Ghost Tales by the Fireside - True Ghost Stories Podcast

An ancient stone circle in Cumbria is said to contain a group of witches turned to stone by a powerful magician. According to legend, nobody can count the stones twice and get the same number. And if somebody finally succeeds, the witches may return to life.

Near Little Salkeld, not far from Penrith, Long Meg and Her Daughters has stood for around 5,000 years. This remarkable prehistoric monument is surrounded by stories of witchcraft, ancient curses and supernatural encounters.

In this Dark Folklore episode of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, Clem Dallaway explores the legend of the petrified witches, the magician Michael Scot, and the mysterious counting challenge that has puzzled visitors for centuries.

Discover the story of Colonel Samuel Lacy, whose workmen were supposedly driven away by a violent storm when they tried to destroy the stones. We also explore the strange experience of photographer Sir Simon Marsden and a reported encounter in the 1990s, when a young woman claimed a dark figure ran straight through her near Long Meg.

Combining archaeological discoveries, historical accounts, British folklore and reported paranormal experiences, this episode explores one of England's most fascinating ancient monuments.

Your download includes:

The complete, ad-free Dark Folklore episode in MP3 format, narrated by Clem Dallaway, with original atmospheric music composed and performed by Clem Dallaway.

Your purchase helps support the research, writing, recording and production of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, allowing more forgotten legends, local history and ghost stories to be brought to life.

Thank you for supporting independent podcasting.

Ghost Tales by the Fireside
www.ghosttales.co.uk
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the Lakeside area of Redditch, Worcestershire, an ordinary residential street has become connected with a strange collection of ghost stories.
Residents of Winstone Close have reported seeing children who should not have been there. One young boy appeared to be searching for a lost ball. Another became known as Jimmy. Inside one of the houses, a strange mist was said to take the shape of a woman, while objects reportedly moved without explanation.
But the strangest account concerns three children who appeared at a front door.
Their clothes looked old-fashioned, later described as Victorian, and they seemed to be lost.
They were looking for their mother.
Local memory also tells of cottages which once stood on the land and a fatal fire in which children were said to have died. But how much of that history can actually be proved, and were the later ghost sightings ever really connected with it?
In this episode of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, I look at the ghost children of Winstone Close, the history behind the story and the way separate experiences can slowly become joined together as local folklore.
A haunting from an ordinary Redditch street that could easily have disappeared if nobody had recorded it.
The Redditch Ghost Walk: History, Folklore and Haunted Places from the Old Town to the Kingfisher Centre
https://amzn.eu/d/093Shix6

Ghost Tales by the Fireside
https://www.ghosttales.co.uk

Music used
Chasing Ghosts — Kindred Spirit
https://open.spotify.com/track/6n58iB0o66y2o062ypvuRy?si=kIc5luYtRQSG68LecMUmEA
Among The Graves — Clem Dallaway
https://open.spotify.com/track/4hvMSzbWhO5U7cB1SONmAU?si=8gbSnYFTQXyD_cUnGYmUew
The Dark One — Clem Dallaway
https://open.spotify.com/track/58IwqgxMwiwedfWHF8wtyl?si=Bwv7d1RcQJKLDegEp2gl-g
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What strange creatures were once believed to live in the old Forest of Feckenham?
In this episode of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, Clem Dallaway explores some of the forgotten folklore surrounding Redditch and north Worcestershire, beginning with the strange legend of the Beoley Goblin, a creature said to jump onto the backs of passing horses.
But Beoley also had a place known as Little Hob Hill, recorded by Worcestershire writer John Noake in 1856. A Hob was an old supernatural being related to creatures such as Puck and Robin Goodfellow, raising the possibility that the Beoley Goblin may have grown from a much older local tradition.
Across the former Feckenham Forest landscape, other strange names and stories survive. There were Puck Hills at Hanbury and Himbleton, a Puck Lane at Stoke Prior, and an old tradition from Inkberrow in which fairies repeatedly moved building materials after people tried to build too close to where they lived.
There is also the strange story of Harry-ca-nab, a supernatural huntsman said to ride wild bulls through the Lickey country while the Devil's hounds ran ahead of him, and an old Bromsgrove legend involving a monstrous wild boar and the wild woman who mourned its death.
Then there is Dragon Farm at Edgiock, near Astwood Bank.
According to local tradition, sheep began disappearing from the farm until watchers saw two strange creatures carrying lambs into a huge hollow oak tree. The creatures were eventually killed and were supposedly represented in an old farmhouse carving dated 1614.
The Dragon Farm legend has even been discussed in connection with J. R. R. Tolkien and the Midlands countryside that helped shape his imagination. There is no evidence that Tolkien actually knew the Edgiock story, and it cannot be claimed as an inspiration for The Hobbit or Smaug, but it remains a remarkable dragon legend from the same wider Midlands landscape.
Were these simply stories created to explain strange place-names and old carvings, or are they fragments of a much older supernatural landscape that once surrounded Redditch?
From Hobs and Pucks to fairies, wild huntsmen, monstrous boars and dragons, this is The Forgotten Creatures of Feckenham Forest.

