Another transcript from the 1990s British series, Ghosthunters. It's the seventh episode of the third series, and was broadcast in January 1997. My favourite is the first half. Jess, Tam and Val are totally believable in their accounts. What they saw is one thing, but they certainly believe what they saw.
Tam: It was just so plain clear that I still can’t get to grips
with what I actually seen that night.
Jess: I said shall we go back and see what it is, and just
everything on your body was stood up, like the hackles on the back of your neck
and all that lot.
Tam: Freezing cold
Jess: - Freezing cold!
Tam: Absolutely freezing cold.
Jess: We just said no, sod this like, let’s go home like, you know.
Thijs: I saw all the time the shimmering of the air. And then it
was that my wife said, “Do you see that in the far distance?” “What do you mean?” “There – there’s something
moving, like a man on horseback.” And I looked and said “Yes you are true, how
is that possible?” And it was a man in gallop, he was galloping there, and he
came nearer and nearer, and the shimmering of the air made the whole figure
very unreal and very fantastic. I said ‘how is that possible, this, if the legs
of the horse do not touch the ground at all. And this, if the whole figure is
floating towards us."
Narrator: Bodmin Moor in Cornwall is one of the most
beautiful parts of England – wild, untamed, mysterious. The high moorland runs
down to the sea to create the romantic Cornish coastline – steep cliffs, narrow
rocky coves and inlets. And the whole area is knee deep in a heady mixture of myths and legends: part fact, part fiction,
part history, part fairy tale. Stories of Arthur and the court of Camelot. Of a
mysterious celtic priesthood. Of civil war and smugglers. Moreover, as long as
people can remember Bodmin has been steeped in stories of the paranormal. Some
believe it has to do with the strange qualities of the granite rock itself.
Colin Wilson, Author: I
suspect what is special about Cornwall is that it’s mainly granite, and this
may have something to do with the fact that you get such a very high proportion
of so called psychic events taking place in Cornwall. We’ve got an enormous
number of standing stones, and my own investigation of these standing stones
has convinced me that they were stuck in like stone needles into acupuncture
points in the earth. Certainly the places where there are standing stones
appear to have some extremely powerful ambience to which the dowsing rod
responds quite directly.
Michael Williams,
Publisher: Paranormal activity has been going on for a very long time on the
moor, and in North Cornwall. And indeed in the whole of Cornwall. And I believe
that it is an ongoing process, and my great hope is that before many years pass,
we shall see a major breakthrough in the paranormal field. That the reality
will be established. And on the evidence of the past I think there’s a very
good chance of that breakthrough being made here in Cornwall.
Narrator: But whatever the
reason, geology or Celtic mystery, there is no doubt that there are various
sites on the moor where many different people at quite different times claim to
have seen events which they simply cannot explain. One of them for example is
St Nectan’s glen, the site of an ancient Celtic monastery founded almost 1500
years ago. The glen is one of those places where myth and magic intermingle.
But that having been said, many visitors go away convinced there is still a
monastery somewhere in the valley. They’ve seen the monks.
Barry, Local Resident: St
Nectan’s glen is a peace of paradise really. It’s steeped in history going back
to the Druids even used to worship up here. King Arthur, his knights erm were
baptised in the cave before they went in search of the holy grail. And you can
actually see some red stones in the glen, in the river, that are locally known
as blood stones. And they’re supposed to be when King Arthur had his last
battle at Slaughterbridge, all the wounded and dying coming back through the
glen to get to the castle, their blood landed on the rocks and it’s just stayed
ever since.
Jean, Local Resident: My
granddaughter, when she was very small, often used to see a man walking across
and it was always away from the patio, actually he must have been walking on
the air, because there was a vast drop where he was seen. And then lots of the
visitors have come up and said that they see this old man standing at the edge
of the building, very old man with a beard, rather stooping, in a monk’s habit.
