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YORKSHIRE ROBIN HOOD SOCIETY SUMMARY 1983--2007

1983 Barbara Green asked to visit Sir John Armytage at Kirklees Hall. She is she is a District Nurse. She helps to nurse him through his last illness.

1983-4- Sir John RIP... I (BG) later asks Lady Armytage at a later date if she might visit Robin Hood's Grave as she recalls her father saying it is behind the Three Nuns Inn but no-one can visit it. Lady A takes BG and her mother to visit the grave.

1983-5- BG becomes interested in the legend and does research. She writes a book called Marian's Christmas Rose about MM with reference to Kirklees AND asks LA if she can bring the book to the Kirklees Annual Garden Party.

1986 Lady A and her "organiser " Mrs James pay an uninvited visit to BG’s home, Mrs James waves the book around and complains it mentions Kirklees. She says that it cannot be sold at Kirklees and that no-one can visit RHG at the garden party. Lady A remains silent through-out

1985 Ruth Harrington and BG form the Yorkshire Robin Hood Society

1985 Lady Armytage asked to become patron but declines.

1985 BG and RH are filmed by Look North in Shibden Park because Lady A wont allow film crew at the grave

1986 YRHS are in the National Press over a visit to Nottingham selling Marian Christmas Rose which caused a rumpus.

1987 Ruth and BG are filmed by TV for a programme called FAX in Wakefield library because they are again refused permission at KK (Kirklees) . It never gets broadcast.

1987 Ruth and BG visit London and meet John Pope de Locksley of the London Robin Hood Club and Lord famous vampire hunter who offers to become Patron of the YRHS which is accepted. VH is a "vampire hunter" they learn later, and descended from Lord Byron.

1988 Evelyn and BG are filmed for the BBC "People" but they are not allowed to go to the grave though the film crew are provided they dont say where it is. Our comments about the grave are edited out.

!985-1990 Several letters written to Lady Armytage asking if the YRHS can visit the grave and gatehouse. All letters either ignored or send back saying she is too busy.

1987 BG writes manuscript The Outlaw Robin Hood his Yorkshire Legend and takes it to Calderdale Council. Jane Branton Tourist Officer says it is good but they cant publish as they have to keep a "low profile" over Kirklees. Same happens elsewhere with other councils --for five years! Paul Sheenan the director of Calderdale said he had to protect Lady Armytage's privacy.AFTER CONSULTING WITH THE OWNER OF THE LAND!!!!!!!

1988- Ruth and BG summoned to Kirklees for interview with Lady Armytage and Martin Webster. Lady A says that THE " Robin Hood business is a nuisance" but agrees that the society can visit.

1988-90 Another letter s sent to Lady A to arrange visit which she does not reply to but Martin Webster the farm manager phones BG in a threatening way and says no visit was promised.

2)

1989--Drew Hartley visits BG with his cameraman wishing to make FILM of the local Robin Hood legend. This subsequently falls through due to threats he receives and other strange matters--his investigators were visited by men in black and much more--he abandons project.

1988----John Akins buys the Cornmmill on Wakefield Rd with plans to turn it into "Robin Hood hamlet." He requests info from the YRHS. Later he abandons this plan and says he wants nothing to do with Robin Hood (in 2005 a man who knew him from the Huddersfield Collectors said he had been "leaned on" by Calderdale Council not to publicise Robin Hood’s local connections )

1988 Trust House Forte build a new hotel nearby and the same situation as above. They say they cant put anything about RobinHood in as the grave is on private land.

1985--1990--Letters sent to English Heritage, National Trust, Save Britain's Heritage, Yorkshire Archaeological Society etc--all say the same--they cant do anything about the grave or gatehouse because it would upset Lady A's privacy.

1989 East Midlands Tourist Board published a brochure about Robin Hood Country and missed out the grave. BG contacted Peter Allan its chief officer and asked him why the grave had not been mentioned. He said Calderdale Council had forbidden them to put it in!!! BG said they could not stop him. Mr Allan said CC were acting on instructions from a "higher authority>"

1989 Tales of Robin Hood opened in Nottingham, they had asked BG for info on the grave. BG went to have a look and saw a picture of the grave and three locations for it which were not in Yorkshire! She asked the manager Graham Black why he had made this mistake and he said it was not a mistake--BG could not get a sensible answer from him!

1990---1992 During this time the YRHS got many reports of paranormal activity around the grave. The society asked the Church to do a blessing. Father John Flack agreed to do it but then got told off by the Bishop of Wakefield who had got a flea in his ear from Kirklees. Bishop Genders of CR did a blessing from Mirfield. Irate letter from the Bishop of Pontefract about the society’s concerns over the site being on a ley line etc, causing all the bad luck, witchcraft suspected of going on.

