Comments on: Stamford Bridge: A Long Walk to the Last Battle

By: smackedpentax

smackedpentax — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 21:23:34 +0000

Thank you – I am really enjoying reading your blog – it is always nice to ‘discover’ a new blog when the author has the same interests as yourself.

By: McEff

McEff — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 21:10:46 +0000

Hi again Smackedpentax. Thanks for that. It’s always rewarding to get some positive feedback. I’ve just been looking at your blog and you’ve got some wonderful pictures on there.
All the best, Alen

By: smackedpentax

smackedpentax — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 21:07:42 +0000

I have just read this report of the battle – really superb. I know Stamford Bridge area reasonably well and I knew about the battle but you bring it all into perspective with your excellent writing and photographs. I have only ever gone there by car – and reading about your travels by foot and seeing the photos make it much more ‘real’. Excellent – I thoroughly enjoyed this.

By: McEff

McEff — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:57:37 +0000

I can’t think of a more pleasant way to spend to spend the rest of my life.

By: Jo Woolf

Jo Woolf — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:50:33 +0000

Thank you, yes, the link worked! What a crazy guy! I hadn’t realised that the rest of them look just as manic! One of my dreams is to unearth something like this on a deserted beach. How amazing would that be?! :)

By: McEff

McEff — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:29:17 +0000

Hiya Jo. Thanks for that. The Lewis chessmen, yes, I’d forgotten about them. There is a berserker and he’s chewing his shield. I’ve just been looking at him on Google images. What a bloke. I’d love a full chess set because they’ve all got the same startled expression. I’ll try to do a picture link but these things are not always successful.
Cheers, Alen
https://arsenalarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/berserker-chess-piece-lewis-chessmen.jpg

By: McEff

McEff — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:04:50 +0000

I hope your teddy bears don’t get up to half as much mischief, Mrs P. Ragnar Hairybreeks ??? I’d forgotten about him. Great name, but I bet he wasn’t the sort of chap you’d invite round for dinner.
Cheers, Alen

By: Jo Woolf

Jo Woolf — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:03:50 +0000

Brilliant article, Allen, I really enjoyed it! :) I knew a bit about the Vikings, Harold and Stamford Bridge, but not some of the details. Yes, the feat of marching all that way, with little food or rest, defeating the bloodthirsty Vikings, then turning around to tramp down to Sussex… it’s unimaginable. No wonder it all went badly wrong at the very worst moment. I have read about berserkers as well – I think one was depicted in the Lewis chessmen – but I didn’t know that was how they came by their name. And how scary!? Who needs Game of Thrones?! Great photos, too – thank you for squelching through knee-deep mud in order to bring us this story! :)

By: rthepotter

rthepotter — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 20:24:31 +0000

I enjoyed your muddy post :) The Vikings were astonishing. And great names: Eric Bloodaxe, Ragnar Hairybreeks, Harald Bluetooth, as well as Ivar the Boneless. I hope their ghosts didn’t mind – we gave the names to our family teddy bears.

By: McEff

McEff — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:57:50 +0000

Ash, thanks for brightening up a dull morning. I shall forever be lumbered with a mental image of King Harold standing in the middle of a roundabout with his arrow in his eye. And yes, I know that according to contemporary accounts he was cut down by Norman warriors emerging on horseback from a sliproad, but the legend is more powerful than what is now accepted as historical fact.
I had the same trouble with my child when he was young. Whenever we went out in the car he would mutter from the back seat: “Oh, no, we’re not going to see another pile of stones, are we?” Now we’re taking his daughter around piles of stones. It’s great and she loves it.
Keep searching for the pie. It’s worth it.
All the best, Alen

By: Ash

Ash — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:40:22 +0000

I too visited Battle Abbey with my family when the children were very young. In fact I had to drag them along as they thought they were going to the seaside, which they did, eventually. They couldn’t understand why I wanted to stand in the middle of a field & study the lie of the land. The shoreline at Hastings they insisted was a much better destination for our day out! As I understand it even then the exact site of the Battle of Hastings was never pinpointed accurately but that field & surrounding area below the old abbey was a reasonable spot for a battle. Of course modern day technology & a couple of Blackadder historians now say that the battle site lies under a roundabout on the A21(?). That may be the case, but I for one could not imagine asking my family to stand in the middle of the road just so that this old sod could try to envisage one of the greatest turning points in British history. PS. I’ve just been out for my first proper walk in three weeks, down to Asda to search for one of those Fray Bentos pies! How frustrating! Couldn’t find any.

By: McEff

McEff — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:24:37 +0000

I hope it didn’t spoil the pie.