Episode 29 – A View from a Hill

This episode Mike and Will whip out their podcasting binoculars and peer through them at ‘A View from a Hill by M.R. James.

This episode we are very lucky to have actor Scott Wichman (@scottwichmann) as our reader! Scott is starring as comedian George Burns in “Say Goodnight, Gracie” at the Virginia Rep later this month: do check that out if you can!  His co-producer Ryan Corbett – who wrote all the music and edited Scott’s readings – runs ‘Songwire‘ studios, in Richmond, VA.

Do check out our photos of the very spooky Coombe Gibbet on flickr.

Snow notes:

• Story notes by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghost & Scholars)
  Where would we be without Rosemary Pardoe’s excellent story notes?
• The Herefordshire of ‘A View from a Hill’ by Rosemary and Darroll Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars)
  If you are interested in knowing exactly where the titular hill is (and Gallows Hill of course!) then this excellent Ghosts & Scholars article has some answers.
• ‘A View from a Hill’ – 2005 BBC adaptation (Ghosts & Scholars)
  Ghosts & Scholars also has a review of the 2005 TV adaptation of this story. If you haven’t seen it you can find it in the BFI’s excellent ‘Ghost Stories for Christmas: The Definitive Collection‘ DVD box set.
• Fredrick Bligh Bond (Wikipedia)
  Some have speculated that the character of Baxter could be inspired by Fredrick Bligh Bond (1864 – 1945), and antiquary who made some impressive archaeological finds which he claimed were revealed to him by supernatural means!
• Dead Men’s Eyes blog (www.dead-mens-eyes.org)
  Taking inspiration from Baxter, this doctoral research project aims to mix augmented reality with heritage with the aim of allowing people to virtually ‘see into the past’. Interesting stuff!