An auspicious date, is November 6th: proper "Pickle Night", the date that Lt Lapenotiere would have been driven in his post-chaise express along Piccadilly towards the Old Admiralty in Whitehall, the final moments of his long journey bringing the dispatches from Trafalgar. And so, what better location to host our prizegiving aw...
Could you walk, run or wheel 271 miles in under 1 year and 38 hours? We're announcing the launch of The Trafalgar Way End-to-End Virtual Challenge, your chance to follow in the wheeltracks of history. If you are someone who likes to walk or run for fitness or pleasure, but sometimes needs motivation or something to...
What a year! The Art & Photography competition, 'Posctards from The Trafalgar Way' was launched in February 2020 with an original deadline of Sept 2020. No sooner had we started to promote it than - bam! Lockdown! No travel permitted, confusion and lethargy set in, home-schooling pressures, plus competition from...
Preliminary Developments In the early 1990’s, a debate began as to how the decade prior to the Bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar was to be commemorated. The result was the formation of the Official Nelson Commemorations Committee (ONCC) chaired by Dr Colin White, Deputy Director of the Royal Naval Museum at P...
Preparations for the 2005 Bicentenary events It would have been impossible in 2005 to replicate precisely the events of 1805. By 2005 the 1805 road system had been substantially altered and the horse drawn coach system had been replaced by automobiles and railroads. The 2005 recreation had necessarily to be to a substanti...
The Creation of The Trafalgar Way in 2005 Departure of the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s Training Ship Lord Nelson for Cape Trafalgar The International Festival of the Sea was held in HM Naval Base at Portsmouth from 1st to 4th July. The New Trafalgar Dispatch had been translated into Spanish. On the 4th July, and in t...
Developments since 2005 Immediately following 2005, the funding available was limited and entirely directed to erecting further plaques requested along the route. As mentioned elsewhere, they now amount to 39. However, this indicated to us that there was still great interest in the project and a desire to be associated wi...
Organising a Pickle Night? Need help with understanding some Naval etiquette and Pickle Night jargon? Although formats vary, there are some established must-have elements of a Pickle Night. We've sifted through some sample evenings held in naval establishments and civilian settings and picked out some of the basics you probably ...
We're Halfway Home in our national Art & Photography competition to promote awareness of The Trafalgar Way! Although we had made the decision to postpone the competition deadline to next year, we also wanted to recognise those who had already submitted entries prior to Sept 1st 2020. So we set our three Lapenotiere re...
Travelling as he was by post chaise, Lieutenant Lapenotiere would have had to change horses many times on his journey to London in 1805. He undertook his first change of horses at The Red Lion Hotel on Boscawen Street in Truro. This historic inn was tragically damaged when a lorry smashed into it in 1967 and it was subsequently ...
Important thing 1: deadline extended to 16th April 2021 As you will appreciate, the run of our competition since early 2020 has been hugely disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown and all the uncertainty that has gone along with that. We have been unable to reach many of the groups, schools and clubs we had hoped to. Consequen...
The National Museum of the Royal Navy is opening the doors once more post lockdown, at the end of the month, and we're looking forward to a new perspective on history. Most famous for being the flagship of Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar, the Victory has a long history behind her. The ship was ordered in 1758 and laid down in...
Blandford Forum is a small market town in Dorset. Most famous now for its buildings which, in the town centre anyway, are all beautiful Georgian designs, in the eighteenth century it was a bustling hive of brewing, malting and lace-making, similar to Honiton. Daniel Defoe even went as far as saying that the lace made in Blandfor...
We've shared the story of Lapenotiere, but what about the other men on board? Here we will look at the roles of some of the most important men onboard Pickle! We don't have a log of the Warrant Officers onboard Pickle at Trafalgar, likely because she was so small, but we've picked out the men we know were at Trafalgar, all just ...
From the start of the 17th century and through to the middle of the 19th, the Royal Navy used a rating system in order to categorise their ships. Initially, these ships were rated on their assigned complement (number of personnel onboard) and later this changed to factor in the number of carriage-mounted guns on board. Th...
