I’ll make two posts with a double whammy of Richarding, because they will be on the trail of two different Richards: Armitage and the Third.
Richard Armitage was born on 22 August, which is the day that King Richard III died. His dad being keen on history, Baby Armitage was named after the much maligned king – who died in Leicestershire, which is where the Armitage family resided at the time (and, as far as anyone knows, still do).
In October 2011, on the way back from Banbury where we had spent the night, being in no particular hurry, we stopped by in Stratford-upon-Avon, because it was on the way. Stratford is the home of William Shakespeare, bard extraordinaire.
Also, home of the Royal Shakespeare CompanyKing Richard III is of course much maligned because of the Shakespeare play. Anyway. Continuing our way home to Nottingham, we discovered there was still much left of the day and we were going to pass by Market Bosworth, and thought we could always stop by at the Battle of Bosworth Heritage site for some more history. After all, this is where the King met his maker in 1485.
As it happens, the heritage site isn’t exactly where the actual battle was, as they’ve come to realise. Still, we had a nice walk around the area, and I even managed to find a couple of twigs on the ground to bring back with me and make into wands. As I was participating in the King Richard Armitage fan art event, I was happy to find a piece of ivy. Ivy is the Celtic tree month of Richard III. 🙂
The other twig I got was hawthorn, which, as it turns out, is also connected to Richard III. His crown, according to myth, was found on a hawthorn bush! (There are apparently no contemporary sources confirming this, hence “myth”.) If you want to know what happened to that twig, see Hawthorn Wand 25 and Hawthorn Wand 28. 🙂
It was a nice day, and a nice outing. I wonder if it’s a standard outing for Leicestershire school children, in which case, I guess we know who’s been there at least once! Okay, it depends on when they set up the heritage site, but still.
Here are some pictures from Bosworth:
Next time, we’re paying a visit to Leicester and the Richard III exhibition. 🙂
Hi, I’m from Nottingham, but I’ve lived in Leicester since I was 10. I can confirm that all, or most Leicestershire school kids visit Bosworth Battle Field at some point.
Also, I live in Huncote were Richard Armitage is from, and I’ve heard through the grape vine that he still has some family here who he visits, although I’ve never been lucky enough to spot him!
Guess there’s always a place where kids nearby always have to visit no matter where you are in the world. Thanks for confirming this one! 🙂 If you live in his actual home town (or village), at least in theory you might catch a glimpse at some point. Lucky you!