Ruth is Stranger Than Fiction

We’re off to Essex this episode for a story inspired by a recent visit to the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall. There we first got wind of George Pickingill. On the face of it, a simple agricultural labourer, but in legend a cunning man revered as one of the most powerful wizards of Essex (and by all accounts it's a crowded field!). He was also known as Old George, Old Picky,...

Stand and deliver! Your money or your life! We’re out on the dangerous roads of 17th century England this episode to explore some legendary tales from the golden age of the highwayman - and highwaywoman! Prepare yourselves for the story of the Wicked Lady, a notorious pistol-toting criminal who terrorised the roads of Hertfordshire and who may or may not have been hard done by noble woman Katherin...

Listen to the flutter of tiny wings - Cupid is in town! Where will he shoot his arrows on this, the most romantic day of the year? Of course, at this podcast we hate happy stories of romance so for our Valentine Special we are pleased to present two ghostly tales of doomed lovers from the Norfolk Broads.

A special live recording of the Hallowe’en Ruth is Stranger than Fiction event, held at the Museum of Cambridge on 31st October 2025. I was joined by author Mike Rampton for an exploration of the strange creatures of Cambridgeshire: some ghostly, some demonic, some large and some that have baffled philosophers and scientists for hundreds of years.

Back to Norfolk we go for the second part of Death by Dumplings! Unassuming Norwich man John Burgess has been poisoned, but he was not the intended victim. Now we will hear who was meant to receive the arsenic-laced flour, and who it was that did the lacing. The cocktail fuelled chat also has us pondering on brass rubbings, moonlight reading, and seditious literature.

When Norwich man John Burgess sat down to a dinner of Norfolk dumplings in 1829, little did he suspect that he was about to eat himself into a nightmare. Poor John was about to board the poison train. Join us for talk of suet, stomach linings, and a number of tasty drinks. Picture: A Norfolk Dumpling by James Gillray.

More stories from the sea this week as we return to the watery shores of East Anglia for the folk legend commonly known as the Wild Man of Orford. I however will be referring to him as the Orford Merman - listen to discover why!

The seas and oceans of our world are deep and mysterious, with plenty of legends of horrible creatures and man-eating beasts. In this episode we dive into terrifying tales of mythical sea monsters, as well as hearing about some extraordinary colossal animals that are all too real. You can decide for yourselves into which category the sea serpents of the East Anglian coastline fall.

Last time we left you in suspense with the peculiar disappearance of American student James Dallas Egbert III. This episode we will learn his fate and discover whether or not the moral outrage around RPGs and D&D was justified. We must also return to the UK to rejoin the story of parapsychologist Carl Sargent, which entails a mystery of its own. And it’s time to Booze Your Illusion with the return...

Get the D20 ready! Grab the nearest Fighting Fantasy book! For the next couple of episodes we’re diving into the world of Role Playing Games, or RPGs for those in the know. But it will take a winding route to get us there, through the early career experiments of a Cambridge parapsychologist called Carl Sargent, and via the story of a missing teenager from Ohio. Turn to 148…

The stage is set, but not for a fine production of Shakespeare or Greek tragedy… no, the stage is set for MURDER! Last time we met a rum assortment of ne’er-do-wells from the Regency underground, and this time one (or more) of them is about to meet a violent end. The whole sorry saga gives rise to media hysteria, public bloodlust, and an unexpected joke about pork.

Ahhh the Regency era, when everyone was obsessed with true crime entertainment, boxing, and illegal gambling. Those were the days! From the East End of London to the quiet rural towns of Norfolk, violence was brewing for a motley crew of fellows, but the roles of hero and villain are as yet unclear.

Folklore and religion collide as we journey to the fine county of Suffolk to hear about the misadventures of a slightly buffoonish devil. Let’s find out why this diabolical fool hates Suffolk so much.

A giant named Moses Carter, farmer of cabbages and thrower of rocks! A psychical investigator called Tony Cornell, who will thoroughly examine your claims of supernatural occurrences and, quite probably, debunk them. What do these two seemingly disparate characters have in common? They were both residents of Cambridge-adjacent village of Histon, of course! And also, we’re going to hear about them...

The Black Death continues its inevitable progress across the country, and East Anglia is next in line. What happens when the plague reaches Cambridge? Nothing good, that’s for sure. It’s pest houses and grave pits all the way, with a sprinkling of quarantine thrown in for good measure. Drinkswise, Rosie reveals her cocktail and it's quite something, plus we try some stouts from Eyam Brewery.

It’s time for the last disease in our trilogy of maladies: the plague! In part 1 we explore the spread and of course the symptoms of the Great Plague aka the Great Mortality aka the Black Death. Are our schoolday recollections of buboes correct? How many plague pits did London have? And what has Bambi got to do with it? Let’s find out.

A special live recording of our Hallowe’en event at the wonderful Museum of Cambridge on 30th October: stories of grey ladies, poltergeists, haunted pubs, and even a spectral penguin.

It’s time for the next disease: get ready to reabsorb your extremities and fit yourself with a set of jingling bells as we discuss the scourge of the Middle Ages. It’s leprosy! As it turns out, various versions of Robin Hood on TV and film are not a reliable source of information about this unpleasant illness. Amongst the hooded man talk, we also find time to discuss the Cambridge Leper Chapel and...

Let the autumn of disease begin! For the next few episodes, we’ll be exploring some of the sicknesses and ailments of old Cambridgeshire and East Anglia. We begin with marsh fever, aka the ague, aka the Bailiff of the Marshes, a disease that for many years was endemic across the fen regions. Come with us now and venture into the marsh miasmas and the peaty pools to hear all about the symptoms, tre...

Step this way for part two of the Overbury Affair. Things are really hotting up now! All the pieces begin to move into place for the scandal of the century. Public accusations of impotence? Check. A suspicious death in the Tower of London? By all means. Great spiders? Yes! And finally, let’s all cheers with a bacon based drink.

The Overbury Affair has been described as one of the greatest court scandals of the Jacobean era: a web of intrigue and deception that captivated the nation. Even King James himself was implicated! But before we get to the details of the Affair itself, we must first hear about our cast of characters. This includes poet and statesman Sir Thomas Overbury, handsome favourite of the king Robert Carr,...

The Great Blow - one of the most spectacular disasters that Norfolk has ever seen! Join us to hear about the events that precipitated this violent catastrophe, including a fateful meeting in a pub, an angry Royalist mob, and some careless use of weaponry. Plus, we finally answer the question that has been troubling everyone (yes, everyone) for centuries - did Oliver Cromwell really cancel Christma...

It’s time to finish the story of Howard Carter. When we left him at the end of Part 1, Carter had just made the acquaintance of the Earl of Carnarvon: a fateful meeting that was to lead to one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. In Part 2, we hear about the unearthing of the final great tomb of the Valley of the Kings, drink a future explorer’s drink, and discus...

We’re back! This episode begins the story of the most famous Egyptologist there has ever been. His name? Of course it’s Mr Howard Carter, the discoverer of the glorious tomb of Ancient pharaoh Tutankhamun. In part one we cover his childhood and early career. How did this son of an artist from Swaffham, Norfolk, end up in the necropolises of Egypt? Along the way we hear about the lost treasures of...

It’s Christmas Eve and time for the last advent episode - a spooky tale of a remote and isolated farmstead with a murky past. Happy Christmas to all our listeners, see you in 2024!