The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill

Okay, I'm just testing this night vision thing.

So maybe you can go up to the loft.

I am. Why do you think I've got my torch?

Okay, get the... Get the purple suitcase

'cause that will fit both our stuff.

I can't hear a word you're saying.

It's actually better without the light, you know.

Not for me.

Well, I know. Whoa!

Are you, uh, ready

for the next three days?

Right now, the image is me.

But what happens when the image is something else?

Shut up. What?

You're five steps away from me.

And then your face looks a bit stripy.

But what's that next to you?

Shut up!

Maybe we don't even have to go to a church to find ghosts.

Anywhere could be haunted. This house could be haunted.

Yeah, don't freak me out in my own house.

I have heard of Clophill Church.

The way I know it actually

is the old St. Mary's Church in Bedfordshire.

It's about 500 years old.

It stands on top of a hill, well above the village.

And that used to be the Parish Church for the area.

But then, of course, in the Victorian Period,

with new architects, new buildings

and also population increases,

they built a new St. Mary's Church

towards the town center of that area.

And sadly, the old St. Mary's became redundant.

Eventually, it just became a Mortuary Chapel.

They actually stopped using it as a church as such.

But then, somebody stole all the lead off the roof.

When the lead was gone,

that's when all the weird stuff started happening.

And, you know, people started using it

for alleged Devil worshipping, Black Magic, that kind of thing.

It also had the reputation of being somewhere

where, on Halloween, you used to get groups of people

doing some kind of rites and things like that up there.

Sometimes you drive past on Halloween, you see fires up there.

Well, Clophill wasn't a cult landmark in the 1960s and '70s.

As well as all the satanic stuff,

it also had many sightings

of apparitions in and around the churchyard.

Until the 1960s it was a rather nondescript place.

Since then it has been a breeding ground, if you like,

for paranormal activists

and paranoid individuals.

Okay. Hi, everyone. So here we go.

It's Friday morning,

and the sun is shining at the moment.

And we're now just getting set to get in the car,

and basically go off to meet the guys.

Um, but we are kind of running slightly late

so I'm gonna go and find my wife now.

We need to hurry, though, 'cause we're running slightly late.

Okay, well, I'm done. I'm just putting these out for them.

We still gotta get everything in the car.

Hey, Hon. Yeah.

Maybe we should take this cross with us.

Which one?

This big one on the wall.

Maybe give us a bit of protection. What do you reckon?

Any advice you wanna give me and Dad?

Good luck and bring your rosary.

I do have. I already have it in my bag. Yeah.

You think we'll be successful?

What do you think? Yeah.

Yeah, it's gonna be really good, all right? You be safe.

There are gonna be ghosts, Mummy.

Well, that's... Real ghosts.

That's what we're trying to find out, really.

But there's gonna be real ghosts.

What do you think? Real ghosts.

You think they'll come out?

Would you be scared if you see a ghost?

You won't?

Because when I go to bed,

I see friendly ghosts beside my bed.

Do you? Do you still see them up to now?

I thought that's only when you were little.

Witches. What?

Witches? But they're nice.

You never told me about witches.

They're nice. They're nice?

But they're ghosts.

Any advice that you'd give me?

Ghosts that have big eyes might be friendly.

All right. Are they normally friendly when they've got big eyes?

My witches are.

All right.

But if they don't have big eyes, would they be friendly?

I don't know.

All set to go.

Have you locked the backdoor? Yep.

Well, I got involved with this project.

Um, obviously I knew...

I knew Kevin and Mike, uh...

Producers of the film, for a while now.

They also knew that I'd had a previous experience myself

with a ghost.

Which was interesting with someone like me,

because I have never

previously been someone who's been that kind of,

you know, person to believe in that kind of stuff.

I'm not religious. I...

I've never... Never have been.

Never been christened from birth so...

You know, then I had an undeniable experience,

that when you have it, you just can't deny,

and Kevin knew this.

So he asked me to come along

and be involved, you know,

with that obviously as an experience I've had in the past

to maybe give some insight into things

that we might see up at Clophill.

I first heard about Clophill Church about 20 years ago.

All I knew back then was that it was a ruined church on top of a hill,

had a history of witchcraft

and allegedly had faced the wrong way towards Satan.

There's the legend of Sophia's ghost,

all kinds of things.

A guy I knew from the local university at Bedford,

who I'd known for years, contacted me.

He sent me a video of an investigation

that he carried out for Clophill Church.

Basically, a group of them had spend the night there

and set up cameras in different areas of the churchyard

and inside the church.

And the night went without incident.

But then, the next day they were searching through the tapes,

they noticed certain things on the tapes

they couldn't explain.

Well, they were pretty creeped out by this.

So knowing that I was a local filmmaker,

they thought it might be something I'd be interested in.

So they contacted me,

and that was kind of the catalyst for the project.

Hey! Morning. Hello. Morning, Kev.

Hey, Mike. Hey, Kevin, My Man, how's it going?

Good to see you. Good.

It's very hot and...

Really hot in my house. Every time we shoot...

Every time we shoot a film, this happens.

It's been too long. Yes, it has.

Hey, Cris, how you doing?

I'm good, thank you. Craig's just driving.

Yeah, if you park in the hotel car park,

we're gonna be downstairs in the bar,

just checking Mark and Mike out now.

Very patriotic shot with you guys

with the Union Jack.

My name is Mark Jeavons.

I'm 29 and I'm a filmmaker from Wolverhampton.

Do you believe in the paranormal?

Um, I don't believe per se

because I've never...

I've never experienced or seen ghosts.

But, I'm... I've got a very open mind

about paranormal and such subjects,

and I'm totally open to, uh...

I think with so much evidence over the years, and so many stories,

that there's definitely something to it.

Are you filming me?

I'm filming you filming me, yes. Yeah.

We've got lots of cameras this weekend.

When they mentioned about the project

and said it's about paranormal activity,

and, uh, the role is going to be a presenting role,

also bearing in mind

that Craig and I have had,

you know, experiences with the paranormal before...

And there's the man himself. Pull over. There he is.

Looking very serious as well.

There's only gonna be a small crew for the film.

And given the subject matter,

they had to be people that Mike and I trusted.

We've worked with Craig and Cris before,

and knowing that they shared a paranormal experience,

thought they're ideal candidates for the project.

Rob was very cynical about the whole subject,

but Mark, Mike and myself were much more open-minded.

So it was a good mix of opinions.

It's an amazing location.

Yeah? It really is.

You know, seeing photos of it is one thing,

but just being there...

It... It's just so rare to find something like that.

Um, it's so kind of isolated.

Whoo! I can really feel that sun on my skin.

Scorching hot.

Well, I hope it's gonna be feeling spirits

as well as the sun this weekend.

Hopefully, the spirits like the heat.

Yeah. Okay, let's take a wander.

The church itself, there's always been rumors.