A Piece of England and All That

From the Telegraph:

In this case, Jonathan is coming along for one day to tell me all about it, then I'm on my own. Right now he is grimacing at English Heritage's excellent audio guide to the Battle of Hastings site; me too. It explains why, by sundown on October 14 1066, this vast, tussocky arena was strewn with 7,000 corpses, English and Norman.

You can hear the clash of battle axes, imagine the English locking shields to form a wall and the Normans pretending to flee (it worked – the wall broke in pursuit). Harold, as it turns out, was a tall, respected warrior with a girlfriend called Edith Swan-Neck. Frankly, anyone who can spend all day carrying a shield that heavy – we know, because you can lift a full-sized replica in the Visitor Centre (instructions in French and English) – is no wimp.