The profile of folklore in England has never seemed higher. The team behind the National Folklore Survey for England project speak to a variety of people working with or researching folklore to understand why folklore is so compelling, find out more about their work, and to discover their hopes for the National Folklore Survey for England.
A very special episode to close series two: Dave Clarke and Andrew Robinson interview Professor John Widdowson at home in the Peak District.
For many listeners, John will need no introduction. John has been at the forefront of Folkloristics and dialect studies in the UK for decades. Following degrees from Oxford, Leeds and Memorial University, Canada, John founded the Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language (CECTAL) at the University of Sheffield, which later became the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition (NATCECT), where he served as its director for four decades. Dave Clarke was one of his PhD students in the 1990s.
In an article for (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26445770)Folklore (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26445770) in 2016, John called for a new national folklore survey (https://www.jstor.org/stable/26445770), and it was this that ultimately inspired our current project.
In this episode, John reflects on his introduction to folklore, his career and his research, his survey which began in the 1960s - and that famous red mini.
You can find information about the John Widdowson Folklore Collection at Sheffield Hallam here: https://libguides.shu.ac.uk/c.php?g=55836&p=5005486
A huge thank you to Andrew Robinson for recording and editing this episode.
13 Aug 2026
Dave Clarke and UFOs, the Crying Boy, and other forays into folklore
It’d be daft of us if we didn’t speak to our very own Dave Clarke. Probably best known as a world expert on UFOs, Dave has also researched a whole host of other folklore-related stories, trends, ideas and concepts, writing numerous books and appearing frequently on documentaries and podcasts (including most recently Sky’s The Alien Autopsy Scandal). His new book on the folklore of space is out next year.
You can find his website here: https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/ (https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/)
This podcast was recorded remotely on the then-hottest day of the year, so please excuse any differences in sound levels and quality.
6 Aug 2026
Anna Milon, Christopher Ohge and Project StoryMachine
Anna Milon and Christopher Ohge are two researchers working on a collaborative project between UK and German universities that seeks to create a digital tool that helps researchers navigate large folk narrative collections. Project StoryMachine is in its infancy, but its capabilities are already pretty exciting. Anna and Christopher tell us more here.
To find out more about StoryMachine, visit the website here: https://storymachine.iisys.de/ (https://storymachine.iisys.de/)
The Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project is still active and you can find it here: https://lincolnshirefolktalesproject.com/ (https://lincolnshirefolktalesproject.com/)
30 Jul 2026
Mike Hankin and The Folk Union
Why is folk culture in the spotlight in the UK at the moment? What are the most exciting things going on? Do we have to think about how folk culture is organised and presented, and what are the differences between folk culture and the folk scene?
The Folk Union is a fascinating project that has grown exponentially. You can read more about it here, and buy some of the pamphlets Mike discusses: https://thefolkunion.com/ (https://thefolkunion.com/)
The Offbeat Folk Film Club is here: https://offbeat.film/ (https://offbeat.film/)
And you can find out more about Mike, his research and his other work here: https://mikehankin.com/ (https://mikehankin.com/)
You may find that Mike is a little quiet in this episode. Apologies! Please crank up your volume to eleven, as he has some great things to say!
23 Jul 2026
Jack Werner, Uncanny and contemporary legend
Dave and Diane had the pleasure of meeting Jack Werner at the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) annual conference in Stockholm and knew he’d made a fascinating future guest for Folklore Matters. Jack is the presenter of the Swedish version of Uncanny – he tells us how to pronounce the Swedish title properly in the episode! – and has been researching contemporary legends in Sweden, or Vandringssägen, for many years. Jack’s newsletter can be found here: https://vandringssagen.se/ (https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvandringssagen.se%2F&data=05%7C02%7CS.Parkes-Nield%40shu.ac.uk%7C8eb606ae571743371c6508dec57843ed%7C8968f6a1ac13472fb899f7316e439f43%7C0%7C0%7C639165317477182301%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=cqKVWFRn1uWJ8cVGxKLTlw4ijCHGy604rqMMb02LqHc%3D&reserved=0)
There were several things we discussed in the episode that will be easy to look up, but we thought it would be worth including the link to the archival reconstruction of ‘Ted's Caving Page’ that Jack mentioned as one of his favourite creepypastas: https://teds-caving-page.netlify.app/ (https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteds-caving-page.netlify.app%2F&data=05%7C02%7CS.Parkes-Nield%40shu.ac.uk%7C8eb606ae571743371c6508dec57843ed%7C8968f6a1ac13472fb899f7316e439f43%7C0%7C0%7C639165317477222054%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bjZp9AdPkI%2FRcl1tbYBpGtLdLwQpNaJ0qk%2FD5NvSuS8%3D&reserved=0) and the Wikipedia page about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_the_Caver (https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTed_the_Caver&data=05%7C02%7CS.Parkes-Nield%40shu.ac.uk%7C8eb606ae571743371c6508dec57843ed%7C8968f6a1ac13472fb899f7316e439f43%7C0%7C0%7C639165317477243138%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=N4q1BHsc%2FZ6ujXw6OnPM8hLIjGUAiYeckf5Jun3crrc%3D&reserved=0)
16 Jul 2026
Klára Feikusová and folk horror
Klára Feikusová is a Czech scholar with a penchant for horror on screen, especially folk horror, so we were delighted when she stopped by Sheffield on her trip to the UK and agreed to appear on the podcast.
