Weird in the Wade

21/08/2024

On train selfie. Heading to London for day job work. But also an important podcast meeting. More on that later. 🤫

20/08/2024

Two very different photos from Kew yesterday. One from inside the palm house of a bud behind it was a sprinkler which created a nice soft background. There's ants on the flower bud. I love the vibrant orange of it too.
Then an equally vibrant orange of the bricks of Kew Palace. I've never been in the palace, I don't even know if you can go in, but it's said to be haunted so of course I want to visit. 👻
Today I have been editing Monday's episode more news to come on that later this week.

19/08/2024

Roman remains found at Black Cat roundabout north of Biggleswade and Sandy on the A1.

19/08/2024

Lots of photos from my visit to Kew Gardens today.
But did you know that some believe ghosts haunt the gardens and the palace? There was also a mystery in 2002 when a crop circle appeared in a field in the gardens near the river. You can read all about it here:

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/kewensia-a-history-of-the-supernatural-at-the-gardens

19/08/2024

So is this where Biggleswade’s mysterious tunnels end? 😉
Seriously though, what a find!

Discovery of Victorian network hiding under some of city’s busiest streets set ‘magical’ new challenge for £150m project

18/08/2024

I’ve been busy editing the next episode of the podcast. Due out a week tomorrow.
It’s part one of a story involving Victorian and early 20th Century spiritualism. A fascinating subject.
The photo below is of a seance being held by Eusapia Paladino a celebrated medium but also unmasked as a charlatan. In this photo she is making a mandolin levetate.

17/08/2024

Now I’ve been sharing a fair few posts about the news of the altar stone at Stonehenge having originated in Scotland, possibly even Orkney. And there’s been a lot of speculation about how the stone was moved.
Whether it came by sea or land I think it must have been an event that many Neolithic people living in what would become Britain would have witnessed. Whether it was communities by the coast watching for the arrival of the boat carrying the stone. Or if moved by land then settlements along the route it took would have given aid and shelter to those transporting it. Many must have been involved directly and indirectly in its movement. And by doing that they became aware or even gained a stake in the creation of Stonehenge. A bit like the Olympic Torch as it passes through towns and villages every four years.
I wonder if on its journey it came near Biggleswade? There were definitely people living here in Neolithic times. Just a thought.

17/08/2024

Trip to the spooky seaside anyone? 🙋🏼‍♀️🏖️

🚨!New episode!🚨

We’re off to the seaside, bring your bucket, spade and your ghost detecting equipment!

https://linktr.ee/EerieEssex

17/08/2024

Just given my self the shivers making a ghost ensemble soundscape for the next episode!

17/08/2024

So how could that Stonehenge altar stone have been transported over 400 miles from Scotland to Wiltshire 4000 years ago? Here are some theories.

Transporting a six-tonne megalith nearly 500 miles to Wiltshire is quite a feat. How was it achieved 4,000 years ago?

15/08/2024

Here’s the Market House, Biggleswade during the 2012 jubilee.
The Market House is an old building, the roof surprisingly dates back the furthest to medieval times.
Currently it houses the Surfin’ Cafe, a news agents, and Beegos sandwich shop to name but a few of the businesses.
In the past it was a drapers and there seems to have been a cafe there since the 1930s.
During the 19th century there was for a time a book shop and printers in the Market House which features in the next episode.

14/08/2024

I have been writing for most of the day. I’d love to say it’s been a gothic and spooky experience but mainly it’s me typing away in the dark! So kinda spooky.
I’m working on the next episode which is very spooky with Victorian spiritualism at its heart.

13/08/2024

It's that time of the month again... Patreon episode day!
If you'd like to support the podcast and get extra content you can for just the price of a coffee each month (£3.50.)
This month's Partreon episode revisits the topic of sleep paralysis and tells an historic tale of true crime, where sleep paralysis plays a shocking and unexpected part in the legal case.

Get more from Weird in the Wade on Patreon

13/08/2024

Back in Biggleswade! The weather is glorious and I’m writing the next episode whilst sitting outside the site of a 19th century bookshop (now the ) owned by one of Biggleswade’s most curious characters a spiritualist and amateur sleuth.

12/08/2024

If you enjoyed my posts over the weekend about the Burryman then do check out Norrie Work’s YouTube video about the day. He has exclusive video of the Burryman being dressed in the burrs and interviews with various people involved.
My Patreon exclusive episode about my day with the Burryman will be available next month.

