★★★★☆ — A fun and approachable read for folklore lovers

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was a fun book I look forward to having on my shelves. I love reading folklore books to inspire me, and this one came at the perfect time, as I'm currently writing a book that leans heavily on British folklore.

It’s approachable and easy to read; not geared toward academics, but rather the layperson. It’s a great jumping-off point for anyone wanting to explore seasonal customs, celebrations, and rituals across Britain. The book only offers a cursory overview of most topics, but it gives you a solid foundation to dive deeper from.

The tone was enjoyable, maybe not my favourite stylistically, but it definitely has its audience. Overall, a useful and charming read I’m glad to have come across.

It’s been a while since I’ve asked for anything from NetGalley as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but starting out again in a small way with this lovely book on folklore.

As it says on the cover this is a guide to some of the seasonal festivals throughout the year around Britain.

It takes us through Spring to Winter including Christian, modern Pagan, modern practices, and older festivities as we go from the birth of the year to its passing.

There are also lots of little asides throughout the text adding flavour to the period that your exploring.

From Lent in Durweston, Dorset through the year and festivities to The Blessing of the Throats in Holborn, this tour of Britain is fascinating and had me wanting to visit all of these and find out more about anything local.

There is a really good index at the back along with a digest of some festivals that you may be interested in visiting.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and informative little book. It doesn't go remarkably in depth into British folklore, but it does have good summaries of days throughout the year and where different traditions come from with some enjoyable stories. There is some art which adds to its charm. I highly enjoyed reading it and learning some new things! Will be buying a copy when it is released!

Thank you to NetGalley and National Trust Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own and I am leaving a review voluntarily

A wonderful exploration of a plethora of British traditions – some mainstream, some obscure – with a variety of origins, accompanied by charming illustrations and interspersed poems, spells, etc. It strikes a balance between factual and accessible, giving just enough focus to each tradition to satisfy curiosity without feeling bogged down by superfluous historical content. The inclusion of some recommendations for further reading wouldn’t have gone amiss, but I don’t think the book was worse for lacking it – especially as it is clearly aimed toward a general public who may not have the experience nor the desire to engage with deeper research. This book is a well-written and approachable bite-sized analysis of British history and folklore, with the occasional touch of humour throughout.

What an interesting and informative book. Ideal for anyone who has an interest in history or where sayings and events come from.
An Ideal gift for anyone on a quiz team.

This would make a lovely gift book. It's a light, easy read - with interesting stories and anecdotes, rather than in-depth academic analysis. I really liked the linocut illustrations, and learning more about British folk tales and traditions, such as the 'Wise Fools' of Gotham, white glove fairs, cheese rolling ("nobody ever beats the cheese"), and the "no-holds-barred" Peckham conkers championship which "encourages cheating with conkers being baked, painted with super glue and more". As with the recent National Trust British ghost stories book, the tales include some from relatively recently, such a tradition of worm-charming allegedly started in 1983. At the end, there is a helpful calendar of events that are held annually and which readers could plan to attend in real life.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A very informative and easy to read book regarding the history of many folklore events that are celebrated throughout the year in Britian.

I appreciate how the events have been grouped into seasons and expanded on but also there is a chronological list of events that take place all over the country that you can go and take part in yourself.

A useful, interesting guide to folklore through the seasons, i enjoyed that it was linked to the wheel of the year. however, i felt the information was a but too light in places and would have benefitted from more information even if links or reading recommendations to learn more.

Loved this!
Absolutely fascinating and such a rich and colourful array of national folklore.
Would make a valuable addition to any library in the UK.

This book is a fairly easy read. It provides some novel trivia to perhaps give as a gift to a pub quiz enthusiast or a British history buff. Some entries are more detailed than others, and I think some depth is lacking for it to be a more widely used resource book. Some maps and lists by cities/towns would have been welcome, as would a further reading list. The illustrations also could have been better, perhaps represented by photographs or museum archive media.

This is gives a fascinating insight into literally dozens of British traditions. Some well known, many long forgotten but if you have an interest in sicial history, the title provides a brief taster of many practices. It’s divided into seasons and the selection seems a little random. But this isn’t an academic title and the material is presented in a way that will appeal to a majority of readers, young and old. I’d heard if quite a few, but knew little of the history and thought that worm charming was a myth…it’s not! And wife carrying! Great if you’re looking for a general interest title to dip your toe into some of the beliefs and rituals that have endured for hundreds of years and are rooted in ancient belief. I enjoyed it.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley fir a review copy.

