From the Postbag / Inbox

Received yesterday. The CD is lovely, especially Edward's Lament, so haunting and sad.

Regards, 

~ E. Levene, 02.03.11

Dear Abi,

Thank you for the information on Amazon.com.  

I have been meaning to contact you since I received the DVD about Middleham to tell you how much I enjoyed it.  We went to Middleham in 2002 but it was difficult  to imagine the castle as complete while looking at the ruins.  Now I can and I learned a lot about castles in general.

Thank you to you and your family for all of  your hard work.

~ M. Doucet-Rosenberger, 11.08.10

Dear Abi

Just to say how much I enjoy the Sandal Castle CD - particularly 'Heir to the Throne' and 'Edward's Lament. It's very beautiful and haunting. Thank you.

Regards

~ C. Parker, 12.04.10

Dear Abigail,

Just a quick - and rather belated - note to say many thanks for the CD of my talk you sent me. It's only on rare occasions that I'm able to 'listen to myself', and I found it a very useful experience.

Hope your DVDs sell well,

Thanks again,

~ D. Baldwin, 05.04.10

Dear Abigail,

I really enjoyed the latest dvd on Sandal castle, I shall let my friends see it and encourage them to get their own copies.

Look forward to hearing your latest news. Thanks.

Regards,

~ F. Price, 06.03.10

The DVD of Sandal Castle is fabulous.  I shall be showing to my retired school teacher friend, who taught at Sandal Endowed School.

~ B. Clifton, 28.02.10

Dear Abigail     DVD was received first post yesterday..thankyou.  I thought I must let you know, how much I enjoyed it!  Only one word for it.....excellent!!!!  Don't know how it was done, but it is brilliant.  I thought I new the story and I have visited Sandal Castle many times, but I have learned a lot more from the DVD...thanks.

Kind regards

~ B. Naylor, 27.02.10

ps.   the music is brilliant too!  well done!

Dear Abigail Fox

Thankyou so much for the Middleham DVD. I have watched it twice with the greatest enjoyment, and look forward to showing it to family and friends.

I greatly admired the wealth of fascinating detail, the extraordinary beauty of the special effects taking us back to the 15th C, and the excellent historical knowledge and understanding. I also loved the delightful and atmospheric music.

My passion is medieval history, in particular Ricadian, but infact I wish much more of our unsung heritage could receive such care and interest. I have truly appreciated your excellent production, and thankyou very much for all your expertise and effort 

Wishing you the very best of luck for any future enterprises,

Regards,

~ B. Gaskell Denvil, 03.01.10

Dear Abigail,

I have now watched Sandal castle dvd with my mom.

It was really brilliant!!!! And the short appearence of king Richard's "voice" was VERY COOL!!!!!!! He was like talking beyond his grave. Aaah. Simply amazing idea!

Merry christmas to all of you and happy new year!!!

~ R. Nikko, 24.12.09

Dear Abigail,

Just a few lines to say thank you for your excellent service regarding the Sandal Castle DVD I ordered from you. It was a gift for my wife who is  a member of the Richard 3 Society and will complement the Middleham DVD of yours that she already has. All that remains is for me to wish yourself and all at Loyalty Binds Me a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

P.S. We look forward to the next DVD in the series. Keep up the good work.

Best wishes 

~ P. Heywood. 13.12.09

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that I received the DVD on 6/18. I watched it and I wanted to tell you that it was fantastic! Please put me on your list to notify when the next one comes out. Thankyou for such a fantastic production.

~ K. Castonguay, 20.06.09

DEAR MS. FOX.....

IT ARRIVED!!.... and WHAT a treasure!!  Wonderful... wonderful... wonderful!!!  So much to see (and hear!), I couldn't take it in fast enough!  I will happily watch it again, and again.... and I am VERY glad I don't have to return it to a library?!!   It was absolute perfection....and so professionally done!  I just can't tell you how pleased I am!  It should be required viewing in EVERY school in Britain, I should think, and I hope some day it WILL be?!  (Mr. Fox is a NATURAL at presentation, and your music is lovely!)  Oh, DO say they will be selling it in the gift shop at Middleham at LEAST!  Something this great should not be hidden away?!   It's obvious it was a labor of love from all of you, and you have worked so hard on it.  NO ONE could have done it better!  I must give you my heartiest congratulations.  Not one minute of film was wasted, and it all came together perfectly?!  You made it look easy, and yet I know so much effort has gone into it's making.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  It was so good to see Middleham again..... and the Castle walls.... I miss it so much.  And the computer reconstruction was magical!  I wanted to stay in there and wander about from room to room forever!  It would've been nice if Middleham Castle could've stayed in one piece, something like nearby Bolton.  I would love to go back in time, to see it as it really was.   But this being the nearest, and next best thing........ I will treasure it always!  Please thank everyone for me, and tell them that they must be VERY proud of their wonderful little DVD!!  Really, really, really professional!!  GOOD JOB!   (And THANK YOU for saying the Richard statue should GO!  I have never liked it either!!)

