Ghosts of Deerbolt
A megalithic plum perches on Crow Limestone
Cinematic goings-on
Powler looks-on
Peg Powler
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel went to school in Gainford, that’s more than enough of a reason to have a wander around.
Lovely Medieval cross slabs line the church porch walls
Inside the church, a pair of carved stones
There is a dragon carving on the opposite face of the second stone, it is almost impossible to see the carving as the stone is close to the wall and fixed into the floor. A photograph of it can be seen here
The house next to the church has an impressive piece of garden architecture.
A path from the churchyard leads down to the Tees, its waters stained with Pennine peat
A boulder, transported from the Shap Fells.
A wall blocks access to a broken Bailey Bridge, many of its boards are missing, one of the supporting columns has been washed away.
With no convenient river crossing, the distant dovecote will have to wait
Returning to the village, I stop to admire this lovely Festival of Britain bench.
Illustration of Gainford Carved Stones from The Antiquities of Gainford. J.R Walbran 1846
Peg Powler
This oulde ladye is the evil goddess of the Tees. I also meet with a Nanny Powler, at Darlington, who from the identity of their sirnames, is, I judge, a sister, or it may be a daughter of Peg’s. Nanny Powler, aforesaid, haunts the Skerne, a tributary of the Tees.
Denham Tracts 1891
Peg Powler
Peg Powler is described as crowned by green tresses, which are usually symbolic of a river deity, and local folk belief asserts that she lures to her depths the young and the unwary, whom she drowns or devours. The foam or froth which gathers on the higher reaches of the river in great masses is known as “Peg Powler’s Suds“, while a thinner accumulation of this surface scum is known as “Peg Powler’s Cream“. Children were solemnly warned against disporting themselves on the banks of the Tees, as Peg would assuredly “get” them when they were off their guard.
Lewis Spence
Minor Traditions of British Mythology
Peg Powler
In his book The Minor Traditions of British Mythology, Lewis Spence cites an essay by Prof. Rendel Harris which associates Peg Powler with the Egyptian mythological gateway to the otherworld “Pega”
The Smell of Water 