Local Legends #26: David England

On this week's episode of Local Legends, Martin is joined by storyteller, author and psychotherapist David England, whose book of Berkshire Folk Tales uncovered a wealth of lost and brilliant stories.

As we discuss, David made a wild change in his career during the 90's, jettisoning his job in IT and selling his house to retrain as a storyteller, then hit the road.

This opened up a wealth of possibilities, including collaborating with Tina Bilbe, the Secretary of the Society for Storytelling on Berkshire Folk Tales, and working with poet Jennie Ruth Bailey on his second book, Lancashire Folk Tales.

Unfortunately, Tina is no longer with us, but is warmly remembered in this chat, not least for her work, scouring archives for the stories which made up the collection David put to paper.

As he recounts, these include a wild range of stories, from epic Viking battles to the near-burning of a Saxon queen to legends of milk-hungry dragons, cannibalistic landlords, and wizards getting spanked out of town.

With David also being an acclaimed psychotherapist, whose book Soulfulness blends contemporary therapies with ancient shamanic practices, as you might expect, this is a rich interview, filled with warmth, anecdotes, and David's reflections on his own retelling of Gawain and the Green Knight, which available on YouTube.

To learn more David and his work, do visit his website – https://www.davidengland.co.uk/ – which links to his books, storytelling videos, and more.

Otherwise, we will be back on Monday with our brand new County Episode, where we will be digging into the history and folklore of Surrey.

The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

Three Ravens is a myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.

In each Monday episode we explore a historic county, digging into heritage, folklore and traditions, then we tell a new version of a legend from that county. Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays and Saturdays.

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