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Berkshire

The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following a year of Royalist successes in which they took Banbury, Oxford and Reading without conflict before storming Bristol, the Parliamentarians were left without an effective army in the west of England. When Charles laid siege to Gloucester, Parliament was forced to muster a force under Essex with which to beat Charles' forces off. After a long march, Essex surprised the Royalists and forced them away from Gloucester before beginning a retreat to London. Charles rallied his forces and pursued Essex, overtaking the Parliamentarian army at Newbury and forcing them to march past the Royalist force to continue their retreat.

Essex reacted by making a surprise attack on the Royalist lines at dawn, capturing several pieces of high ground and leaving Charles on the back foot. A series of Royalist attacks led to a large number of casualties and the slow retreat of Essex's force, which was driven from the central hill and almost encircled; Essex succeeded in rallying his infantry, however, and pushed forward in a counter-attack. The slowing of this counter-attack in the face of the Royalist cavalry forced Essex to send for reinforcements, who, while marching to him, were attacked and forced to retreat. This left a hole in the Parliamentarian line, dividing the army into two wings through which the Royalists hoped to pass, splitting the Parliamentarians and allowing Charles's troops to encircle and defeat them. In line with this, the Royalists moved forward to press the attack, but were forced to halt by the London Trained Bands. With night falling, the battle ended, and both exhausted armies disengaged. The next morning, low on ammunition, the Royalists were forced to allow Essex to pass and continue his retreat to London.

Reasons for the Royalist failure to defeat the Parliamentarians include shortage of ammunition, the relative lack of professionalism of their soldiers and the tactics of Essex, who compensated "for his much lamented paucity of cavalry by tactical ingenuity and firepower", countering Prince Rupert's cavalry by driving them off with mass infantry formations. Although the numbers of casualties were relatively small (1,300 Royalists and 1,200 Parliamentarians), historians who have studied the battle consider it to be one of the most crucial of the First English Civil War, marking the high point of the Royalist advance and leading to the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant, which brought the Scottish Covenanters into the war on the side of Parliament and led to the eventual victory of the Parliamentarian cause. (Full article...)

Hoult in 2019

Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His filmography includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in the American and British film industries. He has received several accolades, including nominations for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2012.

Hoult performed in local theatre productions as a child. He made his screen debut in the 1996 film Intimate Relations after being cast at age five and later appeared in several television programmes between 1998 and 2001. His breakthrough came with his role in the 2002 comedy-drama About a Boy. He achieved wider recognition for his performance as Tony Stonem in the E4 teen series Skins (2007–2008). His transition to adult roles began with the 2009 drama A Single Man, for which he earned a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination, and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (2010). He played the mutant Hank McCoy in the 2011 superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in later instalments of the film series.

Hoult played the titular Jack in the fantasy adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) and a zombie in the romantic comedy Warm Bodies (2013). He had a supporting role in the action film Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and starred in a number of independent films before portraying various historical figures such as Robert Harley in the black comedy The Favourite (2018), writer J. R. R. Tolkien in Tolkien (2019), and Peter III in the Hulu comedy-drama series The Great (2020–2023). His work on the latter earned him nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has since starred in the horror comedies The Menu (2022) and Renfield (2023).

Outside of film, Hoult voiced Elliot in the 2010 action role-playing game Fable III and appeared in the 2009 West End play New Boy. He supports the charitable organisations Teenage Cancer Trust and Christian Aid. (Full article...)

History: Battle of Reading (871)  • Battle of Reading (1688)  • First Battle of Newbury  • Second Battle of Newbury  • Siege of Reading
Geography: River Thames  • Swinley Forest  • The Ridgeway  • Walbury Hill  • Windsor Great Park
Towns: Ascot  • Bracknell  • Crowthorne  • Earley  • Eton  • Hungerford  • Maidenhead  • Newbury  • Reading  • Sandhurst  • Slough  • Thatcham  • Windsor  • Wokingham  • Woodley
Politics: Parliamentary constituencies  • Parliamentary representation
Culture: Henley Royal Regatta  • Museum of English Rural Life  • Reading festival  • Windsor Castle

• ... that Herbert James Gunn used a paper cut-out of Princess Elizabeth's corgi dog to help him paint his Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor?
• ... that three gasholders at the Windsor Street Gasworks were painted in the claret and blue colours of local football team Aston Villa?
• ... that today's funeral procession of Elizabeth II to Windsor Castle started at the gate to Shaw Farm?
• ... that when Queen Anne became too infirm to follow her pack of Buckhounds on horseback, she had paths cut through Windsor Forest so she could follow the hunt in a carriage?
• ... that the Jubilate by Benjamin Britten was written in 1961 for St George's Chapel at the request of the Duke of Edinburgh, and performed there for some of his birthdays and his funeral?
• ... that the cooking of Flora Mae Hunter was enjoyed so much by the Duchess of Windsor that she gained weight on her visits to the plantation where Hunter worked?