Blunders and gaffes

DEREK ACORAH's blunders and gaffes in Most Haunted
	Evidence of spirits given by Derek Acorah	The researched facts
Aldwych Underground Station	A Polish man called Tom who worked on the railway lines at the station 50 or 60 years before WW2, around the 1880's.	Building work did not begin on the station until 1898, and it opened in 1907.

Blackpool (2002 and 2004) Casino	J James Metcalf/e who "died before his 50th year" "died in an accident when 'this part of the building wasn't here' " "died 1936" Using the Ouija board, Acorah now said James Metcalf/e died in 1926, aged 58	Andy Nasal, a member of the Casino staff t According to Andy Ansell, a member of the Casino staff a construction worker named Patrick was killed in 1937, during the building of the Casino, and has haunted the Casino ever since. The original Casino at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach built in 1913 was completely demolished, and replaced in 1939.
Ripley's Odditorium	The spirit of a shrunken head, named Lanu, from Guinea, who spoke some as yet unidentified words. (Taking all the countries with Guinea in their name, there are almost 2,000 languages covering three continents)	The shrunken head came from Ecuador in South America, where they speak either Spanish or Quecha
Ghost Train	2002: 'Clogger' or 'Mr Cloggs' haunts the Ghost Train. His name is James/Jimmy and he comes from Fleetwood. 2004: 'Cloggy' haunts the Ghost Train. His name is John Reid/Reed/Read, and he has a shop on 'the low road' in Blackpool. 'Cloggy' committed suicide in 1913, and was a friend of the owner of the Ghost Train, Joseph Emberton	The Pretzel Ride opened in 1930, and the new Ghost Train was built on a different site in 1936, both well after Cloggy's alleged suicide. Joseph Emberton was the architect of the new Ghost Train, not the owner
	2002: A Japanese man, 'Mr Kayami' who made the Pretzel Ride at Blackpool. Mr Kamiya was upset by it being called a Ghost Train, and it should be called Pretzel. 2004: A Japanese man who ran the first Ghost Train	Shohimon [Harry] Kayami built Middleton Tower Holiday Camp at Morecambe. According to his grandson, Harry's brother Monzo, whose name was not on record, owned Luna Park on the South Shore at Blackpool, which had its own Ghost Train. Neither of them were ever connected with the Pleasure Beach Ghost Train or Pretzel Ride. The name of the ride was changed from Pretzel to Ghost Train following Jack Hulbert's film, "Ghost Train", which was released in 1931, just one year after the original ride opened.
Lobby of Tower lift, next to the Ballroom	Agitated man shouting 'Fire! Fire! I'm burning! I'm burning! I'm burning!" and "I can't get out".	There was a fire in the Ballroom, but no-one died. A 'red herring' had been passed to Most Haunted researchers, and posted on the Bad Psychics forum during the week leading up to the live programmes, saying that a fireman had died in the Ballroom fire. Once he had been told that no-one died in the fire, Acorah changed his mind, saying that the man had been burned but survived...
Opera House, Winter Gardens.	‘An angry man’ named William Stocker’, who was upset because the team was in his father's house.	Dr William Henry Cocker was the son of Dr John Cocker, who built the Winter Gardens around his own house. The Opera House was built in 1889, and demolished in 1938. The new Opera House opened in 1939. When questioned at the end of the programme about William Stocker/Cocker, Acorah said the name ‘had got lost in translation


Bodmin Gaol Cornwall	A vicious South African man called Kreed Kafer, executed at the gaol after being imprisoned there.	No such person , nor anyone with a similar name, was ever held or executed at Bodmin Gaol. Complete records exist at Shire Hall and Bodmin Library. 'Kreed Kafer' was created by two people working on Most Haunted, and is an anagram of 'Derek faker'. Acorah overheard them discussing the character, and fell for the set-up, not just giving the name, but faking a full-blown 'possession'. The fraud was reported to LivingTV, Acorah's empoyer, and OFCOM, the media regulators.

Bodelwyddan	A 10 to 12 year-old girl, Susannah Parker/Parkin/Parks fell down the stairs and broke her neck in 1921 or 1922.	Death registrations for Park, Parker, Parke, Parks, Parkin, Parkins, Parkinson, Parkehouse, Parkhurst, Parkman, Parkyn, Parkyne, or any similar variation were searched. No girl between the ages of 9 and 19 died in the area in either of 1921 or 1922. The only deaths registered for Susan, Suzanne or Susannah were aged between 61 and 89. All admission records for Lowther College are held in Flintshire Records Office, and show that nobody with the name Acorah gave, nor one remotely similar, was ever in the school..

