Thank you!
First of all I’d like to thank everyone who has listened to episode one of Weird in the Wade I thought I was being ambitious when I hoped I’d get 50 downloads in the first month and maybe a couple of people would tell me they enjoyed it. I smashed my 50 downloads target in less than a day and I’ve had so many lovely comments I’m actually really overwhelmed. Thank you for your support and please do keep sharing with me your ideas and feedback. It means the world to me.
Rising to a challenge
One of the reasons I decided to make the podcast was to meet a challenge Kerry Ryan the founder of Write Like a Grrrl gave me at the Write Like a Grrrl retreat in January, which was to finish something! I’ve been writing creatively since I was about 12 but I rarely finish anything. I like starting things, I like the thrill of a new project. I’m not very good at ending things and I’m even worse at sharing stuff I’ve finished. Part of the challenge was to finish a short story and actually submit it to some magazines or publishers. I will do it Kerry I promise. But the podcast idea was just so tantalising, and I am so glad that I not only started it but got episode one out to you all. Episode 2 is written and I’m half way through recording it. Research into episode 3 is going well, as is for episode 4. I’d actually be finishing recording episode 2 right now, if it wasn’t for an extremely loud lawn mower, mowing the fields and verges in front of my house today! So I decided to write this behind the scenes blog piece for you instead.
I’ll try to get a behind the scenes blog out once a week in between the monthly episodes, to give you an update on what’s going on with all things Weird in the Wade.
Why monthly?
Weird in the Wade is released on the first Monday of every month. I made the decision to release monthly so I had the time to research, write and record each episode as well as creating additional content, like the show transcript and notes properly. As well as making this podcast, my day job is as a disability rights advocate. (You can find out more about the kind of stuff I do here at Transport for London’s website, there’s even a video of me and some of my brilliant colleagues explaining a bit about the work we do.) I’ve worked in the disability rights field for 25 years (before that I was a drama and English teacher for three years.) I’m also a keen photographer, four of my photographs featured in an art exhibition at Kings College London last December, along side 9 other visually impaired artists. And yes I am visually impaired, I also have chronic pain from arthritis, something I first developed when I was 14, and I have a mental health condition. My experience of living in a world that is often inaccessible and excludes me, has shaped who I am including the work I do, and how I do it. It also affects how I see the world around me, quite literally.
Anyway with disability advocacy work, photography and living my life as a disabled person, which generally means that doing just every day things takes up more time for me, I think releasing the podcast once a month is a realistic and achievable target. When I can I will try to release bonus material and I will update you all with behind the scenes blog posts. I wish I could make a weekly episode but I need to be realistic about the time constraints I have.
And as an aside, if you’re interested in disabled people’s unique experience of and relationship to time (and it’s not quite a supernatural as that sounds) then here’s a great blog a colleague shared with me last week all about it.
A tale of two woods
And finally in the last two weeks I have made trips on the bus to two very different woodlands, which have very different stories attached to them.
The photograph at the top of the page is of me in Potton Wood which confusingly is nearer Cockayne Hatley than Potton. It was full of bluebells and bird song. I visited because the woodland has a history of spooky goings on. Some of these reports relate to a plane crash just at the end of World War II. The crash, on the edge of the woods killed four of the airmen on board but others and a small puppy survived. Since the crash there have been reports of strange smells of burning and sounds in the area of the tragedy.
Separate to the plane crash but possibly related there have been sightings there of lights in the sky and UFOs.
The woodland is ancient, part of the Ampthill forest, which once covered much of Bedfordshire and beyond. The forest has its own centuries old tales and myths.
I had my own uncanny experience in the wood last week which mirrors that of others who visit. In investigating my experience I discovered a newer story about the woodland, which I think could also relate to some of the strange phenomena reported there. I’m on the case, investigating and all will be revealed in August’s episode.
The picture of the woodland above is of Pegnut wood, which this time is in Potton. I went there yesterday because I had a strange experience in the woods there last summer. At the time after my walk in the wood, I told my friend Lauren about it (she lives near by and also happens to be my fabulous hairdresser) and she asked me where abouts in the woods felt strange. I showed her a picture and honestly she turned pale. She then went on to explain that her dog, her children and her neighbours dogs and children, hate that area of the woods, refusing to walk there. I’ll save the details for the podcast.
Peg Nut wood is almost the opposite to Potton woods, in that I can not find a thing about the history it’s history. Part of the wood is old, with very old trees but part of it is purpose built and the trees in the photo have definitely been planted by people, to possibly log or for some other reason. They’re so close together in uniform rows.
So August’s episode will be a tale of two woods, from the ancient with a rich history and tales to tell, to a modern piece of woodland that swirls with more recent local myth. I’ll be going back to both woods over the coming months to gather more sound recordings and photographs.
If you have a spooky experience in either woods please do get in touch!
Cheers!
So cheers for reading this and listening to the pod. Thank you for all of your support and feedback! Here are some useful links:
Weird in the Wade podcast website with episodes available and links to podcast platforms.
The transcript for episode One, which does include some extra material cut from the show for time reasons.
Next time I’ll give an update on the haunted pound stretcher, and introduce you to the wonderful woman who composed Weird in the Wade’s haunting theme music, Tess Savigear.
Weird In The Wade 