Blog
Musings on storytelling and nature.
Cranmere Pool: on the mother of rivers, and the nature of desolation
It’s unusual for me to spend a whole day on the moor at the moment, But on a rare sunny day this week, Emma Cunis (Dartmoor’s Daughter) and I determined to visit Cranmere Pool, and that demands commitment. It is not an easy place.
Spirit of Dartmoor? The story of Old Crockern
Who is Crockern? You might have come across mention of this mysterious figure on Dartmoor lately. Here’s my thoughts about the old Dartmoor folk tale of Old Crockern, its actual history, and its modern application. The story of Old Crockern first appears in Sabine Baring-Gould’s Book of the West (1899) with no explanation or interpretation.
Creative Classrooms: A Voice to tell our Story
Once upon a time, a storyteller, an artist, a film maker and a photographer began a great storytelling adventure. As these four travellers roamed across the wild and woolly landscape of North Devon, sharing their craft, a raggle-taggle of magical helpers joined them: firebirds, hag-trolls, farmers, giants, talking trees…
A walk in the wild woods?
Listen to any good traditional storyteller and, sooner or later, you will find yourself walking into the woods. Woodlands are full of immediate life, colour, sound, scent, and danger, no matter what the season.
The Firebird: Understanding the real trouble
An old Russian fairy tale brings us food for thought in these challenging times.
Rewilding storytelling
In the storytelling world we are used to “meeting the other”– the fantastic, the magical, the faerie. In this article, I’m inviting you to consider ‘the other’ as all of those non-human living things that we share our planet with. Plants, trees, animals, insects, fungi …
The battle for the heart of Albion
In Plymouth, past the Barbican and past the point where the Mayflower is meant to have set sail, along the coast towards the Hoe beneath the harsh angular stone of the Citadel, look out over the ivy-clad concrete wall to the sea, and then look again with your eyes tuned to the wild.
Red hearth, red heart
It’s been a summer of stories, with new projects everywhere, and I am delighted that some of these have been graced by the presence of the Red Alachigh.
“The Red what?” I hear you cry. An Alachigh is a type of Iranian nomadic tent, with curved wooden poles. But this one is made of Devon ash wood and its canvas is determinedly red. Really red. It has a story of its own.