Tumuli wreathed in mist? Pettiness, scorn and sarcasm? You choose

19 February 2026

Welcome to issue 26 of Tales from the Chase, a weekly newsletter for Cranborne Chase. Local events. Odd tales. Mildly strange goings-on. All delivered by email, free, and occasionally unhinged (in a charming way). Was this email forwarded to you? You can sign up for free by clicking below!

welcome, Faithful friends

This week in the Chase

Things take an unexpected turn.

No ancient earthworks wreathed in mist. No Forgotten Footpath Society member claiming a shortcut through reality. No moaning about a perfectly pleasant parish.

Instead, we have questions.

There’s a short poll below. Do scroll down and let me know what you think. Consider it a civilised form of meddling.

Twenty-five weeks on the Chase

I'm feeling that, twenty-five issues into Tales from the Chase, something curious has begun to happen. What started as a weekly wander now feels like a landscape taking shape. The parish guides are accumulating, the archives are thickening, and characters are emerging, with their own particular ways.

Hubert has roamed across the Chase leaving scorn and sarcasm in his wake. Isla Cobb has unearthed wondrous stories, sometimes about things that we may, strictly speaking, have preferred to remain unearthed. Rufus has revealed surprising secrets of beasts and beast-adjacent things that inhabit the Chase. The Forgotten Footpath Society has continued to insist that what they do is just exercising curiosity rather than foolish meddling with things best left undisturbed.

And through it all, you’ve been here.

So. What’s working? What sticks with you? What should perhaps be left to sink back into the shadows?

If you have a few minutes, I’d be enormously grateful for your thoughts.

And I have plans.

Collected volumes, perhaps, gathering Hubert’s Guide, or Isla’s stories and investigations and Rufus's beasts, each under a single cover. Maybe something longer unfolding across the weekly issues.

Before I set the course more firmly, I’d like to know how you’re finding the path so far.

There are a few questions below, about what you enjoy, what you skim, what lingers, and what you’d gladly wander deeper into.

Your answers will help shape what Tales from the Chase becomes.

AND finally...

I'd like to know your thoughts on the questions below, but sadly the poll system I'm using won't allow open questions, so hit reply on the email and do send me your thoughts!

Do you have a favourite story so far?

Other than Hubert, Isla, and Rufus, do you have a favourite character, from any of the stories (examples would be Ebble, Silas and Elowen from the liminal pub, Cedric or Mad Geoff from the FFS, or any other character you may recall from your favourite story)?

Is there anything specific from previous issues that you'd like to hear more of?

Tales from the Chase has grown week by week. Your thoughts will help shape where it goes next.

Thank you for adventuring with me.

Until next week, when normal service will be resumed

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