Talks & Workshops
Some examples of recent talks and workshops.
August 2023
Sanctity & Sanctuary: The Enduring Tale of St Melangell
I use to live in St Albans so it was a real pleasure to return and present a paper at the 2023 Folklore Society Conference at St Albans Abbey, Saints & Mystic in Legend & tradition.
My paper explored the legacy of the early Welsh saint, St Melangell, & the enduring nature of her appeal which has survived for 1500 years of social change and reform.
It also explored her relevance today at a time of climate change and great environmental shifts. Melangell is a saint whose legacy includes the care & concern for the natural world. The nunnery she founded once offered sanctuary and spirituality continues to inspire today and the little church in the ancient valley of Pennant Melangell survives in a landscape peppered with folklore and landmarks attached to her story. Ironically it is also home to a large shooting company but despite this people still visit to find healing and inspiration beyond the brutality and confines of the modern world.
Workshops
For several years I have been involved in a series of collaborative workshops alongside an artist, Hannah Willow, & storyteller ,Phil the Tree called Face in the Trees.
Each workshop has a specific theme connected to British folklore. For example, the folklore of the horse, hare or covids. Also we have run elemental workshops connected to earth, air, fire and water.
There is also a creative element to each event for participants to enjoy and guest speakers. These have included the poet Jackie Juno (horse), John & Sue Exton (Mari Lwyd), Sam Lee (Ballad), Tamsin Abbott (Ballad) & Richard Osgood (Archaeology).
September 2023
A Walk Through The Folklore of Trees. Queenswood Arboretum, Herefordshire Arts Week
This was a woodland walk and introduction to the folklore of trees as part of hArt week and the Wyldwood Exhibition at Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum on 5 / 6 September 2023, of Herefordshire.
We took a gentle walk through the trees on a warm autumn morning with stops in various glades to hear tales of local folklore and history concerning trees. and beyond. Tree lore can be very generic, similar themes found throughout the country but it can also be very localised. For example, in the 14th century oak trees were once known as the ‘weeds of Herefordshire” because they were thought so plentiful at the time.
Amongst many tales we imagined Herne the Hunter bemoaning his fate under the great oaks of Windsor Forest with his ‘great ragg’d horns’ and heard how the good people of rural Herefordshire would apply old magic using ash and withy to cure the sick.
An Acre of Land
April 2024
An unusually dry April Sunday saw the first performance of An Acre of Land at Clee St Margaret Village Hall on Brown Clee Hill by myself and singer, choir leader, environmentalist/ecologist, Polly Bolton. This project is informed by my own work on the environs and traditions concerning this area and by Polly, a commoner who has lived and worked here for over thirty years.
Brown Clee is one of the Blue Forgotten Hills of South Shropshire and the inspiration for this piece of work. The hill and its commons have been eroded and changed by people for centuries. Mining, overgrazing and enclosure has impacted upon this most ancient of environments yet it retains its own liminal beauty and, at times a strangeness and, at times, dark history.
We wanted this to be a a celebration, of the area’s history, folklore & landscape. An often forgotten part of Shropshire, it was home to the folk singer Fred Jordan as well as the odd giant & many a blacksmith.
We are continuing to offer performances of ‘An Acre’, privately and at local venues.
