Tag: folklore

How ghost stories reveal the dark reality of life for Yorkshire’s ancient monks

A Halloween trip to the North Yorkshire Moors this autumn.

I took a trip back through time to Rievaulx Abbey [pictured above] to try a new ghost-story-inspired tour of English Heritage properties.

Revenants and Remains is a 90-minute walking tour of five monastic sites across the North of England, ranging from Cumbria to North Yorkshire.

The idea is to peer into the supernatural shadows, using ghost stories to shine light into the darker corners of the medieval sites.

Here’s a sample of the story:

The resident monks drew on ancient beliefs and local folk legends to compile a series of ghost stories, fused with medieval mysticism and the hellfire-brimstone of the Holy scriptures. The tours interpret these stories to explain the symbolism of the medieval belief system, a world dominated by terrifying tales of the afterlife and spooky stories of the undead.

Tour leader, Dr. Michael Carter, Senior Properties Historian at English Heritage, said:

“The stories reveal the lives of medieval monks were epitomised by a constant state of moral vigilance for the sin-stained souls of their patrons, easing their path to Paradise.”

Read the full story via i Travel, The ghost stories and medieval ruins that shaped the North York Moors

 

 

 

On the trail of Teggie in Wales for Rough Guides

This year marks the Year of Legends in Wales.

That’s why my first assignment of the new year took me to Bala Lake — that’s Llyn Tegid in Welsh.

The lake is allegedly home to Teggie, Wales’ answer to the Loch Ness Monster. And I took to a canoe on a cold January morning [pictured above] to go in search of the camera-shy beastie.

The feature is for Rough Guides and will be published March 1st — St David’s Day in Wales.

Life lessons

Here’s a preview of what to expect:

They regale me with kind of folk tales familiar to all Welsh schoolchildren. The cast of characters would put Game of Thrones to shame — evil kings, brave knights and mischievous elves. These stories, I learn, are passed down through the generations and integral to preserving the Welsh language and culture.

“Every place name has an old story attached to it. hese legends ground us,” explains Llinos Jones-Williams. “Based around universal themes of love, life and death, they can still teach us something about the way we live today.”

I’m interested in other ideas around Welsh folklore and have a possible assignment around the summer solstice. Watch this space for more.

Wild Wales: walking in the footsteps of George Borrow in Llangollen

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The writer George Borrow arrived in Chester in July 1854.

He walked the 20-odd miles to Llangollen and made his base there, starting the mammoth quest into the culture and language of Wales that would inspire his book Wild Wales (first published 1862).

According to a January 1936 edition of Cheshire Life magazine, available from the Cheshire Record Office in Chester:

“From there [Llangollen] he made those remarkably inquisitive excursions into unknown territory which enabled him to produce on work which will immortalise him — Wild Wales.”

I was in Llangollen last week, armed with an old copy of Wild Wales and a new Wild Wales iPad app, to retrace some of Borrow’s walks for a forthcoming article on Greentraveller.

I was staying at Geufron Hall [pictured above] and spent the first blue-skies evening hiking up to the summit of Castell Dinas Bran, a short yomp across country from the hillside B&B.

Borrow is not, in many ways, easy to like. His world view was very much of the times and his writing style is, at best, rather dense.

But, as the local walking guide Andrew Parish observed when he joined for one of the walks, “Wales was a tough old place at that time so we have to admire his gung-ho spirit.”

You can read my full story shortly but, meanwhile, here’s a sneak preview:

The most evocative walk for me was the energetic yomp up to Castell Dinas Bran, the ancient ruined castle set high above the town.

The view from the summit was spectacular: Llangollen below, Offa’s Dyke National Trail to the north, the Berwyn and Clwydian ranges meeting on the horizon.

We could almost touch the pristine-blue sky, dipping our fingertips into candyfloss clouds as the ancient spirits circled around us.

Have you read Wild Wales, or do you have walking tips around to Llangollen to share? Post below.

Liked this? Try also A Walk in the Shadow of Wild Wales.

Just back: Midsummer in West Sweden

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It featured large quantities of herring, garlands and people dancing like frogs.

The sun barely set, the Aquavit flowed and I ended up with flowers in my hair at the foot of a lakeside maypole. Although the festivities were, thankfully, a morris dancing-free zone.

Yes, I’m just back from celebrating a traditional West Sweden midsummer.

This is the one time of year in Sweden when everyone – from builders to bankers – downs tools and embraces the hedonistic carpe diem of the longest day.

You can read my story in the Weekend FT this coming Saturday.

Meanwhile, check out a Flickr gallery from the trip.

Watch a couple of Vimeo videos from the trip, the frog dance and midsummer jamming.

Or scroll back down the links posted in situ over the weekend on my Twitter page.

Have you been to West Sweden? Or do you have a great midsummer experience to share?

Post your views below.