1991 Father Lionel Fanshaw from Fortean TV was going to come off but it was called off at the last minute.

1991 The Outlaw Robin Hood finally published by Kirklees Cultural Heritage.

1991 BG was asked to be on a TV programme about Kirklees but it was called off at the last minute and they got someone else.

1991 ONE SUCCESS--ZDF--A German tv company did a Robin Hood film and we were included, filming at Hartshead Church--they were allowed by the graveside but the YRHS weren't.

1991--YRHS did various radio broadcasts but there often seemed to be hitches, Evelyn had problems with Radio Leeds. Ian Clayton was asked by Drew about doing Robin Hood--she said he would love to but "they" wouldn touch it with a bargepole.

1991 Famous vampire hunter, YRHS patron, who is now a bishop of the Old Catholic Church, allegedly led a vampire hunt up to the graveside.

1992---1999---BG was ill with a heart complaint and also looking after her parents so nothing happened during these years.

3)

1998 BG GOT A COMPUTER . She attacked on an Internet Message Board the World Wide Robin Hood Society by John Armytage who accuses her of all sorts of nonsense , having got his "facts" from certain people and got the whole story muddled up. As can quite clearly be seen from the previous information and chronology, the YRHS met a brick wall of obstruction from the word go.

2002-- Bradford University approach the YRHS to assist in film about Robin Hood of Yorkshire.( In 2004 found out that the film ended up at the censors of Kirklees . )

2002 Outlaws and Nuns walks started, Yorkshire Robin Hood Society refused permission to promote their books and postcards by David Norcliffe, the head gamekeeper of Kirklees.

8.8.02 A letter written by David Hepworth was published on the Fortean Times Message Board with defamatory comments about BG. It was written to Famous vampire hunter who he told me he thought was crackers. BG met DH the day after he wrote this letter about her . BG thought they had sorted a few problems out with the Kirklees situation, that was why BG had asked for the meeting, but all the time he was going round her back writing tittle tattle, though he did not realise Famous vampire hunter was going to publish it! He gave BG no satisfactory explanation as to why he had written this derogatory letter, but by then he had moved onto Kirklees territory in some kind of gamekeeping/ minder capacity so he knew which side he bread was buttered.

2003 BG took part in Scream Team TV interview but wasn't allowed at Kirklees, but it actually went out on air. Scream Team was allowed an all night vigil at Kirklees when Famous vampire hunter had been refused. David Hepworth said they trespassed but this seemed very unlikely and Ronnie Buckingham their medium said they did not trespass.

2004 Discovered that the Bradford University project had ended up pn the Kirklees cutting room floor .

Attacks a gainst the YRHS especially GB , continue by people who dont know the true facts on message boards. All these old --and some barely shaving---professors from America, cap-doffing because they had been allowed to visit Robin Hoods Grave when a local historical group, the YRHS had always been refused--(which eventually led them to trespass., as Robin would have suggested they did himself!)

2004 BG attended International Conference for Outlaws Studies in York to try and sort the professors and suchlike out--lectured on the Prioress.

2004 Catherine Fearnley. a local woman, was given permission from Lady a to visit the grave, which struck her and BG as very odd, as LA usually only allowed "important" people access.

2004 Red Monkey Film Company ask to interview the YRHS for their film about Robin Hood of Yorkshire.

2005 Tony Robinson from Time Team allowed onto Kirklees and got on TV saying he had more or less made all these discoveries about Yorkshire and RHG . BG and CF find out from Richard Rutherford Moore that his research team had been told not to approach the YRHS. BG contacted the Researchers and they said they had been told to keep away from the YRHS as they were "dodgy" but wouldnt name names.

2005 David Farrant leads a blessing ceremony at the graveside, filmed by Red Monkey .

2007 Some kind of problem going on with Red Monkey film connected with footage taken at Kirklees and looking like a repeat performance of all that has gone before! Red Monkey refused to reply to any polite questions about what has happened, though it is rumoured Lady Armytage was being "difficult." As onLY a small bit of the film was done at the gravesite, it is hard to see what she ahs to do with it, or why

4)

simple reconstruction woudl not suffice, which does away with any interference from Kirklees altogether.

October 2007 Drew Hartley states that M15 have been involved and that the £50 million pound Heritage Fund is concerned that that Yorkshire Robin Hood connections will spoil the Nottingham Tourist Industry, and everyone in Notts will lose their jobs. He has this info from important people he meets while filming at Baftas.

November , 2007 . Red Monkey Film Company still refusing to answer e mails about why the film has not been amde.

FOR MORE INFORMATION READ SECRETS OF THE GRAVE BY BARBARA GREEN OR LOG INTO WWW, ROBINHOODYORKSHIRE.CO.UK