During a recent Ghosts & Folklore of Wales Halloween talk in Swansea, I filmed a quick cultural adventure at St Alban’s Church in Treboeth. It was absolutely chucking it down – tipping it down! – but I still managed to have a quick look around this beautiful Gothic church to talk about the remarkably gruesome…
I recently visited Whitland in Carmarthenshire for my first Halloween/ Nos Calan Gaeaf talk of the 2026 spooky season – the first of many! It was also my first gig in Whitland ever, and when speaking somewhere for the first time, I like to rummage through my books for a local ghost story or piece…
Every Halloween, St Fagans National Museum of History near Cardiff is transformed for Halloween Nights — with Welsh folklore, scare actors, storytelling, fairground rides and plenty of fire. And at the end of the night, the Wicker Man is burned. Yep – a Wicker Man is burned! But why is there a Wicker Man at…
Did the dead ironworkers return to work after dark? Can an ironworks itself be haunted? And what would you make of the sound of machinery coming to life when the works should have been silent? In this episode of the Ghosts and Folklore of Wales podcast, we travel back to Victorian Merthyr Tydfil and one…
On a recent cruise ship gig – talking about Dutch art as we sailed the misty waters of the Netherlands – I was able to sneak on shore and visit one of my favourite temples of art. Arriving in Amsterdam – having spent the previous day in Rotterdam – I got the chance to revisit…
During a recent cruise ship gig, I had the opportunity to step ashore and explore Rotterdam – camera in hand. Having spent so much time talking about Dutch art and architecture – working as a guest speaker and talking about art history – it was nice to get a chance to stretch my legs and…
Do you believe in ghosts? What about ghouls, goblins, and things that go bump in the night? It’s a question I’ve been asked countless times. In fact, I was asked it just the day before I recorded this video (which you can watch below, or over on my lovely YouTube channel) in the Q&A session…
Most people know the old stories about fairies stealing babies. But do you know about the “Fairy Body Snatchers” fairies who stole the dead? Tales of changelings tell how the fairy folk could take a healthy child and leave behind one of their own in its place. One piece of Welsh folklore speaks of a…
I love Pennard Castle – and the spooky stories associated with it – and was very happy when the Paranormal Unpacked team decided to go and film our latest episode there. I also took the opportunity to film a little behind the scenes video focusing on one of my favourite figures from Welsh folklore, the…
