Arcadia Discussion Zone

What are you? His minder?

My further enquiries on the subject were not answered.

Not that this has anything to do with you.

What was that you were saying about being rude?
I was highlighting the fact that your question has been answered, just in case you missed it in all those reposts.


However, if it makes you feel happy to ask for further enquiries, even though you've been answered, then go right ahead.

What's the matter? Upset that you've not been included in the project along with your spider staking fantasy?

I find it bizarre that my posing a question should evoke an acusation of this kind.

Without divulging matters he either cannot or will not discuss, I sought clarification on which film production David Farrant was talking about in his interview.

I am not "obsessed", but it is reasonable to ask if he is referring to Asa Bailey's production or some other production?

I raised the question because there are only two productions afoot as far as I can tell: the Asa Bailey fictional modern-day film with American actors called "The Highgate Vampire" which will have absolutely nothing to do with events at Highgate forty odd years ago, and the other film based on a non-fiction book using British actors set in the period of that book's history.

From what David Farrant has been willing to reveal neither film would apply, so I simply asked if there is a third film in the offing? What makes me sceptical about that possibility is he said it was due for release in 2010 and nobody to date has heard of a third film being produced.

Asa Bailey's film is claimed by that production company to be released next year, but, again, this is just another fictional exploitation movie of the genre currently flooding cinemas. David Farrant has indicated this is not the sort of film he is involved with.

All he need do is say whether it is a third and previously unheard of movie he is talking about. This would hardly be revealing classified material, and if he is not allowed to even mention the project why did he introduce it in his interview in the first place?

What's the matter with you!

My asking another member a question has nothing to do with you.

Your constant harassment only exposes your agenda on this forum.

You are not a moderstor, even if you try and act like one.

You are a new member whose attempts to prevent discussions you disapprove of and initiate flame wars against members you dislike for whatever reason is all you are about.

It has been brought to my notice that you have a history of doing this long before you joined Arcadia.

Harassment? Seriously?

You're quite right in that I'm not a moderator. Were that the case, I'd have a wonderful red tag by name. Acting like one? Do be serious.

Regarding a history of flaming people and my history having been brought to your notice, you really are a strange fellow. Paranoid, but strange.
Why do you have such an axe to grind against the world.
Were you wronged so badly? Is it a matter of honor?

I have no axes to grind.

It is not me constantly interfering with you, is it?

You are pursuing wherever I post to subvert my questions and comments.

This is not paranoia, as anyone who checks your posting history on this forum will discover.

As a dumb cat, I'll put my limited feline brain power onto this problem to help solve it for you.

Is Farrant a part of the Asa Bailey Highgate Vampire film? All signs point to "no".
Is Farrant a part of the Bishop's Highgate Vampire film? All signs point to "no".
Could he be referring to a third film? All signs point to "yes".

Glad to be of help.

I, along with a few others, have been trying to explain that your question had been answered and it was beginning to look a little silly that you were asking again and again across various threads.
Hardly subversive but easy for you to lose track of.






I hope that when you say 'history', you are of course keeping it in a fair context with regards to responses left to your comments, which have been rather rude and clumsy.

Calm down. The world needn't be your enemy, as you're doing a far superior job of it.

"Few others"? What "few others"? So far only one other, namely Jenny.

Questions regarding the British Occult Society put to David Farrant by me have so far not been answered. I am not sure they have been answered when DVB raised questions about the British Occult Society.

If David Farrant cannot identify any coverage documenting his occult society from the Sixties, can he possibly identify the earliest media reportage of himself as its president?

I know this was asked some time back by another member (DVB) when David Farrant mentioned headed notepaper and libel trials, but these cases in the High Court took place nearer the end of the Seventies and it is stated by him he was actively in charge of the society in the Sixties.

So my questions to David Farrant is can he produce anything further back than the late Seventies in the form of an identifiable broadcast or newspaper article, and can he identify anyone who is able to be properly identified who was actually a member of his society?

I feel this question is important because there was a British Occult Society which included well known authors of the supernatural and other public figures among its membership, but this society dismissed at the time any claims made on it by David Farrant. Its head was featured on British television in March 1970 and the screen caption described him as the President of the British Occult Society, as did all other media reports concerning the British Occult Society at the time. This man was not David Farrant.

I understand the British Occult Society was dissolved in 1988.

The Bishop's film?
Which company is responsible?
Who is behind it?
When is it coming out?
What is the budget?
I have heard nothing about it.


...see if it bites.

