AS dusk fell one misty and damp night in March, a group of fearless ghost-busters took to the streets for the inaugural Balingup Ghost Walk.
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Many who joined the hunt were not expecting find even one ghost, let alone nine, but it seemed that the full moon had given the ghosts courage to venture out into the streets to talk about the history of Balingup and share their personal stories.
The first was a blood-splattered barber from Greenbushes who not only offered a haircut for sixpence, but also pulled out a few teeth. He enjoyed it so much that he even forgot to charge for the tooth extraction.
Mrs Hancock and her boarder, Wally Inkpen, told of their lives in Delco House. This was the first property to have a generator in Balingup and, of course, it was a Delco. Wally was later pelted with acorns by Miss Dilly, who risked life and limb clinging to the branches of a tree outside the post office.
Assistant Station Master Leonard Cook vividly described the crash of a train into the Packing Shed before receiving his joining instructions to take part in a war from which he would never return. Local shooting enthusiast William Jenkins shared the story of a local resident who was charged as a spy and was lucky not to go to gaol. Lt Col Noel Brazier brought a tear to everyone’s eye as he told of his feelings of remorse over the loss of so many of his troops in the trenches of the First World War.
The mysteries of the Chinaman’s Grave were revealed by a wizened old Chinese grandmother and the local blacksmith shared his hard life as he plied his trade in a time when the timber industry and railway were the biggest employers in town.
The Ghost Walk had sold out of tickets two weeks before the event and the organizers are already taking bookings for the next event in November. Bookings can be made through Helen Christensen on 97641291. In the meantime, the Balingup Museum team will continue their search of the history books in the hope of identifying more spots where the unsettled spirits of our ancestors are thought to roam at night.
Balingup Museum is located in the Packing Shed and is open during the day, seven days a week. Like most small communities, we have a rich and diverse past, so why not come and learn about the people who gave so much to make Australia a great place to live.
