Site News
News
War of the Roses – A Yorkist Civil War 14/4/24
Thanks to everyone who came to our talk today at Pontefract Castle – it was great to see so many people there. Again, thanks to everyone for the positive feedback and we hope to see many of you again on Sunday 21st July, at 2.00pm in the Visitor Centre at Pontefract Castle, when we will be delivering our next talk on’Henry IV and his Connections to Pontefract Castle’. In the meantime, we hope you can join us on Saturday 18th May at Sandal Castle at 11.00am, when as part of the Wordfest Festival we will be delivering a tour and talk on ‘Shakespeare and the War of the Roses’, paying particular attention to the Battle of Wakefield and it’s various theories. Please book via Pontefract Castle for either of these events.
Sherburn Local History Society
Thanks to all at Sherburn Local History Society for both their kind invitation to give a talk on the history of Pontefract Castle last night, and for their very positive feedback. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and we hope everyone had an enjoyable evening. We hope to see you again soon.
Netherton Infants and Junior School
Thanks to the staff and pupils at Netherton Infants and Junior School for inviting Alan and myself into their classrooms this week to deliver local history lessons on the development and key events at Pontefract Castle. It has been a pleasure to spend time with you all and we thank you all for the fantastic welcome and the superb engagement the pupils had with ourselves. We hope to see you again.
Forthcoming Events
Just a quick note on two upcoming events we are delivering in February and April 2024. On Wednesday 21st February between 11.00am and 2.00pm we will be at Sandal Castle as part of the ‘366 Things to Do in Wakefield in 2024’. We will be taking anyone who is interested on a walk round tour of the castle, giving a brief history of it’s development and key events that have taken place there. Then on Sunday April 14th, at 2.00pm, we will be giving our next talk at Pontefract Castle, in the Visitor Centre, titled, ‘Wars of the Roses – A Yorkist Civil War 1461 – 71’. We would love to see anyone who reads these pages at one of these events.
Danielle Burton
Many congratulations to one of our friends and contacts, Danielle Burton, whose book ‘Anthony Woodville – Sophisticate or Schemer’ is published today. Woodville was the brother of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV and governor to the young Prince of Wales, who would become briefly, EdwardV. Anthony Woodville would meet his death at Pontefract Castle on the 25th June 1483 on the orders of the soon to be, Richard III. We are sure this book will be a fascinating read and would urge all followers of these pages to purchase if possible.
Battle of Wakefield
Today is the 563 anniversary of the Battle of Wakefield which led to the death of the ‘heir’ to the throne, Richard Duke of York. The many theories regarding why Richard engaged the Lancastrian army when so outnumbered are many and varied, and are covered in our tours of Sandal Castle which will re-commence in 2024. On the 18th May 2024 we will be covering this topic and how Shakespeare’s portrayal of the Wars of the Roses may have differed from the reality, in a tour which will form part of the Wakefield Wordfest weekend. More details of this festival in the New Year. In the meantime, we wish all our readers a very Happy New Year.
Yorkshire in the Civil Wars 1642-49
Thank you to everyone who came to our talk today at Pontefract Castle on “Yorkshire in the Civil Wars 1642-49”. We really do appreciate so many of you turning out in the run up to Christmas and we hope you found the talk both interesting and enjoyable. We already have all our talks for 2024 in the calendar with the first being held at Pontefract Castle on Sunday 14th April and entitled “A Yorkist Civil War – The Wars of the Roses 1461 – 71′. We look forward to seeing you again then but in the meantime may we wish everyone who comes to our talks and reads our website a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
David Cooke
A great lunch meeting today with David Cooke, an eminent Yorkshire historian who has written many books on local history including ‘Battlefield Yorkshire’, ‘Yorkshire Sieges in the Civil Wars’ and ‘The Civil War in Yorkshire’. David has a fantastic knowledge of the Civil Wars and it was great to sit down with him and discuss this cataclysmic event. Thanks for your time David. Just a reminder of our own talk on ‘The Civil War in Yorkshire 1642-49’ at Pontefract Castle Visitor Centre on Sunday 10th December 2023, at 2.oopm. Tickets are still available and are free from the castle.
Towton Battlefield Society and Loughbrough Grammar School
Thanks to Chris Berendt of Towton Battlefield Society, for inviting us along to their tour of Towton battlefield and the visitor centre, with the staff and pupils of Loughbrough Grammar School. A great day was had by all with the opportunity to handle replica weapons and walk the iconic battlefield, whilst Chris advised us on the latest thinking on potential numbers and casualties on that fateful day. Real food for thought!.
Heritage Weekend 9th & 10th September
Thanks to everyone who came along to our tour of Sandal Castle on the Battle of Wakefield, and talk at the Pontefract Castle Visitor Centre on ‘Truths, Myths and Lies – Six Key events at Pontefract Castle’, as part of the National Heritage weekend. It was great to see you all and we hope you found the tour and talk informative. Our next talk at Pontefract Castle will be on Sunday 10th December, again in the Visitor Centre, commencing at 2.00pm, and will be entitled ‘The Civil War in Yorkshire – 1642-49’. We hope to see as many of you there as possible and tickets will be available in due course. Further details will be provided on this website and from the castle itself.