Author
Laurence Mitchell
Writer and photographer based in Norwich, UKMarch 2021 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 -
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Category Archives: Folklore
The Shrieking Pits
Tucked away in the north Norfolk coastal hinterland, close to the villages of Overstrand and Northrepps, is a group of small ponds known as the Shrieking Pits. More of the same can also be found a few miles further west … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, Norfolk
Tagged ghosts, iron, legend, medieval, North Norfolk, Northrepps, Shrieking Pits
12 Comments
Shirley Collins and the fall of Eden
In 1969 an album was released entitled Anthems in Eden. Its creators were sisters Shirley and Dolly Collins, folk musicians who hailed from Sussex in southern England. Released on the newly created Harvest label, and much lauded by the likes … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, music
Tagged Anthems in Eden, Ballad of Shirley Collins, Dolly Collins, Eden, folk music, Shirley Collins, Sussex
7 Comments
Under the Greenwood Tree – Forest Bathing in the Deep, Deep Woods of Coed Felinrhyd
The Japanese have an expression – shirin-yoku (‘forest bathing’) — which refers to time spent in a wood or forest for purposes of health and relaxation. Scientific field studies have demonstrated that spending even a short time among trees promotes … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, Travel, Walking
Tagged Coed Felinrhyd, forest, forest bathing, Japan, moss, Shirin-yoku, trees, Wales, woodland
9 Comments
Hethel Old Thorn
If trees could only speak. If they had some semblance of sentience and memory, and a means of communication, what would they tell us? Ancient trees – or at least those we suspect to be very old – are usually … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, History, Norfolk, wildlife
Tagged ancient trees, hawthorn, Hethel Old Thorn, Kett's Rebellion, legend, trees
7 Comments
Lunar Sun (Ra)
This post comes not from Elveden or points east but from Arden, as in Tanworth-in-Arden; from the lush green countryside between Redditch and Solihull in northwest Warwickshire, that rolling bucolic Eden that lies just south of the diesel-rank treadmill that … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, music
Tagged festivals, Lunar, Midlands, music, Nick Drake, Sun Ra Arkestra, Tanworth
9 Comments
Easter Eggs
Easter, as well as its obvious Christian association, has strong connections with the giving and receiving of eggs in one form or another. In Britain, and in no doubt much of Western Europe and North America, we give chocolate eggs … Continue reading
Posted in Eastern Europe, Folklore, Travel
Tagged Easter, Easter eggs, egg-painting, Hutsul, Kolomia, pysanky, Ukraine
3 Comments
Whittlesea Straw Bear
If you venture to Whittlesea, at the edge of the Fens near Peterborough, during the second weekend in January you cannot help but notice that strange straw animals and oddly attired people have taken over the streets of this small market … Continue reading
Posted in Folklore, History
Tagged Cambridgeshire, England, English folk tradition, Fens, Molly dancing, Straw Bear, Whittlesea, Whittlesey
11 Comments