German film crew takes over Jamaica Inn for 'ghost hunting' documentary

A German film crew spent the night at one of Cornwall's most famous haunted pubs to see if they could have their own brush with the paranormal. The four-strong team, from Conkertree Film in Cologne, visited the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor to see if "things go bump in the night".

The old coaching house and smugglers’ hangout in the heart of wild and windswept Bodmin Moor has a rich history of ghostly sightings and other-worldly goings on. People have been reporting paranormal activity in and around the 18th-century hostelry for more than 100 years and the list of otherworldly sightings, weird atmospheres, unexplained noises and creepy incidents keeps on growing.

A wealth of myths and legends surrounds this historic pub where author Daphne du Maurier came for help after getting lost on the misty moors on horseback. Her experience inspired her dark 1936 novel Jamaica Inn and the Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation three years later, putting the remote hamlet of Bolventor and its pub firmly on the visitors’ map.

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Stories of ghosts and poltergeist activity have blossomed ever since and Jamaica Inn is now a prime destination for ghost hunters from all over the world. Sightings have been made all over the property, especially the oldest upstairs bedrooms, but also in new buildings constructed on-site in the 1980s.

Over the years there have been numerous reports of ghostly goings on at the Inn including previous managers hearing conversations uttered in a foreign tongue, suggested to be Olde Worlde Cornish, or the sound of horses’ hooves and the metal rims of wheels on the rough cobbles, even when the courtyard is empty. Uneasy footsteps have been heard pacing the corridors in the dead of night while a man in a tricorne hat and cloak is said to appear on certain nights before walking through solid doors.

Some of the female staff have reported having their ponytails pulled while working behind the bar or in the shop. And there was a notorious ghost who apparently kept pinching people's right bum cheeks.

Christopher Hawkins from Conkertree Film, who is directing the three-film series for Franco-German channel Arte, said the journey is about the people who live along the South West Coast Path from Minehead in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall and onto Dorset.

He said the second of the three films will be about the north and south coasts of Cornwall. Christopher said the link to Jamaica Inn is its connection to smuggling. The pub was said to be a place where smugglers hid their contraband while excise men patrolled the coast in the hope of catching them in the act.

He added: "We've been meeting interesting people who typify the region they live and work in, from rangers on Exmoor National Park to palaeontologists. Jamaica Inn is not quite on the coast path but it has these strong connections to smugglers which is kind of a theme we have encountered throughout our journey."

Christopher said what made the visit to Jamaica Inn interesting was not the chance to encounter some poltergeist but meeting with Karin Beasant, a history buff and a member of the Jamaica Inn Paranormal Team, who runs some of the paranormal tours at the inn.

Karin has been running paranormal events at Jamaica Inn for almost 10 years. The 59-year-old accountant from Bristol said that German crews have been regulars over the years as many Germans love Cornwall, its natural beauty, the coast path, our county's pubs, history and heritage.

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TV crews filming adaptations of Rosamunde Pilcher's books are also regularly spotted on locations in Cornwall. Karin said she has been fascinated with ghost stories since she was a little girl reading such stories with a torch while hiding under the bed. As an adult, she ran a known haunted pub in Bristol for years and it was there she had her first brush with the paranormal.

"Jamaica Inn has such a fantastic story," she said. "We're all very passionate but we're also realistic. We explain the science to people who join us on these tours. But sometimes there will be these subtle changes that make your hair bristle on the back of your head. The lights might flick on and off. One time we saw a bauble fly horizontally away from the Christmas tree and then drop as if it had been pulled off by something.

"I hate that word 'ghost hunting'. If they're real I see it as we're their guests in their home and we should accord them some respect. I don't believe in demons or evil. If ghosts are real then we would have the same sense of humour in death as in life. At the end of the day, it's all a bit of fun and there's nothing to be scared about."

For Karin, paranormal investigations are about protecting the history and heritage of places and being honest with people. She said that the German crew tried to invoke spirits in English, German, French and even Italian to see if it triggered any reaction while also focusing on a specific era in history.

Christopher said he really appreciated the honesty from Karin and her team that more often than not, ghostly goings-on don't go on at all.

He said: "Karin was fantastic. We didn't quite make any connection with the other side but we had some fun with it. Karin and her team were not trying to pull a fast one. They were passionate and sincere about what they did. There were no shenanigans.

"We didn't really expect to see anything but we came along with an open mind. It wasn't really about any hunt for ghosts but it was about the people doing it. In a way, it would have been less impressive if we had seen something. It would have left viewers feeling manipulated. And that's not what our films are about."