Digging up the past

There are interesting developments regarding the Battle of Bosworth. New finds from the archaeological dig have, I think, persuaded all but the most hard-bitten of traditionalists that the battle was fought a mile or two further to the south-west of the existing site. Having visited the new battleground with camera and notepad, I found it to a be a field like any other. That will soon be rectified, no doubt, pending permission from the landowner. However, all the cannon shot and belt buckles in the world will not tell us exactly why Richard III was defeated by a rag tag and bobtail set of mercenaries on August 22, 1485. No doubt someone was paid off handsomely for playing the deadly political game of duplicity.

I do hope that if any memorials are erected on this new site, it will only be for the brave warrior king and not the Tudor usurper. One wonders just exactly where on this field Henry was skulking when the final gratuitous blows were struck against the last of the Plantagenets. (Pic: Richard's standard on Ambion Hill)