Klára mentions legendary Czech film director František Vláčil in the podcast. If you’d like to know more about him and his works, please visit: https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/frantisek-vlacil (https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/frantisek-vlacil)
Klára also talked about the legend of the horse that appears on a building near to where she lives. This following site explains the legend in Czech, but there is an option to translate the page to English: https://www.moravskyturista.cz/2014/10/olomouc-dum-u-cerneho-kone.html (https://www.moravskyturista.cz/2014/10/olomouc-dum-u-cerneho-kone.html)
9 Jul 2026
Dave Brewis and Gatherings
Welcome back to Folklore Matters! We're delighted to be bringing you more compelling interviews with people working with folklore in myriad ways, from academic research to popular culture.
To kick off series two, we meet Dave Brewis, a filmmaker with over two decades of experience in filming calendar customs in the UK and in France. His recent series, Gatherings, examines six UK customs in detail. We wanted to know how this came about, and why calendar customs are so important to communities.
To find out more about Gatherings, and how to watch it, please visit: https://gatherings.tv/
31 Mar 2026
Series One digest
Now that our first ever series of Folklore Matters is out there, hosts and researchers, Diane Rodgers and Sophie Parkes-Nield, give a quick overview of their favourite moments.
5 Mar 2026
Helen Wheatley and Spooky Television
Professor Helen Wheatley is a legendary television scholar who has published seminal books, such as Gothic Television, the award-winning Spectacular Television: Exploring Televisual Pleasure, and more recently Television/Death, a study of death, bereavement and dying on television. In this episode of Folklore Matters - the final episode of series one - Helen joins Diane Rodgers in the studio to talk about folk horror (especially when it wasn't really known as folk horror), gothic television, and why television makers in the late twentieth century scared children.
26 Feb 2026
Lucy Wright and Creating Folklore
Folklore is massive on social media, and around May Day and Halloween, you may have seen films and photographs of people dancing on their own or in small groups to celebrate seasonal change. If so, it may have been at the instigation of artist and activist, Lucy Wright, our guest in this latest episode of Folklore Matters. Lucy is a prolific polymath: academic, musician, artist, and writer. In this episode, she discusses who gets to participate in folklore, and how and why creation matters.
19 Feb 2026
Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook and Folklore: a journey through the past and present
This special episode of Folklore Matters is a recording of a live event at Off The Shelf 2025, at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield (https://offtheshelf.org.uk/events/folklore-a-journey-through-the-past-and-present-owen-davies-and-ceri-houlbrook/). Part of the National Folklore Survey for England team, Professor Owen Davies and Dr Ceri Houlbrook published a groundbreaking book in 2025, entitled Folklore: a journey through the past and present (https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526180384/). This episode presents Owen and Ceri live in conversation with David Clarke, speaking about their book, the decision to write it and their introduction to folklore, but also their involvement in the Survey project. As some of the audience questions couldn't be heard very well in the recording, Diane Rodgers interprets so Owen and Ceri's answers can be contextualised.
12 Feb 2026
Dominic Hardy and Children of The Wicker Man
Contemporary discussions of folklore soon arrive at cult film The Wicker Man. In this episode of Folklore Matters, David, Sophie and Diane meet Dominic Hardy, son of Robin Hardy, director of The Wicker Man, to learn about the film's lasting cultural legacy, but also the film's impact on Dominic's family. Dominic, with his brother, Justin, produced a film and recently published a book, both entitled Children of The Wicker Man, that interrogates their experiences.
5 Feb 2026
Andrew Robinson and the Ritual Year
It's time to catch up with another Sheffield Hallam colleague, this time photographer, folklore researcher and lecturer, Andrew Robinson.
Andrew’s fascinated by the visual representation of custom and tradition in England, along with the folklore, myth and legend associated with photographs and photographers. He's recently been working with David on the Calvine UFO - more in this episode - and has been documenting calendar customs in England since the 1990s.
29 Jan 2026
Richard Bradley and Weird Derbyshire
Richard Bradley is a librarian at Sheffield Hallam University, where Folklore Matters hosts, David Clarke, Sophie Parkes-Nield, and Diane Rodgers, are based. But in the world of folklore, Richard is known as 'Weird Derbyshire' and has been researching, attending and documenting the folklore and customs of Derbyshire for the past decade. He's published four local history books including 'Secret Chesterfield' and 'The A - Z of Curious Derbyshire', and writes a monthly feature on the folklore of Derbyshire for Derbyshire Life magazine since 2020. It's about time we sat down with Richard to learn more about his work, his interests, and how he discovered Weird Derbyshire.
29 Jan 2026
Introducing Folklore Matters
The profile of folklore in England has never seemed bigger. In Folklore Matters, folklore researchers, David Clarke, Sophie Parkes-Nield, and Diane Rodgers, want to find out more about people’s interests in the folklore of the country, how they’re working with it, collecting or documenting it.
This introductory episode sets out what listeners can expect from Folklore Matters, and a little more about the National Folklore Survey for England (https://www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/) project on which David, Sophie and Diane are working.
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