Brixham Lupton House (not Lupton Hall)	A female spirit murdered in 1870, youthful, young, long flowing dark hair, a full gown in green and grey with a white collar. Her name was Margaret, and she was incarcerated in the cellars of the house and starved to death. 'Through a great deal of jealousy with two women' 'Emotionally-disturbed children' being taught in the early 1900's.	T There's no record of a murder in 1870 in Lupton House, but there was one that year in Castel-a-Mare, in nearby Torquay. Margaret Pomeroy was incarcerated in the dungeons of PomBerry eroy Castle, Brixham and staved to death because of the jealousy of her sister Eleanor. In the 1900's Lupton House was still the Devon seat of John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston, and his ownership continued until at least 1926. Lupton House was Gramercy Hall School . between 1990 and 2004
Heritage Museum	A vicious murderer, who was murdered in the jail, wanted to attack Yvette. He didn't like 'the others', the groups of prisoners haunting the old jail.	The single holding cell held only petty crooks, drunks and prostitutes, and no murderers. The holding cell is only small and certainly could not hold 'groups' of prisoners. No-one ever died in the police station, not even accidentally or naturally.
The Smugglers' Haunt	A little girl, aged between 5 and 7. She remembers falling out of the upstairs window, and breaking her back and neck. Her name is Agnes, although Yvette seemed to prefer Agatha.	From 'The Ghosts of Brixham', by Graham Wyley "Legend has it that in the early 1900's a young woman fell to her death, under mysterious circumstances, from the window of the bedroom when it was a smuggler's cottage. Over the years she has been affectionately referred to as 'Aggie'."
Berry Pomeroy Castle	"It's another female!. The other woman was responsible for getting her out the way, getting her down here, out of sight. "Margaret is the one who comes here, and she's got hatred still in her heart for her sister. "She was starved. She was put here because her sister took her love, took her man, and she knows that her sister is evil." Margaret Pomeroy was murdered around 1564	Margaret Pomeroy was incarcerated in the dungeons of Berry Pomeroy Castle, Brixham and staved to death because of the jealousy of her sister Eleanor. However, it was in a different dungeon to the one Acorah claimed. Margaret Pomeroy died in the 13th century, and the Pomeroy family sold Berry Pomeroy Castle to Sir Edward Seymour in 1548

Castell Doorwerth Holland	Castell Doorwerth was not haunted until 'Dr' Jack Lomax's visit. 'Dr' Jack Lomax of MTV Blaggers and his colleague, Tim, visited the castle, pretending to be ghostbusters. They used fake equipment and chat-lines straight out of the movie, such as 'class five full roaming vaporous torso apparition'. Not only did the people at the castle believe that they were genuinely from the N.C.I.P. (National Council for the Investigation of the Paranormal) but so did the national press, TV and Radio Stations. When Jack Lomax was contacted by Most Haunted researchers, he recommended an investigation by the team. There are no ghosts at Doorwerth and the N.C.I.P. does not exist.


Castle Leslie	The bed in the Red Room is linked with an evil presence who moved to Castle Leslie with thee bed. Acorah pronounces Brede Place as 'braid', and asks Sam to correct him if he is wrong, but Sam confirms it..	The imported bed with the evil presence is actually in Norman's Room, not the Red Room. The correct pronunciation is 'breed'.

Clerkenwell House of Detention	A man named Michael with two 'cohorts', Joseph and Richard. They had been there since 1867 (the year of the Clerkenwell bombing). Michael was 'the evil one' and had a hold over the other two, although they weren't as bad as him.	Michael Barrett was tried for the bombing, convicted on false evidence, and hanged. However, he was never in Clerkenwell. Ricard (not Richard) Burke and Joseph Casey, on the other hand, were actively involved in the Fenian uprising, and Burke was convicted of treason. Joseph Casey appears to have been released because his brother was a spy for the British Government, according to Home Office papers released in 1889.

Craigievar Castle Aberdeenshire	Richard the Lionheart looking out of the window at the Aberdeenshire countryside in the 9th century.	Richard I reigned from 1189 to 1199. During those ten years he spent six months in England. Craigievar Castle was not built until the 17th century.

