Storyteller and Author
Do you know that a mermaid might choose to bless or curse you? Have you seen the ghosts of smugglers and wreckers that stalk the south coast of England? Do you follow the old wisdom, and do you know the day of the week you must not set sail? England…
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…. In…
Dartmoor Storytellers presents New Light – Stories for the Winter Solstice The nights are long, and the sun is at its lowest point: after a challenging twelve months, we wait for the first spark of the new year, with weary bodies and wild hopes in our hearts. Dartmoor Storytellers brings you…
An old Russian fairy tale brings us food for thought in these challenging times. Here’s my blog for Folklore Thursday.
Storytelling and nature conservation: how can storytelling contribute to a more wildlife-friendly society? 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…
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…
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…
Every place holds its own stories: echoes of people, wildlife and the land itself. Widecombe-in-the-Moor looks like a rural idyll, a thriving small community tucked away in a Dartmoor valley surrounded by heath and moor and woodland. Any student of Devon folklore will know this place holds some great stories,…
Before 2017, the last time I remember sitting down with a sketchpad and specifically drawing plants was on the Scilly Isles when I was about 11. We were on holiday on St Mary’s, marvelling at exotics like Datura, the strange new discovery of ‘Whistling Jacks’, the corn marigolds everywhere. I…
I’ve been very privileged to work with High Bickington Primary School recently. High Bickington is a small village in north Devon where the church is next to the primary school, with a special doorway between the two. Following my work with the school on community trails and landscape, with Devon…