JEEZ!, ....I cant believe its been 3 months since my last post, have been really busy tho and will catch up in the new year with all thats happened.

Anyway Merry Christmas to all and lets have a splendid 2013, building on all that has occurred in 2012!

Below is some little cartoons i did as a set of Xmas Cards for the 'Battle of Stamford Bridge Society'. Just click on them for a larger view if you need to.

Thought I may as well share them online too with you.....enjoy. (I got loads more to add at sometime)

OK ITS ALL GO! GO! GO! FOR THE BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE RE-ENACTMENT WEEKEND, 22/23 SEPTEMBER. EVENTS START AT 11AM, BUT GATES WILL BE OPEN BY 10AM, COME AND WANDER AND TALK TO THE GROUPS AND SOCIETIES, THE MAIN BATTLE IS AT 3PM. THE BOSB SOCIETY MARQUEE MAKES IT DEBUT THIS WEEKEND TOO, I WILL BE THERE WITH GAMES AND ACTIVITIES AND OF COURSE SELLING COPIES OF THE BOOK AND OTHER STUFF AS WELL! THE SUN WILL SHINE AND ALL WILLBE ENJOYABLE!

Last public walk for 2012

Well its getting chilly now and the nights are drawing in...doesnt seem like five minutes ago that spring was here! Ah well, this sunday (sept 2) will be the last PUBLIC battleground walk. I am still open to private booked walks, infact theres one booked on sept 9th and one in october, so if you know of any groups, societies and walking or historical people just tell them i am here.

In fact all eyes are now focussed on the BIG two-day event on 22/23 sept here in Stamford, when the annual re-enactment event takes place at the cricket ground. This years going to be great, with the new society having its first official marquee! I'll be there organising kids events and spreading the word, we will have membership details and a second hand book stall, and a raffle too..its all go. And of course i will be plugging the new book about the battle too. Lets hope the weather will be kind to us.

The book is selling well, bookshops in York have been restocked and the article in the York Evening Press helped to publicise the whole thing. See below for a copy of the press story.

Phew! its been a busy week.

Spent all week pluggin the book and its gone down really well, got it stocked in Jorvik Viking Centre, Yorkshire Museum, Murton Park Danelaw Centre, Stamford Bridge, and the Barbican and Fossgate bookshops in York have taken it too. Forths Stationiers and Burnby Gardens Book Shop (formally Simply Books) in Pocklington stock it also now.

I also have got a meeting with Stephen Lewis from the Evening Press in York on Monday to do a feature on the book and the Society, so that will go well with spreading the word.

I have also offered it for sale on Ebay directly from me.

Its walk day on Sunday 5th August, so anybody wanting to visit the battleground is welcome to join us, the book will be with me so anyone wanting a copy can get it from me then.

Don't forget the Battle Re-enactment at Stamford Bridge on Sept 22/23rd 2012. Its a two event this time so its gonna be better and bigger than ever. The Society is going to have its own marquee this time as its our debut appearance.
We will have lots to do and fun interactive activities for the kids, so make sure that you pop in to see us if you are there.

For more info go to the BOSB link on the right.

Chris.

NEW Booklet NOW available to order

It is a new upto date visitor guide and historical review of the personaliites and the events leading upto the battles of Fulford and Stamford in 1066. With plenty of photos and newly drawn illustrations it brings the story upto date. Also included is a detachable self-guided walk to the battleground at Stamford and it will be available to buy direct from me here, around the local shops in Stamford and in York at selected bookshop outlets. Price is £5.99. Contact me for order or other details.

Just a quickie for anyone who is interested, SUNDAY 24th June the Battle of Stamford Bridge Society are having a guided walk around the village, conducted by myself. Meet up at the CornMill memorial 11am, fingers crossed with the weather this time, seems like every last walk has been a washout lately, when will summer finally get going i keep on asking myself?

Well its Sunday 3rd June and was i expecting it to be a glorious summers day ? well at least to be dry would be nice, but it looks like its in for the duration. 10,000 jubilee parties are gonna need some quick reorganising..typical eh?

