VIKINGS were amongst the guests when a memorial plaque to a respected parish councillor was unveiled in a York village.

Ste Kenwright, 47, from Fulford, who died last year from cancer, served on Fulford Parish Council as well as being a teacher at Naburn Primary School for 17 years and a well-known musician.

He also had a great interest in history, including the Viking era, and helped design a new Fulford sign in Heslington Lane after researching in great detail the exact features of the ancient swords represented on the sign.

The plaque was unveiled recently at a well-attended ceremony, with guests including his widow Helen, councillors, Ste's parents and friends - including three of his 'Viking' comrades, Andy Harris, Dave Atkins and Lee Steele.

Helen said Ste and the trio used to don Viking garb to take part in battle re-enactments at the annual Jorvik Viking Festival and also take part in Living History encampments staged twice a year at the Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole.

She said that when he wasn't well enough to get involved in the festival held in February last year, he decided to hold a Living History event up at St Leonard's Hospice where he was staying.

Helen, Ste's parents and friends and parish councillors spoke about how much Ste valued, and was valued by, his local community, and how important the sign was in linking Fulford to its history and heritage.

Ste said before his death that the parish council had agreed to place crossed swords prominently in the design of the village sign in order to echo the official English Heritage signage and map symbol indicating the location of a nationally important battle.

"It was my aspiration, along with other councillors, that each entry into the parish would be clearly marked by the sign with this symbology so that both residents and those passing through might be made aware or reminded, perhaps daily, of the Battle of Fulford.

"The Battle of Fulford was one of the three battles of 1066 which initiated the national conflict which resulted in a Norman dynasty seizing the throne of England and subsequently Great Britain."

He said he worked with sign-maker Stephen Beardwood from the sign company Ridgequest Ltd in order to depict swords typical of the 11th century.