Show Notes
***Weird in the Wade Presents: Bedfordshire's Dark History at Bed Fringe, 25th July at 2pm. Grab tickets here: https://bedfringe.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873684599 ***
In a celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Nat explores why the queer community has an affinity with the magical, otherworldly and supernatural.
She uncovers the history of one of the UK’s oldest, continuously run safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people, the Barley Mow pub in Bedford. With the help of it’s current manager Ryan, Nat explores its fascinating history and evolution as an inclusive space. The venue also has a darker past with its association with Bedford Gaol which stands opposite.
Nat also chats with James Chantry an artist and academic who explores queer identity through art, the environment and folktales in the Lincolnshire fens. The episode starts with a retelling of the folktale “The Tiddy Mun,” an unusual tale which Nat and James discuss in detail.
Check out weirdinthewade.blog for show notes and links, as well as a recommended reading and listening list for LGBTQ+ history and folklore.
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Got a comment or a suggestion? Get in touch with Nat on [email protected] or @weirdinthewade on social media.
Thank you to Ryan at the Barley Mow and James Chantry for their time and expertise.
Weird in the Wade is researched, written, presented and produced by Nat Doig
Theme music and Stay Off The Tracks by Tess Savigear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Weird in the Wade
It seems rather strange that two of the world’s most famous aviation mysteries originated in Bedfordshire, those of the Flying Duchess and Glenn Miller. Nat has always had a fascination with the Glenn Miller disappearance and that of Amelia Earhart, but the story of the flying Duchess was new to her, along with the ghost stories attached to the Duchess.
In this final exploration of abandoned places Nat explores haunted hospitals. Busy thriving hospitals seem to attract many ghost stories, but what of the hospital buildings which become disused or are repurposed? Do these former centres of medicine have particular ghost stories and paranormal experiences associated with them?
In this third episode exploring why abandoned, ruined and derelict places attract so much folklore and urban legends, Nat looks at more recent ruins.
In a second episode considering abandoned places in Bedfordshire, Nat explores the devastation caused by the Black Death in the 14th century. This includes the myths and legends which grew up around the plague, as well as the villages and settlements left in ruins.
!!! Last chance to get tickets to Bedfordshire's Dark History a show created by Nat Doig and Olie Campbell. Saturday 25th July 2pm The Quarry Theatre Bedford. Grab tickets here !!!