A 'yellow bounder' is born It was around 2003 when Steve and I were asked to provide the horses for Trafalgar 200 by carriage-driving expert Richard James. We had always been known for doing “different” types of events with our horses—including leading the New Year's Parade in Hong Kong in 2002 (the year o...
We recently wrote a post on the history of sea shanties, and so many of you wrote and told us your favourites that we thought we'd release our own Trafalgar Way Top 5 Shanties (in no particular order) and if you click on each one it will take you to the video on YouTube so you can even sing along! So, without further ado,...
"Dentro de poco los hombres de unas y otras islas se han de convencer de que hacer un gran disparate armando tan terribles guerras, y llegará un día en que se abrazarán, conviniendo todos en no formas más que una sola familia." Benito Pérez Galdós "... before long the inhabitants of the different islands will be co...
It's been a tough few months for all of us in a locked down world. Even tougher for those of us involved in keyworking roles or who have lost friends and loved ones to covid-19. Our team would like to extend our thanks, condolences and support to all, whether situated along The Trafalgar Way or not, in these sad and challenging ...
We are really, really, REALLY pleased to be able to announce our FREE, FUN worksheets, ready for you to download and print at home. There are six topics related to The Trafalgar Way story, full of fascinating facts and absorbing activities for children and adults to get stuck into. Primarily aimed at KS2 (aged 7 to 11), w...
We at The Trafalgar Way have long been proud to have some great connections to the Sea Cadets. We have all of the cadet units along the way listed on our map too! But this got us thinking! How many Sea Cadet units are named after ships which served at Trafalgar? We've compile a handy little list below! Victory Name...
Trafalgar stirs up images in our mind of glorious battles at sea. You can almost imagine the smoke and chaos going on when you look at any painting of the event, but what do you know about the ships? At Trafalgar the British fleet had 27 ships of the line, compared to 33 of the combined French and Spanish fleet. Wh...
Once upon a time, beside a lonely bus stop in a far corner of Dorset, there dwelt a poor, denuded bronze plaque. Whether it was from the acid effects of passing traffic, or from well-meaning attempts to polish the once-proud memorial, no-one knew. But its colours were all gone, and its surface looked raw and sad. ...
Calling photographers and artists within the RN and RM: Announcing The Peter Warwick Memorial Trophy A special £1000 prize and trophy awaits one lucky winner of The Trafalgar Way's Art & Photography Competition 2020. We're looking for an outstanding photographic or artwork entry from anyone who is currently, or has b...
Blockades have long been a part of naval doctrine. Used for many years to prevent a fleet from putting to sea and, especially in the case of the Biscay Coast, to prevent an invasion of Britain. By 1805 Britain had around 30,000 men stationed off Brest, arguably its most important area of operations for blockades between 1793 and...
Sticklepath is one of our famous Devonian stops along The Trafalgar Way! Home to the wonderful wall art above, depicting Horatio Nelson's famous signal at the Battle of Trafalgar - England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty! We thought we'd find out a little more about this little village! Sticklepath is on th...
The Battle of Trafalgar is one of the most well-known naval battles in history, but where is Trafalgar, and why did the battle take place there? Cape Trafalgar is a headland in the south-west of Spain, in the province of Cadiz. The battle itself took place to the west of Cape Trafalgar, in the famous Atlantic swell! ...
What is Pickle Night? Pickle Night, usually held on 6th November, or as close to as possible, celebrates the arrival in London of Lt John Richards Lapenotiere, in command of HMS Pickle, carrying dispatches from Collingwood in which he celebrated victory over the French and Spanish fleet at Trafalgar and lamented th...
Falmouth, our first stop on The Trafalgar Way, is a town rich in maritime history, which spans centuries. On this day in 1805 Lt Lapenotiere had reached the town at the start of his incredible journey, and what better place for us to start our write up of the towns along The Way?! Falmouth has long been of strategic...
