Mark Rees | Local Legends #60

The first of three very special interviews with some of the biggest names in Welsh folklore and ghostlore, in this episode it's author, journalist, cultural historian and self-proclaimed punk, Mark Rees!

We begin with some merry badinage, discussing who Mark is and unpacking some of the important lessons we've learned from him and others across Series 7 - though the main event is a lovely chat that starts in Mark's home town of Port Talbot, via Mark's 'Lost Years' as a punk, through to the blossoming of his astonishing career as a D.I.Y. journalist, broadcaster, researcher, and author of wonderful books on the cultural history and legends of Wales.

At the same time, inspired by an early love of Ghostbusters, Mark has been chasing down spooks for a while now - and not just in newspaper archives. He has uncovered things, including new details in the Rhonda Street Poltergeist case, the Cursed Wall of Margam, which is now top secret and thoroughly locked away, and a real life Scooby Doo case about a Welsh dog that genuinely caught a ghost.

We're talking about what Mark thinks unites the Welsh and the English, and about those things that separate us. About the places in Wales he thinks people should go to and why, and about the people who inspired him, from Dylan Thomas and the 'Graveyard Poet' Thomas Gray to Peter Underwood.

With an extra little bit at the end where Eleanor and Martin both share regrets about things they got wrong across Series 7, and a big announcement about our third book, we really hope you enjoy the episode.

Visit Mark's website: https://markreesonline.com/about/

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

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