The medieval chronicles are peppered with odd tales amongst the mundane, when folklorist and historian Dr Francis Young came across one of these peculiar stories he shared it with Nat, because it happened at Biggleswade. In this episode Francis and Nat ask, and hopefully answer the questions: what was this strange sight? What did it mean to the witnesses? How have our interpretations of the uncanny and otherworldly changed over the centuries? They also explore how landscape shapes and holds secr...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 38
Beneath the pretty market town of Royston in Hertfordshire, lies a cave that was carved out of the chalk by hand, in the distant past. After being dramatically rediscovered in the mid 18th century, Royston cave has spawned competing theories about its use and meaning and has been a tourist attraction ever since. Smothered in medieval carvings which in turn have been covered by more recent etched graffiti, this cave is unique in many ways. Linked to the Knights Templar by some, an important spiri...
May 26, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 1
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 explores why the rumour that the ghost girl who haunts the site, died in a fire, might have a grain...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 37
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 story. The 1612 Northampton witch trial is often credited as the first documented evidence of ducking...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 36
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 satanic panic. Nat ponders whether we have moved far enough away from the causes and motivations of the 1...
Mar 12, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 35
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 people of Bedfordshire persisted in attempting to punish those who they thought dabbled in magical har...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 34
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," an itinerate tool sharpener. Old Ragbones attracted rumours in life and even more so in death. Afte...
Feb 26, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 33
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 few days is an episode about this tragic mystery. Can you help identify Old Ragbones, as he was kno...
Feb 24, 2025•3 min•Season 1Ep. 32
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 history and to find a cause of the unsettling feelings walkers have described. Why do few birds sing i...
Jan 27, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 31
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 a confession about a haunted cinema he worked in! And Nat learns why an ambulance and priest were st...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 30
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 light on the Potton Poisoner case. And at the end of today’s episode I will reveal who the special C...
Dec 16, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 29
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 occurrences within theatres from Brighton, to Swansea and northern towns. Why do performance spaces f...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 28
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, creepy world war II buildings and a haunted landscape. There's also some exciting updates about BBC...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 27
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 of his day. We'll explore spiritualism's roots in A merica with the Fox sisters. How spiritualism be...
Sep 30, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 26
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 secretary, and two tragic and mysterious deaths. At the heart of this tragic story was the reason w...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 25
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 episode I explore my own terrifying experience of sleep paralysis, consider what might cause it, dis...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 24
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 archives all in an effort to solve the riddle of what these tunnels were built for, and why they were ...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 23
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. Once a Victorian school, then a newsagents for over 50 years, more recently it has been a succession of...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 22
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. I investigate one of the pubs most enduring ghost stories and find out one of the strangest tales I've...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 21
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 condition which affects many blind people, and could hold a clue to solv...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 20
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 looks at a haunting linked to a victim of crime in London's Green P...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 19
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 finally as a real treat, I talk with Wayne from Eerie Edinburgh about wh...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 18
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 area of Bedford? And who is the shadowy figure often reported along ...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 17
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 don't have to have listened to the previous episodes about Clophi...
Jan 01, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 16
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 and desecration disturb spirits who should have been left to rest ...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 15
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 scared by the very thought of this church as a child? How do my night...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 14
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 links on the blog at weirdinthewade.blog Contact the podcast at we...
Nov 13, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 13
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 uncovered two tragic deaths from the Victorian age, which seem to provide...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 12
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 look at old newspaper stories. All in an attempt to work out what th...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 11
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 Wrestlingworth where the inquest was held. Does Sarah's restless spirit sti...
Sep 04, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 10
