August 24th, 2011.
Eastbourne’s Napoleonic Fortress is inviting families to recreate the Charge of the Light Brigade on Bank Holiday Monday in a special drop-in event.
The Redoubt Fortress is holding a family drop-in day from 11am – 3pm with the chance for children to make their own horses using junk modelling before riding across the parade ground to recreate the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade, one of the most famous cavalry charges in military history.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, Cllr Neil Stanley said “The Bank Holiday Monday event offers a great way for children to really get hands-on with history and re-enact a very famous moment using their own creations. This year the Redoubt has hosted a bumper programme of weekend events in addition to its main 2011 Stitch for Victory exhibition and I really want to encourage even more visitors to step inside the Redoubt and enjoy all that it has to offer. It really is a hidden treasure that everyone should discover!”
This month Eastbourne’s Redoubt Fortress has also been highlighted by several visitors on twitter in response to the BBC’s new National Treasures Live series, which has asked for suggestions of favourite hidden treasures across the country. Several tweeters have suggested the Redoubt for its great exhibitions and military museum.
The Redoubt Fortress is looking forward to a busy month coming up in September too including ‘The Story Sew Far’, a chance for visitors and residents to take a look at the work created so far as part of the Stitch for Victory Community Project.
Earlier this year the Redoubt was awarded nearly £50k from the Hidden Histories stream of the Heritage Lottery Funding to create a community project inspired by this year’s Stitch for Victory exhibition, which explores the contribution that needlework made to lives during the Second World War.
Volunteers have been working hard taking part in hands-on activities and carrying out oral history interviews and on 24 September visitors to the Redoubt will be able to take a look at the work so far. From a quilt inspired by those made in Changi Internment Camp, which has been hand embroidered by local school children to the chance to take part in a living history event by Deco In Style, and from watching performances inspired by memories of the Second World War to admiring the Knit For Victory appeal blankets made for The Chasely Trust.
The Charge of the Light Brigade event takes place this Monday, 29 August, and costs £3 per child. For more information on what’s on at the Redoubt go to the Eastbourne Museums website or call 01323 410300.
