Weird in the Wade

As a celebration of two years of Weird in the Wade, Nat returns to the subject of her first ever episode: The Haunted Poundstretcher. The site is now a café and gym where Nat and her team of friends hold a ghost hunt overnight. They have access to the café, gym, attic and cellar space. They hear from staff and visitors who have experienced something uncanny in and outside of the building. Nat also...

In 1612 in Milton Ernest, a village five miles north of Bedford, two women, a mother and daughter are accused and tried by their village for witchcraft. Their story is written up in a propaganda pamphlet the following year, and their case is used in a 1627 legal guide for witchcraft cases. Yet even those who are familiar with the dark tales of England's witch trials often have not heard of their s...

In this episode Nat completes her exploration of witchcraft in Bedfordshire starting with a 19th Century ghost sighting of a witch. The episode covers a case of Victorian girls playing at witches to horrific and cruel effect. Then moves through the 20th Century with it's contrast between the rise of wicca and nature based neo pagan witchcraft, and the persistent fear of "black magic" and the satan...

In this episode Nat takes you on a journey, exploring the history of witchcraft in Bedfordshire from medieval times up until the late 18th century. Kicking off with a ghost story about a witch.  This episode moves from what is possibly Bedfordshire's earliest record of witchcraft, to the witch trials of the 17th century and beyond. It seems even when persecuting witches was outlawed in 1735, the p...

As the missing person's charity, Locate International launch a fresh appeal into "Biggleswade Man" Nat takes a closer look at this missing persons, and unidentified body case. Even if you don't live in Biggleswade you could hold the key to solving this 28 year mystery.  In February 1997 some schoolboys playing truant discovered the body of a homeless man. They recognised this man as "Old Ragbones,...

Just a quick update to let you know where your Weird in the Wade episode is? Don't worry new episodes are on their way. You won't have to wait long. Listen to find out why the Witches of Bedfordshire episodes will be a little late. There's also exciting news about an appeal to find a missing man who's body was discovered in Biggleswade 28 years ago. He has never been identified. Coming in the next...

There's a wood between the Bedfordshire town of Potton and the ancient hamlet of Sutton, which has spooked many locals including Nat. The creepiness seems to coalesce around an ancient bridge along an equally venerable footpath which has possibly been in use for over 1000 years.  After Nat encountered this strange part of the woods nearly three years ago, she's been trying to piece together it's h...

In this festive special episode Nat chats with Danny Robins of Uncanny, the Witch Farm, the Battersea Poltergeist and 2:22 A Ghost Story Fame. They chat about haunted cinemas, theatres and doppelgangers. But before their chat, Nat explores the creepy tales from one of Bedford's former cinemas. There's phantom monks and an old Priory to explore along the way. Special guest Owen Staton returns with...

This stocking filler of an episode is packed full of new witnesses and updates to previous cases.  In today’s episode we’ll hear from a new witness to the haunting of the Golden Pheasant. It's a chance to set the story straight about one of the hauntings I covered in that episode. There’s new information about Thelma Roberts the 1950s UFO investigator and some medical evidence which could shed new...

They say every theatre has a ghost. Nat embarks on an investigation to see if this is true. Starting with the newest theatre in Biggleswade, the Bigg Theatre. Once a town hall, then a petrol station, department store and a restaurant, it seems the Bigg Theatre building has a long history associated with performance and more recently ghostly happenings. Three actors share their stories of uncanny o...

In this episode we travel to RAF Henlow where phantom footsteps in the snow, and a poltergeist are said to be linked to a daring pioneer of parachuting in the 1920s. We'll learn about the hauntings, and this airman's dare devil antics which tragically led to his untimely death.  Nat Doig also shares some of her eerie memories of living at RAF Henlow as a child in the 1980s, including ghost stories...

19th Century spiritualism is at the heart of this episode which we'll explore through the exploits of a Biggleswade medium who believed he was in direct contact with the spirit of William Shakespeare. John Francis Hunt, who we met in the previous episode, was an extraordinary man, he pursued justice, sought out buried treasure and was a constant correspondent with the newspapers, the social media...

I'd almost given up on discovering how murder bridge between Biggleswade and Sutton, got it's name. Until completely by accident I stumbled across a ghost story, reported as part of the minutes of a meeting of the Biggleswade Hospital Board in 1922. That led me on a twisty path to the truth, involving a libel case, a notorious Biggleswade spiritualist who believed he was the ghost of Shakespeare's...

The Night Hag, is an old name for sleep paralysis. A sleep condition or disorder that has led to some of the most terrifying stories and folktales from around the world. From encounters with demons, witches and ghosts, to alien abductions sleep paralysis has spawned many scary stories. Likewise many paranormal experiences have been explained by sceptics as being caused by sleep paralysis. In this...

Find out how terrifying sighting of a Cavalier ghost in the 1930s links to Biggleswade's mysterious tunnels. I explore the cellar below where the phantom was seen, discover hidden passageways, bricked up tunnel entrances, and much more. I take you on a trip down the river, and to the Camden House school room, we explore the history of Biggleswade's brewing industry, and I visit the Bedfordshire ar...

Today's episode follows a ghost story over three centuries. We start in the 1880s with school children terrified by a ghost in a garden. Then we explore a newsagents bothered by paranormal activity in the 1960s. In the present day we discover a secret tunnel entrance and hear rumours of a helpful spirit where the garden once bloomed. Linking all these hauntings is the building of Camden House. Onc...

As part of my haunted house challenge I spent the night at the Golden Fleece Hotel in York. The pub is renowned for being the most haunted pub in the city and maybe even Britain. No fewer than 15 ghosts have been reported to haunt the 17th century pub.  Listen to my live recordings during the night, as well as interviews with fellow guests over breakfast, all of whom had strange stories to tell. ...

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...

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 surpr...

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 stran...

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 p...

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 c...

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...

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 f...

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 /...