I know this seems like I am jumping the queue to go back to a previous post Dave responded to. Actually it deals with what I thought was the purpose of all this ghostbusters - ghost hunters biz. This is the local link I mentioned, Dave. Unfortunately ye'll have to use babelfish or just a re-read of the synopsis I gave,

What the link does is show some generalized location shots inside the hotel on the 5th floor....
http://hd.se/helsingborg/2009/12/08/hot ... ack-i-sas/

The folks who work at this hotel use anglo daily, so if yer curious and contact that hotel and offer expertise, they may take ya up on it.

It's actually "Caledfwlch" with an "L" not an "I" (there is no "I" in CALEDFWLCH).

All I did was ask a question relating to something you mentioned when you were interviewed.

I have no "particular interest" beyond the fact that most people (who have looked on the web) would probably be aware of two films in the making, but not a third. Your description of what you say you are involved in fits neither film, which prompted me to ask whether there is a third project of this sort. Then I remembered you mentioned yours is due for release in 2010 which suggests we are talking about Asa Bailey's fictional modern-day romp with an American cast. This film has nothing to do with the Highgate Vampire beyond its title. So in a way you have cleared that up without even having to answer the question. Though it is a little odd to raise it in an interview and then say it can't be discussed.

Be assured, mine are genuine questions; though I have no recollection of asking you to discuss any individuals. The British Occult Society which was not associated with you did reveal the names of some of the public figures, eminent scholars and authors among its membership, but that does not concern you as you were not a member of that society.

Since you did not provide the information asked by DVB about the British Occult Society on this forum, the question I subsequently put to you was: If you cannot identify any coverage documenting your occult society from the Sixties, can you possibly identify the earliest media reportage with you as its president? This you have not done. It would be simple enough to say that you first appeared as the "president" in such a such newspaper or on such a such programme. But you have not. This leaves the matter open to speculation and, as I previously stated, there are records of a British Occult Society with a president in the same timeline, but that person is not you. I was offering you an opportunity to provide evidence which is on public record to support your claim.

You now say "I will answer any questions arising from my interview" having previously offered to answer questions about anything you have said in public or written about in publications.

The third question in your Arcadia interview was about the "entity" you claim to have witnessed at Highgate Cemetery forty years ago. You describe this "entity" as follows:

"My vivid recollection is that the figure did appear to have two eyes, but no other discernable features; just two points of light that appeared to be eyes."

In your first television interview you make no mention of the eyes, but you do describe otherwise discernable facial features. Today was transmitted at 6.00pm on 13 March 1970. What follows is the unabridged text from the interview you gave to that programme:

Sandra Harris: “Did you get any feeling from it? Did you feel that it was evil?

David Farrant: “Yes, I did feel it was evil because the last time I actually saw its face, and it looked like it had been dead for a long time.”

Sandra Harris: “What do you mean by that?”

David Farrant: “Well, I mean it certainly wasn’t human.”

You stated to Sandra Harris and the viewing audience: "The last time I actually saw its face." This suggests there was a time previous to that, but in your interview on Arcadia you say:

"I believe one local newspaper erroneously reported that I’d seen this figure ‘on three occasions’. What happened was, I wrote a general letter to this newspaper asking for information from any readers who may have seen this ghostly figure that had been reported on at least three occasions."

Elsewhere on the web you recently confirmed you had only one sighting when this apparent contradiction was brought to your attention by someone else.

In Beyond the Highgate Vampire (1991) which you wrote, edited and produced, you state on page 8 that you saw a figure which was "over seven feet tall" and you confirm that "the entity was malevolent." You also say that your "investigation began in January 1970." This brings me to your letter written to the Hampstead & Highgate Express which appeared unedited on 6 February 1970. This is what you wrote in your published letter to the editor of that newspaper about your sightings of the "entity":

"On three occasions I have seen what appeared to be a ghost-like figure inside the gates at the top of Swains Lane. The first occasion was on Christmas Eve. The second sighting, a week later, was aslo brief. Last week, the figure appeared, only a few yards inside the gate. This time it was there long enough for me to see it much more clearly."

In your interview for Arcadia we are given the clear impression that you only witnessed the "entity" on one occasion, yet your published letter to the editor of the Hampstead & Highgate Express in February 1970 clearly states that you had no less than three sightings.

How do you explain this contradiction?

It's Friday!

However; after seeing this:


...I don't know that you are going to answer my questions.

Maybe it would help to know why I would ask....hhmmm....how much time do you have?

I'll try to keep this a short story, seeing as this is your thread and all....about 7 years ago I was given a copy of my father's geneaology. Which, up until then I didn't know anything about; I didn't even know who my first cousins were on my fathers side. It is a very interesting family tree. The search for the people and symbols in the documents I received became a 'Grail Search' as both are very similar. During this search I was sent a link to the Followship of Isis website and the biography of Olivia and her brother (his name escapes me...Lawrence, I think)....my father's family is the Robertson's...same as Olivia.

