Tales From the Otherwood

'Expecting to see a scarecrow in the breeze or even a jacket possibly discarded by a farmer, Lawrence was very surprised to see: striding along, a very tall man wearing a black wide brimmed hat.... his long black cloak that was fastened by a bright chain shining silver in the moonlight. …. Lawrence couldn’t see his face, but he could see the gentleman had a hooked nose.'

In early October 1930, young Lawrence Bardhill makes his way homeward after an evening with friends at Nottingham's Goose Fair; by foot, only to realise he is not alone on his journey and finds himself haunted!

This episode serves a prelude to Series 4 and includes a rundown of the episodes to come as the months roll on. 

Sources for this episode include:

Earp, Frank E. ‘The A-Z of Curious Nottinghamshire: Strange Stories of Mysteries, Crimes and Eccentrics’ The History Press, Stroud, 2014 reprinted 2018.

Howat, Polly. ‘Tales of Old Nottinghamshire’ Countryside Books, Newbury, 1991.

Staton, Catherine. ‘A Ghostly Guide to Nottinghamshire’ The John Merrill Foundation, Waltham Cross, 2004 reprinted 2005.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/nottinghamshire/nottdata.php?pageNum_paradata=1&totalRows_paradata=303 Accessed 28/09/2026

https://goosefair.co.uk/goose-fair-history/ Accessed 28/09/2026

https://leftlion.co.uk/features/2020/10/history-nottinghams-goose-fair-forest-recreation-ground-old-market-square-nottingham-2020/ Accessed 28/09/2026

https://mumblingnerd.com/the-origins-of-goose-fair/some-historical-goose-fair-events-and-dates/ Accessed 28/09/2026

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This month’s episode brings two folk horror tales written by local Nottingham storyteller and writer Mel Bhavsar. 

‘Maria’ explores the feeling we have about wanting to take a walk in the woods and leaving our everyday modern life behind, but what if you don’t want to leave the forest? And more to the point, what if the forest doesn’t want you to leave either? 

‘In the Dark of Wellbeck’ follows the thoughts of a project manager who finds himself mysteriously drawn into the underground tunnels at Wellbeck Abbey, thing is, was he acting under his own free will? 

https://www.welbeck.co.uk/visit-us/estate-walks/south-tunnel-lodge/

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This Derbyshire tale brings us a more spooky kind of story for Christmas.... A new parson moves to the village of Derwent. He gets on with the locals, is surrounded by beautiful views all around and all his sermons are fully attended, everything is as it should be.... until local parishioners ask him to comply with a local tradition involving his sermon on the first Sunday after Christmas....

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Although Halloween has passed, the dark nights are here and although the sunlight is low and blinding, the shadows are long!

Tales From the Dark is a collection of three tales that were amongst those told in the run up to Halloween for the Nottingham Pagan Network on Wednesday 22nd October 2025. For although the spooky season has given way to the build up to Christmas, the dark nights are still prime time for ghostly and ghastly tales to be told…. Tales From the Dark!

• Bill Shepherd and the Ghost: is the Derbyshire tale of a man who claims to be afraid of nothing, does this include the ghost in the local graveyard?
• Wanted: A Husband: is a Nottinghamshire tale of a handsome travelling youth who sees an advertisement for being a husband to a rich woman who has been widowed several times already….
• The Werewolf of Langrick Fen: is a Lincolnshire tale of a lone archaeologist who discovers a very strange skeleton comes with a very strange companion….

Unscripted and told to you to keep you thrilled in the dark half of the year. Listen if you dare! 

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A dedication episode for Ni Claydon who sadly died just before Halloween. 

Listening to my Podcast, Ni told me that I hadn't '... covered Old Sarah'. It was always on the back burner, and I unfortunately never told it until now.

'The Witch and the Buttermilk' is a Nottinghamshire folk tale about a young farmer's wife who refuses to give buttermilk to the local witch, Old Sarah. 

The story also contains some charms of deflecting witchcraft should you ever need it!

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You can contact Dylan by email on:

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For this Halloween episode, I chatted with Robert Valentine, storyteller and author from Northampton about his children's novel 'The Ghost of Kingshill School'. 

His book was inspired by an actual school said to have been haunted by one its students who met a very grisly end!

We also discuss actual ghostly occurrences we ourselves have encountered, ghost hunting and the power of suggestion. This episode also includes Robert reading two parts from his book.

You can get your own copy of 'The Ghost of Kingshill Middle School from Troubadour Publishing at: 

https://troubador.co.uk/bookshop/young-children/the-ghost-of-kingshill-middle-school

Happy Halloween!

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You can contact Dylan by email on:

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Leicestershire children were always told that if they weren't in bed before 9PM the Nine O' Clock Horses would get them!.... something that was even told to people my age when they were children! 

Some said the horses would take any wayward children away, others said that they were kidnapped and forced to work in local farms.... but what did happen?

This story follows one brave young girl who wants to see the 9 O'Clock horses for herself: will she survive being taken away? Will she be eaten alive? Will she be dragged off to Hell? Find out in this month's episode!

Links include: 

https://www.abbeypumpingstation.org/9-oclock-horses

https://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2023/12/leicestershires-nine-oclock-horses.html

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/remember-9-oclock-horses-story-1250450

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/night-soil-men-victorian-era-poop

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You can contact Dylan by email on:

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It’s 1642, the Civil War has just kicked off! Queen Henrietta Maria, exhausted, weakened, dispirited and physically ill; has taken refuge, in a family residence in Nevers, Brittany. Jeffrey Hudson is now 25 years old and is not taking any more of being an object of ridicule from the remnants of the Queen's Court. As the adult Jeffrey tries to assert his worth as a man, he finds his eighteen inches of height will cause others to underestimate him….

This month’s chat includes information about the reservoir, Rutland Water, from listener of the show, Adam. And also includes some folklore about Jeffrey Hudson that had been believed to be fact until as recently as the 1920s! 

Warning! One of the alleged stories about Jeffrey contains elements of animal cruelty. 

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Ryan Gilmartin, award winning actor and writer joins Dylan in the first 'Proper Chat' episode of Tales From The Otherwood.

Ryan talks about his theatrical show 'Henry VIII Used to Hate Us' a performance all about Lincolnshire history, music, food and folklore!

Both Dylan and Ryan discuss the magic of storytelling and theatre, how the folklore of your hometown can explain a lot about where you came from and how is it you never really appreciate where you are from until you've left it?

'Henry VIII Used to Hate Us’ begins its tour across Lincolnshire on Tuesday 10th June until Friday 27th June.  You can read more and get ticket details from: https://easternangles.co.uk/event/henry-viii-used-to-hate-us/

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Dylan takes a slightly different approach with this month's story. Firstly, he recorded this unscripted and secondly, rather than a chat regarding the folklore around the Wise Men of Gotham, he incorporates the folklore into the story. 

In the time of King John, two envoymen ride ahead to explore the Nottinghamshire village of Gotham (It's said "Go-tum" around here!) to make sure it is safe for HRH to travel through safely.... what they weren't prepared for were people trying to capture summer-bringing birds, people rolling cheese wheels down hills and people trying an eel in court.... you have been warned!   

Washington Irving himself was inspired by these very tales! Will you be?

Also, if you quite like this format (or not) of being unscripted and mixing folklore into the story, please let me know! 

This episode also contains blatant advertising for the Storytellers of Nottingham.... especially as he performed this very story with them back in early April. 

Send us Fan Mail

You can contact Dylan by email on:

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@tales_from_the_otherwood

Or even "Send Us a Text Message" link at the bottom of the description!

Please don't forget to follow this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts and please, please do leave me a review!