SUPERNATURAL author Phil Rickman, who died earlier this month, has done for Herefordshire and the Welsh border what county folklorist Ella Mary Leather did more than 100 years ago.

Described as a “one-off” by his agents and “remarkable” by Stephen King, 74-year-old Mr Rickman applied his award-winning journalistic skills in seeking out long-lost tales and legends when he launched his career as a novelist in 1991.

He moved to the area more than 40 years ago from his native Lancashire with his wife, fellow journalist Carol, and worked as a reporter in Mid Wales before moving to Wales Today and going on to present his literature programme for BBC Radio Wales, Phil the Shelf.

ALSO READ:

His painstaking researches of border country lore were woven into his books incorporating figures such as John Dee, Elizabeth I’s astronomer and alchemist who lived near Knighton, Wordsworth’s ghostly encounter at Goodrich during his famous tour of the River Wye in his poem, Tintern Abbey, and Hereford’s own Alfred Watkins, who wrote The Old Straight Track.

Among a compelling series featuring the Rev Merrily Watkins, a feisty but feeling diocesan Deliverance minister, Midwinter of the Spirit was adapted into a three-part ITV drama series in 2015. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin and David Threlfall, it was set and filmed in Herefordshire, though Hereford turned down having interior scenes shot in the cathedral so these were filmed in Chester.

His wife, Carol explained that her husband’s private funeral was conducted in the small Norman church of St Margaret’s in the Black Mountains.

To place any family notices, visit here, or to view visit here.

We publish tributes (obituaries) free. Fill in this simple online form here.

The service was taken by the author’s long-time friend and former fellow broadcaster Alun Lenny, now a Welsh Independent Chapel minister.

“There was input from people from the BBC and tributes from friends,” said Carol. Music included Phil’s favourite Incredible String Band and Nick Drake. “It worked out well.”

She added: “It was felt that he owed something to Herefordshire churches,” explaining that donations in his memory would be given to the parish church or to the PSP Association (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy)."

Despite having suffered a stroke four years ago, the author, whose home was near Peterchurch, had managed to keep writing. His final Merrily Watkins book, The Echo of Crows, will be launched next year with a memorial get-together of friends and fans.