Narrator: St Nectan’s glen
runs down to the sea at the ancient fishing port of Tintagel, the very
heartland of Arthurian legend. Were the knights of the round table here in the
dark years between the departure of the Romans and the coming of the Norsemen? Some
years ago a Dutchman spent a holiday here with his wife. He remembers what
happened to him as clearly as if it happened yesterday.
Thijs: I saw the man on
the horse no more clearly I could see how he was dressed, I saw first of all a
strange hat, it was a hat with a wide brim, folded up on the front and going
back there [points to back of neck]. And he was totally in black, he had [?] and coat in white pleats hanging
down and I saw there was embroidery on the coat. And I saw his boots which were
soft leather, and as well, of course, spurs, I saw.
And then the horse stepped forward to a nearby hawthorn. And the man
dismounted and he walked to the hawthorn, and tied the reins on a low hanging
branch of the tree. The shimmering of the air increased. It was all waving, and
at that moment, all at once, the man and the horse disappeared totally. I was
totally flabbergasted. My wife said ‘How is that possible, would you believe
it!’ I said, “Come, let’s go back to the beach, it’s so hot here, let’s just go
back to the beach." We didn’t talk so much to each other any more, she kept my
arm, we walked down to the beach. And
she said ‘Is it possible that it was King Arthur?’ I said, Who else could it
have been?"
Michael Williams: I don’t
think think the Dutch artist at on the cliffs of Tintagel saw King Arthur. I
think King Arthur belonged to a much earlier period of time. But he undoubtedly
saw something of a supernatural nature. You can’t have a horse and rider seen
very vividly and in detail by the man and his wife, there one moment and gone
the next. I think that the rider was stylishly dressed would suggest that it
was more likely to be within a smuggling context. Because we’ve got to remember
that the gentry were involved with smuggling.
Narrator: During the 18th
century the whole coastline was rife with smuggling activity, the isolated
beaches, the country lanes, the inns and farmhouses on the moor. And so
swingeing were the taxes on alcohol that all social classes were involved – the
landed gentry, as well as poor fishermen. It was a dangerous trade – if you
were caught you could be hanged from the nearest tree. At the historic old hostelry
of Jamaica Inn, it seems that the sounds of the smugglers still ring out.
Tony, Manager: We live
here immediately above this room, and this used to be the old stable block, and
you know, I imagine that in the day it was a stable block, it being an old
cobbled floor, and maybe 3,4,5 times a year one can hear ponies paddling about
down here, people shouting, talking, and this won’t go on for just 2 or3
minutes, it’ll probably go on for 2 hours. The dialect that people talk in, is
not understandable to my ears. Erm. I would think probably it’s of a Cornish
dialect. Erm. And it just goes on, you can hear people outside shouting,
talking, as if coaches and carriages were being unloaded and stuff being banged
about. You can look out of the window, you can come downstairs, you can see
nothing, but the noise still continues.
Narrator: Val is the cook
at Jamaica in. As practical and down to earth a lady as you could find. But
even Val has had her ghostly experiences.
Val: The ghost that
goes through the door has a cloak on. But it’s mostly a cloak, it’s not, you
know... - like, with no head. No, it’s just a cloak with a big collar. It starts off
here and goes over here, and goes out there in the stable bar. And it’s very
frightening, and I just go down to the kitchen and close the door behind me,
which makes me more secure.
Jess: I was working as
head chef at the Jamaica Inn, and we’d finished on Saturday night at about quarter
to eleven, and we was proceding to drive home across Bodmin Moor towards Tor
Point. And about two miles down the road we rounded this corner and all of a
sudden I seen this figure hanging from a tree. And I said to Tam, ‘Did you see
anything, Tam?’ He looked at me..
Tam: Well I says, I know
what I seen, what did you see?
Jess: I said, A guy hanging
from a tree like, you know.
Tam: And I says, that’s
exactly what I seen as well.
Jess: And I said shall we
go back? And see what it is? And just everything on your body was stood up like
that – the hackles on the back of your neck and all that lot.
Tam: Freezing cold.
Jess: - freezing cold.
