A sense of mystery gathers around London's lost rivers, with their names whispered like forgotten deities from an ancient cult. Fleet, Tyburn, Walbrook, Effra, Westbourne, Neckinger.

In some cases, they aren't so much lost, as buried. Sometimes, they break ground, appearing where you least expect them. Take the grey duct that carries the Westbourne above the District and Circle line at Sloane Square as an example. Yet the Walbrook seems truly lost. As Tom Bolton says, it "is the most mysterious, elusive and comprehensively buried of London's lost rivers". 

While I was in London at the beginning of April, I decided to trace the route of the Walbrook using London's Lost Rivers: A Walker's Guide by Tom Bolton. Well, as best as you can, given the entire river is underground.

Given the lore surrounding these lost rivers, I decided to share my expedition here as a form of folklore-meets-psychogeography. Let's see what we can learn both from the river, and the history of the London that overlays its route in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/walbrook-lost-river/

Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ULwWgoYIjh8

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

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Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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Visiting churches might not sound like everyone's idea of a great time. Yet the buildings are stuffed with strange carvings, peculiar graffiti, interesting artwork, and even sassy memorials. These church curiosities tell us a lot about what mattered to people in centuries past.

They also preserve folklore, legends, and the beliefs of the congregation. From apotropaic marks scratched onto fonts, to stone guardians on the outer walls, churches are a fascinating repository of folk practices...if you know where to look. That's precisely what we're going to do here, looking at gargoyles, grotesques, graffiti, carvings, and even door knockers. 

Let's figure out what they have to do with folklore, and what they tell us about our forebears in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/church-curiosities/

The Folklore and Legends of Rosslyn Chapel bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-episode-of-63008388

The Folklore & Legends of Notre Dame bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-episode-of-82235383

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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W.J. Gilbert is a writer, storyteller, and creator of the YouTube channel Eerie Edinburgh. Based in Edinburgh, he’s the author of the best-selling Hidden Haunts: Scotland, Hidden Haunts: England, and Ghostly Tales of the NC500 — a haunted journey through Scotland’s most legendary road trip route. His next book, Hidden Haunts: Ireland, is currently in development. His writing explores the eerie overlap between folklore, history, and the paranormal — with a particular focus on the overlooked, unreported, and half-forgotten stories that linger just beneath the surface.

We chat about the importance of keeping humans at the centre of ghost stories, the link between ghost stories and local history, just why everyone loves a White Lady ghost, and how to preserve stories of ghost encounters for posterity.

Find W.J. Gilbert online: https://eerieedinburgh.com/

Get Hidden Haunts: Scotland: https://amzn.to/3ECBceQ (affiliate link)

Get Hidden Haunts: England: https://amzn.to/42LRGJI (affiliate link)

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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Churches can be sites of divination, haunted locations, and important community hubs. Yet in Wallsend, Holy Cross Church is notorious for a tale of witches and heroic derring-do. The ruin might not look like it now, but appearances can be deceptive.

It's not just a chapel. Throw in a midnight ritual, grotesque women, a desecrated corpse and an infamous lord for good measure. 

Is it fact, folklore, or total fiction? Let's explore the legend of the Witches of Wallsend in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/holy-cross-church/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

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Here in the 21st century, death and burial often occur as part of a sanitised process. Death happens away from home, often in hospitals, and funerals are usually tidy, respectful affairs. We can forget that this wasn't always the case, and that our quaint, inner city gardens were sometimes putrescent burial grounds, crammed with rotting remains. Even worse, history contains legends like that of Enon Chapel.

This awful story is far from being folklore, but rather a dark chapter in the history of English burials. Since folklore and history so often make good bedfellows, I thought it might be helpful to examine this notorious burial place. After all, it brings with it a dose of London history, scandal, a disavowal of burial practices, and capitalism gone mad.