It is my belief that the Robertson Clan has something to do with the Grail stories and the esoteric/ancient knowledge that is being searched for. But hey, I'm biased! What do you think Olivia would say? I can link the Robertson's to a particular Liberty Oak in Charleston, SC....

Anyway...I joined the FOI yahoo group and started to study under Elda when the VA Tech Massacre happened. Because of my proximity to the school, and the knowledge I have of the event; that April day changed a lot for me...and I eventually lost contact with Elda. I was just hoping that she is doing well.

As you can see, I do have an agenda of sorts...but it is a very personal one and not shared with any other poster that I know of. You can search my posts and see that what I am saying is the truth.

Coolest of all, the search has eventually landed my here, at the Arcadia forum...what a wild ride it has been!

“In your interview for Arcadia we are given the clear impression that you only witnessed the "entity" on one occasion, yet your published letter to the editor of the Hampstead & Highgate Express in February 1970 clearly states that you had no less than three sightings.

How do you explain this contradiction?”

There is no contradiction, “Caldfwich”, and I have clarified this many times in the past; on the James Randi Forum for one, I believe.

For a start, my letter to the Ham and High in 1970 badly misquoted myself (not deliberately I concede).

I did not say that I had seen the figure (ghost) ‘on three occassions’: I was describing a figure that I said ‘had been seen on at least three occasions’. This is true – it had. But on these occasions, the witnesses were other people whom I had witnessed by this time (whose experiences I described in my book “Beyond the Highgate Vampire”). Indeed, that’s the very reason I wrote the letter (requesting further information). I deliberately did not say in my letter that we had people stationed in Highgate Cemetery at night trying to get some photographic evidence, or that the descriptions I gave to the newspaper related to what Society members had reported independently: technically we should not have been in the cemetery, and I thought it best not to advertise this fact.

When the ITV programme you refer to was shown on Friday March 1970, I had already spoken to one of their researchers before the transmission; as also, I had spoken to presenter Sandra Harris ‘off camera’. I made it quite clear to both of these people that the unexplained entity (ghost if you like) was NOT a vampire as had been reported in some local newspapers.

Some years later I had cause to bring two libel actions against two national newspapers in which the Society investigation and my own central role in this, was prominent. I do not intend to reiterate these libel actions here; but it may be an important point to say that in the course of two of these, I called Sandra Harris to Court to verify these facts and that it was not myself who claimed that this unexplained entity was a ‘vampire’ but another person. She did so under oath.

So you may see “Caledfwich’, sometimes things are not always so ‘clear cut’ when unqualified people read newspapers.

David Farrant

For Serendipity,

The Fellowship of Isis was founded in 1975 by Olivia Robertson and her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, as a movement for those who believe in the female aspect of deity. It was based upon Olivia’s mystical experiences, but the organization was loosely based upon that of the Church of England. The difficulty is that meetings are normally held in private homes, and so cannot be open to the public, though I myself have conducted a couple of open rituals at Conway Hall.

I believe that the descent of the Robertsons from a Druid family is correct, but it is likely that anyone from an old Irish family has Druid ancestry, if only one could trace one’s line back far enough. But the records are very incomplete, my aunt has been trying to trace our own Irish ancestry, but has been able to take it back no further than a judge who was sacked in 1830 for taking bribes, whilst the Druids effectively became extinct in the Middle Ages. Only an aristocratic family like the Robertsons can produce genealogies going that far back.

As to Caledfwlch’s queries about a Highgate Vampire film, the other day I went with a psychic lady friend to see ‘Paranormal Activity’, the horror film made in San Diego on a budget of just 15,000 dollars. After I had been appropriately scared, and she had been appropriately amused, she suggested that I should make a similar film of my own, basing it upon the Highgate Vampire case. She even suggested a possible producer. I had to point out to her that I know of four ‘Highgate Vampire’ films that have got at least as far as pre-production, and have heard of a couple of others, so that there is too much competition for this to be viable. Since the makers are wary (of someone stealing their ideas!), I have been asked to be discreet about all of these, so my guess is that there are many others of which I have not even heard.

Gareth J. Medway

Caledfwlch, as already explained, does not contain an "i". The letter you repeatedly mistake for an "i" is an "l".

You appear to be saying that while you are "qualified" to read newspapers others, myself included, might not have reached those lofty heights. May I ask what qualifications are necessary for reading newspapers, as I naturally aspire to join the newspaper reading academics who share this rare talent?




Is it really plausible that your letter was so monstrously altered by the editor of a highly respectable newspaper to mean something quite different to what you had actually written, and is it likely that you would not have insisted on having such a tampered version corrected in the following week's issue if this had really happened? There is no record of you having asked for any such correction. There is no record of an amendment appearing even though your contact with that newspaper remained ongoing for the next few weeks and into several months. There are records of you sticking with the personal "three sightings" account until October of that year when it suddenly reduced to "two sightings". Now it has become "one sighting". One is bound to wonder whether a further passing of time will establish "no sighting"?

