Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 11

Tower of London Ghosts: From Anne Boleyn to the Phantom Bear

The Tower of London has been many things through its over 900 years of history. Royal palace, fortress, menagerie, armoury, treasury, Royal Mint, public record office, and now, a tourist attraction. Given the sheer amount of death, torture, and violence associated with the building, ghosts are somewhat inevitable. And the Tower boasts a whole range […]

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Two London Ghosts and Messages from Beyond the Grave

There’s a particular branch of ghost stories that sees the dead appear to warn the living of their own impending death. They act as a form of death omen. It’s not the same as those ghosts of the living that appear to family at the point of their death. These ghosts appear to offer help […]

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The Hammersmith Ghost: The 1803 Hoax That Went Wrong

Given the sheer age of London and the number of people that have passed through its gates over the centuries, it would be difficult to imagine it not being haunted. Though, as the tale of the Hammersmith Ghost will show, ghosts aren’t always what they appear to be. This tale takes us to 1803. George […]

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Glastonbury Tor: The Ancient Entrance to the Fairy Otherworld

When it comes to hills and mountains in the British Isles, perhaps one hill feels more mystical than many others…and that’s Glastonbury Tor. Standing some 158 m high, it’s said to be a fairy hill, one of those curiously hollow hills in which fairies made them home. Not just any fairies lived inside Glastonbury Tor […]

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Rescuing a Maiden: Dragon Legends on the Drachenfels

If we head to the Siebengeberge uplands in Germany, we’ll find a hill named the Drachenfels near Königswinter. It stands at 321 m and the name translates as Dragon’s Rock, named after a dragon that allegedly lived on its slopes. It’s also not far from the Lorelei Rock, so named for the seductive water nymph […]

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Fairy Legends of the Bannau Brycheiniog

We’re off to the gorgeous surroundings of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) this week for the Folklore of Mountains and Hills. There’s also a lovely link with my focus on Northumberland last week. Where the Northumberland National Park and most of Kielder Water & Forest Park are an International Dark Sky Park, the Bannau Brycheiniog […]

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The Folklore of the Cheviots: Ghosts, Fairies & Smugglers

There’s something both primal and ancient about mountains. Beautiful and remote, they can provide a harsh and unforgiving environment for those who venture into their territory. Sometimes linked with sleeping giants, mountains are also a reminder of the Earth’s formation, with rock contorted into fantastic shapes by immense geological pressures. We’re heading into Folklore of […]

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Haunted Libraries: Footsteps and Shushes in the Stacks

If you’re anything like me, the idea of haunted libraries will conjure up the opening scene of Ghostbusters (1984). Our heroes investigate disturbances at the New York Public Library and encounter a ghost that tells them to shush. Surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be so far off the mark if we look at tales of […]

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Haunted Prisons: Ghosts of Joliet, Shepton Mallet, and Barlinnie

While schools and universities boast urban legends alongside ghosts, prisons tend to be more like hospitals. You find tales of hauntings, but little in the way of folklore. It’s probably due to the concentration of human life in one place – and the brutality that runs alongside it. Haunted prisons somehow don’t seem so surprising. […]

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Haunted Hospitals: Porters, Matrons, and Past Patients

If you go looking for ghost stories, you very quickly stumble across haunted hospitals. In fact, it was finding so many tales about Cardiff Royal Infirmary that prompted this post in the first place. And not all of the stories are necessarily sad. The resident ghost at St Nicholas Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne is […]

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