EDITORIAL

While holidays to far-flung destinations may not be on the cards for most of us in 2021, this issue of FT at least offers the chance to take some imaginary journeys around the British Isles. In an extract from his long-delayed memoir, Australian cryptozoologist Tony Healy recalls his 1979 lake monster safari to Loch Morar, where a number of Loch Ness Monster hunters had decided to vary things a bit by searching for Nessie’s less famous cousin, Morag (p44). Bob Fischer finds himself catching up (well, sort of) with Erwin Saunders, the elusive pixie-hunter whose latest YouTube videos see him exploring the wilds of Dartmoor in his ongoing quest to record the doings of the Little People (p40). Meanwhile, Rob Gandy returns to the haunted roads of Lincolnshire in pursuit of rare examples of two-wheeled road ghosts (p48), and Fortean Traveller Lisa Gledhill celebrates a rather subdued and Covid-compliant Beltane at Butser Ancient Farm (p74).

And in our cover feature, folklorist and museum curator Jeremy Harte focuses on a community for whom travel is a way of life – England’s gypsies. June is Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month – an event established in 2008 to raise awareness of these frequently marginalised groups – and we hope that Jeremy’s fascinating exploration of the supernatural stories and ghostlore of these fiercely independent communities offers some timely and unexpected insights into their way of life for all of us forteans who are part of the settled majority.

We also bring you the latest news on two ongoing mysteries – the identity of Australia’s ‘Somerton Man’ and the fate of Flight MH370 – a report from France on a bizarre case of ‘real bogus social workers, a selection of strange diets and disgusting foods, the recent story of an old-school alien abductee from Yorkshire and much more weirdness from around the world. We hope you enjoy the issue.

GETTING COPIES OF FT

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ERRATA

FT404:65: Regular FT clipper Louise Bath drew our attention to an error in Reverend Peter Law’s review of The Banishing: Harry Price is played by Sean Harris, not Sam Harris.

FT405:40. Eric Hoffman asked us to point out that the dates of publication given for James Merrill’s The Changing Light at Sandover should have been 1976-1982, not 1976-1995.

FT405:66: An error crept into DavidV Barrett’s review of The Witch of Kings Cross. The text should have read “film writer Jack Sargeant”, but was printed as “the film’s writer Jack Sargeant”. The film was in fact written and directed by Sonia Bible.