Post by Vampirologist on Oct 5, 2005 11:58:51 GMT -5
"The description of me ‘living in a coal cellar’ is meant to be a vitriolic attack upon myself but if you read it tongue-in-cheek, it is really quite funny! The author of this nonsense states that he used to visit me there ..." ~ (Amateur vampire hunter whose name throughout the following text has been deleted)
It is a simple matter of stating the facts and hardly constitutes a "vitriolic attack.." Indeed, the genuine circumstances as originally described are more likely to generate sympathy toward the bunker's occupant. More than three and a half decades after his occupancy of one of the coal bunkers in the cellar below Priestwood Mansion, Archway Road, Highgate, [NAME DELETED], the amateur vampire hunter (as he notoriously became from March to October 1970), has now attempted to rewrite the facts concerning his temporary accommodation in those dim and distant days. He is now claiming ...
"In fact, this coal cellar belonged to a friend of mine and his wife who lived upstairs ..."
"Friend" might be stretching it when the facts are examined in The Highgate Vampire. The person who allowed the use of his coal bunker by [NAME DELETED] is Anthony Hill who had his own reasons for extending this remarkable hospitality. Anthony Hill was later given the pseudonym "Hutchinson" by [NAME DELETED] when he was mentioned in newspaper interviews, though a 1974 newspaper court report did let slip the name "Tony" in the context of photographs taken in graveyards (see The Highgate Vampire, pages 112-113). [NAME DELETED]'s latter-day version of events continues ...
"The house was in Highgate near to where I had been living with my first wife but I had moved out and [Anthony Hill] offered to put me up for a few weeks ... [it was actually from September 1969 to August 1970] ... in this converted cellar. 'Converted' must be the operative word here. The cellar was painted throughout, fully carpeted [sic] and furnished (including chairs, a table and a bed) and had its own electrical supply. (The coal-hole, incidently, had long since been cemented over). The individual concerned [Seán Manchester] NEVER visited here, although I did meet him upstairs on several occasions as he was also friendly with my friend and his wife. ... etc."
Those who visited [NAME DELETED]'s coal bunker while he occupied it will confirm that the description of it given on page 109 of Seán Manchester's The Highgate Vampire is extremely accurate; namely that it comprised of little more than "an old, damp mattress [on the floor of the bunker] surrounded by a pile of broken furniture and junk in the remainder of the basement cellar where mice could be heard scurrying about. Cobwebs abounded as I sought something to sit upon in the cell ..."
It is important to appreciate that [NAME DELETED] occupied one small bunker out of several. The other bunkers belonged to the remaining tenants in that block of Priestwood Mansions. All were in use for keeping coal, which still remained at that time the principal means of heating in all the rented apartments. Each bunker was tiny, barely allowing the floor to be covered by a single mattress, as happened in Anthony Hill's bunker whilst occupied by [NAME DELETED]. A pile of coal remained at one end of the bunker where [NAME DELETED] slept. Outside was the communal cellar where discarded items were stored by various tenants. A single low voltage light bulb was suspended from the ceiling in this communal area, but frequently did not function and needed replacing. There was no electricity in any of the bunkers themselves. Nowhere had the basement cellar or individual bunkers been "converted" and the coal-hole was definitely not cemented-over. [NAME DELETED] was visited in his bunker by Seán Manchester on at least three occasions in 1970.
The description of the coal bunker and adjoining basement cellar given in Seán Manchester's The Highgate Vampire will be confirmed to be entirely accurate by Anthony Hill, Elizabeth Hill, their daughter, Jacqueline, and individuals who visited the bunker in 1969/1970, among them Claire [surname withheld, as she was the bunker occupant's girlfriend], Nava G-------, John -----, Robert ---- and several more who do not want to be indentified on the internet but will nevertheless affirm privately if required.
It is a simple matter of stating the facts and hardly constitutes a "vitriolic attack.." Indeed, the genuine circumstances as originally described are more likely to generate sympathy toward the bunker's occupant. More than three and a half decades after his occupancy of one of the coal bunkers in the cellar below Priestwood Mansion, Archway Road, Highgate, [NAME DELETED], the amateur vampire hunter (as he notoriously became from March to October 1970), has now attempted to rewrite the facts concerning his temporary accommodation in those dim and distant days. He is now claiming ...
"In fact, this coal cellar belonged to a friend of mine and his wife who lived upstairs ..."
"Friend" might be stretching it when the facts are examined in The Highgate Vampire. The person who allowed the use of his coal bunker by [NAME DELETED] is Anthony Hill who had his own reasons for extending this remarkable hospitality. Anthony Hill was later given the pseudonym "Hutchinson" by [NAME DELETED] when he was mentioned in newspaper interviews, though a 1974 newspaper court report did let slip the name "Tony" in the context of photographs taken in graveyards (see The Highgate Vampire, pages 112-113). [NAME DELETED]'s latter-day version of events continues ...
"The house was in Highgate near to where I had been living with my first wife but I had moved out and [Anthony Hill] offered to put me up for a few weeks ... [it was actually from September 1969 to August 1970] ... in this converted cellar. 'Converted' must be the operative word here. The cellar was painted throughout, fully carpeted [sic] and furnished (including chairs, a table and a bed) and had its own electrical supply. (The coal-hole, incidently, had long since been cemented over). The individual concerned [Seán Manchester] NEVER visited here, although I did meet him upstairs on several occasions as he was also friendly with my friend and his wife. ... etc."
Those who visited [NAME DELETED]'s coal bunker while he occupied it will confirm that the description of it given on page 109 of Seán Manchester's The Highgate Vampire is extremely accurate; namely that it comprised of little more than "an old, damp mattress [on the floor of the bunker] surrounded by a pile of broken furniture and junk in the remainder of the basement cellar where mice could be heard scurrying about. Cobwebs abounded as I sought something to sit upon in the cell ..."
It is important to appreciate that [NAME DELETED] occupied one small bunker out of several. The other bunkers belonged to the remaining tenants in that block of Priestwood Mansions. All were in use for keeping coal, which still remained at that time the principal means of heating in all the rented apartments. Each bunker was tiny, barely allowing the floor to be covered by a single mattress, as happened in Anthony Hill's bunker whilst occupied by [NAME DELETED]. A pile of coal remained at one end of the bunker where [NAME DELETED] slept. Outside was the communal cellar where discarded items were stored by various tenants. A single low voltage light bulb was suspended from the ceiling in this communal area, but frequently did not function and needed replacing. There was no electricity in any of the bunkers themselves. Nowhere had the basement cellar or individual bunkers been "converted" and the coal-hole was definitely not cemented-over. [NAME DELETED] was visited in his bunker by Seán Manchester on at least three occasions in 1970.
The description of the coal bunker and adjoining basement cellar given in Seán Manchester's The Highgate Vampire will be confirmed to be entirely accurate by Anthony Hill, Elizabeth Hill, their daughter, Jacqueline, and individuals who visited the bunker in 1969/1970, among them Claire [surname withheld, as she was the bunker occupant's girlfriend], Nava G-------, John -----, Robert ---- and several more who do not want to be indentified on the internet but will nevertheless affirm privately if required.