On the 21st of October 1805, the British fleet, under Horatio Nelson’s command, met the combined French and Spanish fleets, under French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, for one of the most famous naval battles in history, off Cape Trafalgar, Spain. Nelson had joined his flagship at the time, HMS Victory,...
An ensign is an identifying flag, flown to designate a ship - military or civilian. The use of ensigns dates back to the 1600s and there have been many incarnations throughout the years, from the (very colourful) ensigns of the Tudor & Stuart navies, to the famous red, white and blue ensigns we see on the water tod...
Whilst well respected by his men, feared by his enemies, and known to this day as a fierce and genius tactician, Horatio Nelson was also something of a troublemaker and an eccentric. Here are 5 interesting stories about the great man himself! 1. A lover of wildlife? Whilst still a Midshipman, Nelson served ...
With one week until Trafalgar Day we thought it appropriate to start the season off with a post about HMS Victory's Captain at Trafalgar, and Horatio Nelson's good friend, Thomas Masterman Hardy. Born in Kingston Russell on the 5th of April 1769 (also the birth year of Napoleon Bonaparte) and Arthur Wellesley, known to many as...
The Royal Navy has a language all of its own. Commonly known as “Jackspeak”, some of this naval slang has been in use for centuries! We covered some of these here a few weeks ago, but here are a few more...Not enough room to swing a catGenerally used to describe a very small room or space, the origin of this phrase was re...
The First Service In the late sixties and early seventies, a member of the Exeter Flotilla, Lieutenant Commander Adrian Martin MBE RD RNR wondered why Exeter, the capital of the seafaring County of Devon, did not celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar, especially when Lord Nelson had been made a Freeman of the City in 1801. In 1972...
Trafalgar Square is one of the most iconic memorials to one of the most well known naval victories in the world, but did you know these facts about this central London location? Nelson's Column Centre stage in Trafalgar Square, standing at just under 52m is the iconic 'Nelson's Column'. Originally known as 'The Monument...
Sea shanties have long been an important part of British maritime culture, and even if the age of sail is long behind us, they live on to this day. There is a lack of historical references to anything like shanties, as they would come to be known, in the entirety of the 18th century but, in the second half of the 18th centur...
The Royal Navy has a language all of its own. Commonly known as “Jackspeak”, some of this naval slang has been in use for centuries! Here are 5 examples of old naval slang still in common usage. 1. Dutch CourageDuring the 17th Century, the UK was engaged in a series of wars with the Dutch states. These ...
In August 2005, an evocative journey was begun. Actor Alex Price, playing the part of Lt John Richards Lapenotiere, came onshore at Falmouth and delivered a new proclamation to HRH the Princess Royal, as the first of the plaques of The Trafalgar Way was unveiled on The Moor. The words of this proclamation encapsulate the three c...
We're excited to announce that the book featuring the prize-winning collection of stories from our competition, "An Urgent Message", is now for sale on Amazon. Click here to view and buy in paperback - only £7.95, profits go to The 1805 Club's Trafalgar Way Fund, to help us keep telling the story! The book includes...
The great tacticians and warriors of history are well celebrated in history books and wider culture, but those who delivered the messages that could make or break history are often forgotten.1. Marathon Man.Possibly the most famous messenger in history, the legend goes that this unnamed soldier fought in the Battle of Marathon i...
Photo credit: Paul French/Southpoint filmsHampshire village Milford-on-Sea is host, this coming weekend, to a series of celebration events remembering the life of Admiral William Cornwallis (1744-1819). The 1805 Club has lent its support to the local history group, Milford-on-Sea Historical Records Society (MoSHRS) to plan a spe...
There are a multitude of famous names known throughout the naval world, but this is the story of a dog, an important dog, a naval dog. Cuthbert Collingwood’s dog… Collingwood was Horatio Nelson's good friend and fellow naval officer, arguably most well known for having been his second in comma...