Let's explore what happened at Enon Chapel in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/enon-chapel/

Conway Hall talk about folklore rebels on 26 April: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/art-magic-lore-wild-talents/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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You would absolutely know a lychgate if you saw one. They make popular backdrops for wedding photos, and provide a quaint air of rustic charm to country churchyards. They're the wooden or stone gateway, complete with tiled roof, that marks the entry into the churchyard. Not all churches have them, and they're far more common outside churches in the countryside than in suburban or city-centre churches. Yet they do have some folklore attached to them.

Let's take a look at what they were for and what beliefs they gave rise to. We'll also look at some popular burial markers you might see in churchyards or cemeteries to broaden our focus to the wider burials.

So let's have a look in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/lychgates-and-burial-markers/

Fairies in Northumberland talk on 19 April: https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/talks

Conway Hall talk about folklore rebels on 26 April: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/art-magic-lore-wild-talents/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

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I started out with the intention of looking at unusual church names. The problem was, this offered the potential to accidentally poke fun at their congregations. It also didn't help that most churches in the UK have pretty similar names. They're named for individual saints, like St Nicholas' Cathedral in Newcastle, or even all saints like, funnily enough, All Saints. Otherwise, they're named for their location.

Yet many churches have such names and preserve a touch of their history, or that of their location, through their names - much like pubs. So I thought I'd look at those churches whose names deviate, even slightly, from the usual 'St Andrew's Church' format. So when I say 'unusual', that's what I mean. Not like the usual names, rather than weird or strange!

So let's explore the origins of some church names in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/church-names/

Corpse Roads talk on 2 April: https://www.folkloremythmagic.com/event-details/online-icy-sedgwick-a-tour-of-an-english-corpse-road

Fairies in Northumberland talk on 19 April: https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/talks

Conway Hall talk about folklore rebels on 26 April: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/art-magic-lore-wild-talents/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/

Looking at the origins of sports team names might seem antithetical to folklore. Yet sport forms part of the ritual calendar for many people, whether on a personal or a mass scale. Look at the good luck rituals people follow before they watch their team play. Or how about the sporting events that become part of the folk tradition of a place through their regularity?

Some team names refer to the history of the area. Others refer to the specific history of the team. Some are generic, designed to sound powerful or intimidating. And others have links to folklore!

So let's explore the origins of sports team names in UK football, NHL hockey, and minor league baseball in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/sports-team-names/

Corpse Roads talk on 2 April: https://www.folkloremythmagic.com/event-details/online-icy-sedgwick-a-tour-of-an-english-corpse-road

Fairies in Northumberland talk on 19 April: https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/talks

Conway Hall talk about folklore rebels on 26 April: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/art-magic-lore-wild-talents/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

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Victoria Male is an internationally recognized screenwriter, earning accolades from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, film festivals, and major industry lists. Her prose has been published worldwide in fifteen literary magazines and she’s written op-eds for major publications. She worked in creative development for The Montecito Picture Company and media startup Graphic India, in addition to producing a podcast for three years.

In this chat, we talk about her screenplay for the film Cader Idris, which won Best Screenplay at the Wales International Film Festival 2024, some of the folklore associated with the mountain, and the perils of adapting folklore into fiction! 

Find Victoria online here: https://www.victoriamale.com/

Read her story, The Crone of Cader Idris, here: https://thechambermagazine.wordpress.com/2023/04/07/the-crone-of-cader-idris-supernatural-thriller-by-victoria-male/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

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There is no shortage of bizarre pub names in the UK. Some of them appear to be a combination of random objects, like the Frog and Nightgown. Others have a local story behind their odd name. I've covered unusual pub names before, so consider this Part 2.

Yet when I started researching these examples, it became apparent that pub names didn't have to be unusual to be interesting. Rather, pub names can capture a slice of history, whether they commemorate a local person, notorious or otherwise, or even just part of the fabric of their local area.

So let's explore the origins of the names of some pubs related to history in some way in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/pub-names-2/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

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