Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
I joined Kate Ray and Dr Neil Rushton at Glastonbury Faery Fayre to provide an overview of our current investigations at Wollaton Park.
The Wollaton Gnomes
On 23rd September 1979, a group of six school children reported encountering thirty gnomes driving 'Noddy' type cars around Wollaton Park, near where they lived in Nottingham.
It had taken place around 8.15pm, while they were playing. After a series of events, they ran from the park and some of the younger children appeared to be upset afterwards.
Upon return to school, their headmaster tape recorded separate interviews with all the children. They answered a number of questions about their experiences and gave detailed descriptions of the gnomes. This transcript still exists and is available online here:
https://www.academia.edu/30103864/Wollaton_Park_Gnomes_Tape_Transcript
In the following days, local and national press released articles about the incident. The case eventually went quiet. To date the witnesses, have been unresponsive to multiple appeals to discuss the event.
Recent Revival of Research
A number of researchers, including Dan Green have revived interest in the case. In 2022, Dr Simon Young published a collection of essays on the 'Nottingham fairy mystery' Along with some other researchers, myself, Kate and Neil contributed to the book:
amazon.co.uk/Wollaton-Gnomes-Nottingham-Fairy-Mystery/dp/191557417X/ref=monarch_sidesheet
We have made two expeditions to Wollaton Park, connecting with the landscape and sense out the areas where events may possibly have taken place. On this latest trip Sept 23rd 2023 we felt we may have found the right location. We plan further expeditions.
If you're interested in understanding more about the case, I highly recommend Dr Simon Young's and Chris Woodyard's episode about the Wollaton Gnomes on he and Boggart and Banshee Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wollaton-gnomes-a-nottingham-fairy-mystery/id1588119563?i=1000549496209
In addition, Kate Ray and Neil Rushton also produced an episode about the Wollaton Case:
youtube.com/watch?v=ql6-LQ5Tkec
And Kate recently released an entertaining and heart-warming novel based on the gnome's point of view of the encounter!
etsy.com/uk/listing/1506260826/woolly-snotts-the-curious-case-of-the
Become a Patron!
The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast has a community called The Curious Crew. If you are looking for exclusive bonus material, monthly zoom chats with like-minded folks, access to the Discord channels and joining events with other members, all while supporting the show, please go to:
patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast
If you’d prefer to support the Modern Fairy Sightings with a one off donation, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ and I’d be very grateful 🙂
buymeacoffee.com/modfairysight
Warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some listeners may find the content unsettling. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Host, Researcher and Creator: Jo Hickey-Hall, Folklore Researcher
Contact: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios
Please like, share and subscribe 💚 and leave a rating! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I joined Kate Ray and Dr Neil Rushton at Glastonbury Faery Fayre to provide an overview of our current investigations at Wollaton Park.
The Wollaton Gnomes
On 23rd September 1979, a group of six school children reported encountering thirty gnomes driving 'Noddy' type cars around Wollaton Park, near where they lived in Nottingham.
It had taken place around 8.15pm, while they were playing. After a series of events, they ran from the park and some of the younger children appeared to be upset afterwards.
Upon return to school, their headmaster tape recorded separate interviews with all the children. They answered a number of questions about their experiences and gave detailed descriptions of the gnomes. This transcript still exists and is available online here:
https://www.academia.edu/30103864/Wollaton_Park_Gnomes_Tape_Transcript
In the following days, local and national press released articles about the incident. The case eventually went quiet. To date the witnesses, have been unresponsive to multiple appeals to discuss the event.
Recent Revival of Research
A number of researchers, including Dan Green have revived interest in the case. In 2022, Dr Simon Young published a collection of essays on the 'Nottingham fairy mystery' Along with some other researchers, myself, Kate and Neil contributed to the book:
amazon.co.uk/Wollaton-Gnomes-Nottingham-Fairy-Mystery/dp/191557417X/ref=monarch_sidesheet
We have made two expeditions to Wollaton Park, connecting with the landscape and sense out the areas where events may possibly have taken place. On this latest trip Sept 23rd 2023 we felt we may have found the right location. We plan further expeditions.
If you're interested in understanding more about the case, I highly recommend Dr Simon Young's and Chris Woodyard's episode about the Wollaton Gnomes on he and Boggart and Banshee Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wollaton-gnomes-a-nottingham-fairy-mystery/id1588119563?i=1000549496209
In addition, Kate Ray and Neil Rushton also produced an episode about the Wollaton Case:
youtube.com/watch?v=ql6-LQ5Tkec
And Kate recently released an entertaining and heart-warming novel based on the gnome's point of view of the encounter!
etsy.com/uk/listing/1506260826/woolly-snotts-the-curious-case-of-the
Become a Patron!
The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast has a community called The Curious Crew. If you are looking for exclusive bonus material, monthly zoom chats with like-minded folks, access to the Discord channels and joining events with other members, all while supporting the show, please go to:
patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast
If you’d prefer to support the Modern Fairy Sightings with a one off donation, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ and I’d be very grateful 🙂
buymeacoffee.com/modfairysight
Warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some listeners may find the content unsettling. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Host, Researcher and Creator: Jo Hickey-Hall, Folklore Researcher
Contact: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios
Please like, share and subscribe 💚 and leave a rating! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
