Ruth is Stranger Than Fiction

It’s time to return to the Felbrigg estate and discover what’s next for William Windham, aka Gla, and his new sweetheart Agnes Willoughby after their paths converged at the Ascot races. In the second part of the story we learn how this unlikely romance formed the catalyst for one of the most talked about British legal cases of the 19th century. Cham all round and prepare for lunacy!

We’re off to Norfolk for a relatively unknown but legally significant story from early Victorian England. The tale begins at Felbrigg Hall where the respected and prestigious Windham family have ruled the roost for centuries. This historic legacy is about to be challenged by the relationship of the eccentric heir William Frederick Windham, train obsessive, and the beautiful Agnes Willoughby. Cocktails aplenty and Katy exceeds expectations by bringing not two but three horseracing inspired drinks.

Picture credit: Paul Tomlin, shared under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en. Crop of original image.

Keen listeners may remember talk of Joanna Southcott’s box of prophecies and how it led to the rallying cry of Bedford’s Panacea Society: ‘Open the box!’ This episode the whole mad shebang returns to our attention in the most surprising of ways - in relation to a poltergeist case in Cambridgeshire. When the Morris family, down on their luck, turned to the Panacea Society for assistance, little did they know that their ordeal was only just beginning…

We’re off to Essex this episode for a story inspired by a recent visit to the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall. There we first got wind of George Pickingill. On the face of it, a simple agricultural labourer, but in legend a cunning man revered as one of the most powerful wizards of Essex (and by all accounts it’s a crowded field!). He was also known as Old George, Old Picky, and perhaps more improbably still, as the oldest man in England.

Image from the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, cropped from photo by Ethan Doyle White, shared under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Stand and deliver! Your money or your life! We’re out on the dangerous roads of 17th century England this episode to explore some legendary tales from the golden age of the highwayman - and highwaywoman! Prepare yourselves for the story of the Wicked Lady, a notorious pistol-toting criminal who terrorised the roads of Hertfordshire and who may or may not have been hard done by noble woman Katherine Ferrars. Katy brings double drinks again so it’s cocktails galore as we consume a Haunted Galleon, Golden Spoils, and a Velvet Pistol.

Listen to the flutter of tiny wings - Cupid is in town! Where will he shoot his arrows on this, the most romantic day of the year? Of course, at this podcast we hate happy stories of romance so for our Valentine Special we are pleased to present two ghostly tales of doomed lovers from the Norfolk Broads.

A special live recording of the Hallowe’en Ruth is Stranger than Fiction event, held at the Museum of Cambridge on 31st October 2025. I was joined by author Mike Rampton for an exploration of the strange creatures of Cambridgeshire: some ghostly, some demonic, some large and some that have baffled philosophers and scientists for hundreds of years.

Thank you to the wonderful Museum of Cambridge for hosting us!

Back to Norfolk we go for the second part of Death by Dumplings! Unassuming Norwich man John Burgess has been poisoned, but he was not the intended victim. Now we will hear who was meant to receive the arsenic-laced flour, and who it was that did the lacing. The cocktail fuelled chat also has us pondering on brass rubbings, moonlight reading, and seditious literature.

When Norwich man John Burgess sat down to a dinner of Norfolk dumplings in 1829, little did he suspect that he was about to eat himself into a nightmare. Poor John was about to board the poison train. Join us for talk of suet, stomach linings, and a number of tasty drinks.

Picture: A Norfolk Dumpling by James Gillray.

More stories from the sea this week as we return to the watery shores of East Anglia for the folk legend commonly known as the Wild Man of Orford. I however will be referring to him as the Orford Merman - listen to discover why!

Image from the Wellcome Collection.