At somewhat irregular and infrequent intervals Miss Edwards will release or issue a “podcast” or Fencast. This is an MP3 audio file that you can download for free!
The contents of the podcast will vary with the winds but in general they will feature Christopher South discussing new releases or 
ruminating on some aspect of fen life as demonstrated to him by Dennis. However you can also expect to hear some archive material from the old Dennis of Grunty Fen radio shows so it’s not all bad news.
If you have iTunes installed upon your computer you can find the Grunty Fencast within iTunes by selecting the iTunes Store, then after that settles down over on the right you will see a “search” box. Type fencast into there and press return. If the magic happens the Grunty Fencast will appear. Alternatively, just click on this iTunes link to go straight to the Fencast.
If you don’t have iTunes you can simply download or play the episodes that are listed below.
For the technically astute the RSS feed for the podcast is here.
If you have any comments about this podcast or have any suggestions for future podcasts please contact Miss Edwards via the usual methods of social media and email and of course the Contact Us page.
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Episode 10 – A Talk by Mr South
Throw your caps in the air for it’s our tenth podcast!
And Mr South has been out ‘on the road’ as we believe some people in show business say.
On 2nd September Mr South ventured – with his minder, Mrs South – to Warboys Methodist Church in Cambridgeshire to give a talk to Warboys Local History Society and members of the public.
His talk was mostly about Dennis of Grunty Fen, but he did stray off topic once or twice , which is only to be expected at his age. Following a suggestion by one of our Fenatics, Charles, we decided to record Mr South’s talk for those who couldn’t get there, but the only equipment we had to hand was a mobile phone. So we slipped it under his chair and hoped for the best, so please be forgiving of the sound quality. (Three cheers for the Back Room Boy for his work on finessing the audio and taking out the thuds every time Mr South banged his stick on the floor.)
Please also be aware that Mr South is reminiscing about a time when language and humour and some attitudes were different from today.
We’d like to thank Warboys Local History Society and Warboys Methodist Church for organising and facilitating Mr South’s visit, which was well received by everyone.
If you’d like Mr South to do a talk in your area, please email Miss Edwards on info@dennisofgruntyfen.co.uk and she’ll see if it’s feasible.
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here or listen to it on YouTube here.
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Episode 9 – The Easter Shepherdess
Happy Easter! Congratulations on making it this far. The first Grunty Fencast of 2024 sees us going back thirty years to Easter 1994 when Dennis gave Mr South a present, and hardly stopped talking about it after that.
This episode features Seccotine, Brian the Guard Duck, pressing a tongue, goldfish named Ted, the SAS cat, submarines, Ronald Shiner, a piece of pork, a flit gun and Grandad’s truss. Not only that, but you’ll find out how Mr South upset Dennis by asking him a question.
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.
The illustration shown is not the Easter Shepherdess, but Irene “Inky” Strangebone, Grunty Fen’s foremost tattooist of the late Victorian period. Her masterpieces on the skins of sailors were always much more visible after the Easter bathing season. You can read more about tattoos in in Mr South’s excellent book The Customs and Folklore of Grunty Fen.
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Episode 8 – The Christmas Hamper
The second Grunty Fencast of 2023 sees Mr South quizzing Miss Edwards’ newest recruit – Ian, the new Grunty Fen archivist – about his knowledge of Grunty Fen, so you can test yourself as well as you listen.
You’ll also hear about the three new collections we have available: Archives 12, Scab; Archives 13, Great Harm; and Archives 14, Little Harm. Then – as if that wasn’t enough – there’s a free episode for you from 1993 in which Dennis gives Mr South a Christmas hamper. You may be surprised at what’s in it. Mr South was.
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 7 – Easter Traditions
In the first Grunty Fencast of 2023, Mr South recalls previous Easters in Grunty Fen, followed by the Easter episode from 1991. Dennis tells Mr South about Grunty Fen Easter traditions, such as cabbage rolling, competitive chimney-sweeping and religious football. Watch out for some long cult names.
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.
The image above is of Pernel Dodger, sweep and portrait artist, as featured in Mr South’s excellent book The Customs and Folklore of Grunty Fen. For more information, please click tell me more.
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Episode 6 – Christmas Cheer
In this Grunty Fencast, a seasonal reflection from Mr South precedes an episode of Dennis of Grunty Fen from Christmas 1991. This episode features all sorts of people and things including Mikhail Gorbachev, a religious landlady, greetings cards, a business suit, a divided house, Babycham and the bacon factory. Any similarity between the tale Dennis tells and another Christmas story is entirely up to you.
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 5 – Help! Help! Mr South!
Mr South is by the fireside in his library, feet up and eyes closed but let no-one say that he’s asleep – especially when his tranquillity is rudely interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
Somebody desperately needs help with a serious problem, but who is it? What do they want? Can he help them? Or could he himself be in danger?
The Grunty Fencast is introduced by Martin Carman. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 4 – Coronavirus Catch-Up
Mr South has spent the coronavirus lockdown doing what Mrs South wants, which is mostly for him to keep out of her way.
However, he has been worried about how the extraordinary situation has affected his friends in Grunty Fen.
Trouble is, he’s had the devil’s own job trying to get hold of Miss Edwards at the Post Office and General Stores to find out.
In this episode of the Grunty Fencast, Mr South tries again, like the dogged, determined journalist he is.
The program is introduced by Martin Carman. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 3 – Who’s Who in Grunty Fen
Christopher South has written another new book called “Who’s Who in Grunty Fen”. In this episode of the Grunty Fencast Christopher introduces some of the characters that he came across whilst researching Who’s Who. It’s all entirely fictional of course so any similarity between Chris’s Grunty Fen characters and anybody living, dead or yet to be born is entirely coincidental. As a reward to yourself this is followed by a episode of the Dennis of Grunty Fen radio show broadcast by the BBC in 1988 and called “Cricket”: Dennis struggles with his cricket whites and with his “trouble”. The program is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 2 – The Authorised Guide to Grunty Fen
As Mr South’s book is now on sale (and if you haven’t got a copy, treat yourself to one from our shop) we thought we’d better find out what prompted him to write this long-needed guide. So here in this second sporadic Fencast Mr South spills the beans on why – and where – he wrote the book. You may be surprised at just how far he went.
This is followed by an episode of Dennis of Grunty Fen from 2003 where Dennis is making plans for his holiday. Download this episode from here.
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Episode 1 – The Christmas Message
As we are close to Christmas it is only fitting that the first episode of the Fencast has a Christmas theme. In this initial instalment of the Grunty Fencast Christopher South reminisces (briefly) about Christmases that he has experienced with Dennis. This is followed by an episode of Dennis of Grunty Fen broadcast by the BBC in 2001 – “The Christmas Lights Tour”. The program is introduced by Carol Carman. Download this episode from here.