I agree with this statement in the book's introduction:
."Folklore is vital to us as human beings. It allows us to understand who we are, our culture and our place in society. at is because folklore brings with it a sense of identity."
So I was pleased to read the descriptions that follow of British festivals and local customs occurring over "the Wheel of the Year'" that closely governed the lives of our peasant ancestors. The book is divided into chapters for the four seasons, listing events in fairly random fashion. There is no listing that groups customs according to their probable periods of origin. I would have liked an easy way to discover which were truly ancient, for example, rather than having to trawl through each description. Also, the anthropology of seasonal customs is not explored in any depth. For those reasons I award it just three stars. However, as a simple -- and interesting -- list of British folklore, it is a useful guide.

Britain’s Folklore Year by Mark Norman

An absolutely delightful read for students of folklore and those drawn to magical traditions like Wicca or British Traditional Craft. Norman takes us month by month through Britain’s calendar of customs, festivals, and quirky rituals—some still practiced, others long forgotten. I especially loved learning about traditions like wife carrying and worm charming, along with the interspersed spells and charms for love, beauty, and protection. I can’t wait to get my own copy of this beautiful book for my collection!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and National Trust Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

exactly the kind of book I have been looking for, this ticks every niche interest that I've cultivated in the last two years. The traditions and history of Britain are so fascinating and I love getting a meaningful insight into why we do all the things we do. I'm also thinking I'll need to plot these celebrations on a map and do a road trip at some point because each of these events sounds like so much fun.
A lovely reference book for some of the best reasons for living in the UK, big fan!

3.5 stars rounded up.
With thanks to NetGalley and Collins Reference/National Trust books for the arc.
This is a short (only 224 pages) guide to the traditional calendar customs (events such as cheese-rolling, Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, April Fools Day etc) of the British year. If you are looking for a quick introduction to some of the main events in the calendar then this is a very readable volume to start with. The tone is light (at times perhaps a little too flippant), but the author’s background in podcasts means that this keeps the book accessible and not too academic to be off-putting for newcomers to the topic. The brevity of the book does mean that this is a whistlestop tour of some of the better-known events in the country and readers who want a more complete almanac of British calendar customs might do better with the National Trust’s earlier (1985) volume on the topic “The National Trust Guide to the Traditional Customs of Britain” by Brian Shuel, or, for a more academic treatise, then the works of Ronald Hutton shed more light on the history of many of these British traditions.
Having said that this is a short and whirlwind tour around the calendar custom year, I did feel that the author was trying to cover a little too much in this work as in addition to describing some of the main British Calendar Customs he also throws in sections on spells and charms as well as snippets of folklore background to events- interesting but probably better dealt with in their own volumes.
The book does have some lovely linocut illustrations.
Overall a nice little introduction to a fascinating topic.

I read this with my 11 year old daughter and we found it well researched, informative and funny at times. It was interesting to learn the origins of traditions we knew and many we didn’t.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Of course the oft forgotten heritage of Britain is still so fascinating to read about, but this particular National Trust book was a little bullet point-y at times. A little... dull, perhaps? It's still a fine read, and really was what I exactly was expecting. A classic book gift, where the reader will be only really laser focused on dipping in and out when on top the toilet or out in the garden getting some sun. A book you'll find on the shelves of garden centres and heritage sites. It's as interesting as you're willing to find it--newcomers probably won't be swayed to the hidden intricacies of the world we live in, but those who care to, will.

I did enjoy the book, l0ts of fascinating snippets to dip into throughout the year; eg the term Old Tosspot is actually ancient from the 13th century when people would toss a coin into a pot carried round during the Pac (Easter) play . It was very much a draft which made reading it tricky (I'm sure will be sorted once published). Very enjoyable.

Britain’s Folklore Year is an engaging guide with awesome linocut illustrations.
The book is great for
1) learning the whats - which folkloric customs there are in Britain.
2) learning about the origins of the above,
3) learning about the verses, literature etc written on the above.
As a writer, I took a lot of inspiration and will happily purchase a copy for myself and my friends.