Fierce Women and some more Southwark folklore

This Thursday May 13th at South East London Folklore Society, storyteller Janet Dowling talks on Fierce and Fearlesss Women in traditional stories: girls and women who go on adventures, get into scraps, and don't need rescuing! 8 pm start at The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49 Borough High Street, SE1.

The last SELFS event I went to was the excellent Southwark Lore back in March at the Old Mayfair Carpet Gallery (301-303 Borough High Street, SE1), a pop up gallery that has since popped off. That night featured a glittering array of south london mythologists including John Constable performing parts of the Southwark Mysteries (subsequently performed in full at Southwark Cathedral last month); Nigel of Bermondsey singing songs including one about Crossbones cemetery; Scott Wood performing his story The Temple of Bacchus (imagining pilgrims visiting the off license of that name in Camberwell in the hope that it is an ancient site), accompanied by the electronica of Richard Sanderson; Vanessa Woolf-Hoyle and Niall Boyce telling chilling tales of Bermondsey in the Blitz and time travel at the George Inn respectively; Chris Roberts extolling the wonders of Walworth and...er....Neil Transpontine, talking about the Lovett collection of good luck charms, held in the Cuming Museum.

On the latter subject, this Friday May 14th sees an evening of Superstition and folklore , 6pm - 8pm at the aforementioned Cuming Museum, The Old Town Hall, 151 Walworth Road, London, SE17 1RY (admission free). As part of Museums at Night 2010 there will be a chance to get up close and hands on with some of the museum's stranger objects and the Lovett collection of charms and superstitions. A chance also to share your own superstitions, stories and charms - bring them along if you have them!