The Redditch Ghost Walk: History, Folklore and Haunted Places from the Old Town to the Kingfisher Centre by Clem Dallaway
https://amzn.eu/d/093Shix6
Music connected with Ghost Tales by the Fireside
Chasing Ghosts — Kindred Spirit
https://open.spotify.com/track/6n58iB0o66y2o062ypvuRy?si=kIc5luYtRQSG68LecMUmEA
Among The Graves — Clem Dallaway
https://open.spotify.com/track/4hvMSzbWhO5U7cB1SONmAU?si=8gbSnYFTQXyD_cUnGYmUew
The Dark One — Clem Dallaway
https://open.spotify.com/track/58IwqgxMwiwedfWHF8wtyl?si=Bwv7d1RcQJKLDegEp2gl-g
Clem Dallaway on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4q4UZstxVT6XbsOkBkfP6f
Ghost Tales by the Fireside
https://ghosttales.co.uk
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On Halloween night in 2009, a woman dressed as the Corpse Bride entered a costume competition at the Foxlydiate Arms in Redditch. The organiser remembered speaking to her. Some of the people watching remembered seeing her too. Others insisted there had been nobody there at all.
Then the guest list was checked.
The strange Halloween encounter is only one part of the Foxlydiate story. Long before the pub was built, travellers were already telling stories about a ghostly vehicle heard racing through the darkness. It became known as the Flying Hearse, and according to an old warning, anyone who actually saw it would be dead within a year.
In this episode of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, we explore the haunted history and folklore of Foxlydiate, including the Corpse Bride, the Flying Hearse, the White Lady, the mysterious figure known as Tom, and the real-life murder of Hannah Middleton in 1902.
Which parts are history? Which are folklore? And what really happened inside the Foxlydiate Arms on Halloween night?
Music used
“Chasing Ghosts” – Kindred Spirit
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6n58iB0o66y2o062ypvuRy?si=kIc5luYtRQSG68LecMUmEA
Explore more haunted Redditch
The Redditch Ghost Walk: History, Folklore and Haunted Places from the Old Town to the Kingfisher Centre – available on Amazon.
Redditch Ghost Walk information and tickets:
ghosttales.co.uk/ghostwalk
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1995, a family living in Headless Cross, Redditch, Worcestershire, began seeing a very tall man inside their home.
He was dressed completely in black, appeared to wear a wide-brimmed hat and had large buckles on his shoes that seemed to catch the light.
At first, the sightings were brief. Then the activity became more intense.
Banging and crashing began inside the house, and one night the man of the house went downstairs believing somebody had broken in. The moment he entered the large living room, the noise stopped.
At the far end of the room, beside the kitchen door, a figure was standing there.
The family left the house that night.
The following morning they asked a local vicar for help.
What happened when he returned to bless the house became one of the strangest parts of the entire Headless Cross haunting.
In this episode of Ghost Tales by the Fireside, I investigate the Tall Man of Headless Cross and look at the history of this part of Redditch, including the ancient routes that once crossed the area.
There is also a much older ghost story connected with the road from Headless Cross towards Tardebigge.
Redditch-born writer Sir James Yoxall remembered hearing the legend during his nineteenth-century childhood. Travellers were said to hear the sound of wheels, a cracking whip, horses and rattling harness moving through the darkness.
Yet when they looked towards the sound, nothing was there.
It became known as The Flying Hearse.
There is no evidence connecting the Flying Hearse with the Tall Man. They are separate stories, generations apart, but both form part of the strange folklore surrounding this corner of Redditch.
A haunted house, an unidentified figure, a terrified family and an old Worcestershire road with its own ghost story.
This is The Tall Man of Headless Cross.

https://www.ghosttales.co.uk
The Redditch Ghost Walk
Tickets and information:
https://ghosttales.co.uk/ghostwalk
The Redditch Ghost Walk Book
The Redditch Ghost Walk: History, Folklore and Haunted Places from the Old Town to the Kingfisher Centre
Available on Amazon:
https://amzn.eu/d/093Shix6
Music Used
Among The Graves — Clem Dallaway
ISRC: QZNWR2463170
https://open.spotify.com/track/4hvMSzbWhO5U7cB1SONmAU?si=8gbSnYFTQXyD_cUnGYmUew
The Dark One — Clem Dallaway
ISRC: QZWFS2504572
https://open.spotify.com/track/58IwqgxMwiwedfWHF8wtyl?si=Bwv7d1RcQJKLDegEp2gl-g
Chasing Ghosts — Kindred Spirit
https://open.spotify.com/track/6n58iB0o66y2o062ypvuRy?si=kIc5luYtRQSG68LecMUmEA&utm_source=copy-link
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.