Friends in battle to take down barriers over walls

BILL HILL is on a mission. Along with other members of the Friends of York Walls, he wants to prove that heritage is not just the preserve of the grey-haired or the middle class.

The first step was securing £10,000 of funding, which was used to promote and run a twoday festival in the city last summer celebrating the two-mile stretch of walls, which date back to Roman times.

More than 2,000 people passed through Fishergate Postern Gate to see the newly installed display of archaeological finds and the event was, by any measure, a success.

However, going forward the team now wants to widen the reach of the festival and raise awareness of the walls – and the various historic towers – among a more diverse group of people, including the city’s ethnic minority communities and its younger generation.

Mr Hill said: “Twenty years ago, the towers were either empty or used for storage. Now Red Tower has been turned into a community hub, Monkgate and Micklegate are home to museums and, thanks to a new app, a dedicated map and a greater number of events, the festival has proved a great success.

“We have come a long way, but there is more that needs to be done.

“As an industry, heritage’s client base tends to be either greyhaired or nice middle-class families, but we want people of all backgrounds and all ages to see

the city walls as something that they can relate to.”

The Friends group, which was formed eight years ago, has now developed a teaching pack, which will be piloted at St George’s RC Primary School in the city early next year. Linking to the National Curriculum, the initiative will see pupils complete a number of projects inspired by the history of the walls, which will hopefully culminate in an event on the historic defences.

Mr Hill added: “Teachers are incredibly busy, but if you give them ready-made resources which are cheap, easy to use and

WALK THIS WAY: Top, Bill Hill, one of the founder members of the Friends of York Walls, in the arch in the walls near Fishergate Tower; above right, the City of York crest on the gates of the walls close to the tower; above left, more than one million people walk along the historic walls each year.

which have a direct link to the curriculum they will embrace them.”

The education pack was borne out of work Mr Hill did for the border town of Berwick, which has impressive ramparts dating back to the Elizabethan era.

He said: “They were keen to make better use of the walls and the first thing they did was to ask the people of the town what the walls meant to them and what they thought they should be used for.

“We all have our own ideas about how to best develop and use the walls, but really good public

engagement sets hares running and I have no doubt that if we can do the same, it will lead us to more interesting places.”

The Friends group also hopes to draft in the expertise of York Minster’s stonemasons to help build a scaled-down version of

Bill Hill, a member of the heritage organisation Friends of York Walls.

Fishergate Postern Tower. The idea is to explore how the original portcullis, long since removed, operated, but the project also has other, more ambitious, aims.

If funding can be secured through the Swire Charitable Trust, the project would be delivered in partnership with York homeless charity the Good Organisation and would give skillsbased training to vulnerable adults.

Mr Hill, who is already planning next year’s York Walls Festival, added: “That would be a really practical way of using the walls to support people living in York today

and I do hope it’s something we can organise.

“The walls are a major asset. Ninety per cent of the walls are still intact, compared to somewhere like Hull which has none due to successive decades of demolition and rebuilding to modernise the city.

“Here, every time there was a proposal to get rid of a section the people resisted. It means we have both impressive city walls and terrible congestion, but I think the latter is a price worth paying.”

And if Mr Hill gets his way, so too will the future generations who get to call York home.

Really good public engagement sets hares running.