some real Victorian Redcoats in Action!
http://www.thediehards.co.uk/
One of the canals on site.
Joined up!
Roll Call.
Raising the flag.
Trying out a real Martini-Henry.
The .577/.450 cartridge counts as an obsolete calibre so you don't need a firearms certificate to own a Martini-Henry, so long as you don't have any ammunition for it.
If you plan to shoot it however, you must obtain your certificate first.
Traction Engine, this was in steam.
We got to meet the Queen!
On the left, a trooper of the 17th Lancers, brought in to South Africa in 1879 as part of the reinforcements after the disaster of Isandlwana. On the right a Natal Carbineer. The Natal Carbineers were a volunteer unit raised from the upper crust of Natal. They died to a man at Isandlwana.
A Gatling gun and a couple of Boer irregulars.
Volley fire from the 24th regiment of foot.
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