The Hollow In The Tree: Podcast Extras

Sneak Peek At Season 5

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 09:01:46 GMT

Merry met folks, this autumn is shaping up to be a very busy one and I can’t wait to share stories around the fire, frightful tales in old houses and spooky woodland walks. It does mean that I likely won’t get to season 5 until November at the earliest and so to keep you going until then, I’m stopping by with a sneak peak at the themes for this next sea…

Extended Versions Of Stories From Lore, Season 2

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 09:01:13 GMT

Back in 2021 for Season 2 of ‘Stories From Lore’ I produced extended versions of that season, exclusively for paid Patreons. As many of you know my Patreon is now my Substack and so I thought it was about time I uploaded these extended versions for you to enjoy over here as part of your Substack membership.

Photo by Catarina Carvalho on Unsplash

So here …

Fleeing Food - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 08:55:47 GMT

If you visit the website of the University of Pittsburg, which I have reference in the show notes, you will find lists of stories that appear under the Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktales index and the index numbers attributed to them. These have been compiled by a Professor Ashliman, now based in Southern Utah in the United States.

If you are not familiar wi…

The Bells, The Bells - The Playlist

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 29 May 2024 09:01:21 GMT

Listen Here

Above you will find a link to a playlist that I have curated on Spotify that links to the theme Season 4 Episode 6 : ‘The Bells, The Bells’.

The One Where I Learn To Wind The Bell

Dawn Nelson — Sun, 26 May 2024 13:09:18 GMT

As you will know if you're a regular reader of my Substack, I am taking a break from paid subscriber content over the summer, but I just have to share my latest adventure with you, and so I've made an exception for an exclusive behind the scenes, podcast extra post solving the mystery of the bells that were not ringing!

In the most recent episode of ‘Stories From Lore’, entitled ‘The Bells, The Bells’, for the story trail section, I was all set to record the bell ringing practice which happens in our village, usually without fail, on a Thursday. This Thursday just gone, it did not happen, scuppering my plans and leading to an impromptu ditty from my daughter and me. If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, you can listen here:

I also mentioned that I hadn’t heard the church bells ringing the hour and so was wondering what had happened. This wondering lead to a series of events.

I happened to bump into a group of people who look after the church and the grounds and it transpires that it was a simple coincidence. The bell ringers simply weren’t practising that week and the person who winds the clock had been on holiday and so the clock had not been wound. It turns out there is only one person in the village who does this and as we were chatting, they asked me if I’d like to learn how.

Now, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not Christian and I do not attend church, however the church is still the heart of the village and has been standing here, in one form or another, since the late Saxon’s built it in the 11th Century. It’s an important part of our history and I love hearing the bells chime the hour, so, ‘why not?’ I thought, and this lead to me taking a trip to the top of the Norman bell tower and learning how to wind the clock bell so that I may be able to do this on a regular basis, and share the duty with the Sexton.

So, today I’m sharing with you, a little look at the Hambledon church bells, the mechanism which runs the clock and a little of the history that’s in our beautiful bell tower.

The Bells, The Bells - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Fri, 24 May 2024 17:00:22 GMT

‘The bells, the bells’, is a quote that many attribute to Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. It’s an extremely well-known quote but it’s one of those that never actually happened. Apparently, Quasimodo never once says this in the book or the film. How do I know this? Well I stumbled upon a thread on literature stack where some fi…

Herne The Hunter - Downloadable Journal

Dawn Nelson — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:50:03 GMT

Hi Folks

In the last episode of the podcast I mentioned Herne The Hunter and how you can hear more about him, deer, stags and other horned gods in episode one of season four, which you can listen to below.

When I produced this episode I offered a journal which was downloadable via my website, and I’m now offering that journal as a podcast extra, which I …

The Rise Of The Gonk

Dawn Nelson — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 10:00:42 GMT

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed, especially over the festive season, an invasion of small (although sometimes large) fluffy creatures that generally feature a hat, a round nose, a disproportionately large beard and two feet poking out the bottom. They are known as gonks and someone recently asked me if they were the same as hobs and tomtes. Well … no, they are not. So where do these creatures come from and why do we find them so alluring?

