We're delighted that the National Folklore Survey for England has proved so newsworthy. Here you will find stories from the media focused on our project.

Manchester Lunar New Year 2025 – photograph © Ceri Houlbrook

National and regional news and features

BBC

2 September, 2026. ‘Couples urged to stop leaving love locks on bridge.’ Survey findings on the number of people who have left love-locks in public spaces is quoted in this piece from the West Midlands.

17 May, 2026, Steve Jones. 'A haunted house at the top of your street is fantastic'. Diane Rodgers interviewed about the prevalence of ghost belief.

31 October, 2025, Victoria Scheer. Is Bonfire Night being replaced by Halloween?

The Daily Mail

27 October, 2025, Kristina Wemyss. ‘One in three believe ghosts DO exist - as study shows that folklore still shapes us today.’

The Guardian

30 October, 2025, Hannah Al-Othman. ‘A third of people in England believe in ghosts, survey finds.’ Also in print on page three.

The Observer

26 October, 2025, David Barnett. ‘Ghost trusters: one in three haunted by those bumps in the night.’

20 October 2024, David Barnett. ‘In multicultural Britain, local folklore is just as 'Robin Hood, morris dances and UFOs: English folklore survey gets post-Brexit reboot'.

SW Londoner

May, 2026, Antonia Vlad. ‘The witching hour of Gen Z: exploring the renaissance of English folklore and Paganism’. A beautiful piece of visual storytelling that includes a soundbite from our very own Sophie Parkes-Nield.

The Telegraph

24 February, 2026, Sarah Knapton. ‘US uses aliens and UFOs “to cover up spycraft”’. This article is behind a paywall but discusses the UFO findings from the Survey in relation to the US and President Trump preparing to release government files on UFO sightings.

20 October 2024, Jane Shilling. ‘In multicultural Britain, local folklore is just as important as ever – A new survey to discover how folklore informs national identity in “post-Brexit, post-pandemic, multicultural England” will be fascinating’.

The Times

27 October, 2025, Giles Coren. ‘Clock change may be “lefty” but it annoys the right people.’ Giles Coren uses our data and makes a Brexit comparison: ‘According to a poll by Ipsos for Sheffield Hallam University, one in three adults in the UK (sic) believe in ghosts. This is almost exactly the same number of people, around 17 million, as voted to leave the EU in 2016…’

The Tribune

29 October, 2025, Dan Hayes. ‘The phantom of the night club.’

Radio and podcasts

The Folklore Podcast

Season 10, Episode 182, ‘Gatherings’. The Folklore Podcast’s host and our project partner, Mark Norman, talks to filmmaker and producer, Dave Brewis, about his series, Gatherings. The National Folklore Survey is mentioned numerous times.

BBC Radio Four, Free Thinking

17 October, 2025. Ceri Houlbrook appears on an episode of Free Thinking, entitled: ‘Traditions, roots and local pride’. In it, the National Folklore Survey for England is referenced.

BBC Radio Sheffield

Paulette Edwards’ show, Friday 30 January 2026, David Clarke was a guest on the show to talk about the DCMS Living Heritage initiative. Listen again here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002q6nh From 10 minutes in.

Mysteries and Monsters podcast

2 June 2025. ‘Folklore Past, Present and Future with Dr David Clarke’, episode 388.

Magazines

Chalk Magazine

The Lure of Lore, Summer 2025. Sophie Parkes-Nield presents The National Folklore Survey for England and the high profile of folklore and folk culture in the UK.

Fortean Times

FT471, June 2026. English legends.

Fortean Times presents Folklore (special issue), May 2026.

FT465, December 2025. Folklore Findings.

20 December 2024. ‘Folklore Survey Redux’ (Issue 493, January 2025, page 4-5).

Now Then

20 November, 2025, Sean Morley. A Farewell To Atoms: Adjusting to the Era of Big Ghost

Positive News

26 March 2025. ‘For the love of: Folklore’.

Songlines

June, 2026. ‘English folk legends’ (issue 218, page 82, you’ll need to be a subscriber to view).

January, 2026. ‘Poll and beyond’ (you’ll need to be a subscriber to view).

June, 2025. ‘Question time’ (you’ll need to be a subscriber to view).

April, 2025. ‘Beyond Belief’ (Issue 206, page 18).

Waitrose Magazine

6 February 2025. ‘Folklore Study hopes to uncover England’s Identity’ (Issue 732, page 4).

Blogs and websites