The Journey Man

The Journey Man is the storytelling name that was taken on by Johnny Gillett as he decided to focus on the art of oral storytelling in 2008. Under this name he toured schools across UK, telling the stories that he had learnt from the cultures he had worked with across the world. However, he was quickly engaged by the Habitats and Hillforts project to help bring to life the history and folklore that surrounds Cheshire's Sandstone Ridge. The Journey Man soon unearthed a wealth of characters and stories, which he re-articulated for a new generation, and so found himself recognised as the local storyteller. Many children in schools about the region began to create their own tales based on their local history and folklore, leading to storytelling events in village halls, on remote hills and even down in the caves. It was then that The Journey Man was approached by The History Press to write the Cheshire volume in their folk tales series. Of course, many of the stories hailed back to the ancient kingdom of Mercia, which knew no such county boundaries, and The Journey Man asked as to who was writing the books for the other associated counties. It turned out that no one had been assigned at the time to Staffordshire and so The Journey Man was offered that volume too. The Journey Man has since returned to traveling to far off lands, but he still holds on to the stories of Cheshire and Staffordshire. His hope is that one day he will put into print the tales he did not include in those first volumes. A collection that he calls 'The Sandstone Tales'.