Suffolk and Somerset Folklore

In the summer we camped in Suffolk and visited a few local places of interest. Principal destination on my (Antonine) itinerary was Woolpit, home of the famous Green Children folklore classic. The town sign features them in silhouette and there's a small local museum with information about the history of the village - I imagine most visitors are interested in the Green Children. You can buy a level-headed booklet, which gives a convincing explanation for the mysterious events. One of the leading experts on this subject is John Clark, who has written a number of scholarly articles, see here.

We also visited Woolpit church and were surprised to find an eroded figure of a wodewose in a niche on the south wall close to the altar. More information here. See also my earlier post about the Brede Ogre in East Sussex.

Yesterday returned from a weekend trip to Somerset, staying at beautiful Walnut Tree Farm near the village of Regil. Arriving late at night by  minicab from Bristol Temple Meads I was rather disconcerted to be dropped by the tableau of scarecrows above photographed in daylight the following day.  Scarecrow festivals seem to be increasing in popularity in rural England in recent years.

While staying in a shepherd's hut at the farm I was reading The Stopping Places by Damian Le Bas, a fascinating insight into gypsy life and how it has survived into the twenty-first century. Probably the best book I've read this year - I liked the way that the writing was reigned in when it threatened to get too self-consciously poetic in the way of so many travel books. See here.