October 2020 The Wizard of Alderley Edge


The Wizard of Alderley Edge.

The story that I told last Thursday was based around the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge. This legend tells of a magical cave called 'Sleepers Hall' in which all the Knights of King Arthur lie in an enchanted sleep, waiting for a time when England shall have need of them, whereupon they will awake from their enchantment and come galloping down the M6 to sort out all the ills of the country. As the landlord of the Wizards Inn told me in the story, 'they'd better get a b****y move on'. There are various suggested sites for 'Sleepers Hall' around the UK, but Alderley Edge has as good a claim as any.

The legend is also the basis of Alan Garner's books 'The Weirdstone of Bresingamen', and 'The Moon of Gomrath'.

Peter Coe is a celebrated folk musician who originally hails from Cheshire and wrote a collection of songs about the various stories to be found around that beautiful county. The song I use in this story is one of his which he kindly gave me permission to use. You can find out about Peter's career in folk music by going to www.petecoe.co.uk . The poster below is Peter's version of the song; hopefully not too different from mine.

Barry Walmsley

October 2020.



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