Castle Dwellers - The Playlist

Dawn Nelson — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:18:06 GMT

Listen Here

Above you will find a link to a 30 minute playlist that I have curated on Spotify that links to the theme Season 4 Episode 5 : ‘Castle Dwellers’.

Castle Dwellers - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:17:06 GMT

Castles and ruins are a huge subject. My husband and I once went on a tour of Henry VIII’s castles, situated along the south coast, in a 1990s Lotus Esprit. Back in the days when a mortgage was a distant possibility and children were but a twinkle in the eye. But that my friends, is a story for another day. We still love exploring castles and my daughte…

Winchester's Hidden Castle

Dawn Nelson — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 17:01:44 GMT

Crenellations and dark tunnels, bogarts and black dogs that's what ruins are made of! More specifically castle ruins. Episode 5 of the podcast is all about ‘Castle Dwellers' and so last weekend I announced to ma famille that we really needed to go find some old ruins to explore and so off we went, (with very little encouragement needed I may add), to the heart of Winchester to visit the remains of what was once the city's castle and one of the most important seats of power in Anglo Saxon Britain.

Pomegranate & The Lioness

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:35:33 GMT

Can you imagine my surprise when, whilst watching a programme about the Georgian mail coaches, presented by the wonderful Mike Loades on History Hit, I discovered that one of the horses to pull the fastest of the Royal Mail coaches, Quicksilver, was pulled by a horse called Pomegranate.

Section of a painting by Robert Pollard

Not only that but the poor horse, a little like Persephone, was attacked out of nowhere, by a lioness of all things. Perhaps it’s a stretch but I can see some similarities in Persephone and Pomegranates stories, (Persephone and the Underworld, being the subject of the latest episode of the podcast). But’s let’s go back to the beginning.

Persephone's Pomegranate - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:22:35 GMT

In story, underworlds are dark, dank places, places long cut off from the light afforded the upper world, places where nothing good will occur. Social constructs reinforce this. The need to continue being productive, continue with the routine and fill the space with neon lights to convince ourselves we do not need the dark of the underworld. That is not…

Persephone's Pomegranate - The Playlist

Dawn Nelson — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:22:06 GMT

Persephone's Pomegranate - Fruit Of The Underworld

Dawn Nelson — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 12:08:45 GMT

The pomegranate, what better subject for a spot of kitchen witching? Steeped in myth this unassuming berry (yup it’s a berry) is often considered to be a bit of a luxury. Some of what follows will appear in the next episode of the podcast ‘Persephone’s Pomegranate’, but just for you guys, I’ve also dug a little further than the pomegranate and followed…

Wise Old Salmon - The Recipe

Dawn Nelson — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 18:00:22 GMT

At this time of year you can find a variety of different squash in the supermarkets and veg stores. Riverford Organic do a great selection and each year I like to try one I haven’t had before. Enter Delicata Squash.

Described as ‘mild, fragrant flesh and creamy texture’, I thought this one would be a good one for all the family and work well in a tray b…

Wise Old Salmon - The Playlist

Dawn Nelson — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 16:00:05 GMT

Wise Old Salmon - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:00:25 GMT

For the first four to six years of their lives, young salmon live in rivers. Their bodies then go through a change which allows them to live in salt water and it is then that they head out to sea. This process is called smoltifying. Their migration to the sea happens between March and June. They spend a year in the ocean before returning to the rivers a…

Strawberries Fair - The Recipe

Dawn Nelson — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 09:02:20 GMT

This recipe is based on one I found in a recipe book called ‘The Midlife Kitchen’. The original recipe has fresh green chillis and coriander in it but I’ve adapted it for the pallet of the 8-year-old in our family who is loving this dish with fresh fish and home cooked sweet potato wedges.

Feel free to adapt this yourself, swapping out the basil for fre…

Strawberries Fair - The Folklore

Dawn Nelson — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:17:16 GMT

Strawberry season in the UK runs May to early September. Or at least during this time you can eat the fresh red plump strawberries you will find in the supermarket and not have to import them from elsewhere. They start watery and as the season moves on they fill out and ease into a sweeter fuller flavour until the end of august when they turn quickly an…