What certainly exists as evidence from early 1970 is what you wrote in the Hampstead & Highgate Express, 6 February 1970:

"On three occasions I have seen what appeared to be a ghost-like figure inside the gates at the top of Swains Lane. The first occasion was on Christmas Eve. The second sighting, a week later, was also brief. Last week, the figure appeared, only a few yards inside the gate. This time it was there long enough for me to see it much more clearly."

The next month you stated to Today interviewer Sandra Harris on British television: "The last time I actually saw its face." Does this not suggest there was a time previous to the one you are referring to in that interview? I sense it does. But there is more. There is the BBC's 24 Hours interview broadcast at 10.30pm on 15 October 1970.

Laurence Picethly’s interview with you for BBC television was sandwiched between footage of the President of the British Occult Society that had been filmed at the society’s north London headquarters and on location at Highgate Cemetery. This man representing the British Occult Society was obviously not you. In fact, the British Occult Society had distanced itself from what you were doing as far back as March of that year. The interview you gave in late 1970 is important, however, because there are no editors to blame for altering what you had written in published correspondence to a newspaper. You are speaking to the interviewer and the viewing public. The words can be heard from your own mouth and there is no escaping what you said.

Here is the 24 Hours television interview you gave in October 1970:

Laurence Picethly: “On August the seventeenth, Allan [known locally as ‘Allan’ ~ his correct name being ‘David’] Farrant decided to pay a midnight visit to the cemetery to combat the vampire once and for all. At the cemetery, Farrant was forced to enter by the back wall [footage shows David Farrant entering via the rear of the cemetery], as he still does today. He armed himself with a cross and stake, and crouched between the tombstones, waiting. But that night police, on the prowl for vandals, discovered him. He was charged with being in an enclosed space for an unlawful purpose, but later the Clerkenwell magistrate acquitted him. Now, in spite of attempts by the cemetery owners to bar him, Farrant and his friends [no friends were discovered by the police or subsequently identified by David Farrant] still maintain a regular vigil around the catacombs in hope of sighting either the vampire or a meeting of Satanists.”

David Farrant: “We have been keeping watch in the cemetery for … [pauses] … since my court case ended, and we still found signs of their ceremonies.”

Laurence Picethly: “Have you ever seen this vampire?”

David Farrant: “I have seen it, yes. I saw it last February, and saw it on two occasions.”

Laurence Picethly: “What was it like?”

David Farrant: “It took the form of a tall, grey figure, and it … [pauses] … seemed to glide off the path without making any noise.”

Your interview ends at this point. It is reproduced above in its entirety.

You were acquitted of the charge that had led to your arrest, it being that you were found in an enclosed area for an unlawful purpose. Highgate Cemetery is obviously not “an enclosed area” and that is all you were charged with in August 1970. The BBC report now returns to the President of the British Occult Society.

Three things are of significance in that BBC television interview from October 1970.



The reconstructed footage of what you were doing on the night of 17 August 1970 clearly shows you hunting a vampire with a rosary around your neck, a large cross in one hand and a sharpened wooden stake in the other hand. There is no ambiguity about what led to your arrest in this report where you are featured reconstructing what you were doing at the time of your arrest around midnight in Highgate Cemetery.

The second thing of significance is that when Laurence Picethly asks whether you have ever seen the vampire you do not attempt to correct him and say it is something other than a vampire. Nor do you make clear that you do not believe in vampires, or that what you witnessed was not a vampire. Indeed, this section of 24 Hours was titled "Vampires".

The third thing of significance is that when asked if you had seen the vampire you responded: “I have seen it, yes. I saw it last February, and saw it on two occasions.” You can be heard saying that you had two sightings in early 1970 of the vampire, ghost, call it what you will, but in your Arcadia interview you state that there was only one occasion when you saw it and that this sighting was in December 1969, not February 1970 as stated by you in your BBC television appearance some four decades ago.

A more recent interview with you on a French television channel does nothing much to clarify matters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezDZBOZZcVQ

October 1970...

1970!!!

have you all being arguing this long? i was 2 years old in 1970.
why are you all still arguing? seriously?

One won't let old wounds heal and the other has to constantly and rightfully defend himself in all manner would be a good summation. You'll see one them bringing the same petty and nit-picking disruptions into Damiana's thread also.
You probably don't want to know any more than that Paula!

I can't remember claiming to be anyone. Like most members, I have a username. That fact is irrelevant to the questions, observations and comments I post on this forum; just as it is irrelevant for everyone else on here with a username, which is about 99% of the membership.