BEST WISHES TO ALL OF YOU..... WITH MANY THANKS,

~ LINDA WHITE, 26.03.09

Dear Abi,

Many thanks, the DVD arrived yesterday - amazingly quickly - and I watched it last night. It is fantastic, I really enjoyed it and look forward to more in the series.

Thank you again,

~ J. McSorley, 27.11.08

Dear Abigail,

Thanks for checking that I received the Middleham DVD - I meant to email you to say it arrived safe and sound last week, but somehow it slipped my mind...

I've watched it already of course and found it very interesting (and am looking forward to rewatching it soon!).  The castle is so much larger and grander than I expected even from photos and reading about it - I'm really looking forward to visiting it some time next summer, perhaps for the annual service to commemorate Richard's death, if they'll be holding one in the church as I think they usually do?

Thanks again and kind regards,

~ R. Salbashian, 27.10.08

Dear Abi

Yes, thank you very much - it arrived very speedily.  I enjoyed it very much - especially the computer reconstructions - very impressive.  I can't wait to see the real thing one day.

I look forward to the Sandal's Castles/Battle of Wakefield DVD next year.

Thank you for your excellent service.

Best wishes.

~ C. Parker, 10.10.08

Abi Fox,

The DVD arrived and we have been enjoying watching it. A number of years ago we were able to spend a night in Middleham Castle with the permission of English Heritage. Seeing the computer generation of the facilities enlivened the memories of our reactions to having been alone in the facility. It would be wonderful to fully restore Middleham as a means to teach, preserve, and experience life as it was lived six hundred years ago.

Thank you.

~ C. Hild, 20.08.08

Dear Abigail,

Just had to let you know I have just watched the DVD on Middleham Castle and it's absolutely brilliant!! It is amazing to be able to see what it would have looked like in Richard and Anne's time and the CG images are just stunning.

We did visit Middleham once when we went to Yorkshire for a holiday but that is quite some time now.  My love of anything historical but especially mediaeval and Richard III stems from an extremely enthusiastic history teacher.  I've lost count of the books I've read about him, many of which are in our bookcase and I dip into them and re-read them often, and I can't remember when I became a member of the Richard III Society as that's a long time ago as well.

Again all credit to everyone who produced the DVD from the narration to the music was excellent, and I really look forward to seeing the next one in the series.

Best regards

~ C. McDowell, 16.08.08

I got the DVD very fast and looked at it immediately.  I left on a short vacation the next day is why you haven't heard from me.  I absolutely love it and think you are all so very creative and informative.  I am a Fitzrandolph descendant (If genealogy over all those centuries is accurate) I also have a Ph.D in European History and my husband is an architect. There is something there for me in all my roles and my husband - and my daughters who also majored in history.  Again, your efforts are greatly appreciated.

~ S. Nay, 03.06.08

Received and watched already - excellent job, thanks.

Regards,

~ S. Harrison, 15.05.08 

Hi Abigail,

Received and watched the DVD..can't wait to go there in person! Maybe this fall if the dollar and the stock market rebound! When id the Sandal Castle DVD going to be finished? Looking forward to it!

Thank you,

~ J. Cannon, 30.04.08

Hi Abigail,

The DVD arrived safe and sound thank you. It was a present for my mother and she loves it. She must have watched the DVD half a dozen times already!!

Kind Regards

~ L. Dowson, 28.04.08

Dear Abigail,

Thank you. Received it Tuesday or Weds - cannot recall which. Watched it immediately and enjoyed it immensly. I look forward to your DVD on Sandal Castle which is of particular interest as I was born and brought up in Wakefield. As a child I spent many hours trying to imagine what the castle would have been like in the Middle Ages.

