A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF ARROYOMOLINOS

The bi-centenary of the battle was in 2011, last year the celebration was washed out by torrential rain and it looked as if this one would be too as we have just had a week of heavy rain but it was wonderful to open the shutters on Saturday morning and see a pristine blue sky and the sun coming up over the mountain. The re-enactment takes place on the nearest Saturday to October 28th the date of the battle of Arroyomolinos, a significant battle in the Peninsular wars 1808 -1815.
It was another great effort by the local people of Arroyomolinos, imaginative period costumes and the uniforms were quite convincing, horses behaved with perfect discipline but plenty of  spirited charges and general roistering around.
I captured a few little minutes of the battle, if the camera seems juddery it's because every time another incredibly loud cannon shot went off I jumped out of my skin, there were plenty of minor rifle shots too. Imagine how loud the real battle was, with thousands of men shooting and hundreds horses thundering around the battle field,  must have been a frightening chaos in the sombre light of dawn during a drenching thunder storm.
Here are the French and British arriving on the battlefield with Spanish civilians, one with video camera!