Tall silver birch in sandy soil with a golden sunset behind them.

Show notes for: The Ghosts of Coopers Hill

Posted on by Natalie Doig
Heath land with heather in bloom, trees on the horizon with the sun setting behind them.
Coopers Hill sunset

You can listen to the episode the Ghosts of Coopers Hill on BBC Sounds here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Below are notes and further reading about some of the subjects covered in the episode and the people who took part.

A man in a winter coat and scarf rubbing his hands for warmth he also wears a waistcoat and carries a large potfolio bag over his shoulder. He is smiling and the Queens Head pub is above his head.
Bryan on a ghost walk

Bryan Bland from Ampthill Ghost Walks

Find out more about Bryan’s ghost walks on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556638208511

Olie campbell a young man playing a guitare whilst sitting on a settee in the woods.
Olie

Olie Campbell Music

Find out more about Olie Campbell’s music here: https://www.facebook.com/olivercampbellmusic

James Clare the Woburn Poacher

There’s a lot of infomation about James Clare on this local history website.

James Clare, the Woburn Poacher
Heath land on top of a hill with purple heather and silver birch trees in the distance.
Coopers Hill top

The history of Ampthill

Here’s a time line for the history of Ampthill from the county heritage database: https://virtual-library.culturalservices.net/bedfordshire/vlib/0.digitised_resources/ampthill_digitisation_timeline.htm

A large stone cross on a plinth in a large park with trees in the distance.
Katherine’s Cross in Ampthill Park

Katherine’s Cross and the park

Bedfordshire archives has some information about the cross: https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Ampthill/Katherines-Cross-Ampthill.aspx

And a local archaeological society has lots of information about the park and castle: https://adalhs.mooncarrot.org.uk/ampthillpark.php

Nick’s experience

We believe this may have been near to where Nick’s camp was, many of the trees are young but there are older ones and holly as well which is likely very old in the area. So in the 80s there would have been more room to camp but still some older trees a little away from the camp.

Leaf letter ground with young saplings and trees scattered about.
Possible camping site or view from camp

This area of the hill is at its bottom, the opposite side to the rugby club and near to a school. So it’s feasible that the school playing field may not have been enclosed in the 80s and would have been a great place to camp looking into the open woodland.

An old stately tree with twisted branches and exposed roots. behind it are much younger trees.

Coopers Hill

The wildlife trust information about Coopers Hill: https://www.wildlifebcn.org/coopers-hill

There’s a youtube video that takes you on a walk around Coopers Hill:

History of Coopers Hill

There’s a fantastic booklet about World War II at Coopers Hill: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://adalhs.mooncarrot.org.uk/downloads/Defence%20of%20Ampthill.pdf

The Royal Observer Corp

Here’s some information about the cold war bunkers: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2492leey0do

This facebook post from Gloucestershire has some great images of a bunker: https://www.facebook.com/GlosLiveOnline/posts/a-unique-underground-bunker-has-been-listed-for-sale-at-20000the-property-in-the/1248647930623695/

This is the fabulous youtube video from the ROC cold war bunker in Braemar that I mention in the show.

A water collur of sandbags and strong with observer equipment on a tripod. Two men are at the tripod and there are fields and trees in the distance.
Painting of ROC post in Essex by Eric Ravillious

The painting above is the one by Eric Ravillious which was on display at the Higgins Bedford earlier this year.

Here’s the information and images of the bunker that I mention from York: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/mark-haddons-ghosts/

Here’s an image of Bryan standing on the concrete cap of the bunker and the metal hatch.

Bryan, wearing jeans and striped shirt, holding sun glasses and a portfolio under his arms is standing next to a metal hatch and is standing on poured concrete. Behind him are silver birch trees.
Bryan on the bunker

Finally here’s the war memorial and avenue of trees (the avenue being there in the 19th century before the WWI memorial.

An avenue o lime trees and a path leading away.
The avenue or Alameda

I do find something spooky about an avenue of trees!

A black and white image of a war memorial with tall trees in the background amd a dramatic sky.
The war memorial

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Published by Natalie Doig

"Science and sorcery." It's a quote from a beekeeper I saw on the TV, about how he sees the work he does keeping bees, a balance between science and sorcery. For me it also sums up my experience of life, my interests and my outlook. I love photography which is a perfect blend of science and sorcery, using light and technology to create magical images. But when I'm not taking photos you'll find me making the podcast Weird in the Wade. I'm also often to be found writing, reading, knitting, riding my mountain bike or drinking coffee watching the world go by. By day I fight for disability rights, equality and inclusion for all.

5 thoughts on “Show notes for: The Ghosts of Coopers Hill”

  1. Hi Nat,

    I really enjoyed the Coopers Hill episode- well to be honest I enjoy them all, and it was lovely to see you in person at the BIGG Theatre recently. I wondered if you’d heard of any hauntings around Houghton House in Ampthill? My daughter had a paranormal experience there a few years back. We did a bit of digging at the time but nothing really came of it.

    Looking forward to the next episode and seeing you for Winter ghost stories soon!

    Best wishes, Lea, Flitton

    Like

  3. Hi Natalie,

    Just listened to your podcaste on Potton wood. I lived in Cockayne Hatley for 20 years and can explain the smell of burning. In the middle of one of the fields to the north of village road (about half way ) is the what the locals call the pit. It is a sink hole that the farm has used to dump things into including agricultural rubbish. Often it would be grain that has got wet. However the thing about the pit is that it is alight and was for the entire time I lived there. When the wind came up you could actually see the flames from my bedroom window. The smell varies but can be very overpowering. On a couple of occasions the local firemen came up and wet it down but it always came back. You need to know its there to walk to it as its a hole and off the middle track that runs parralell with village road.

    More intersting is my encounter with a person who told me they had lived in a house in potton wood that had burnt down. Now this would be the mid 90s and they were certainly in their sixties. They said the house had burnt down when they were a kid and they had moved away. This conversation happened outside no. 27 My son and I searched the wood for evidence of a house or house fire and found none.

    Re UFO sightings: neighbour (who still lives in CH) said she had seen a ufo at the wrestlingworth cross roads and it had travelled alongside them for some time.

    Cockayne Hatley is a wonderful place I met a couple of people who had worked the orchards and they told stories of how on frosty nights the village manned pretrol drum fires all accross the farm to stop the frost killing the crop. It was like stars all accross the fields.

    The current fruitrees and hedges (which did not exist when I moved there where planeted by the coop farm manager Ian Hanglin who was a true steward of the farm. And allowed the village to use the hall as a meeting place where we ran harvest festivals village fates etc. All no gone.

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