Over £2000 was raised due to the generosity of the bidders and the excellent
auctioneering skills of Mr. Simon Chorley, to whom the society is very grateful.

The organizers would like to thank all those people who donated the variety of  items that made the auction so interesting.

Other fundraising events are being planned for later in the year, including the ever popular Poems and Pints evenings. This an ‘open house’ for anyone who wishes to read a poem or share a favorite piece of literature over a drink.

On this we can let all those that ‘like’ us, or any who are just curious about us, just what we are planning to do. It’s also a useful place for other people to let us know what they are doing.

At the moment we are compiling our ‘reading room’. Listing as many books about the Battle of Tewkesbury, The Wars of the Roses and related subjects as we can. Comments and reviews of any of these publications are welcome to be shared with all. Plus recommendations on any we could add to the list.

A lot has happened since the last update, at the beginning of the summer.
Communication has unfortunately been sporadic. We’ve been providing updates
on the internet, particularly through the series of progress videos put on ‘You-Tube’. But mail-outs to those who don’t have email, or we don’t have an email address for have been neglected. We apologise for this.

Construction

This summer has been far from ideal for working on the top of a hill in the Forest of Dean, standing on scaffolding out in the open air. So progress has not been as fast as we’d hoped. With the approach of winter, and no let-up in the rain, we have had to re-evaluate the completion date and are now realistically looking at an unveiling sometime between the battle anniversary, May 4th, and the Medieval Festival in July.
Despite having not met our original target, recent progress is reassuring. The first horse, ‘Victory’ is standing complete within the scaffolding gantry. The current work is focused on the rider. His torso is complete, bar cladding his helmet in copper, and his limbs are being shaped. Once this is finished, ‘Victory’ will be moved out of the gantry to make way for the second horse, ‘Defeat’. We think all the materials there and some of the preparatory work has already started on them.

In parallel with this, the lances and pennants are in manufacture. Diane has completed the designs for the pennants. These are based on artwork produced at Tirlebrook School in a day of workshops with the children. A local company, Kennard Engineering, have undertaken to produce all the metalwork for the project, including cutting the designs into the pennants. This has been done by laboriously transferring the designs to a computer, used to control a high velocity, high precision, jet of water. The results are extremely impressive. Kennard are carrying out all this work for us without payment. This ‘in kind’ donation is worth several thousand pounds to the project, and is the biggest single donation we’ve received so far.

The foundations for the sculptures are under active discussion with a Tewkesbury contractor and our structural engineer. We know pretty well what’s got to be done,
including some aspects of traffic management. So once we’re clearer about the erection date the foundation work will get under way.

Fundraising 

If the sums are correct, we still need to raise about £5,000. This is less than one tenth of the total. This assumes that we can reclaim the VAT, which we’re confident about, unless the government change the rules.

Fundraising has been varied and steady through the year. Events have included the ever popular ‘Poems and Pints’ evenings at Theoc House, our tombola stall at the Christmas lights festival, Bric-a-brac sales in the town hall and a very well attended barn dance at the Watson hall. All of which have help to raise both funds and awareness of the project.

On St. George’s day, April 23rd, there is to be a auction and quiz evening at Theoc House, Barton Street, Tewkesbury. Proceeds from items donated to the auction will help fund the final stages of work and allow us to dedicate this monument sometime in August.

It’s been a busy time. Membership of the ‘1471 Fraternity’ has now risen to 115 individuals and businesses, including five ‘gold’ members at  £1471 each. Quite a substantial sum, particularly when the gift aid is reclaimed.

And we’re always open to any other suggestions about fundraising.

One idea, which costs nothing if you buy on line, is to sign up go ‘Easyfundraising’ and order items through them. It makes no difference to your purchase price, but a small amount dose go to your chosen charity. Have a look at the web site:  http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and make ‘Tewkesbury Battlefield Society’ your chosen charity.
 We continue to make grant applications, but with very little success, and now even less expectation of success. Grants don’t seem to be designed for projects like ours. But we have now got a fine collection of very polite letters saying NO.
You Tube

Colin’s video project showing differing aspects of the project has to date produced eight You Tube videos. These have been viewed about 1,300 times to date. For your viewing either go to YouTube and type in ‘Arrival 1471’ to the search area or go to
http://youtu.be/xWNXExpszxw to see the latest video.

