Weird in the Wade

We take a short wander away from Biggleswade, over the county border into Hertfordshire in this episode. Nat Doig tells the tale of Blind George of Anstey. It's a folktale with a bit of everything, a secret tunnel, a blind fiddle player, a faithful dog, the devil, and a ghost. 

Nat also explores myths and legends around blindness including busting some modern myths with her guest Paul Day.

Nat and Paul discuss a neurological condit...

In this episode Nat Doig explores the tale of Biggleswade's body snatchers. As is often the case it turns out that the truth is stranger and more satisfying than fiction. Do the body snatchers haunt the town still? Why might the town have forgotten the most exciting part of the story, preferring instead to remember just a murky fragment of the tale? Nat ponders these questions and finds some surprising answers.

This episode also lo...

In this bumper episode I explore why so many ghost stories and hauntings have a connection with crime or criminals.

I investigate the local legend of Biggleswade's Murder Bridge, a place every school child knows not to approach. 

I tell you the tale of Thomas Dun, reported to be Black Tom's phantom friend or even the real Black Tom. His 800 year old story is full of despicable deeds and more strange and eerie folk tales. 

And final...

In this episode we explore one of Bedford's most famous hauntings. A folktale so well known it gave it's name to an area of the town. What is now a rather unassuming roundabout just north of Bedford town centre, known locally as Black Tom's Grave, was once a place of fear. Was a highwayman executed on that site? Does his restless spirit still wander beneath the trees there? Why are there so many paranormal reports in that small are...

Happy New Year! In this bonus episode I visit the ruin of St Mary's Old Church, Clophill. On a chilly December morning, 60 years after the ruin became notorious for black magic rituals, devil worship, vandalism, desecration and hauntings, I spend a few hours recording and photographing the site. An instance of pareidolia (seeing a figure in random mottled wall markings in this case) forces me to confront some childhood demons. 

You...

In this Christmas bonanza episode chock full of ghosts, I tell you about the many hauntings reported at St Mary's Old Church, Clophill, over the last 60 years. From Spectral beasts scaring news agents at Christmas, to a punk band who felt their haunting encounter at the church brought them bad luck, to more recent mobile phone footage of monk like phantoms. It's all explored in this episode. 

Did the church's sad past of vandalism ...

There's an abandoned church on a hill top at Clophill in Bedfordshire, that fuelled my nightmares as a child. In today's episode I explore the history of this notorious church that the tabloid press labelled a "black magic church" back in the 1960s. This ruined church has associations with magic, ghosts, grave robbers, the devil, desecration and death. But are the newspaper stories and the local folklore true? And why was I so scar...

In this bonus episode we hear from a new witness who saw a large black cat in Bedfordshire in the 1990s. His sighting was near to the famous encounters with the beast of Silsoe which I also explore.

We also catch up with Owen Staton, completing the interview started in episode 7, The Big Cat of Biggleswade and Phantom Felines.

Find out more about Owen and his podcasts by following him on Twitter / X here. 

Read the show notes and l...

The Golden Pheasant in Biggleswade is not the town's oldest or even grandest pub, but this real ale beer house is reported to be Biggleswade's most haunted. Over the years strange phenomena and mysterious stories have built up around the establishment.

I visited the pub and chatted with regulars and staff to try and get to the bottom of the haunting. What I discovered made my blood run cold on at least three occasions as I uncovere...

There have been several sightings of a big cat stalking the water meadows, heaths, and back gardens of Biggleswade in the last twenty years. And they're not your usual black panther type sightings; they're more intriguing. Of course, I just had to investigate.

In this episode I speak with an eye witness about the large and unusual cat they saw whilst walking their dog. We have another witness statement sent into the show, and I loo...

In this final part of the story of Sarah Dazley, the Victorian poisoner, we follow the evidence shared at William Dazley's inquest and murder trial. We unpick tricky testimony and tangled timelines in an attempt to decide if Sarah really did it. There's gossip, pills and powders, a dead pig, and a teenage pregnancy all to uncover. 

We hear a new ghost story shared by a listener this time centred around the Chequers Inn at Wrestling...

This is the second part of a three part story about Sarah Dazley the Potton Poisoner. 

This episode opens with Sarah's arrest on the banks of the Thames in London and her appearance in front of the Lord Mayor. We'll hear a late night conversation between Sarah and the women guarding over her in a Biggleswade tavern. Find out why arsenic poisoning was such a problem in Victorian Britain. As well as exploring the details of the inque...

On Saturday 5th August 2023 it will be 180 years since the execution of Sarah Dazley the Potton Poisoner, she was hanged outside Bedford Gaol in front of 10,000 people.

The haunting of a pretty cottage ties to the story of the Potton Poisoner. A murder case that was a Victorian sensation. Scandalising a nation, and still fascinating true crime enthusiasts today. Should Sarah Dazley, dubbed the Potton Poisoner by Victorian press, be...

A bonus episode with updates from previous episodes, a new spooky story that happened to Nat Doig earlier this year, and some news about changes to the podcast. There's also a new trailer for the next episode about the Potton Poisoner. 

If you haven't listened to all of our previous episode's here's some timings so you can avoid spoilers! 

Pound Stretcher update is at 3 minutes 45

Flying saucer update is at 8 minutes 15

Potton Wood...

Can a WW2 plane crash explain the strange phenomena that have been reported in this quiet corner of English woodland over the last 70 years? How does the tale of a little hero dog tie in with the ghostly encounters? Why do so many visitors to the wood smell burning when there are no signs of fire near by?

This month's episode is a little different. We have a witness interview, field recordings from the woods, access to Luton Parano...

In 1848 a boy from Luton workhouse has a strange and horrifying encounter in church. His story is reported in the newspapers and there are links to Scotland, Sir Walter Scott and a pioneer of stage magic. Hear all about it in this bonus episode.

Get in touch with Weird in the Wade on Twitter and insta @weirdinthewade or through our blog. We'd love to hear from you.

If you'd like to support us you can buy us a coffee at Ko-fi or sim...

It's the 1950s and for a few short weeks Biggleswade becomes the flying saucer capital of the world! A UFO hoax is uncovered, whilst two flying saucer sightings a year apart, remain to this day, a mystery. Find out how the hoax and the genuine UFO mystery are intertwined, meet a cast of characters including a working class engineering hero, and a woman investigating UFOs with her trusty Labrador. In the 1950s things were definitely...

In this bonus, mini episode, partly recorded on a dawn walk around Wrest Park, hear the ghost story of the grey lady of Silsoe in Bedfordshire. Birdsong will accompany you as we travel back in time and discover what haunts the George Inn and how the haunting is linked to the beautiful and stately Wrest Park.

Show notes and transcript at Weird in the Wade's blog 

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A bonus episode about the 1785 Great Fire of Biggleswade. I've unearthed new evidence, which has lain unnoticed for 230 years. Does the established narrative including the cause of the fire need to be challenged? Make up your own mind after listening.

Find out about how the news was reported 230 years ago, how connected our country really was back then, and how history can turn on a six pence or on a dog's paw.

Researched, written ...