MEDIEVAL re-enactors are due to set off from Skipton Castle on Friday on a three day, 45 mile walk across the Pennines to the site of the bloody Battle of Towton.

Wesley Perriman, from Barnoldwick, and James Hodgson of Preston, will be marking the 555th anniversary of the War of the Roses battle.

Described as the 'largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil', around 75,000 men took part, and around 28,000 died - more than twice the population of Barnoldswick.

Wesley and James, who will also be marking the 20th anniversary of the Red Wyvern Society, will be walking in full Medieval kit, including heavy wool and linen clothing, authentic boots, with wooden 'pattens' to keep out the wet, and with all their supplies in wicker rucksacks.

Their route will take them across the Pennines just south of the A59 for two days and on Sunday, they plan to meet up with some more re-enactors from The Road to Towton group at Spofforth Castle before setting off on the final leg.

Wesley, who lives and works in Barnoldswick, is married to Helen and has a baby son, Edmund, came up with the idea because he felt people had lost touch with the important part of history.

"Men from across Lancashire and Yorkshire will have left their homes and families and made this trek to fight in what has been called “the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil," he said.

" 75,000 men -slightly more than the population of Burnley- fought and 28,000 died – that’s more than twice the population of Barnoldswick dead, and in just one day."

James, an archaeologist, added: “It will be a challenge but doing this kind of thing is a good way to experience history and really understand it. We will find out how long it takes to walk in these conditions at this time of year – although I am sure we are not as fit as they were back then. And we don’t have a massive bloodbath of a battle in thick snow to look forward to at the end of the walk. They also didn’t have the kinds of dehydrated foods we take now when backpacking so our provisions will weigh more but the one modern thing I am not giving up is a jumbo pack of blister plasters."

They are due to set off from the front of Skipton Castle at 10am on Friday and hope to arrive in Towton late on Sunday. They will also be raising money for The Battlefield Trust, to donate visit the website justgiving.com/RedWyverns