There is a fascination about the British Civil Wars of the Seventeenth Century which is hard to define. Perhaps it is is because they were fought in our own countryside with relatively modern weapons and between factions that are still reflected in the political divisions of today. Nevertheless, whatever the reason, that fascination exists and one of the pleasing, and perhaps surprising, legacies of these wars is that the major battlefields are still largely unchanged since the days when they were fought over by Cavalier and Roundhead or by Royalist an Covenantor. One can see on the ground the problem which confronted the Earl of Essex at First Newbury, study with Lord Hopton the formidable eminence of Lansdown Hill, and watch with Montrose at Alford the decisive moment to attack, as Baillies Horse splash across the River Don. read more in the Tradition Magazine no. 31