Tam: I felt freezing cold.
Jess: We said No. Sod this
right! Let’s go home, like, you know? But every night since then, when we was
going backwards and forwards to work, when you come back at night, you just
instantly freeze and your hairs all stand up on the back of your neck as you go
through.
Tam: And I can remember colours
that night. I can remember black, I can remember white. And I can also remember
a red, a red scarf or [pulls face] not a cravat, but just something red. I can
remember black boots, shiny black boots. Erm. It was just so plain clear. That [looks incredulous] that I still can’t get to grips with what I actually seen
that night.
Narrator: Galloping
horsemen. The sounds of smugglers. Bodies hanging from trees. Round Tintagel
and Jamaica Inn such stories are almost commonplace. But ten miles or so across
the moor in the village of Altarnun, there is a cluster of quite different stories
around the old vicarage. Of a vicar, and his mistress, and a distraught
chambermaid who drowned herself in the village stream.
Part Two.
Narrator: The old vicarage
in the village of Altarnun is called Penhallow, a name which means ‘on the edge
of the moor’. The present house was built in the middle of last century, by the
Reverend Trip. He is actually buried in the churchyard, but notably not
alongside his wife. He lies with another lady, called Mary Hurley, who may have
been his housekeeper. Penhallow has been a focus of paranormal activity for
many years – some of it seemingly associated with Mary Hurley herself.
Harry Cleverley, Psychic
Medium: Penhallow has been there for some… you know it was the rectory
originally and the church sold it off and it’s erm it’s not the original house.
The original one was burnt down and this one was built in 1842. Erm, but it’s
been on that site for many generations as far as I’m aware. It used to have
stables and a coach house and everything. It was in the days when the vicars
were really somebody, they ran the roost, they were the top dog in the village.
He lived with his wife in the house, but they also had a housekeeper – who was,
shall we say a little bit more than a housekeeper. And she’s seen sometimes
standing at the back door of the house. She’s been seen by several people as
far as I know. And she’s buried just outside the gate to the house, beside the
vicar. The wife is… I don’t know where the wife’s buried. But apparently they
were having an affair.
Marie, Previous Owner: There
definitely is a presence in the house. We can often hear strange noises like
people going up and down the stairs when we knew there was no one in the house.
It wasn’t a nasty presence, it was a friendly, sort of – ghost – if you want.
Perhaps it is the housekeeper. Perhaps she doesn’t approve of having a licensed
premised, you know, it being like an old vicarage and I think she use to look
after all the old vicars and then perhaps she doesn’t like it!
Julia, Present Owner: Last
week we had a guest staying here on Thursday night who was disturbed for
whatever reason in the night, and awoke to see a lady dressed in grey – Quaker
sort of dress she said – standing at the corner of her bed for what seemed like
several minutes, and then she just disappeared. No harm done, nothing thrown
about. But definitely a sighting.
Narrator: Harry Cleverly
was called in by the previous owners of Penhallow to help them with some
strange unexplained experiences in the house that were occurring again and
again.
Jean, Former Owner : We
told him that the footsteps going across this room. And he came across and
walked around the house, didn’t he.
Barry: Yeah.
Jean: But he saw something
in the next room to this room. And of course we did realise that possibly the
rooms have changed, you know perhaps the walls haven’t always been exactly in
the same places.
Harry Cleverley: Some time
ago when the previous owner had it, they called me up because they heard
footsteps overhead. It didn’t frighten them but they were just interested. So I
went up there and I saw in one of the bedrooms. Well there were two bedrooms
they are now 3 and 4. But I think at one time they would have been one big
room. And I saw this vicar, I think he was, in a frock coat, pacing up and down
with his hands behind his back, as if he was puzzling out his sermon for the
coming service. At least that was the impression I got.
Narrator: Harry Cleverly
lives in the village. Late one evening he had another strange experience as he
passed the gates of Penhallow.
