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03 May 2012 David Farrant


nameless

Paranormal Adept
Thanks for the show guys. Was hoping David would elucidate more about the area and hoped he would have shared some more "goings on". Any music fans will note there is some crazy music history around Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End.

I came across the witch's curse of Ally Pally in one of those cheap warehouse book shop real life ghosts and mystery books back in the late 80s. There was a picture of a a vicar and some people in the grounds of the then ruins of Alexander palace. It was a clipping from a newspaper describing how they were conducting an excorcism on the site and they were burying some "metal rods" to counteract the curse. I can't for the life of me remember the book or where the newspaper clipping was from. I did find out that when the original land owner Rhodes died the land went to his children and not his wife as per law at the time who objected to plans for part of the land being sold on to developers.


Crouch End at times was like living in a David Lynch film. On anyday you'd see locals dressed in 17th century garb, these two really fat blind identical twin guys in dark glasses c-list celebrities etc..

Crouch End itself ye olde englishy for "cross end" and is a ventricular cross roads with a middle road leading to a clock tower built in comemoration to Henry Wiliams who saved Highgate woods from developers.

Crossroads have always been identified with occultists as a place of significance, its where the veil that seperates worlds is thinnest. During my time there i experienced some weird stuff, it was like the amount and frequency of coincidence and novelty was so high it was imploding on itself creating a self referential narrative eg. one time in the space of one week a man had been "assasinated" mafia style at a restaurant by the clock tower, the actual clock face and mechansism had broke coincidently and so the hands began to spin backwards. When turning on the TV on an evening i turned onto the Graham Norton Chat show during which he interviews Gillian Anderson who grew up in Crouch End and then pulls out a postcard of Crouch end with its clock tower and inadvertently points towards the window of the place I am in as i am watching him at that moment on the frickin TV! And then turned over to Channel 4 where there is a programme which happens to be on called Peep Show set in Archway(near high gate) and the titles are filmed in Crouch End centre by the clock tower.

The stephen King story set in Crouch End is a Cthullu one too, which to any horror afficiandos out there will know fits well with the "thin veil between worlds". Significantly one of the roads off middle lane is a road called Elder Avenue. Middle lane lent itself to Derren Brown who dressed as an evil clown and spent a few days filming tricks there using pattern interrupts to stick people to the "middle" of the road. Oh yeah Sean of the Dead was filmed round there too at the time so i got to see a bunch of people walking around dressed like zombies, ...ha crazy times.
 
This is why we post a thread here before a new episode is recorded. That way, you listeners can suggest your own topics or ask questions. :)
 
Yeah i kind of tried to prompt him with the questions. The whole question about times changing with the whole stigma and persecution thing particulalry in regards to himself Genesis and Gerald was more related to the way all three were really attacked by the British press/public. Of course the whole "black magic" brand was the nature of the attack, but all thses guys got really badly hounded. Genesis practicaly had to leave the country where he still resides in the states, Gerald had been set up by tabloid reporters paying people to gain his confidence then castigating him in the press about being a satanist, getting him fired etc.. It was really bad at one point being involved in this scene and having to hide for fear of "witch hunts" both publicly and privately. Although things are alot more alternative these days, talk about the esoteric, ufos, magick, paranormal and see how far that gets you!
 
Save for a few intriguing tales of people claiming they saw something creepy in or outside Highgate cemetery, this episode was largely devoid of cold hard facts and evidence, and I'm still relatively unclear as to what David Farrant has even done in this field. I'm not suggesting he hasn't done anything, I just think the discussion meandered vaguely around his body of work and knowledge on the subject.

The previous episode on PINE held a similar lackluster grip on my attention, as well, and never really seemed to illuminate anything within the given field of discussion. Jeff Stewart seems like a reasonably critical observer and investigator, but it felt like the discussion focused more on his equipment and opinions rather than case studies and evidence.

With these recent episodes I find myself wondering: what exactly is the objective in bringing these guests on? The goal from show to show is becoming more nebulous and the conversation almost so casual that I feel as though I could probably glean more information from these guys if I invited them over for a few IPA's in my own living room. Some guests are obviously more lively and interesting to listen to than others, so maybe a more pointed line of questioning would keep the discussion moving in a more stimulating and informative direction. If nothing else, please just bring back some hard questions.

Thanks,
Jimbo
 
It felt to me that the David Farrant, at first anyway, was so keen not to say anything controversial that he ended up saying almost nothing at all. Maybe a bit of stage fright perhaps? I did enjoy it when he started opening up regarding his entry into the paranormal field and his father's disapproval, but then it was almost a case of, "whoops, too personal" and the defences went up.
Still, I enjoyed the show (and last week's) and it highlighted for me what great knowledge Chris O'Brien has in the field.

Dan
 
So, yeah, I was asking about Limehouse in the East End as I am interested in the area but have never walked around in London. Chris O'Brien said he himself had some Limehouse stories, though, and I'd be interested to hear them if he wouldn't mind sharing them.
 
It felt to me that the David Farrant, at first anyway, was so keen not to say anything controversial that he ended up saying almost nothing at all. Maybe a bit of stage fright perhaps? I did enjoy it when he started opening up regarding his entry into the paranormal field and his father's disapproval, but then it was almost a case of, "whoops, too personal" and the defences went up.
Still, I enjoyed the show (and last week's) and it highlighted for me what great knowledge Chris O'Brien has in the field.

Dan

yeah got that too.
There are other interviews around that go into some depth about various things such as the legal stuff and the long time feud with the crazy Manchester dude. i've got some of Farrant's booklets knocking around, i'll try and post up some stuff if i can find them.
 
For any of you that have an interest in David Farrant and the Highgate Vampire thing .. not to also mention that insane bastard Sean Manchester ... I have interviewed David Farrant several times on the Highgate thing and Manchester and those shows are up in the Dark Matters Radio archives. You may find them of interest.

Decker
 
I came across the witch's curse of Ally Pally in one of those cheap warehouse book shop real life ghosts and mystery books back in the late 80s. There was a picture of a a vicar and some people in the grounds of the then ruins of Alexander palace.

Just thought I'd mention I was a witness to the Ally Pally fire in 1980. Watched the flames licking the sky from my office on the Seven Sisters Road. A unsupervised blowtorch, I think, was the reason.

Save for a few intriguing tales of people claiming they saw something creepy in or outside Highgate cemetery, this episode was largely devoid of cold hard facts and evidence, and I'm still relatively unclear as to what David Farrant has even done in this field. I'm not suggesting he hasn't done anything, I just think the discussion meandered vaguely around his body of work and knowledge on the subject.

The previous episode on PINE held a similar lackluster grip on my attention, as well, and never really seemed to illuminate anything within the given field of discussion. Jeff Stewart seems like a reasonably critical observer and investigator, but it felt like the discussion focused more on his equipment and opinions rather than case studies and evidence.

I have to agree on both counts, here. Moreso in the case of Jeff Stewart; I think he tried too hard to "suck up" to the sceptics by distancing himself from anything of interest to the listener. If I were Angel, I would have said, "You can't fool us by agreeing with us." ... to which Gene would have said, "..that, ladies and gentleman, is a quote from Close Encounters of the Third Kind where the protagonist, Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfuss) sits in on a conference with the AirForce..." (with respect Gene).
 
I'm about two thirds of the way through the interview and thus far, Farrant is kind of bland. It may just be his personality, even his voice. I'm not getting a sense of the intrigue and interest value of the Highgate vampire (or ghost). I hope he discusses "The Mass Vampire Hunt of March 1970." That sounds exciting.
 
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