Two new Vice Chairmen Two Vice Chairmen of the King Harold Day Society have been appointed. They are Isabelle Perrichon and Dave Giles, both of whom have been involved since the beginning. Dave is Site Manager and Isabelle handles design and printing and is our liaison with Bayeux.

Art Competition Winners Results of the 2008 KHD Schools’Art Competition:-Key Stage 1 -Interpretation of theme - Leverton Infant & Nursery SchoolInvolvement of students - Hillhouse SchoolKey Stage 2 -Interpretation of theme - Upshire SchoolInvolvement of students - Hillhouse School_______________________________

Tidings from Edith Swan-Neck Rumour has it that Garth the Guilty will once again be put in the stocks on King Harold Day, after an absence for the last couple of years when he has been keeping the king’s laws. So have your wet sponges ready. This time, though, Garth is determined to have a change of clothes with him. I hear tidings that the Grinnigogs and Sweete Harmonie will be with us again at King Harold Day 2009. So their lovely music will again echo through the Gardens. Isabelle has long wanted us to have a Norman re-enactment group, and this year we have found one. The Household will set up their camp, and will take part in combat in the Arena. Chingford Morris Men will be at King Harold Day for the first time, and will perform their Mummers’ Play, one of the few entertainments we had in the 11th century.

King Harold Day 2009will be on Saturday 17th October

10.00am to 4.00pmin the Abbey Gardens, Waltham Abbey.

Last year’s KHD huge success “Better than ever” - that was the comment that appeared in the newspapers and was on everyone’s lips after KHD 2008. For the fifth year the weather was kind to us, the sun shone, and there was a really happy atmosphere as over 5,000 people enjoyed a great day out. The attractions included a living history group, the Company of Saint Joseph; two bowmen from Feudal Archers; PL Falconry’s eagles, hawks and owls; Epping Archers with long queues all day to take part in have-ago archery; Sweete Harmonie, a group of female medieval singers; and The Grinnigogs, four medieval musicians. The English Companions were there to tell people about Anglo Saxon life. There were lots of new stalls in the Craft Fair. There were bees in an observation hive from Pebadale Apiaries, and small animals from Lee Valley Park Farms. Annette Banks displayed her embroidery of the Bayeux Tapestry, and John Sothcott his replica musical instruments. There were exhibitions from Epping Forest District Museum, Waltham Abbey Historical Society and the Ray Sears Photographic Collection. There were many hands-on activities for children, including a painting and drawing competition run by Lee Valley Regional Park’s education team. As in previous years, the Abbey Church tower was open for visits; the art on a 1066 theme produced by local schools was on display in the Lady Chapel; and Barbara Utting was demonstrating bread making. An outstanding concert, part of the Church’s Music for Lunch series, saw the Byron Consort from Harrow School perform a selection of music by Thomas Tallis, Director of Music at Waltham Abbey from 1538 to 1540. For the first time, there was a procession of all the costumed performers and traders through the Abbey Gardens to the Harold Memorial Stone, where the usual ceremony of placing flowers on the stone took place. White Roses of York were laid on behalf of Stamford Bridge, and Steve Pollington gave a speech in Old English. The guard of honour was provided by Waltham Cross Detachment, Army Cadet Force. The King Harold Day Society is grateful to all who took part, helped in

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Harold’s Times

Statue of Harold and Edith Swan-neck at St Leonards-on-Sea

Thanks to new member, Sherifa Rashidally, (see below), we have learnt of a statue of King Harold and Edith Swan-neck located on the seafront at St Leonards-on-Sea. Our Treasurer, Paul Fury, got searching on the internet and found a website called Public Sculptures of Sussex http://www.publicsculpturesofsussex.co.uk/object?id=43 which gives quite a lot of information about the statue.

Sadly, as you will see from this picture, the statue has seen better days. Its seafront position has exposed it to salt, sand and bad weather, and it is beginning to crumble. Still worth a visit if you’re in that part of the world, though.

Exciting new development for King Harold Day When the Society was invited to attend the Bayeux festival last year, our two representatives, Isabelle Perrichon and Tony O’Connor, were very impressed with its Book Fair. We decided a Book Fair would add to King Harold Day, and we are to start in a small way this year. We are negotiating with several authors who we hope will attend, and are delighted to confirm that Paul Doherty has accepted. Paul has written a number of books on historical subjects, many of them medieval, both fiction and non-fiction. Waltham Abbey Library is also interested in taking part. So come and enjoy the Book Fair on 17th October, and buy one of Paul’s

any way, or gave financial donations, particularly the great support from Lee Valley Regional Park and Waltham Abbey Town Council.

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King Harold DayA Medieval Festival to

Printed & Published by the King Harold Day Society,

23 Ward Avenue, Grays, Essex, RM17 5RE.

Tel: 01375 374786.E-mail:

king_harold_day@btinternet.comWebsite: www.kingharoldday.co.uk

Friends’ member sends us Harold poem.

Sherifa Rashidally, a new member of the Friends of King Harold Day, has sent us a poem she wrote last year about the last Saxon King.

“For where you lie beneath the heavensUpon these pastures green

Hath time no mercy to stop for just a whileAnd show us where you have been.

For near a thousand yearsWhere you have slept beneath the mossy ground

And those from near and far have searchedAnd yet your tomb has not been found.

O was it taken from the briny shoreAnd taken to a hallowed spot

Or was it left to look across the Sussex shoreTo perish in the centuries past and for the sea to claim and rot.

And thou Harold from thy throne that you were tornTo battle on that fateful day

When Norman lords did fell you downSuch a cruel and wasted price you had to pay.

Yet on this day upon your birthWe ponder yet in silence to your name

And let our thoughts go yonder to an age gone byWhen thou Harold to the English throne thou came.”

Paul Dohertyauthor of medieval mysteries

will give a lecture about the era of King Harold

on Saturday 10th October at 7.30pm

in the Abbey Church Centre, Waltham Abbey Gardens.

Further details soon, but book the date in your diary now.

King Harold Day is losing two good friends this year. At the end of February, Eric Wilton left LVRPA for a new job in Durham. Eric, Senior Ranger, Lee Valley Park South, had worked with KHD since the second year. In June, Richard James, Town Clerk of Waltham Abbey, is to retire. Richard has been with us right from the start. We thank both of them for the great help they have always given us, and wish them well for the future.

Join the Friends of King Harold Day Show your support for Waltham Abbey’s medieval festival by becoming a Friend of King Harold Day. The subscription is £10 per annum, which also gives you free entry to King Harold Day, and we will keep you informed of what the Society is arranging.

King Harold Day, Waltham Abbey’s Medieval Festival commemorating Harold II, The last Saxon King of England, who was killed at the Battle of