A Saxon army is marching through the medieval market town of Saffron Walden, travel-weary and weather-beaten after a long fortnight on the road.
King Harold II and his warriors are advancing on the Sussex coast and the most famous battle in English history. Weapons jangling astride their chargers, they make a fearsome sight.
But long before Hastings, there is the Saffron Walden one-way system to contend with – and a clutch of temporary traffic lights.
“Stop!” roars the commander, as one light changes from amber to red and an order is passed down the ranks. Bemused customers peer out of the windows of a nearby Costa Coffee shop and grinning mothers stroll past pushing prams...
From 1066 via the B1052: On the march to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings
The Saxon army recreating King Harold II's famous march to Hastings Credit: David Rose
Joe Shute
8 October 2016
The Telegraph
A Saxon army is marching through the medieval market town of Saffron Walden, travel-weary and weather-beaten after a long fortnight on the road.
King Harold II and his warriors are advancing on the Sussex coast and the most famous battle in English history. Weapons jangling astride their chargers, they make a fearsome sight.
But long before Hastings, there is the Saffron Walden one-way system to contend with – and a clutch of temporary traffic lights.
“Stop!” roars the commander, as one light changes from amber to red and an order is passed down the ranks. Bemused customers peer out of the windows of a nearby Costa Coffee shop and grinning mothers stroll past pushing prams.
Harold – or the man purporting to be him – tips a wink before the light turns green, and once more they spur their horses into action, giving way first to an oncoming blue Ford Mondeo.
The re-enactors stop to ask for directions Credit: David Rose
Army is perhaps the wrong word for the gaggle of Saxon re-enactors presently making their way to Hastings. Indeed, this week their numbers have comprised barely half a dozen. Instead of thundering horse hooves as they pass, one is reminded more of Monty Python and coconut shells.
None the less, they are close to completing a feat worthy of any great force in history.
To mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the men are recreating the same epic journey made by King Harold II's men in 1066, whereby after beating the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, near York, they marched 250 miles down to the south coast to face William the Conqueror’s Norman army.
On the march through Saffron Walden, Essex Credit: David Rose
To mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the men are recreating the same epic journey made by King Harold II’s men in 1066, whereby after beating the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, near York, they marched 250 miles down to the south coast to face William the Conqueror’s Norman army
They plan to arrive in Sussex by next weekend, the anniversary of the battle, where their ranks will be swelled by more than 1,000 other soldiers and cavalry who have travelled from across the world to take part in the fight.
It is the first time the march of Harold’s men has ever been reconstructed on foot and horseback, according to Nigel Amos, leader of the re-enactors. And if one is to split hairs about it (which, when it comes to matters historical, Amos loves to do), the original Saxons only travelled 250 miles. By the end of next week, they will have completed 310.
Not that it has been easy-going. Over the past fortnight, since leaving York’s Clifford Tower, they have had to contend with traffic jams, thundering heavy goods vehicles, scorching sunshine (no good in woollen smocks), saddle sores and blisters.
At night, they have slept in chilly village halls or churches, huddling up together by a radiator if one can be found. When we met this week, the men admitted to having showered twice in all that time. Downwind, they make a most authentic mark.
Despite the ardours of the road, spending the past few weeks marching as in the footsteps of the Saxons has been manna from heaven for the re-enactors.
Brian Mahoney, a retired company director from South Wales and, aged 60, the eldest of the group, says he even bribed his partner Jenny with a holiday to the Canaries in order to be allowed to go.
“Yesterday, we were riding down a bridlepath in open countryside and two deer jumped out in front of us,” he says. “You just think: 'Wow, this is exactly what it would have been like.’”
The men don their suits of armour Credit: David Rose
Most of their route, however, has taken them along rather less bucolic tracks. The modern-day Saxons rely on Google Maps for navigation and, as a result, tend to stick to busy roads.
On the day I accompany them, we head along the B1052 from the Cambridgeshire village of Linton. Cars and heavy goods vehicles veer past us, appearing to come perilously close to the horsemen, but Amos cheerfully says this is one of the better roads they have seen.
“The truckers have been amazing,” he says. “It is only a few drivers who have been really inconsiderate. One road close to Drax power station in Yorkshire was really scary.”
Amos, bearded and sporting a red cloak secured by a broach, Saxon dagger and shield, cuts a fast pace on foot that belies his 50 years. Aside from sturdy modern-day walking boots, he says their outfits are authentic – down to the cotton underpants.
In a previous career, he processed freedom of information requests for Kent Police, but nowadays is attempting to make a living as a professional re-enactor and was approached by English Heritage to organise this march.
