'It's just something that I am,' says white witch

Julie Forest says she has been practising witchcraft for about three decades

Nestled in an area of ancient woodlands and open heathland, a charming village has long been associated with witchcraft.

Burley in the New Forest, Hampshire, found itself at the centre of intense media interest in the 1950s, when resident Sybil Leek announced she was a white witch.

Practising the craft had only been decriminalised in the UK in 1951 and Sybil was one of a few witches who dared to reveal themselves.

She became a prominent local figure, naming the village's iconic shop "A Coven of Witches", cementing a legacy that continues today.

BBC South's Mel James dropped in to the village to meet a modern day witch, who makes the spells for the famous shop.

Julie Forest has been practising witchcraft for about 30 years.

"I think I do about 14 different spells," she says. "I do love spells, protection spells."

In a room in her house that she calls her "magic room" stands an altar, with her wand, carved from a piece of hazel.

She has a magic name, she says, "written in runes so other people wouldn't be able to read it".

"All witches, I would think, would give themselves a magic name," says Ms Forest.

"Back in the old days, people used to hide the fact that they were witches so that nobody could say, 'I know who else is in the coven'."

She says some people can be "a bit weird about it" when they find out she is a witch, adding: "But it's just something that I am, witchcraft isn't a bad thing, we're just ordinary people.

"There's the sort of picture of a person with a warty nose and this idea of wearing a tall, pointed hat.

"It's quite ridiculous really, If you were trying to hide you're a witch, you'd hardly walk around with a tall, pointed hat on."

The A Coven of Witches shop is still thriving in Burley today

Ms Forest sets about creating a "simple candle magic spell" for "peace and love".

"It's not anything weird," she says. "I've collected the plants and I've dried them, because you're going to burn them, if they're fresh they won't burn."

She then reads out loud from a piece of paper she has written on: "I call on the universal energies of earth, air, fire and water to bestow love and peace in my life, across this land and throughout the world, so mote it be."

The plant material is then placed on the paper, which is folded into a triangle, lit with the candle and thrown burning into her cauldron.

But can she tell if her spells have worked?

"I have been to A Coven of Witches and had people come up to me and say 'Oh, this is the result of your fertility spell' and they're holding a baby," she says.