So i might see how tomorrow pans out and if its looks good i might go down to Stamford to see how the passing traffic goes and put up my ad board to get some interest in the battle, if not theres always bank hol tuesday as a backup backup.

Is not been the best start to the year weather wise and the coming of high summer should bring more and more passing traffic to the area, i just hope the interest in the battle walks pick up more. I cant say i am not disappointed with the lack of feedback from the leaflets i have distributed, over 2,000 have gone out and i have had just one person contact me with support and interest. The Stamford Bridge Battle Society is at least up and running and looks like to take over a lot of the plans i initially had for myself, so thats good.

The new visitor guide book about the Battle i have written is going to print next week so that will make up for that gap in the tourist and the local community market. It will be available in the village and other local village in the bookshops and also in York, hopefully in WH Smiths and Waterstones and on the web via Amazon and direct from here. Watch this space!

Towton.

Had a walk around some of the Battlefield at Towton the other Saturday. Initially i drove over to the Royal Armouries to spend the day there, but after 3 hrs of seeing endless rows of muskets and swords i had enough, it was enjoyable to a point but the building i found rather overburdoning; it was like visiting a converted block of 1960's flats with little thought to the lighting and layout, and NOT photo friendly at all...

Anyway, Towton, last time i was here was about 2000, before any of the Towton Battlefield Society had done their trails or signage. This time i got a much clearer view of the important vantage points and the stages of the battle, all due to the excellent signs and information boards. It was a cold, damp day with a blustery wind which made the trip rather shorter than i wanted, but i walked from points 1 to 5 and took some pix, of which some i include here. On a nice day i will return and do the whole walk around thru Towton itself, i did go over to Saxton as well to see the new and old tombstones in the churchyard. Towton is one of those grounds that has hardly changed since the day of the battle, very evocative to be there and a good model for what we want in Stamford Bridge....eventually.

New Stamford Society meet

Well, another wet weekend which put my plans for touting the new society meeting this Thursday in the village hall up the spout. Went down on saturday with my A frame, plus large poster, a satchel full of leaflets and handouts and bags of enthusiasm. However my timing was out, i set up at 12 noon and stood till half one, with the heavens opening up just as i got there. Did my best to engage folk but they were no walkers as such and those that did come just jumped out the car to use the loo or dash to the shop! no time or inclination to stop and chat about what we are doing. So went home wet and dejected and decided to come back on sunday, but a little later in the afternoon this time.

Sunday. Arrived about 2.30pm and the sun was out and my hopes were full of a good day.....by 3.00pm i was hiding under a shop sunshade to stay dry....., again any locals and vistors were in no way wanting to stop and talk and so i decided to give up and go and see Tom Wyles to get dry and chat over the meeting details. Lets hope the poster and web invites work better than direct contact, shame as it would have really worked if only for the blinking weather working against me...grrrrr

Wet Easter weekend

Well the easter weekend was a real washout. I had planned to go down to Stamford on the Easter Monday to set up an 'A' frame board with details of talk n walk tours, and do some on the spot advertising! But as usual this time of year we cant plan anything ahead or take for granted some decent weather, as it was Stamford was deserted, talk about a ghost town! So will keep the plans on hold until the first Sunday in May and try again....

Well today was the first 'public' guided tour of the battlesite at Stamford Bridge. I have done some previous ones, with pre-booked parties and even an educational one of 34 'A level' history students (this one was to cover for David Cooke from the Battlefields Trust who could not get through because of the heavy snowfall). Considering the level of interest from the way the leaflets have been going I expected a better turnout, the blog site advertises the walk for the first sunday of the month from April 2012, doing two a day at 12pm and 2.30pm. Two people turned up for the 12pm one, none for the 2.30pm one, however, despite the disappointment it went well, particularly when I showed them the types of weapons and armour the men would have wore, - it was a real hands on moment.

The weather was perfect and the village busy, next time I know what to do, with better publicity before hand and some 'A' frame boards at the Main Street monument and public car park, this way any folk out for the day can join in without prior notice. Dave Thurlwell from the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Murton Park did me a real favour by lending me a typical shield, spear, sword, axe, helmet and a chainmail byrnie, - thanks Dave! Hopefully from small acorns large oak trees grow, so watch this space....