The story of Thomas Meakin's eighteenth century murder is a well-known legend of the Staffordshire Moorlands, yet there has never before been a full consideration of the circumstances surrounding his death, nor an inquiry into who may have killed him.

Mythstoric Origins - Exploring the Extraordinary Local Histories Behind the Legend and Folklore of East Cheshire, Peak District Derbyshire and the Staffordshire Moorlands is available here!

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A spring bonus episode of sorts, recorded for season one but never released, its seasonal theme sees it make it into Season 2...

Well-dressing is much loved local custom which enjoys an almost exclusive patronage in the county of Derbyshire. It’s origins are much debated and appear to be forever shrouded in the deep history of the region’s ancient past, yet when stripping away the layers of the tradition involved in the ceremony and pairing with the country’s Roman history, a startling possibility begins to emerge.

Mythstoric Origins - Exploring the Extraordinary Local Histories Behind the Legend and Folklore of East Cheshire, Peak District Derbyshire and the Staffordshire Moorlands is available here!

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The village of Great Budworth possesses one of the most remarkable churches in all of Cheshire, not just loved by locals but genuinely appreciated by history fans and enthusiasts of late medieval architecture right across the UK. Something visitors may not be aware of however is the visit paid to the village by Parliamentarian forces on the last day of August in 1644, and its place at the centre of a genuinely hidden history of the English Civil War.

A Cestrian Song - Explorations With the Extraordinary Hinterland of Cheshire History is available here!

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The story of Robert Nixon, the 'Cheshire Prophet’ starved to death by the king, was once the best known legend of the county, retold and republished dozens of times across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Precisely who the man was however, has always been something of a mystery, with many assuming he was little more than a fairy tale. Yet research suggests that not only was Robert a real-life figure, but that his bizarre and tragic end might just have been a reality too.

A Cestrian Song - Explorations With the Extraordinary Hinterland of Cheshire History is available here!

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There are few more curious associations in local legend than that of Saracen prisoners being settled on the land that is now known as the Staffordshire Moorlands village of Biddulph Moor. Travelling back to the thirteenth century to discover the untold story behind the legend, we reach a place where the adventures of the crusades meet with the dark realities of the medieval slave trade under the patronage of one of the most powerful figures in all of local history.

Recorded live at the Victoria Centre, Biddulph on January 15th 2024.

Mythstoric Origins - Exploring the Extraordinary Local Histories Behind the Legend and Folklore of East Cheshire, Peak District Derbyshire and the Staffordshire Moorlands is available here!

Visit thelocalmythstorian.com

The castle at Shipbrook near Davenham is long lost to us today, its last traces being cleared from the land in the 1790s. However, in balancing the brutal events of early Norman England together with the history of a key local family, not only can we better appreciate this often overlooked corner of medieval Cheshire, but perhaps for the first time, look to understand the story of Shipbrook Castle and its ties to a bloody revolt against King Henry IV.

A Cestrian Song - Explorations With the Extraordinary Hinterland of Cheshire History is available here!

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A mid-season bonus episode - a recording of The Local Mythstorian website Zoom live stream event from December 7th; The Friar's Fool - A Brief History of English Devil Lore and Its Place In Cheshire Legend.

A Cestrian Song - Explorations With the Extraordinary Hinterland of Cheshire History is available here!

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The haunting of Marbury Park is one of Cheshire’s most enduring legends of the supernatural. Most retellings however, if not all, have simply sought to repeat the basics of the tale without looking deeper into the history of the protagonists within. When we do, and look to consider the legend within the context of its earliest form, we find a very different tale to tell, and one that is all the more fascinating for it.

A Cestrian Song - Explorations With the Extraordinary Hinterland of Cheshire History is available here!

Visit thelocalmythstorian.com