Looks like a really interesting project, even to a healthily sceptical creature such as I, who takes the Ronald Hutton-ish view that more folkloric stuff has fairly prosaic roots (can I plug "Stations of the Sun" again? Great book!). We certainly need a museum of this sort and Simon appears to be going about things with a great deal of style, panache and enthusiasm. Good man.

The only thing that worries me about this project is that it appears from the website that it is attempting to get up and running entirely as a private concern without any help from any state bodies (unless that is being explored in parallel but not mentioned on the website). Apart from the fact that this is an area that should get state funding because it is about an often overlooked and misunderstood part of the heritage of these islands, would state or lottery funding not help to make the project more secure? Or is it about preserving the freedom that comes with total independence from state interference? A side issue, I guess, but an interesting one.

What I hope will happen is that some of the more outlandish fictions about our folklore won't be compounded... that there will be a healthy dose of salt alongside the more arcane and mysterious stuff... That might just be my bias, though.