The weekend of 18th and 19th May 2019 had been keenly anticipated. We'd followed the progress of the Cape to Cape drivers making their way back from Trafalgar in Southern Spain, through Portugal, back to Spain and then overnight to Portsmouth. The final leg of their massive, fundraising journey was to take place along the revers...
When I was about 8 years old, I visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (see picture, left). We did the usual tour of HMS Victory and I was bought a book on Nelson by my parents. I remember vividly reading it, as well as the Victory guide book in the car on the way home and from then on, that was that... Little did I know, 14 years...
Residents along The Trafalgar Way are in for a treat on May 18th this year! Prepare for the spectacle of more than 40 classic cars competing in a grand odyssey of a rally which will have begun at Cape Trafalgar in Spain, passing through a town near you during the day. If you live, or plan to be visiting BLANDFORD FOR...
At The Trafalgar Way we are all about storytelling so last year we decided to launch a short story contest. Little did I know it was going to take me into one of England's most historic rooms and that one clever young woman was going to force us to re-write our own rules! The subject would be 'An Urgent Message' but this would b...
I, for one, was grateful not to be at sea on board HMS Victory on March 3rd. Having battled my way into Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard with my umbrella acting simultaneously as a shield and a sail, it was no surprise that our hardy (excuse my pun!) visitors arrived looking a little bedraggled on board our nation's flagship. Of ...
3rd March 2019 - An invitation-only event to reward the young prizewinners of our Autumn 2018 short story competition, "An Urgent Message". 3rd March 2019, HMS Victory, Portsmouth A prizegiving ceremony and tour of HMS Victory for the first prize winners of our short story competition and their families. Awards will be present...
Cape Trafalgar, October, just before midday, 1805. The wind is light and north-north westerly. Standing on the headland, looking out to sea, we see the sails of over fifty ships in the distance. One line is racing back to safety in Cádiz harbour. Two others are bearing down on them from the west. They are sailing directly towar...
Memories from Blandford 2005 and the arrival of the New Trafalgar Dispatch. Image is © Sid Falla - The arrival of the post-chaise in the rain! Image is © Sid Falla - Bringing the News of Trafalgar in Blan...
Euryalus, off Cape Trafalgar, 22nd October 1805. Sir, The ever to be lamented death of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, who, in the late conflict with the enemy, fell in the hour of victory, leaves to me the duty of informing my Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty, that ...
Guy Chant, a singer and songwriter from Hampshire, loved the story of Lapenotiere and the News of Trafalgar so much that he wrote a song about it! The lyrics are below. It's very accurately observed!Click to listen to Guy's song, "The Schooner Pickle".Upon the Schooner Pickle new orders I receivedTo make full haste to England fr...
It's not the easiest of names to say. Nor was it the easiest to write, according to documents and records sourced by author Peter Hore in his research for his books about Nelson, Trafalgar and the events that followed. The name is French, and Lapenotiere's family were of Huguenot extraction, arriving in Britain after the access...
My Father was in the Navy and when ever there was a form to fill in for something unofficial he would sign his name Horatio Nelson. I used to ask him not to and then he would sign it as Admiral Nelson and various different combinations. At school I would have to explain to everyone who Nelson was and exactly why I had his name o...
On 17th November 2018 villagers in Perranwell Station in Cornwall welcomed a visit from a perfect replica 19th-century post-chaise carriage. The bright yellow period carriage, pulled by two horses with a postillion rider, carried Midshipman Ben Cunningham from RN College Dartmouth and actor Tom Blyth, playing the part of Lt John...
For our Autumn 2018 Short Story Competition, we asked writer and campaign consultant Adam Preston, himself a Nelson descendent, to compose a short story entitled 'An Urgent Message'. The idea was to tell the story of The Trafalgar Way in an interesting and engaging way, while providing the children who might take part in the com...
In September 2018, Adam Preston visited some schools along The Trafalgar Way to tell them its story, and to invite young people to enter our own short story competition. Here is an item about the competition as featured on BBC Spotlight, the south-west news programme, on 24th September 2018. ...
