My brother named his two boys after our childhood dogs. In fairness, the first boy’s name was probably a coincidence. But the choice for the second was not. When Boy Number Two was imminent, my brother realised the potential for his sons to have the same names as his childhood pets. So he went for […]
We stepped off the plane to a haze of heat. The sky was a brilliant blue and the thinnest of breezes the only indication of the ocean nearby. It was August and we had come to Bermuda to visit family. But for me, this was more than just a family holiday; it was also an […]
Fairies often seem to be blamed or held in suspicion in folklore. The Surrey tale of Matthew Trigg and the Pharisees (the county’s word for fairies) is no exception. But what if these magical creatures are simply misunderstood? I wanted to see how this tale might have been told from their perspective. You Might Also […]
This folktale about how a piece of land came to be called Crawls has stayed with me since I first read it three years ago. I have always enjoyed stories of how places are named, but this one left an impression thanks to its purposeful and determined heroine crawling, against all the odds, to get […]
In folklore, there are many beliefs associated with Christmas but for this story I focussed on those around love. Although there are plenty of love superstitions that don’t need it to be Christmas-time, in this light-hearted tale, I have brought together some of those that were believed to only work at this festive time of […]
With many people putting their Christmas Trees up early this year, I thought it would be appropriate to start the Christmas season with a story about how the Christmas Tree came about. There are various folk tales about the origins of the Christmas Tree but I like the Christmas Fairy Of Strasburg the most as it contains […]
While researching my book, Unexpected Companions, I found a Shropshire folklore tale about Nanny Morgan, an old woman who lived in Much Wenlock and was believed to be a witch. The locals were afraid of her and she met a tragic end. The short story below is my version from her perspective. Here is the […]
My thoughts on homeschooling are this: don’t do it. It is stressful, chaotic and the only thing a child learns is that their parents haven’t got a clue. I probably need to caveat that I can say that as my daughter is not at secondary school studying for exams or even in the final years […]