His wife, Lucy, is also a re-enactor and accompanied the otherwise all-male company for the first leg of their tour. The role women can play remains a sore point in various re-enactment groups, but Amos says anyone is welcome to join the Saxons, so long as they disguise themselves as male soldiers.
“We do really need women to make a good effort to look particularly male,” he says. “I suppose it could be done, but you have to wonder how many women marched with Harold – but it is possible, and there is precedent for it.”
The days are long. Often, the re-enactors rise at 6.45am and are on the road soon after, covering around 20 miles before nightfall.
The troops snack on Gatorade, Mars Bars and fags Credit: David Rose
Every few miles or so, they make intermittent stops outside churches and pubs where the soldiers dismount and refuel on toxic-coloured bottles of Gatorade, fags and Mars bars while the horses munch the village green grass.
We meet with a rousing reception. As we approach Saffron Walden one resident, Edward Gilden, a 62-year-old retired educational consultant, even cycles out to meet us and guide us through the town.
“I knew they were coming and wanted to get my grandchildren along,” he says. “It is a great thing they are doing and very nice to be riding alongside them, and seeing all the shocked faces looking out from the shops.”
With Britain’s relationship with Europe in an increasingly fractured state, it is an interesting time to mark the Norman invasion. Amos, who points out signs of the William the Conqueror’s legacy all around us, says one of his reasons for taking part in the march was to propagate a less nationalistic view of 1066.
“The traditional English position is that the Norman conquest was a national tragedy, but we live in a country that was built by them.
The idea of the brave Saxon yeomanry going off to fight for England isn’t really correct.”
Our final stop for the day is the Jacobean mansion Audley End House, where the warriors intend to refuel in its stable yard before heading on south.
For such set pieces, they don their full suits of chainmail, which are carried behind in a support van, as the armour roughly weighs 30 per cent of a man’s body weight.
Crowds form as the horseman approach – steel glinting in the sun – and an almighty cheer breaks out. “It has been an amazing thing to do,” says the youngest of the group, 23-year-old field biologist Josh Powell, flushed with the triumph of imminent victory.
“Now, though, I’m just getting to the point where I’m looking forward to actually going to have a fight.”
Weary legs or otherwise, next week the Normans better watch out. History may yet be reversed on the battlefields of Sussex.
• For details of the 950th anniversary recreation of the Battle of Hastings (15 and 16 October), go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/ hastings
From 1066 via the B1052: On the march to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings
King Harold II and his warriors are advancing on the Sussex coast and the most famous battle in English history. Weapons jangling astride their chargers, they make a fearsome sight.
But long before Hastings, there is the Saffron Walden one-way system to contend with – and a clutch of temporary traffic lights.
“Stop!” roars the commander, as one light changes from amber to red and an order is passed down the ranks. Bemused customers peer out of the windows of a nearby Costa Coffee shop and grinning mothers stroll past pushing prams...
From 1066 via the B1052: On the march to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings
The Saxon army recreating King Harold II's famous march to Hastings Credit: David Rose
Joe Shute
8 October 2016
The Telegraph
A Saxon army is marching through the medieval market town of Saffron Walden, travel-weary and weather-beaten after a long fortnight on the road.
King Harold II and his warriors are advancing on the Sussex coast and the most famous battle in English history. Weapons jangling astride their chargers, they make a fearsome sight.
But long before Hastings, there is the Saffron Walden one-way system to contend with – and a clutch of temporary traffic lights.
“Stop!” roars the commander, as one light changes from amber to red and an order is passed down the ranks. Bemused customers peer out of the windows of a nearby Costa Coffee shop and grinning mothers stroll past pushing prams.
Harold – or the man purporting to be him – tips a wink before the light turns green, and once more they spur their horses into action, giving way first to an oncoming blue Ford Mondeo.
The re-enactors stop to ask for directions Credit: David Rose
Army is perhaps the wrong word for the gaggle of Saxon re-enactors presently making their way to Hastings. Indeed, this week their numbers have comprised barely half a dozen. Instead of thundering horse hooves as they pass, one is reminded more of Monty Python and coconut shells.
None the less, they are close to completing a feat worthy of any great force in history.
To mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the men are recreating the same epic journey made by King Harold II's men in 1066, whereby after beating the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, near York, they marched 250 miles down to the south coast to face William the Conqueror’s Norman army.
On the march through Saffron Walden, Essex Credit: David Rose
To mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the men are recreating the same epic journey made by King Harold II’s men in 1066, whereby after beating the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, near York, they marched 250 miles down to the south coast to face William the Conqueror’s Norman army
They plan to arrive in Sussex by next weekend, the anniversary of the battle, where their ranks will be swelled by more than 1,000 other soldiers and cavalry who have travelled from across the world to take part in the fight.
