I won't bore you with a summary of the Pontefract history lessons we got on the day but there are some wonderful facts in this very well written and interesting link; http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureAndLeisure/HistoricWakefield/Castles/PontefractCastle/history.htm
The Liquorice Festival is part of more recent traditions of the town of Pontefract , located to the south east of Leeds now but from the 1300's it ruled over most of what is now west and east Yorkshire and was the most important royal stronghold outside of London. Pontefract is about 40minutes drive from Wetherby.
More recently promoted for it's liquorice (Pontefract cakes are small flat discs of pure liquorice and sugar) but historically known as 'the key to the north' it boasted the largest fortified castle in Europe. This castle was the only one to remain un-breached during the Reformation and War of the Roses and was only vacated after the people of Pontefract, tired of the constant sieges and resultant destruction and disruption to life convinced the Lancastrians to surrender to the Yorkists. As a statement of victory Parliament eventually declared the castle be thoroughly dismantled and today many of the flagstones, fireplaces, carved stones and timbers can be seen re-used in the oldest commercial and public buildings and on the street stone paving of Pontefract town. The space inside the walls of the dismantled castle (barrow) were subsequently used to grow liquorice..... see? It all ties together.....
While the Edward the III's descendants fought the 30 odd year War of the Roses (a family feud to eclipse all family feuds) a key battle was lost by the Lancastrians in 1461 on a blizzard-struck day on 
Towton Moor some 2 miles from Pontefract castle. But that almost forgotton battle holds something much more important than these blog pages can do honour to. http://forums.canadiancontent.net/sports/76422-towton-bloodbath-changed-our-history.html which includes AA Gils story of his day out on Towton Moor last year does a much better job and is worth the read if only to understand how and why in one day some 25,000 men were slaughtered in battle. Given the relative British populations then and now you need to imagine today the death of a million sons and husbands in one battle on an Afghanistan hillside one afternoon. It equated to about 2% of the entire male population of England at the time. In one day. The huge loss didn't give the Lancasters and Yorkists pause for thought though and the War of the Roses continued bloodily on for 24 years, The links above, even if they are a bit long, are full of information and time lines. (Like the fact that the red and white roses now identified to each side, red to the Lancastrians (north) and white for the Yorkists (south), were not even family symbols at the time of the wars. The Victorians many years after the event decided to romantically so identify the combatants and then went on to use the "Tudor Rose" a red and white bloom as the symbol of the blend of north and south, and so all records now identify this "English rose" and the civil war by the War of the Roses monika. Such is the subterfuge of Victorian historical record)
Towton Moor some 2 miles from Pontefract castle. But that almost forgotton battle holds something much more important than these blog pages can do honour to. http://forums.canadiancontent.net/sports/76422-towton-bloodbath-changed-our-history.html which includes AA Gils story of his day out on Towton Moor last year does a much better job and is worth the read if only to understand how and why in one day some 25,000 men were slaughtered in battle. Given the relative British populations then and now you need to imagine today the death of a million sons and husbands in one battle on an Afghanistan hillside one afternoon. It equated to about 2% of the entire male population of England at the time. In one day. The huge loss didn't give the Lancasters and Yorkists pause for thought though and the War of the Roses continued bloodily on for 24 years, The links above, even if they are a bit long, are full of information and time lines. (Like the fact that the red and white roses now identified to each side, red to the Lancastrians (north) and white for the Yorkists (south), were not even family symbols at the time of the wars. The Victorians many years after the event decided to romantically so identify the combatants and then went on to use the "Tudor Rose" a red and white bloom as the symbol of the blend of north and south, and so all records now identify this "English rose" and the civil war by the War of the Roses monika. Such is the subterfuge of Victorian historical record) But on to more fun stuff;
Liquorice is a medicinal base and flavouring obtained by crushing and soaking the oils from the root of a cane-like perennial shrub. Today most liquorice products are sugar with a spray of liquorice essence for flavour, the raw black stuff is bitter and astringent and headily aromatic. The plant sends out sucker roots up to 2 meters before the green shoot pops up as a new plant. Harvest is by pulling up the sucker plant and lifting the root, cutting it off back at the host plant, drying it out, crushing it and extracting the oil. 
You can see some dried brown root sticks for sale in the shot above. If you want a big liquorice hit you can chew on one. The locals say they grew up chewing sticks...... I have tried it, once.To say the festival was popular is an understatement and we enjoyed the bustle and happy crowded throng. They don't get many Australian tourists in Pontefract so we received due advice and information and 'I remember when' stories from the locals as we browsed the stalls.
We found a guided tour that the local Heritage group were running and it was a great wandering wonder hosted by real Yorkshire characters. Bernie & Allison (comely wenches) and Tom (playing a legendary character who was slightly hit in the head by a cannon ball in battle and subsequently lived on rain water and dead rats). These were our guides for the two hour tour although there was an old time gaoler and a town crier doing other tours. It is due to them we now understand many more of the links in England's past.We were taken to the most interesting buildings in town, 
the oldest a still very active pub, and we went through the remains of the castle, 
we were lectured about the middle ages, Reformation years and War of the Roses up to the Tudor reign. 
Allison and Bernie explained the town layout, how the original castings for Lord Nelson, the bronze now standing on the plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, ended up in the 
Town Hall in Pontefract, (the building in the photo behind Gail).. Most interesting is how, even today it remains a statutory law that a man may sell his wife , for more than a shilling, on a Sunday if he stands with her in the ButterGate in the town Square. The Buttergate is a large stone open sided building with huge arches located in the middle of the town square. It was a Sunday, we were standing in the Buttergate, but it was also our anniversary. I decided to keep her for another year. Or until the market improves.
the oldest a still very active pub, and we went through the remains of the castle, 
we were lectured about the middle ages, Reformation years and War of the Roses up to the Tudor reign. 
Allison and Bernie explained the town layout, how the original castings for Lord Nelson, the bronze now standing on the plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, ended up in the 
Town Hall in Pontefract, (the building in the photo behind Gail).. Most interesting is how, even today it remains a statutory law that a man may sell his wife , for more than a shilling, on a Sunday if he stands with her in the ButterGate in the town Square. The Buttergate is a large stone open sided building with huge arches located in the middle of the town square. It was a Sunday, we were standing in the Buttergate, but it was also our anniversary. I decided to keep her for another year. Or until the market improves.
Down at the castle, which is just a short walk to the town centre, there were more events in action with the local vikings teaching battle skills and 
ancient living tips. There was a welcome ice cream van and some re-creations of old Pontefract and a diorama of the Towton Battle which is where we spent some time lost in a most passionate and interesting history lesson given by a sensible member of the Heritage group not in fancy dress or playing a character. A great day out