Dalston Hall	A man strangling a woman, followed by the names John and Elizabeth Dalston and the date of 1513. A vicious fight on the battlements between two brothers in 1286. The older one, Robert de Vallibus, threw the younger one over the battlements.	An inscription on the outside wall of the Pele Tower reads "John Dalston Elizabeth mi wyf ys byldyng”, written in Gothic script, and in reverse. It was carved to celebrate their marriage in 1507. There's no record of John Dalston strangling his wife six years later, and a son, Thomas, was born in 1523. Robert de Vallibus murdered Gilles Bueth, not his brother, and founded the priory of Lanercost, to atone for his crime. In 1145 Robert changed his name to Robert de Welles, a name used by his descendents, and by 1230 Henry III had siezed Dalston from the family. It would have been impossible for Robert de Vallibus to throw his brother from the battlements in 1286. He was long dead, and the castle with the battlements was not begun until 1500

Derby Gaol	Noah Bullock, a forger who escaped the hangman in 1704 or 1706. When asked who is on the throne he replied "I'm getting Charles and James."	Noah Bullock's crime was discovered in 1676, when Charles II was monarch . Queen Anne came to the throne in 1702, following William and Mary, who had reigned since 1688. There were five gaols in Derby, but all the spirits picked up came from both earlier and later gaols, but not the one the team were in (the third).

Devizes The Black Swan	Bones were discovered and removed from a hole in a cellar wall. Acorah stated ''these are definitely human bones''.	Wiltshire Coroner, David Masters, confirmed that the bones were more than 200 years old. Katie Hinds, finds liaison officer at the museum in Long Street, who also studied the bones, said she and her colleagues believed the bones were those of an animal, possibly a sheep.

Elstree Film & TV Studios	Someone who committed suicide, and allegedly had some connection with Cath Howe, the make-up artist for the team. A tall man with a beard, wearing a white top and black trousers who fell to his death in an accident around 1920.	The two ghosts, a make-up artist who reportedly committed suicide in one of the offices, and a young man wearing a white shirt and black trousers, who fell from one of the roof walkways in the 1920s, are well-documented on the internet. However, these are in the now-deserted Gate Studios, half a mile away from the Elstree Film & TV Studios where the crew were.
	Alexander Korda, actor.	Alexander Korda was a very famous film director who lived in England for many years..

Fyvie Castle Aberdeenshire

Mermaid Inn Rye	Daniel Chater, who was murdered at the Mermaid Inn by the Hawkhurst gang.	The Hawkhurst gang of smugglers did drink at the Mermaid Inn, as they lived only about 15 miles inland from Rye. They did kill Daniel Chater, but not at the Mermaid or even in Rye. Chater lived in Fordingbridge, west of Southampton, in Hampshire. He was captured by the Hawkhurst gang in Rowlands Castle, west of Chichester in West Sussex, and thrown down a well in Harris's Wood, in Lady Holt's Park at Rowlands Castle 80 miles away from Rye.

Oldham Coliseum	Harold Norman, an actor who was accidentally stabbed during a performance of Macbeth, died "here, in the theatre". The name of 'John - Jack' was given for the actor who stabbed Harold Norman.	Harold Norman did not die until 28 days after the incident, from peritonitis, in Oldham Royal infirmary. The actor 's name was Antony Oakley

Old Hall Hotel Sandbach	Scottish spirits rushed into the house after being killed in the Civil War on 3 September 1651	September 3 1651 was the final battle of the English Civil War, but 80 miles away, in Worcester. The only battle remotely close to Sandbach was at Nantwich [10 miles away] in January 1644.

Ordsall Hall Salford	'Possessed' by the spirit of Viviana Radclyffe	Viviana Radclyffe existed only in the pages of a novel with the pretentious title of "Guy Fawkes or The gunpowder Treason, An Historical Romance, The Modern Man Pursues Drama and Bravery", written by William Harrison Ainsworth in 1841.
	A young boy named James Odlroyd, murdered and decapitated in the house, and buried under the kitchen floor in 1704. The weapon used was a cotton baling hook. There was a cover-up involving two former owners of the hall, saying that John Stock told Richard Alsop about the murder.	The owners of the house early in 1704 was named Oldfield, not Oldroyd. They were newly married, and had no children. There are no records of a James Oldroyd ever living in the house. John Stock could not have met Richard Alsop, as he bought the house in 1704, but both he and his son, also named John, were dead by 1756. Richard Alsop did not buy the house until 1780 - sixty-six years after the alleged murder, and only then was cotton stored there.


