On this week's very special Local Legends episode, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with England's first-ever Storytelling Laureate, the folklorist and author Taffy Thomas.

In his younger years Taffy was a drama teacher and entertainer, founding the highly influential theatre company Magic Lantern. Then a debilitating stroke at the age of 36 changed Taffy’s life, and he turned to storytelling as self-imposed speech therapy.

In the years that followed he became England's leading proponent in the art of traditional storytelling, collecting tales from oral sources and folklore, writing books, touring nationally and internationally, and earning the MBE in 2001.

He was appointed England’s first Storytelling Laureate in 2009, then in 2010 received The English Folk Dance and Song Society Gold Badge Award and in 2013 won a British Award for Storytelling Excellence.

Now 75, with over a dozen books and storytelling albums to his name, he is the patron of the Society for Storytelling and artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling in Grasmere, where he is regularly to be found spinning yarns.

In this chat, Taffy discusses his long career, including learning his craft from iconic Somerset storyteller Ruth Tongue, how his path crossed over with the likes of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, and his life of performance, story collecting, love and laughter. Along the way, he tells stories, of course, and discusses the character of Westmoreland and Cumbria through tales both tall and not so tall - including the story of how he acquired his iconic storytelling hat...

You can learn more about Taffy's work on his website at http://www.taffythomas.co.uk/ and be sure to listen to the end of the episode to hear Taffy's telling of The Tale of Aira Force from his album Legends of the North.

Otherwise, we'll be back on Monday with the first episode in our month-long miniseries of ghost stories and spooky content for October - our second annual Haunting Season! 

The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

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