The Ffern Folk Guild in Devon with Alex Merry, Ben Edge, Charlie Cooper, Sam Lee and Zakia Sewell
Folk on Foot
Matthew Bannister
4.8 • 526 Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Alex Merry of Boss Morris, artist Ben Edge, actor Charlie Cooper, singer and naturalist Sam Lee and broadcaster and author Zakia Sewell met in the spectacular Devon countryside to decide which folk projects should receive a share of a £50,000 grant from the organic perfume company Ffern, we couldn’t resist going along. We gathered these amazing talents around a campfire for a song from Sam. Then began a wide ranging discussion about why young people are increasingly fascinated by this country’s folk music and customs and why this connection matters. (Includes vivid descriptions of The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, The Padstow 'Obby 'Oss and the Flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St. Mary).
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Find out more about the Ffern Folk Guild at https://ffern.co/folk-foundation
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this episode of Folk on Foot. |
| 0:03.6 | Before we start, I just wanted to share a brief message. |
| 0:07.1 | If you like what we do, we really need your support to keep going. |
| 0:11.4 | You can join our wonderful band of members and you'll get great rewards. |
| 0:15.5 | These include access to our amazing Folk on Foot on Film archive of hundreds of songs shot on location on our travels |
| 0:23.5 | around the UK and Ireland. To sign up, just go to folkonfoot.com slash support us. You'll also get |
| 0:30.7 | an ad-free version of all our episodes and an email postcard from me each time we go on a walk. |
| 0:36.5 | If you just want the ad-free version, |
| 0:38.6 | it'll cost you £3 a month, and you can get it through your Apple podcast app or at |
| 0:43.6 | folkonfoot.com slash support us. Finally, if you don't want to make a regular commitment, |
| 0:50.0 | but do want to show how much you love us, you can simply buy us a coffee. You can also do that |
| 0:55.8 | at folkonfoot.com slash support us. Every penny we get goes back into making more episodes of |
| 1:03.0 | Folk on Foot. So thank you and enjoy the walk. I do like to start an episode of Folk on Foot with a great view, |
| 1:14.0 | and we have a spectacular view today of the rolling hills of the beautiful county of Devon. |
| 1:19.9 | But this episode of Folk on Foot is rather unusual, |
| 1:23.6 | because behind me in a hotel is a meeting of some of the finest names in folklore and folk music in this country. |
| 1:32.3 | Sam Lee, the singer, Alex Mary of Boss Morris, Ben Edge, the artist, Charlie Cooper the actor, and Zachia Sewell, the broadcaster and writer, |
| 1:40.8 | are all gathered together deciding which project they're going to give the Fern |
| 1:45.9 | Folklore Award too. |
| 1:48.4 | So, we're going to be party |
| 1:50.1 | to their deliberations, but we're going |
| 1:52.0 | to gather them round of fire and have |
... |
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