Towton

[cnosni]

Towton Battlefield societyhttp://www.towton.org.uk/and my own picture of the famous Towton Treehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cnosni/5075399106 ... 3578436and some others around the area,including Lead Churchhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cnosni/3928395334 ... 376941980/

[TenDaysaLoiner]

Grew up in nearby village and used to ride my friend's horse up there, and walked and cycled up to there many times. We used to wander round the battlefield and Lead Church for the lulz, as kids in the 70s. Never saw a thing, myself.I heard a few years back (early-mid 2000s?) that someone was up there taking photos, researching a book and, taking photos randomly across the site claimed they "got something on film". How true that is, I don't know as I never saw the images and they weren't published, I don't think. The site seems to have been taken over by outsiders now who may enthuse about the history but can't even pronounce local villages' names, let alone have a clue about the local folklore. (Once went to one of their meetings where the person running it pronounced Barwick 'Bar-wick' - made 3 or 4 genuine born and bred locals in the room roll their eyes, but the rest of em were oblivious). It's a shame but most of the old locals are long gone, and the few left wouldn't probably talk much, as the culture in the villages round there when I was growing up was very much, you clam up when outsiders show up asking questions!The old farm nr Cold Hill has a barn conversion and I spoke to someone who had moved in there - this is only several years back - who told me they had been woken in the middle of the night by the sound of what they could only describe as 'soldiers marching' through the rooms beneath them and off up the hill. They weren't a local and hadn't known about the history of the area as that place isn't obviously 'Towton' although it is now thought the battlefield may well have encompassed that area.I don't know any other ghost stories re. Towton (although plenty of other stories!) but do know someone who saw an English Civil War period ghost in nearby Sherburn, in the 1970s, in a guinnel off Low St for anyone who knows the place. Also someone else who saw summat at Steeton Hall.

[majorhoundii]

There is said to be a unique rose that grows only in the Towton area - on the "Bloody Meadow" it has red and white petals - never seen it but it is supposed to exist http://www.peterboyd.com/rosapimp16.htm

[TenDaysaLoiner]

majorhoundii wrote: There is said to be a unique rose that grows only in the Towton area - on the "Bloody Meadow" it has red and white petals - never seen it but it is supposed to exist http://www.peterboyd.com/rosapimp16.htm As I say, I grew up in the next village. My mother was a rose collector (and also involved in the stuff they did up there on Palm Sunday, right back in the 50s and 60s). She had well over 100 different roses, and I suspect if that had really been around, as a local and from a well known farming family, she'd have been given one. I can't remember owt that looked like a wild rose, but I could be wrong. As I say, she had well in excess of 100 rose buses (mainly standards). I do know who will have had one in their garden, if it existed and wasn't just a wild rose - but they were elderly when I knew them, in the 1970s and those picturesque houses have long been bought by outsiders, although in those days there were lots of elderly folk who were actual locals. They'd have grubbed up anything that looked like a wild rose maybe in the 80s, when the outsiders started moving in.In other words - if one existed, I'm fairly certain my mother would have had one. And I don't recall one.    Mind you, if she did have one it's possible it still exists in what was our old garden.

[somme1916]

Bluemax wrote: I have not seen any thread discussion on this area which is a must for anyone interested in the un explainable. I have had many rambles around this area and witnessed a number of how to say occurances of which I have no explanation. If you head from Lotherton on the B1217 heading towards the village of Towton, stop by the cross on your left, you can park here, if you then walk on the path to where there is now a notice board that gives details of the battle itself, here to the left of the notice board is a gate, go over the gate and head down the hill, when down there stop and wait, at this time of year there is normally a mist in the early evening, this seems to be when you will experince only what I can call occurances of what I cannot explain, I have never felt frightened from my visits here however on my last visit last year in early December I went down there at 17:00 and after what I thought was 30 minutes i came back up the hill only to notice my watch saying 20:00, I have no idea how this happened. One thing that seemed to happen a number of times that while I am stood in the mist, I fellt a wind blowing past me, there seemed to be an odd smell here in the mist, again never experinced anywhere else.Another area where I feel different is a wooded area, if you go to the pub in Towton there is a road which runs by some houses, follow this road, it changes into a track later but head to wards the woods on the left hand side, again early evening, from my experince seems to be the best time, head into the woods and find a place to stand and make sure there are no trees or bushes near you, you will feel a sense of others in the wood, it will be very quiet and normally misty and you may feel what you think is people moving past you, the temperatures seem to change from cold to very cold.Again I cannot explain what I experinced here and I am not making claims of seeing ghosts or the like, it is the sensations that you feel while in these places. I read in a very old history book in York libary that this wood was a burial site or mass grave for both people and animals killed in the battle.Please take care if you visit these places, let someone know where you are going and when you will be back home.Blue Max I find the whole Towton story fascinating and feel it has a long course to run.....the sheer carnage and bloodiness always lends to the "atmosphere" and creates intrigue as to the actual events on the day......the only more recent comparison i could imagine was the bloody day on the somme 1st july 1916....the carnage that day was better documented but just as,if not moreso,harrowing for the appalling loss of human life.....lest we forget

[book]

It's fascinating and scary. I'll have to go visit Towton for a good walk. I hadn't realised that many died in the battle.

[cnosni]

TenDaysaLoiner wrote: majorhoundii wrote: There is said to be a unique rose that grows only in the Towton area - on the "Bloody Meadow" it has red and white petals - never seen it but it is supposed to exist http://www.peterboyd.com/rosapimp16.htm As I say, I grew up in the next village. My mother was a rose collector (and also involved in the stuff they did up there on Palm Sunday, right back in the 50s and 60s). She had well over 100 different roses, and I suspect if that had really been around, as a local and from a well known farming family, she'd have been given one. I can't remember owt that looked like a wild rose, but I could be wrong. As I say, she had well in excess of 100 rose buses (mainly standards). I do know who will have had one in their garden, if it existed and wasn't just a wild rose - but they were elderly when I knew them, in the 1970s and those picturesque houses have long been bought by outsiders, although in those days there were lots of elderly folk who were actual locals. They'd have grubbed up anything that looked like a wild rose maybe in the 80s, when the outsiders started moving in.In other words - if one existed, I'm fairly certain my mother would have had one. And I don't recall one.    Mind you, if she did have one it's possible it still exists in what was our old garden. There was such a rose,but it was an engineered hybrid,notnatural.Im not sure,but i seem to recall there are no examples left.

[Si]

Ping!!!

[cnosni]

Si wrote: Ping!!! You da man.Si,am going to National Archives on Tuesday,looking up WW1 medal Rolls.Can you email the details of the chap you had who was in the Dukes and ill see what i can find,if anything.