Episodes
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Good morning from the Norfolk Folklore Society!
Today we are (b)ringing you a feast of folklore all about BELLS. From the ghostly chime of drowned bells beneath the sea to the eerie toll of phantom bells in Norfolk bogs, we’ve jingled and jangled through history to unearth the most enchanting bell lore (basically, Siofra bought a book on bells and they appear to be folklore MAGNETS). It’s an ap-peal-ing episode. Sorry.
Bells have long been a part of Norfolk’s cultural landscape, from church towers to folklore. Whether marking joyous celebrations or mysterious warnings, they are a timeless connection to history, superstition and sound. And then there’s that Christmas song by The Darkness to contend with.
So grab a cup of tea, settle into your cosiest chair, and let the Norfolk Folklore Society take you on a magical journey through the echoes of bell lore.
Here’s what’s tolling in today’s episode:
Drowned Bells Beneath the Sea: Discover the eerie echoes of Norfolk’s lost village of Shipden, where legend says the church bells still ring from beneath the waves and more drowned bells around our coastline.
The Devil and the Tunstall Bells: A devilishly good tale of bells that caught the attention of Old Nick himself.
The Bell as Protector and Summoner: Learn how bells have been used to ward off storms, summon spirits, and mark the thin boundary between this world and the next.
Witch bells. Not which, witch. But also, which bells.
The Haunting Chime: Explore the fascinating duality of bells as symbols of celebration and omens of doom.Lots of love from Stacia and Siofra
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Today we are talking about a particularly sinister apparition that stalks the Norfolk
countryside, namely the Old Man of Hopton, who haunts a section of road close to the
coast.
In the Winter edition of Lantern (the wonderful publication from the brilliant Lowestoft-
based Borderline Science Investigation Group) in 1980, the tale of a Lowestoft man on the new A12 Hopton Bypass was reported. -
Missing episodes?
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In this episode we collect more accounts of Black Shuck encounters in Norfolk and Suffolk. The episode was recorded as part of Charlie Cooper's Myth Country, so welcome if you came across us from the Black Shuck episode. We hope you all enjoy this behind the scenes recording. We wanted to add a special thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us. We loved having you on the show.
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Today’s podcast is the NFS’s own version of the General Election and, as such, we get to the heart of a very pressing issue: whether a dog-headed monk or a monk-headed dog would be more terrifying to meet down a dark alley?
For many years, the dog-headed monk/monk-headed dog conundrum has been our very own personal litmus test…but for the first time ever, our conviction that we knew the correct answer has been rocked. So, this episode is all about putting this issue to bed for once and all.
Let it be said that we are in our monk/dog era. -
In the atmospheric setting of England’s largest and most elaborate provincial medieval city hall, wonderful tales were woven about Norwich’s dark past. We joined forces with performer Laura Cannell to create a magical night filled with tales of ghosts and witchcraft, secret tunnels and dreadful murders linked to this distinctive building in the heart of Norwich. We had a lot of fun that night and we hope you enjoy listening to the show!
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In this episode Siofra and Stacia explore the tale of Melvena Spinks, and alleged witch from East Dereham.
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This month we have a chat about a very haunted house in Thorpe Marriott. Inspired by the new BBC documentary about the Amityville Horror house, we searched our archives and dug out one of our creepiest stories to discuss.
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We were absolutely delighted to welcome Lucy Spirit and Rachel Duffield as our January speakers the Norfolk Heritage Centre at the Norwich Millennium Library.
Rachel, who is an artist and costume marker, a historical reenactor and an incredible painter who spent years working for Norfolk Museums Service will be presenting the talk written by Lucy, a researcher, writer, open-minded sceptic and spooky expert.
Those attending will discover a brief history of Raynham Hall and the life of its infamous ‘Brown Lady’ ghost and how she became a worldwide phenomenon, the history of spirit photography, its controversial reputation and the photographer and sceptic who battled in court over its authenticity and the legacy of spirit photography.
The talk will be the third in a series of Norfolk Folklore Society events for The British Library’s Living Knowledge Network’s Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition which has been funded by Anguish’s Educational Foundation and Arts Council England. -
Today’s podcast is about the Magical Sword of Winfarthing, the Excalibur of Norfolk which helped women rid themselves of terrible husbands (and find their lost horses) from the safety of their village church.
We have plenty of sword play with a range of topics which see us discuss witchcraft, famous magical swords and why we can’t pronounce most of them, why the sword is associated with supernatural and magical powers and why making swords was so revered.
(Something I forgot to mention in the podcast is what some of those secrets were, such as “the virtues of certain liquids for quenching the hot iron, varying from the water of certain rivers to the urine of a red-haired boy or the juice of radishes mixed with earthworms.” Bear this in mind the next time you make a sword).
Find out why folk magic in a church might not have been the no-no it later became, why women felt the need to ask a sword for help if their husband was a wrong ‘un, a real example of a sword in a stone and how to use a sword for toothache (useful in these days of no NHS dentists).
Siofra also offers an alternative title to the five-series-long Merlin TV series which would have made it a whole lot better and Stacia wonders what excuse you’d need to come up with in order to go and ask a sword to murder your husband once a week for a year.
Both members of the Norfolk Folklore Society would like to make it very clear that they love their husbands very much and have not been visiting (a) Winfarthing or (b) a sword.
We hope you enjoy!
