Camelot at Slack
Hebweb News: King Arthur ruled from Hebden Bridge! Retired Bangor University professor Peter Field claims to have found evidence showing King Arthur was a Yorkshireman who ruled Camelot from Slack above Hebden Bridge. See BBC News article (18 Dec)
From Diana Monahan
Monday, 19 December 2016
Dear Professor Field
The pre-history section of our Local History Society have been informed of the recent news that Camelot may have been located at Slack near Hebden Bridge.
The section think that the Slack referred to might be at Outlane, above Huddersfield, where quite a lot of work has been done, but these website all mention Slack near Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge and it has been picked up by our local HebWeb.
We would be delighted if there was evidence of a Roman fort and a Roman road from Chester to York at our Slack, but I fear that is not the case.
Regards
Diana Monahan
Secretary of Hebden Bridge Local History Society
From David Shepherd
Monday, 19 December 2016
Professor Field has apparently been researching the location of Camelot for 18 months.
Perhaps he should have spent a little more time researching Slack. There is a small Roman fort at Slack near Huddersfield, but not the one near Hebden.
Camelot? Not a lot.
From Tim M
Monday, 19 December 2016
This first appeared in the Daily Express? Case closed.
From Kez Armitage
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Well that's just shattered my dreams!
Wouldn't it have been great if Slack Bottom - the butt (no pun intended) of so many jokes - had got its own back in some way.
Just think, it could have been like this:
Happy Christmas to you all.
From Stephen Round
Wednesday, 28 December 2016
I was always somewhat puzzled by the fact that the Yorkshireman Robin Hood had a Welsh Longbow. I suppose this was because I came from a mining family and my mother being of Welsh extraction, it begged for further speculation. So, being a native of Yorkshire, and my mother's son I became fascinated by local Welsh place names and connections.
Before Cromwell visited us we even had the largest Castle ever constructed on this Island and, no surprise, or was there - it was named BrokenBridge or "Pontefract?" It sounds so Welsh. Apparently the stonemasons had to build a wooden fort before they built the Castle itself. Just down the road from the onetime location of Pontefract Castle is a small village called BurghWallis - meaning the village of the Welsh - Mysteries abound.
Over time I have come to maintain that Elmet or Caer Elmet is and was Camelot and I concluded that its location had to be somewhere hereabouts. I would have guessed that the location would be the Sheffield to Leeds locale so Welsh born Prof Peter Fields discovery in Huddersfield very nicely fits the bill.
Last year I was disappointed by the news of a motorway service station near Sheffield being located on the remains of a monastery dating from the dark ages. I felt sure that it would have been likely that there may have been some evidence of iron manufacturing on that site.
This would have linked the legends of the sword Excalibur and, perhaps explain the amazing survival of The Guild of Sheffield Cutlers to this day!
From David Shepherd
Wednesday, 28 December 2016
I'm reminded of Walshaw - Waeleshaugh to some - as an indication of pre-Roman occupants. No doubt I will be corrected by those more familiar with this period.
Welsh longbows - I dunno - this was the technology of the moment and would spread quickly.