Following the Burryman round Queensferry & asking people why? No media passes, no press boxes, no connection, contracts or deals with any media outlets. Prou...

08/08/2024

Aberdour castle. One of the oldest in Scotland dating back to 1100. And yes it is reposted to have a ghost.

08/08/2024

Listening to curlews and seals whilst looking across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. The seals make such an eerie sound it’s no surprise legends like that of the selkie and mermaids were inspired by them.

07/08/2024

I’m on a wander again. This time quite far north, in the Kingdom of Fife. Visiting my in-laws but first I stopped off in the pretty village of Aberdour. I walked to an old ruined jetty. It was a beautiful walk yet there was something about the woodland path which felt a little odd. Like a smuggler or hooded figure could appear around a corner at any moment.
I then visited the beautiful sensory garden.
Tomorrow I visit a haunted castle!

07/08/2024

I love Durham. Sorry I can’t stop this time. Still heading north.

06/08/2024

On Saturday before leaving London my mum and I had lunch at the Blackfriar pub. It is one of my favourites. The interior is something else. It was built in 1875 on the site of the old black friars monastery. Remodelled in 1905 and given a fabulous art deco design inside. It was nearly demolished in the 1960s. John Betjeman led the campaign to save the pub.
And of course such an historic pub has a ghost. It’s described as a friendly spirit who just likes to move things about.

05/08/2024

Today is the 181 year anniversary of the ex*****on of Sarah Dazley, also known as the Potton Poisoner. She was hanged in public (the last woman in Bedfordshire to be so) on this day in 1843 outside Bedford Gaol. She was convicted of murdering her husband with arsenic and was suspected by many of murdering her first husband and infant son. But many believe she did not have a fair trial.
Last year the Bedford Independent covered the story and the episodes I released over last summer all about this unusual case which also has a number of ghost stories attached to it.
It seems you can not be so notorious as a criminal and not leave behind some tales of the unexplained.

On Saturday, 5 August it is 180 years to the day, that Sarah Dazley was hanged outside Bedford Gaol for the crime of poisoning her second...

04/08/2024

On this day in 1577 in Bungay there was a great storm and a demon dog appeared in a flash of lightning. The dog rampaged around Bungay Church injuring and even killing church goers. Around 12 miles away at Blythurgh another church was attacked by a black dog. The scorched claw marks it made in the church are still visible today!
Nearly a decade ago I wrote this blog post all about black shuck, the myths and folklore, and the landscape he roams.

Today's blog is about the story of Black Shuck (Old Shuck) the legendary East Anglian spirit dog. The tales of Black Shuck are told aroun...

04/08/2024

I just want to say thank you for listening to Weird in the Wade and following this page!
Hello to all the new followers here on Facebook you are very welcome to this weird corner of the internet.
👋🏼👋🏾👋🏻👋🏿👋🏻👋🏽
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03/08/2024

Photos from St James’ Park. It’s a park with a rich history and is reported to be haunted by a ghostly headless woman wearing an unusual red dress.
Today I only saw birds, squirrels and real live people. (Or I hope they all were 😂👻) 🦆🪿🐿️

02/08/2024

I’ve been to the garden museum today. It’s a lovely unusual place based in an old church right next to Lambeth Palace.
Ghost hunts have been held in the museum in the past but other than being an extremely old church (dating back over a millennia) I can’t find any information about any hauntings.

02/08/2024

Not spooky just London. View from Victoria Street looking towards the London Eye and Westminster Abbey.

01/08/2024

I’ve been making notes for the next episode of the podcast which involves Victorian spiritualism. So it’s made me think about Sarah Waters’ fantastic book Affinity, which I totally recommend.
The story is centred around spiritualism in the 19th century and also Millbank Prison in London.
When I first read the book in 1999 I was working in Westminster and spent sunny lunch hours looking for the remaining fragments of Millbank Prison. I’ll post a link to info about Millbank Prison in the comments.
Im really looking forward to working on this next episode. Spiritualism in the 19th century is such a fascinating subject.

Affinity is a 1999 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters. It is the author's second novel, following her debut Tipping the Velvet. Set during 1870s Victorian England, it tells the story of a woman, Margaret Prior, who is haunted by a shadowy past and in an attempt to cure her recent bout of illne...