Now, the name doesn't really tell the whole story, but if you can, imaging the last night of the probs at the Royal Albert Hall, transported to a field at a country estate, then add in a bunch of cavalry and a shed load of cannons, 193 to be precise. Ok, so i'm not sure there are actually 193 cannons, they may fire some of them twice or more, but there are a lot of cannons. Why? Well, that's simple, Tchaikovsky 1812 overture and also Beethoven’s 'Battle Symphony', both of which use a lot of cannons! But that's not all there was, there was fire works, as any good out door show should have and the Red Devils dropped in for a visit (don't know who they are? Check out this). As good as all this is, its still not the best bit of the day, no, that went to Grace, a Sipermarine Spitfire MkIX, ML407, but more on that later.
First up the Cavalry.
All were dressed in replica Napoleonic era dress, although at least one of the swords carried by one of the riders was an original.
Jumping flags, a period training program
Jumping a fence while taking your enemies head off or popping a balloon with a smiley face
Stabbing (flaming) tent pegs with a lance
The Horses. Do you see the little one in the middle? Pure nutcase that one, literally, on more than one occasion the rider had to drop what she was doing to avoid the horse either dumping her in the lake or charging off somewhere random. It wasn't that I didn't like doing the display, quite the opposite, it could wait to get stuck in and got a little bit carried away.
There were various cavalry displays though out the evening, some to music and some just being talked through and while I have to admit, it was all rather amateurish, nothing like watching the Household Cavalry displays at the Horse of the Year shows in London, it was still rather impressive and fun to watch.
Next up are the Red Devils. I've seen a few parachute displays over the years, from various civilian display teams and also from various military ones, but I still think these boys are the best in the world at what they do. Ok, i'm gonna be slightly bias but that's life and these guys are awesome.
Coming in close, looked amazing
Obligatory Union Flag
Battle Proms Flag
And the Red Devils own flag
The highlight, cant remember what this is called, but basically, they link up and then plummet down to earth at some ungodly speed before splitting up and landing. Whatever its called, its look amazing and bloody scary.
Next up, is the highlight of the evening, taken in the fading light of early evening and performed to music, it was a really moving display. Its not often you get to see a Spitfire flown in such a manor these days and especially not such a historic plane. This plane is credited with the first allied kill of the D-day landing at the hands of a New Zealand Pilot, a certain Flying Officer Johnnie Houlton DFC.
Its at times like this I wish I had borrowed the father in-laws zoom lense
My favourite shot of the night, lacking detail but, to me anyway, it feel very emotional.
Another shot
Loop the loops
As darkness fell, the tempo of the night changed. This was where Tchaikovsky and Beethoven's masterpieces really came to life, plus there were fireworks, which is always cool. With all the cannons and flashes and bangs that they produced, plus the smoke and flares lighting up the farside of the lake, it was all very atmospheric.
The glow of the flares.
The reflection on the lake was pretty cool as well, you can just see it in this picture but it was clearer in real life.
The firework finale.
More fireworks
The firework finale was not some 30 second affair either bit was a good show, longer than most of the final firework displays you normal get at these sort of things.
I have to say that while it was not a cheap night out, it was amazing and well worth the money. Just remember to take a picnic with you, as the food there is, as you'd expect extortionate. And when I say picnic, I don't mean a couple of ham sarnies and a packet of quavers, oh no, were talking picnic tables, candelabras and champagne. If you think I'm kidding, think again, we had a couple of folding chairs, a picnic blanket and a bag with some food in, plus we forgot to grab the cups or a knife to spread the butter and pate, but we looked like we were slumming it. The table next to us, a group of older couples, had table, chairs, table cloth, candles, wine glasses (with wine) china plates and cutlery, the works and all in fancy looking picnic hampers.
I loved the whole thing, from the displays and music to the atmosphere and friendly nature of the whole event. I highly recommend the Battle Proms to anyone looking for a summer night out.
These are the links if anyone is interested;
Battle Proms
http://www.battleproms.com/about/about-the-battle-proms.aspx
Red Devils
http://reddevilsonline.com/index.php
Grace Spitfire
http://www.ml407.co.uk/