It is the first time the march of Harold’s men has ever been reconstructed on foot and horseback, according to Nigel Amos, leader of the re-enactors. And if one is to split hairs about it (which, when it comes to matters historical, Amos loves to do), the original Saxons only travelled 250 miles. By the end of next week, they will have completed 310.
Not that it has been easy-going. Over the past fortnight, since leaving York’s Clifford Tower, they have had to contend with traffic jams, thundering heavy goods vehicles, scorching sunshine (no good in woollen smocks), saddle sores and blisters.
At night, they have slept in chilly village halls or churches, huddling up together by a radiator if one can be found. When we met this week, the men admitted to having showered twice in all that time. Downwind, they make a most authentic mark.
Despite the ardours of the road, spending the past few weeks marching as in the footsteps of the Saxons has been manna from heaven for the re-enactors.
Brian Mahoney, a retired company director from South Wales and, aged 60, the eldest of the group, says he even bribed his partner Jenny with a holiday to the Canaries in order to be allowed to go.
“Yesterday, we were riding down a bridlepath in open countryside and two deer jumped out in front of us,” he says. “You just think: 'Wow, this is exactly what it would have been like.’”
The men don their suits of armour Credit: David Rose
Most of their route, however, has taken them along rather less bucolic tracks. The modern-day Saxons rely on Google Maps for navigation and, as a result, tend to stick to busy roads.
On the day I accompany them, we head along the B1052 from the Cambridgeshire village of Linton. Cars and heavy goods vehicles veer past us, appearing to come perilously close to the horsemen, but Amos cheerfully says this is one of the better roads they have seen.
“The truckers have been amazing,” he says. “It is only a few drivers who have been really inconsiderate. One road close to Drax power station in Yorkshire was really scary.”
Amos, bearded and sporting a red cloak secured by a broach, Saxon dagger and shield, cuts a fast pace on foot that belies his 50 years. Aside from sturdy modern-day walking boots, he says their outfits are authentic – down to the cotton underpants.
In a previous career, he processed freedom of information requests for Kent Police, but nowadays is attempting to make a living as a professional re-enactor and was approached by English Heritage to organise this march.
His wife, Lucy, is also a re-enactor and accompanied the otherwise all-male company for the first leg of their tour. The role women can play remains a sore point in various re-enactment groups, but Amos says anyone is welcome to join the Saxons, so long as they disguise themselves as male soldiers.
“We do really need women to make a good effort to look particularly male,” he says. “I suppose it could be done, but you have to wonder how many women marched with Harold – but it is possible, and there is precedent for it.”
The days are long. Often, the re-enactors rise at 6.45am and are on the road soon after, covering around 20 miles before nightfall.
The troops snack on Gatorade, Mars Bars and fags Credit: David Rose
Every few miles or so, they make intermittent stops outside churches and pubs where the soldiers dismount and refuel on toxic-coloured bottles of Gatorade, fags and Mars bars while the horses munch the village green grass.
We meet with a rousing reception. As we approach Saffron Walden one resident, Edward Gilden, a 62-year-old retired educational consultant, even cycles out to meet us and guide us through the town.
“I knew they were coming and wanted to get my grandchildren along,” he says. “It is a great thing they are doing and very nice to be riding alongside them, and seeing all the shocked faces looking out from the shops.”
With Britain’s relationship with Europe in an increasingly fractured state, it is an interesting time to mark the Norman invasion. Amos, who points out signs of the William the Conqueror’s legacy all around us, says one of his reasons for taking part in the march was to propagate a less nationalistic view of 1066.
“The traditional English position is that the Norman conquest was a national tragedy, but we live in a country that was built by them.
The idea of the brave Saxon yeomanry going off to fight for England isn’t really correct.”
Our final stop for the day is the Jacobean mansion Audley End House, where the warriors intend to refuel in its stable yard before heading on south.
For such set pieces, they don their full suits of chainmail, which are carried behind in a support van, as the armour roughly weighs 30 per cent of a man’s body weight.
Crowds form as the horseman approach – steel glinting in the sun – and an almighty cheer breaks out. “It has been an amazing thing to do,” says the youngest of the group, 23-year-old field biologist Josh Powell, flushed with the triumph of imminent victory.
“Now, though, I’m just getting to the point where I’m looking forward to actually going to have a fight.”
Weary legs or otherwise, next week the Normans better watch out. History may yet be reversed on the battlefields of Sussex.
• For details of the 950th anniversary recreation of the Battle of Hastings (15 and 16 October), go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/ hastings
From 1066 via the B1052: On the march to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings
