Many stones around Britain bear the name ‘pennystone’, and have often been explained as plague stones. John Billingsley (with a little help from Robin Hood) cures these stones of their ague Near Halifax in W Yorkshire, on Midgley Moor, and at one time on a hillside at Wainstalls, you could find large boulders called […]
An Unlawful Game: Robin Hood and Pennystone Read More »
King Arthur has made his mark on Britain’s landscape, and not surprisingly left his name on numerous ancient sites. Here, Dave Weldrake considers Arthur’s relationship with Round Tables and maidens… Arthurian place names A lot of time and effort has been spent on trying to site the battles of King Arthur. (See for instance
The mystery of the round table of Arthur Read More »
Mike Haigh summarises a fascinating story of the author’s earliest experience of the past The Alderley Edge shovel is really a dull, functional tool – but it has a remarkable story. It begins in the early 1940s at Alderley Edge Council School in Cheshire, where local lad Alan Garner was taught the rudiments of education
Alan Garner’s Shovel Read More »
Victoria and Paul Morgan help raise Cheshire’s prehistoric profile INTRODUCTION Cheshire is not a county famed for it its prehistory. At a push the megaraks can only really name The Bridestones (the remains of a Neolithic long cairn near the town of Congleton), but even that is often listed as belonging to Staffordshire. The
A Load of Old Bull? A Cheshire long barrow Read More »
With tales of oak and mistletoe, holy wells and miraculous images, John Palmer takes us to meet the Virgin Mary in the old wetlands of Flanders Many of the houses lining the Veertien Bunderslaan, in Blaasveld, have a miniature wooden chapel attached, each containing an image representing the Virgin Mary; the lane leads towards
The Little Chapel of the Fourteen Bunders, Netherlands Read More »
Arthur O’Neill recounts how a chance visit to an old church in the Leeds area led to an investigation into Tudor magic We are very fortunate to have ancient churches because they preserve much of historic interest. I enjoy visiting village churches whenever I pass through a place new to me. I was on
Whither we are led… Ledsham and Ledston in Leodis (Leeds) Read More »
Folk cures for humans as well as beasts involved the medical, the magical and sometimes the simply mystifying. Peter Watson reveals some of the techniques in traditional and historical medical practice The library of Chetham’s school in Manchester contains a remarkable if largely forgotten herbal, beautifully written and illuminated in a hand of the early
Folk Medicine and Magic in Lancashire Read More »
A Yorkshire tale of presences and mysteries, related for us by Jo Hirons What happens to those places which have a reputation for being ‘haunted’, and which may have a record of disturbances’ going back many years, once their topography changes beyond recognition? Remembrances of previous buildings may be preserved to retain ‘character’ in the
Robert W E Farrah looks into the esoteric furore ignited by a new public artwork in Carlisle The Curse In the very heart of the city of Carlisle, as the new millennium was beginning, a tale of the supernatural was unfolding which would be worthy of the wild imaginings of many a horror writer.
The Archbishop’s Stone and the Great Curse Read More »
Laurence Main finds an old spirit path in Wales This did not begin with a thick pencil, drawing lines on a grubby, folded map. Perish the thought! My means of maintaining a modicum of sanity in this world is to escape to the hills and ancient trackways. Yes, old straight tracks. I didn’t make them straight.
The Lance of Light: A Spirit Road above Harlech Read More »