Meet the man uncovering Saddleworth’s giants and boggarts

Local content creator Richard Glover researches these ancient myths, teaching new audiences about the lore of the land and, more importantly, why we should still care about them.

By day he works in digital marketing, but in his free time he pores over 200-year-old maps, digs through local bookstores and library resources, using his photography and filmmaking skills to bring his findings to life.

His interest began as a child on holidays around the UK, when his dad would tell him about the knights and castles of the various locations.

Now, aged 36, he’s doing the same – but for tens of thousands of interested followers.

Recently, he posted a simple video of the Trinnacle, asking anyone with an interest in local folklore to follow his page.

The public heeded his call. Over a couple of days, the video exploded, attracting more than two million views and boosting his subscriber count substantially.

We spoke to him about his work and why he thinks more and more people are looking to the past to help understand the world around us today.

Richard Glover at Alderman Hill (Image: Richard Glover)

‘A connection to the land’

When it comes to Saddleworth, Mr Glover said there is one myth that always seems to crop up – the Dovestone Giants.

According to the legend, two giants fought to their death for the affections of a beautiful water nymph, forming the unique landscape in the process.

Mr Glover said: “Across the Saddleworth hills, you see scatterings of really large boulders and rocks and the story says those rocks are the remnants of the battle because the giants were hurling them at each other.

“For me, it’s less about what the story is and more about why it exists and what it tells us.

“People looked at the hills, saw these strange clusters of rocks, and were trying to make sense of that.”

Another example is the boggart legends of the 1800s. Mr Glover has found newspaper articles of families moving out of their homes due to boggart hauntings and priests who would patrol the streets at night to ward off malevolent spirits.

In reality, he theorised, this was probably their way of accounting for disappearances and accidents in the dangerous moorland environment.

Richard uses old maps and books to research Saddleworth’s myths and legends. (Image: Richard Glover)

This, in essence, is what his content is all about.

He explained: “Folklore and myth – we tend to dismiss them today as fiction, fairy tales, or children’s stories, but they go a lot deeper than that.

“They were a way that people looked at the world and tried to make sense of it, and the stories often served as a lesson or had some meaning behind them.

“They had a connection to the land because of it.”

‘The emotional history of the place’

The desire to reconnect with the land and nature, Mr Glover believes, is one of the reasons behind this resurgence in folklore interest.

Over the last few weeks, the Saddleworth Moors have been ravaged by a series of wildfires, resulting in serious damage to the precious landscape, as well as sparking widespread calls to repair and protect what remains.

Mr Glover said: “I don’t think suddenly looking at folklore will change everything, because there are other reasons, but I think it is one part of it.

“There are important discussions around climate change, the actions we take and green spaces being built on when they shouldn’t be.

“But if we don’t have a connection to something, it’s easy to devalue it. Once it’s devalued, it’s easy to change and destroy.

“The relationship with the hills and mountains isn’t there any more for many people.

“They go there because it’s a nice spot for a social-media video or photo, or because it’s a nice view, but it rarely goes deeper.

“The stories and histories are as much a part of the land as the soil, because they’re the emotional history of the place.”

Mr Glover said that the Industrial Revolution era saw a similar resurgence in folklore in response to the “chaos” and rapid pace of change.

He added: “I think it would be interesting to see whether there is a parallel with human behaviour now: the more the world changes, the more people want to go back and revert.

“People kind of want to return to something that is almost like comfort.

“We’re connected to everyone around the world, and now we’ve got AI that’s really developed over the last year or two as well.

“It’s almost like people want to reject that, which is why they’re returning to these stories.”

Richard Glover, 36, has gone viral with his videos about Saddleworth folklore (Image: Richard Glover)

‘Not made up from nothing’

Mr Glover said that his recent viral success has felt very “bizarre”, but ultimately he’s glad that people are taking an interest.

In particular, he’s been touched by the response from followers who, like him, are born and raised in the area.

He said: “These stories aren’t being made up from nothing. They’ve existed for hundreds and hundreds of years.

“A lot of people commenting have family lines going back generations around this area, so it’s very likely the stories I’m posting about could easily have been told by their ancestors.

“There’s an emotional connection to the stories as well.”

Mr Glover encourages other budding folklorists to follow in his footsteps and continue the ancient tradition of passing stories from person to person, generation to generation.

As well as watching his videos, viewers can contact him for more information. He also recommends local libraries, historical groups, and bookshops like the Towpath in Uppermill.

More can be found on the Richard Glover Explores, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

Have you got any favourite local folktales and myths?

Let us know in the comment section below.