Thank you to everyone who attended our talk today at Pontefract Castle on ;A Great Northern Conflict – the Percys and Nevilles in the fifteenth century. This was the biggest attendance we have ever had and as ever, we really appreciate the positive feedback and the great q&a at the end of the talk. We hope to see everyone again at our next talk on Sunday 14th June at 2.00pm in the visitor centre at Pontefract Castle when we will be discussing ‘Richard III in the North’. If anyone has any questions from todays talk or any general questions on the topics we cover, then please get in touch via the ‘contact us’ button on the front page of the website.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our first talk of 2026 at Pontefract Castle Visitor Centre, on Sunday 19th April at 2.00pm. The talk will be titled ‘A Great Northern Conflict – the Percys and Nevilles in the 15th Century’ and will look how this northern feud fed directly into the Wars of the Roses. The talk will last approx one hour and there will be plenty of opportunity for questions afterwards. We will also provide details of our further talks planned at the castle during this year. We look forward to seeing you there.

On Sunday 19th April at 2.00pm in the Visitor Centre at Pontefract castle, we will be delivering our first talk of 2026 on ‘The Percy/Neville Feud – A Great Northern Conflict’. The rivalry between these two great families, especially in the North, would impact the first half of the fifteenth century in England and would directly lead to the Wars of the Roses. Join us to learn more about these two families and the particular events that drove their quarrel. Tickets are available from Pontefract castle itself and are free or join us on the day. We look forward to seeing you on the day.

As we reach the end of 2025, the Battle of Wakefield has never been more in focus than at present. New research has cast doubts on the traditional view of the battle and has stimulated intense debate. We here at his site really welcome this new focus on the events of 1460/61 and we will obviously discuss these in our relevant tours and talks in 2026 and beyond. Whilst feeling that there does need to be more corroboration around the potential location of York’s death, what is perhaps more important, is that whether York did indeed die along the lines of the traditional view in battle, or ambushed somewhere near Stanley or Methley, none of this detracts from the importance of the events at Wakefield on 29th/30th December 1460. Can we wish all our readers and visitors to this site a Happy New Year and peaceful 2026.

We would like to wish all our visitors to these pages and all who have come on our tours and talks in 2025 a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2026 already looks to be an exciting one, with new theories being discussed around the battles of Wakefield and Towton, whilst we already have a number of tours and talks booked which will cover such a wide range of topics as the ‘Percy/Neville Conflict in the North’, ‘Richard III in the North’ and the ‘Three Sieges of Pontefract Castle’. Details will be posted here in due course but until then, very best wishes from us all.

Thank you to everyone who came to our talk today at Pontefract Castle on the above. It was really fantastic to see so many people there and we hope you enjoyed the afternoon. Please keep a look out on this site over the next few weeks when we will publish details of our talks and tours for 2026 and we hope to see you then. In the meantime we will take this early opportunity to wish everyone a happy Christmas and peaceful New Year and we will see you in 2026.

Our final talk of 2025 will take place on Sunday 30th November in the visitor centre at Pontefract Castle. For this talk we are joined by civil war historian David Cooke and the talk will take the form of a debate around the biggest and bloodiest battle on English soil. We hope that this event will not only be informative but also a bit of fun, where you the audience, can also have your say. Tickets are available from the usual sources and directly from Pontefract Castle itself and the event, is as ever, free. We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Thank you to everyone who came to our two tours at Sandal Castle yesterday where we looked at the history of the castle and the Battle of Wakefield. It was lovely to see so many of you there and to receive such great feedback on the tours and content. We look forward to seeing you at a future event. Our next talk will be at Pontefract Castle at 2.00pm on Sunday 30th November where we will discussing ‘The Biggest and Bloodiest Battle on English Soil – Towton or Marston Moor?’. The tickets are free and available from the castle itself.

On Saturday 13th September we will be delivering two tours of Sandal Castle discussing a history of the De Warennes, the development of the castle and the Battle of Wakefield, as part of the WMDC Heritage Weekend. The tours will commence at 11.00am and 1.30pm and must be booked via ticketsource or Pontefract Castle itself. The tours have already proven to be very popular and we look forward to seeing everyone on the day. Cafe facilities are available on site if participants would like to get either meals or drinks.

On Saturday 13th September we will be delivering two tours at Sandal Castle – at 11.00am and 1.30pm – on the history of the castle and the De Warenne family and the Battle of Wakefield. Places on the tours are free and can be reserved by contacting Pontefract Castle. Places on the tours are almost full, so if you are interested, please act quickly. We look forward to seeing you there.