Best Wishes,

~ J. Kennard, 11.04.08

Dear Abigail,

I am delighted to report that the DVD arrived safely this morning - however,its arrival generated the 2008 Battle of Northampton! On one side we had myself, and on the opposing side a west highland dog who felt he was justified in going on his morning constitutional without the Boss delaying things whilst she watched the DVD!  A compromise was reached, the dog had a rather hurried march round the park with the promise of a longer walk later, then he slept in the sun whilst I watched the DVD with a cup of coffee!

Absolutely delighted with it - many thanks indeed for sending it so promptly - it will make my next visit to Middleham far more interesting.

Kindest Regards,  

~ G. Strachan 09.04.08

Dear Abigail,

What a wonderful film - I enjoyed every minute of it. This is clearly a labour of love :-) and it shows in every detail, from the first survey of the Yorkshire countryside to the comments on Richard's character.

The way you made the statue disappear made me smile. What was that woman thinking anyway?? 

Best wishes to you all and the best of luck for your future projects.

Kindest regards,

~ I. Augustin, 02.04.08

Hello Abigail,

We have received and watched the dvd.  It is very good and well worth watching.  After visiting Middleham many times and being interested in Richard III it was facinating to see how the castle would have looked.  We look forward to any future dvd's you release.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

~ Patricia and Peter Warwick, 24.03.08

Abigail

Yes, arrived safely, thank you.

I enjoyed it very much and look forward to further DVDs in the collection.

Regards

~ J. Saunders, 17.03.08

Thank you, yes.  I was intending to contact you shortly.  I ordered it on behalf of my mother, who is a member of the Ricardian Society.  The DVD arrived very quickly, and she has now watched it, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Regards, 

~ A. Holder, 17.03.08

Good afternoon Abigail,

DVD arrived safely. We have watched it twice. Excellent.

We see something new each time we watch it. Plenty to talk about.

We will now be revisiting Middleham in summer.

Are you planning any more of Richard's residents?

Look forward to them. Please let us know.

Regards

~ T & M Durkin, 15.03.08

Received the DVD at the weekend and watch it tonight, very good.

Thanks for the help

~ N. Houltby, 03.03.08

Hi Abigail, me again. Just to let you know we all enjoyed the DVD very much and thought it very well executed and well worthwhile. There were so many little things that we didn't now before - the extra height added on being one of them  - and it really brought the whole thing to life with the computer generated reconstructions - marvellous. We also thought the music fitted beautifully and spotted that it was your work and were very impressed!

It was funny how we all cheered when That Statue disappeared with a click of the fingers! (It has a great face, but that HORRIBLE THING on his back.... ugh!) And know we are now all looking forward to the Sandal Castle edition. Thank you and good wishes, 

~ A. Ayres, 03.02.08

Dear Abigail & all the team,

Received my copy of the Middleham DVD today (Friday 25th January) & viewed it twice.

It was absolutely superb, excellent & fascinating in every detail.  I have visited the castle three times over the past ten years - all on extremely hot August days - so I always came away with a warm glow. After watching this film I felt the same lovely warm glow, so thank you for reviving those happy memories once more.

I thought the choice of background music was excellent - it conveyed a very poignant atmosphere both to the ruins & the surrounding beautiful countryside.

Another great touch was air-brushing that monstrous & ugly statute of Richard 111 out of the film -  WELL DONE!!!

I shall look forward to further DVD's in the Richard 111 collection.

Kindest Regards,

~ J. Rose, 25.01.08

Dear Abigail,

My husband Michael Tirone recently purchased your DVD for my American Richard III Society chapter. Very well done, concise historical references, and hope there will be more to come in this series.It has been many years since visiting the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside and am pleased to see that the old castle has been fitted out nicely for visitors without destroying its soul. Except for the dread statue. Thanks for sending it into exile. On film at least!

Best,

~ R. Tirone, 22.01.08

Dear Abigail, the video was superb; we loved it and watched it twice. It is a breakthrough both for castles and RIII. How often have I wished that those ruins could be rebuilt to give a real idea of the workings of a castle. But how to do it without destroying the evidence; computer graphics of course. But it has been done so well. You managed to do it without sentimentality but nevertheless with soul. And so wise to avoid that dreadful Tudor music that tends to accompany anything medieval on TV. Your music was poignant and beautiful and utterly suited to the site of Middleham 

The work which went into it must have been enormous but, alas, your public cares not. They just want the next one and the next one and so on. And don't forget that Richard was Constable of the most photogenic ruin of all in our area of Dorset, Corfe Castle!

So thank you and I will encourage anyone I know to buy it.