Harry Cleverley: About
midnight, witching hour as always, I got to the bridge and the dog stopped. And
his hackles rose, and I felt cold, this icy feeling. And I looked up and there
was this entity floating down, well coming down this path to the side of the
church, it came round and walked straight thorugh the gate which was shut. And
went up the road and disappeared. And I didn’t know very much about them at the
time. And I enquired around and someone said ‘Oh you’ve seen her have you?’ And
he didn’t tell me what had happened, but apparently she comes down the lane
behind the church. Where she comes from nobody actually knows, or what she did.
But I found out later that she.. where the… behind the post office there used
to be swampy land there. And she fell in that and drowned herself. Apparently.
Narrator: As so often in
these circumstances, we are left with a judgement, to believe or not to believe
these stories. There are slender links with the history of the place. There
have been sightings by several people. But these can scarcely be called
confirmation of anything. Is there any other kind of verification that we could
plug into? We decided to call in another psychic medium. With no notice whatsoever, we took her to the
old vicarage on the moor. She claims to have no knowledge of Altarnun or Penhallow.
She claims to have had no contact of any kind with Harry Cleverley. Indeed, she
was quite prepared to take a lie detector test. We asked her simply to recount
her impressions.
Shirley Wallis, Psychic: Well this is a favourite, a very favourite
place. The man I’m interested in, whose room I believe it was. This was a
reverend gentleman, and this room was much bigger, in fact it actually goes in
beyond here. One long room. And there’s books – it’s lined with books, it’s a
bolt-hole for this gentleman. It’s a place where he did his own personal
spiritual work. And inside of the church, through this window, he walked with
his sermons up and down from window to window. And this view of the way in, was
almost to him as if it was his spiritual pathway through. That may sound a
little… but this is how his personality comes. And he had to get away from the
rest of the household many times. It feels as if there is a bit of an
undercurrent which wouldn’t have been mentioned in those days – this is a
Victorian gentleman. And there was a lot of things going on in this household
which he needed to escape from – let’s put it that way. He became himself in
this room. He wasn’t all formal. He became himself, he – I could even – I’m not
sure if he actually played an instrument (I feel as if he might have had a
fiddle or a pipe. But he became himself
here, and almost danced and threw himself on the bed, you know, and that kind
of thing – he felt free. The only place he felt free. That’s how I feel about
him. But undercurrents. Other occupants of the house – I feel that are
concerned with his family – are a little more intricate. I think I would rather
not particularly say how I feel about that. But he feels as if he’s living two
lives here. Being a rector or a vicar, it would have to have been a double
life. And I’ve felt that there’s some concern that his very personal life was wrapped up with one of the occupants of the house. In
other words, he was probably having an affair with one of the occupants of the
house. It was very happy. It was very, if I may be so bold, say very beautiful.
It was a very good heart connection with this lady.
Narrator: As Shirley moved
around the vicarage, she picked up another contact (as she called it) in what
used to be the old kitchens.
Shirley: I went into the
back of the house because I felt drawn to do so. I feel that it is a very
active place in the kitchen area, and I was strongly convinced of a previous
scullery maid, or perhaps that would be too… er, she was a servant that worked in the
kitchen. A delightful girl. But there are undertones. And she knows more
intimate stories about the owners in the Victorian period than perhaps others
would. And she lived in a cottage which is no longer down by the bridge, the
old bridge in the village. It is now a space. There were a row of cottages
there. I saw them. And the bridge itself connected with her. And I believe that
she felt at the bridge and was drowned. And this was the young woman who worked
here.
Narrator: So, two mediums
who claim to have no previous contact, coming up with remarkably similar
stories. And right across the moor there are countless stories from people who’ve
had strange experiences so real and so vivid that they’re imprinted on their
memories never to be forgotten. There are as we’ve heard, theories that have
been bandied about - the somewhat unusual properties of the rock itself. The
mysteries of the celtic brain, and so on. But there are precious few
explanations. The only facts would seem to be that the area is indeed rich in
history and event. And that people have had experiences here that have changed
their view of life and death.