If you wold like to share any fund raising ideas with us,  please use our contacts page. Or if you would like to make a donation, why not joint the 1471 Fraternity.

One way is by becoming a member of the newly formed 1471 Fraternity and thereby make a donation to the funding for this monument.

Membership is available at three distinct levels, Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Gold Membership

Is granted to any person, family or organisation that donates £1471.00p

Silver Membership

Is granted to any person, family or organisation that donates £147-10p

Bronze Membership

Is granted to any person, family or organisation that donates £14-71p

On receipt of their donation each member of the fraternity will be issued with a certificate reflecting the level of their donation. They will also be kept informed on the progress of the project and, when the great day arrives be invited to the unveiling ceremony at the Stonehill roundabout.

It is envisaged that the monument will be constructed during winter 2011 and 2012. Donations would be appreciated as soon as possible. These will be added to the monies already raised and enable the work to progress smoothly to completion.

To become a member please see;  1471 Membership Form

or if you would prefer to make a donation, for any amount, why not make it by Pay Pal.

Visitors to the stall included our Patron, Robert Hardy, making his annual visit to Tewkesbury to formally open the Festival and lend his support to both Festival and Society alike.  During his visit, he took time to record a piece to camera for use in the film record of the sculptures project being compiled by local video artist Colin Bell.

The central theme for us this year was, of course, the commemorative Sculptures. These were officially launched just after the festival last year and has been the focus of our efforts ever since. This has involved many members of the society raising both funds and awareness of the project in general. As we have been planning, negotiating and talking about this for so many years it was a great joy to be able to describe, to the many people who have supported us, the positive progress that has been to date. It was also an excellent opportunity to explain the project to those who had not yet heard of it, and to tell them just how close we are to achieving our aims.

Sales of books, posters, t-shirts and raffles tickets on the stall were once again strong, with over £2275 being raised over the course of the weekend. Some of this was on behalf of the Festival, but most in aid of the sculptures fund.  Outside the tent, the latest variant of our trebuchet the ‘War Mouse’ withstood the elements and flung a steady stream of stuffed beanbag frogs in the general direction of target buckets, much to the entertainment of paying participants and onlookers alike.

Currently stocks of this publication are a little low due to continuing demand, but  the society is in the process of getting a third re-print into production and these should be available early 2013.

The Street Banners of Tewkesbury

In Tewkesbury the book is normally stocked by, Allison’s Bookshop, in the High Street. The Abbey shop, in the Abbey and the Tourist  Information Office near the Cross in the centre of the town, price £12.99.

Alternatively we can post copies to any UK address for £14.99, including postage and packing. Please send your address, order and cheque (payable to ‘Tewkesbury Battlefield Society’) to PO Box 147, Tewkesbury. GL20 9AP

If you are already a member of the Society copies are available for £10.00 each, or we can post you a copy for £12.00 inc. p&p. Please send your name, order and cheque to the above address.

Why not join the Society. £5.00 for individual membership and £10.00 for a book at the same time? This makes for even better value!

For purchases outside the UK please inform us of your address by use of our contacts page and instruct your bank to make a payment of £19.00 Sterling to, Tewkesbury Battlefield Society, Account No. IBAN GB22MIDL40441071312480, (BIC or Swift code MIDLGB2159H), HSBC bank plc, 11A High Street, Tewkesbury, GL20 5AP. UK. Asking that our bankers notify us when the money arrives. We will then post your copies to the address supplied.

If you have any problems with this purchase please contact the Treasurer at, brian.howgate@btinternet.com

He continues to have a very busy professional life as an actor as well as being involved in a number of historical organisations. He presumably also has a private life, so we’re very grateful for his support.

Mr. Hardy is, among many other things, a trustee of the Battlefields Trust. It was in this role that we first met him, at a Battlefields Trust conference in Swindon in 1997. He proved to be a great friend to our cause, which at that point was protecting the battlefield. Among other things, he appeared on a national radio program (Today) to explain the importance of Tewkesbury, and ran rings around the Councilor who was foolish enough to attempt to present the case for housing developments on battlefield sites. We hope that this new relationship will be a long and fruitful one.