Fulford Battlefield Research Website

Media releases
 Recording the events of September 1066

The Fulford Tapestry Website

In the news

National Geographic The story of the recycling sites at Fulford

Walking to Waltham Abbey  

On BBC Radio 4

The Story from The Press in York

1. 14 September 2003 I have a letter published in the local paper about the need for developers to pay attention to public objections. This appeal was ratehr prescient as it turned out.
2. Fulford Battlefield Society secures first round funding from the Lottery Heritage Initiative - 18 September 2003
3. I have sent these documents to The Independent, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph and their Sunday co-publications to draw attention to the battle in the context of a Green Paper.
4. A detailed update sent to to all the media during the Autumn 2004.
5. With decisions looming, details of  the finds were sent to the media.
6. Early May 2005 a programme of many events being organised by the Fulford battlefield Society is released.
7. Prior to the Planning Meeting to decide on the development, this release was sent to  local and national media on 16 May 2005
8. A release was posted to all of the broadcast and newspapers on 27th May 2005 following the decision by COYC to approve the development. It was a pack with much information and links to other resources. As far as I know, no stories about Fulford resulted.
9. Published in local press on 28 May 2005 asking why planning meeting give so many privileges to developers and make it hard for objectors. I found myself writing a similar letter after the public inquiry.
10. Sent to the presenter of BBC series that failed to mention Fulford when discussing 1066. 9 November 2005
11. 27 February 2006 - I sent this to all the leading Norwegian and Icelandic  papers. I did several interviews in Iceland but nothing from Norway. I even went to talk to the National Broadcaster in Oslo when I was talking to archeologists there - this was after they ignored my letters and phone calls but they declined to talk to me!
12. 30 June 2006 - Personal letter to Guardian Environment editor John Vidal offering info on a series they were running, but there was no response.
13. 7 May 2007 - Write to John Humphries at BBC to congratulate him and follow up on his award speech. Ask why the battle of Fulford can't get any publicity - Letter is acknowledged but no stories result.
14. 13 May 2007 - News of the public inquiry decision to allow the road construction to go ahead.
15. A lucky find suggest that another part of the 1066 landscape has survived undisturbed. September 2009
16. This release, or a minor variant has been sent out each year with details of the events to mark the memorial of the battle in September. The story continues to attract no attention from the new media. It has gone out with some glossy photos in some years.

But there have been some successes:

BBC TV made a 5 minute film about the site for their local news

BBC Radio 4 Midweek, hosted by Libby Purves, talked about the battle and the tapestry we were making

BBC Radion4 Loose Ends - a travel programme with Sandy Tosvig - talked about my walk from Fulford towards Hastings, sleeping in the woods along the way. 

August 2010

Road signs were erected on the A19. They were placed just to the north (the English side) and the south (the Norse side). 

BUT

I have worked with journalist working for national paper titles to write stories about the battle of Fulford but none of these has ever made it passed the sub-editor and been published.

Two film companies have felt it worth while investing in research and even short pilots to submit to the History Channel - Both projects failed since nobody has heard of Fulford. Isn't one of the important roles of the media to inform them about matters?

The Yorkshire Post has been an exception to the criticism of the media since they have carried almost all of the releases and stories. I have also worked with some excellent journalists from The Time and Daily Telegraph so it is their editorial department that have blocked stories. 

I am disappointed that stories i sent to the more liberal papers such as the Guardian/Observer and the Independent have been ignored. I tried hard to get these journals to pick up the story about  the public inquiry with phone calls and letters but had no response.

Not everything that was sent out managed to get published. Here are some of the pieces that were 'spiked' by editors.

• An essay asking who is doing the planning and why nobody has the job of exploiting the potential of the area SE of York.
• As the public inquiry opened I tried to explain the quaint and frankly misleading way words are used in the planning process.