Just off the south Ayrshire coast (West of mainland Scotland) lies the enigmatic island of Ailsa Craig. It protrudes 340 metres high from the sea as a prominent bump. Now uninhabited the island has…

Earlier this month I was delighted to have an article on the folklore of holed stones published in The Enquiring Eye – the journal of the Museum of Witchcraft & Magic (in Boscastle, Cornw…

I’m taking part in the following event organised by Unit 3 Poetry Group (specifically Maggie Kellie and Gill Butler-Orli): Poets for Peace – Fundraiser for Medecins sans Frontieres Come…

Dear current patrons, past patrons, and future patrons of Arts and Social Sciences Library (ASSL) at Cardiff University. On Friday 17th of May, library staff of the ASSL were informed by University Li...

Personification of Governance overseeing our discussions On 21st April 2026 at Cardiff University, the second World Café event on subject analysis took place. The event was organised by the CILIP M…

I found some time this Easter bank holiday weekend to write a short piece on fairy doors that I hope will be published later this year. With a brief look at their apparent history and divisive natu…

I’m a little bit obsessed with holed stones (I’ve written several short articles on this topic), and of course can’t resist visiting a new one. On a chilly Valentine’s Day t…

Not the Baum Rabbit but a rather scary Medieval rabbit who would fit the part I recently spotted a call out from the folklorist Dr Simon Young asking if anyone from Rochdale had memories or stories…

In a previous post I looked at some current ‘earth mysteries’ magazines, one brand new and two that had been going strong for decades. In this post I will take a look at some of the reg…

It is getting more and more like Christmas (the commercial side of it), decorations up for weeks, plastic tat lining the supermarket shelves since the kids went back to school after the summer. Yet…

UPDATE: eBay has banned the sale of painted woolly bats on its platform! Now let's keep up the pressure to make sure Amazon follows suit.------Painted woolly bats are selfless little forest guardians,

In a previous post when I talked about Pentre Ifan and the Twlwyth Teg I mentioned Bryn-yr-Ellyllon near Mold where a gold cape was discovered in 1833. Today I found myself falling further down the…

In a previous post when I talked about Pentre Ifan and the Twlwyth Teg I mentioned Bryn-yr-Ellyllon near Mold where a gold cape was discovered in 1833. Today I found myself falling further down the…

This week my copy of Ancient Times (from Stone Club) popped through my letter box and reminded me of this post I had been meaning to write. Back in the day, and for myself that would probably be th…

Some musings on the folklore of ancient sites

I've not been at home much recently and so haven't had chance to celebrate the joy of receiving this book - The Northern Gravy Anthology for Young Readers - edited by Jonny Syer. Why joy? Because I have a short story included in it! For the last few years Northern Gravy have been publishing an online periodical every quarter, featuring poetry and stories for children and adults - and paying the writers.

21st June 2025 - I greeted the morning sun at Cairnholy (or Cairn Holy) in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. My husband and I had driven up from south Wales to Wigtown the previous day so it was touch and go whether we'd get up in time, but after 4 hours sleep we dragged ourselves from our bed and drove over to the site arriving about 3.30am.

Image from Richard Fenton’s (1811) A historical tour through Pembrokeshire. On a miserable rainy Saturday in June I’ve been looking at Welsh fairies, particularly those associated with …

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) has announced a plan to end all undergraduate teaching at its Lampeter campus by September 2025, a decision that would sever nearly 200 years of Lam...

Hybrid conference of The Folklore Society in collaboration with, and at, University College Cork, and online, 20-22 June 2025; CfP deadline 31 Jan 2025

We are glad to announce that Northern Earth will be carrying on after the current editor, John Billingsley, stands down in December 2024 after NE178. From NE179, the editor will be Andrew Chapman. We ...