TAFFY THOMAS was the founder of legendary ’70s folk theatre company Magic Lantern. After surviving a major stroke in 1985, he used oral storytelling as speech therapy, which led him to find a new career working as a storyteller. One of the UK’s most loved storytellers, he was made an MBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours List for services to storytelling and charity. In 2000-2011 he became the first laureate for storytelling, a role created to promote the power of stories. Taffy is the artistic director of the Northern Centre for Storytelling in Grasmere and is ethe author of many History Press books.

'In both traditional ballads and in myths and legends, the connection to the natural world and the land that humanity has worked for thousands of years, is undeniable. Our history, artistry, imagination, spirituality, community all run through the soil, the water, the rock; a life force. Taffy embodies all of that with his mastery of storytelling.'