Love from Siofra and Stacia -
Our December 2023 talk was given by the wonderful Val Thomas. Val, a good friend of the Norfolk Folklore Society (she was the first ever speaker the NFS had at our monthly talks!), shared some recommendations for a magical Yule or Christmas dinner with our guests.
About Val:
Val Thomas is a witch, a craftsperson, herbalist and a teacher. For more than a quarter of a century she has lived in Norwich, working with the magic of the land – its plants and creatures, its gods and its spirits – and exploring the ways of Norfolk’s Nameless Tradition of witchcraft and magic. During this time, Val has played a prominent role in the magical and Pagan community in Norfolk, helping to run public events, workshops and rituals and guiding many seekers upon the winding paths of the Quest.
Val wrote her first book, A Witch’s Kitchen, in 2001. Since then, she has written articles for The Cauldron, has a regular column about Norfolk magic in Quest, and another about magical herbalism in Pagan Dawn.
Her most recent books are Of Chalk and Flint: A Way of Norfolk Magic and Bounded in a Nutshell: Lockdown, Magic and Infinite Space. Her newest book, Hallowtide: A Dark Devotional, is available on pre-order at www.troybooks.co.uk.
You can also support Val via her Patreon, which we can highly recommend - Val Thomas | creating a tapestry of magic: books, spells, charms and herbs. | Patreon -
We were delighted to welcome the wonderful Laura Cannell to our November at The Louis Marchesi in the pub’s 15th century undercroft.
Laura spoke about her new project, MARSHLORE, which has so far seen the publication of two zines, each of which include a miscellany of stories, original artwork, folklore and more, inspired by the East Anglian marshes, ancient folklore and living traditions. She calls it: “A mix of thoroughly researched folklore and thoroughly made-up stories.” -
This month’s podcast is all about ghosts – or rather, the ghosts we’d all draw if anyone
asked us to mock up a quick doodle. You know the one: looks like a floating bedsheet with eyes.
Round on top, wiggly on the bottom, with a couple of eyes holes – it’s the image that
always pops to mind when thinking of ghosts: but why?
This very specific image of ghosts as white sheets has been engrained in our culture for
centuries and, until fairly recently, was considered genuinely terrifying.
We look into the history of the bedsheet ghost, find our own example in Norfolk and recent examples further afield in 2020: the bedsheet ghost, it seems, is still alive and well (dead and well?) even today. -
On October 24 Christian Hudson from Norfolk Ghost Hunters came to speak to us at the Norfolk Folklore Society’s monthly meeting.
Christian works within a team of five, each of whom specialise in different fields, and is a paranormal investigator and demonologist. He works in tandem with the Church of England and the Catholic church and he and his team have been involved with hundreds of paranormal investigations at venues across the UK, from big venues to private houses.
Christian will be shared some of his most interesting and intriguing cases. -
Today’s podcast was recorded on Gressenhall Farm and workhouse’s Apple Day, which we were delighted to be part of, representing Norfolk Folklore Society in the farmhouse kitchen. From the kitchen table we offered people a host of apple folklore and it was lovely to welcome so many people and to hear their own folklore and ghost stories.
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Simply because they are not expected, ghosts that appear in modern surroundings and with no warning often feel like the most terrifying of all.
Today’s ghost is absolutely terrifying. Our witness tells us: “It was like a damp sheet of very black space wrapping itself around me…”
And where was this horrific patch of dark matter? In the very middle of Norwich city centre, in buildings which have part of an old church incorporated into their walls and which stand close to where one of the city’s most notoriously cruel workhouses once housed the local poor. -
This episode takes us back to the Black Shuck Festival on August 5.
Thank you to everyone who attended and to the festival for having us: we had such a magical time and hope to be involved with next year’s Shuck shenanigans.
We hope you enjoy Shuck Storytime! -
We were delighted to welcome the wonderful Alice Crick as our next speaker on July 26 at Arboretum on St Benedict’s Street.
Alice’s talk was called Faunus: Landscape, Memory, and Folk Practice. Here, she explains what she spoke about:
“The great god Faunus has haunted the wildwoods of Norfolk for aeons, leaping across heathlands and fens into other counties whilst also keeping his fluid limbs ready to change names and forms. This will be an exploration of his titles, found in the great Thetford Hoard, as well as musing upon his associations with Silvanus, Bacchus and beyond into the realms of Bigfoot - that ever present and elusive spirit of the wood. For those who would like inspiration and magic, a glimmer of folk practise will be revealed…” -
We’ve got a very special podcast for you today: we travelled across the border to Bungay to speak to two eye witnesses who have seen – or heard – everyone’s favourite cryptid canine, Black Shuck. Another eye witness account from Bacton is also shared.
This episode's cover image is by the very talented Matt Willis and taken from Shuck Zine.
TheFolkLoreBox - Etsy UK -
We were honoured to interview the legendary Black Shuck at our June 2023 at Arboretum and what an evening it was! Black Shuck was absoultly charming, James Mayhew performed and illustrated a wonderful poem and Stephanie Timberlake shared detail of what we have to look forward to at the festival in August.
Just a little warning that this is a live recording so has some background noise. Also, it probably isn't safe for listening to at work or around young ears. Black Shuck is a demon dog from hell, so doesn't hold anything back!
Festival website - blackshuckfestival.com
Black Shuck Cabaret tickets - The Fisher Theatre | WhatsOn - Show more