Pendle Hill	Pendle witch, Old Demdike, Elizabeth Southworth	There was no Pendle witch named Elizabeth Southworth. Old Demdike's name was Elizabeth Southerns, but Acorah only used the correct name once he was corrected.. There was an Elizabeth Southworth at that time - see Samlesbury Hall entry. Her sister, Jane, was accused of being one of the Samlesbury witches by Elizabeth Southerns' granddaughter, Jennet Device.
	Pendle witch, Anne Shepherd. Acorah declared "I will never forget the name Anne Shepherd!".	There was no Pendle witch named Anne Shepherd. Acorah meant Anne Redfearn, but did not correct his mistake until the end of the show, back in the studio. At that time Anne Shepherd was famous as "The Queen's Dwarf" at the court of King Charles I, where she married the dwarf court artist, Richard Gibson
	Alizon Device dug up bodies and cut off the fingers for magic rituals.	Complete records of the charges and 'confessions' are on record in Lancaster Castle. There is no record of this incident..

Prideaux Place Cornwall	Highwayman, Rik Eedles, murdered people in the house.	Rik Eedles is an anagram of 'Derek lies'. This comes just three weeks after 'Kreed Kafer' (Derek faker) at nearby Bodmin Gaol.
	Acorah described the souls outside the window. “These miserable faces, those lost souls, they’re the ones who manifest into a similar circle. It’s not black magic, it’s not witchcraft, this is lost souls, and to the physical eye people would think they were rabbits, and they’re not. There’s a large group of them. They’re not rabbits, they’re lost souls.”	Ciaran O'Keefe summed this up far better than I could: “This is the first I’ve heard of departed souls actually manifesting themselves as bunnies. It’s the first time I’ve heard it, and hopefully it will be the last
	In front of a painting of Sir Nicholas Prideaux, Acorah said “That’s him! That’s the one! He passed over before the portrait was finished. The hands! It’s like he’s saying 'It’s not finished – my hands.' ”	Ciaran O'Keefe again: “Unfortunately, Derek picked up on the wrong picture”. The unfinished painting was that of Lord Brabourne, by Hurbert von Herkomer




Samlesbury Hall	In the introduction it was stated "Neither [Derek Acorah or David Wells] have had any previous knowledge of this building or its dishonourable past.". Mad Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Southworth, was locked in her room in a foreign convent, with not enough to eat. " 'Dorothy!' the name came again. I had the impression of a tragic young lady, a murder and horrendous grief. 'Her brother murdered her betrothed,' said Sam. 'It was an accident. He and his two companions were murdered by Dorothy’s brother. She went mad with grief.' " A murdered priest in the Priest's Room, leaving a pool of blood on the floor. When he heard about Wells' hanged priest, also in the Priest's Room, Acorah gave the dates for their murders as 1500 and 1566.	Acorah's own book 'The Psychic Adventures of Derek Acorah' published by Element Books, September 6, 2004, proves this to be a lie. Sir John Southworth did not have a daughter named Dorothy. He had a SISTER of that name. Dorothy only had one brother - Sir John himself. Dorothy died around 1590 aged 45/50. Hardly what one would describe as 'a young lady' especially in those days. Dorothy was married and divorced - no sign of a murdered betrothed. The king in 1500 was Henry VII - a firmly Catholic king. The monarch in 1566 was Elizabeth I - 'Good Queen Bess' - who tolerated Catholics from when she came to the throne in 1558 until the Catholic rebellion in the north, in 1569. It's highly unlikely that any priests would be murdered because of his faith in either 1500 or 1566.

Somerleyton Hall	Several spirits inside the house. Satanic practices, dark arts, sacrifices and blood. A little girl named Eleanor, who died of smallpox in 1678, used to sit in the window-seat and look out. A 'dark shape' in the maze. David Wells gave Eliza, married to a WWI brigadier killed in battle.	Somerleyton Hall is most famous for being one of the very few stately homes that is not haunted. No satanic practices reported anywhere in the area. The house on the site at that time was completely rebuilt in 1842. Thomas Allin did not take the name Anguish until his marriage to Elizabeth Anguish in 1682, so Most Haunted researchers were wrong when they gave the name as Anguish. His first wife was Alice Whiting, but neither wife appears to have borne a child, and no birth or death of Eleanor exists. The only 'dark shape' reported in the maze was when the Scottish Widows' advert featuring a lady in a long, black hooded cloak was filmed there. Sir Francis Savile Crossley served in WWI, but did not die until 1959. His wife's forenames were Bridget Margaret.

Wellington Hotel Boscastle	There are no ghosts at the Wellington Hotel. The story of a spirit was made up by Victor Tobutt, an earlier landlord, and two regulars to attract ghost-hunters and publicity. Although he's no longer the landlord, his website remains. www.s-h-systems.co.uk/hotels/wellington.html

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