Woman calls to keep East Stoke pathway clear to battlefield
A woman travelled from Australia to visit the site of the last battle of the War of the Roses.
Anne Crebald, from Perth, had to turn back because the path to the site was impassable.
She travelled to East Stoke with her grandson and wrote a letter of complaint to the Parish Council.
She wrote: "We were dismayed to discover our way was barred because of weeds blocking our way.
"The site is of great historical interest and importance. I would encourage the council to make the area more easily accessible."
The Battle of Stoke Field took place on June 16, 1487, and was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne from the houses of Lancaster and York.
The battle, in which 7,000 were killed, ended in defeat for the Yorkists.
Kevin Winter, chairman of the East Midlands branch of the Battlefields Trust, said: "You can’t truly understand how a battle plays out until you stand on the ground and see how it lies. That is particularly true of East Stoke.
"When you do, you can picture the troops withdrawing downhill to Red Gutter and being pulled down by the armour or padded jerkins and drowning.
Mr Winter said the trust had contacted the rights of way officer at Nottinghamshire County Council to try to establish whose responsibility it was to clear the path.
"I went down there in June and it was passable,” he said. “By the time I went back on August 3 trees had grown across the path.
“We would urge landowners to keep rights of way open.
"We can’t know how many people try to visit the site because we can’t stand there and count them, but the battlefield is there, or should be there, to be discovered."
The trust provided five interpretation panels on the site telling the story of the period, the battle, and defining moments within it.
East Stoke Parish Council said it had been in touch with the county council to find a resolution.
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