Best wishes

~ C. Rees, 20.01.08

Hi Abigail

Yes, it arrived at the start of the week and I watched it the same evening.  Very enjoyable!  Let me know when the next one comes out. 

~ G. Leiper, 19.01.08 

Hello, all you many Foxes!

The DVD arrived on Monday evening, and even my six-year-old daughter insisted on watching it all before dinner. We were all fascinated - and my husband usually doesn't give a hang for history - and completely entertained. It's a beautiful presentation and well worth all your efforts to produce it.

We watched it again after dinner. Especially gratifying is the CG sequence assembling the Great Hall, from bare stone walls to whitewash, fittings and furniture and the hearth - and voila, there's the hall I've been literally pining to see. I can't thank you enough. (I'm not gushing - these things are important to me. When I discovered that the bones of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine had been scattered during the Revolution and irretrievably lost, I burst into tears; I was so set on the idea of finding some clue to her appearance, and now we'll never know)  

As for history, I'm glad your dad's assessment of the key personnel confirms my own amateur conclusions. In shaping up the main points of the story - for a script - my "villain" is necessarily a hydra of Lancastrians, most probably organized by Morton. Morton corkscrewing the first councils of the Protectorate and needling Hastings, pulling strings on the fat-headed Buckingham (I mean, really, 'souvente me souvene'?), Morton maneuvering with Henry Tudor across the Channel and with Margaret Beaufort in London, pressing Stanley (who it seems didn't need much pressure to betray Richard), Morton like a malevolent puppeteer arranging for the crowning of Henry Tudor - by whatever means necessary. I suppose, given the demands of dramatic presentation, that I've got to find a way to get him to make an appearance at Bosworth - I can't pin down where he was on August 22nd, but no matter. Mel Gibson made Edward the First breath his last as Wallace hollers Freedom! and no one squawked about that bit of rearrangement.

Well - forgive me for going on at length. There aren't many people in my circles here in LA who have the slightest interest in news that's over 500 years old, so it's lovely to connect with people who do.

Take care, all of you, and keep in touch. I'm always ready to hear more -

~ LBHamilton, 18.01.08

Hi Abigail

Thanks so much for checking; yes, the DVD did arrive safely and I have found it very enjoyable and well produced. I look forward to the next in the series, please let me know when it is available.. 

Kind regards

~ T. Winders, 17.01.08 

Hi Abigail,

The DVD has arrived safely, and I enjoyed it very much. The photography  is great,the reconstructions are very helpful, and the pro-Ricardian slant is refreshing.  I look forward to others in the series.

Sorry not to have written sooner, but our computers have been having daily meltdowns for the last week, and it has been difficult to accomplish anything.

All the best,

~ H. Corkin, 17.01.08 

Hi Abigail,

I know Wendy Johnson (my wife) has already emailed to say how much we enjoyed the Middleham Castle DVD.

I just wanted to add that the whole experience was greatly enhanced by the unashamedly pro-Ricardian commentary. I thought Mr Fox was superb, and I cheered when he made that disgraceful statue of Richard disappear.

God bless you all, I'm sure Richard himself would have approved!

~ D. Johnson, 14.01.08

Hi Abigail,

Thanks for enquiring about the DVD - yes, it arrived safely. We were very excited to find it on the doormat when we got home!

In fact, both myself and my husband were going to email you, because we loved the DVD so much and wanted to congratulate you all on such a fantastic project! We are regular visitors to Middleham and have talked many, many times of how we'd love to see the castle as it was in all its splendour and thanks to you, we've been able to do just that!

The DVD was very well made; the commentary, the re-constructions and the music were all superb - and poignant. We can't wait to visit the castle this year, so that we can consider everything we've learned from the DVD and see it all in our mind's eye while we walk around.

One area of the castle which has always intrigued me is the part at the top of the outside staircase of the keep, from where you could go left to the chapel or right to the great hall - I have always been curious as to what this looked like, but now I will be able to picture it, as I stand at the top overlooking the chapel.

We will both be very interested in the rest of the Richard III series and will certainly purchase them, once they are available. Would it be possible to be added to your emailing list?

Well done and thanks once again for producing such a wonderful DVD - we have watched it twice already!!

~ W. Johnson, 14.01.08 

Just to let you know, DVD arrived this lunch time, packaged very well. Watched this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't usually find much in castles, but that had me fascinated. Felt a bit of vertigo when John was at the highest point. The interspersions of computor images were brilliant and the music was lovely. Well done to the whole team. 

~ M. Taylor, 14.11.07