Last night we conducted our first ghost tour/investigation of Stroud.
As usual with a new tour I was feeling very anxious.
Would it go well?
Would people like it?
Did we have enough to keep everyone interested and engaged?
I really had little idea of what was going to work for this tour as, although we do have a set format that we run to, it is only as good as it is when the group is vibrant and interested and the ghosts connect. Each night can be totally different.
Well, it turns out, that I had nothing to worry about!
We were overwhelmed and so were our participants.
Our group ranged from total skeptics to believers to a lot of people who had had personal experiences but, almost no one had been on a ghost tour before.
Stroud is a township about an hour's drive from Newcastle in NSW.
It was a town settled in the 1820's just after the area was opened up to free settlement. It was specifically created by the Australian Agricultural Company (formed by rich parliamentarians in England) who saw Australia and the Hunter Valley as a prime spot to breed Marino sheep for wool which was needed back in England.
The first settlers to the area were assigned convict labourers and retired military as well as workers of the AA Company.
The sheep thing didn't work so they turned to growing wheat which also failed due to droughts and pestilence.
What did bring them wealth was mining for coal.
But that's another story.
Many of the buildings of the township have their roots in the early days of the convicts and thus the township is heritage listed.
We started at the Court House built in the 1870's. Here we gave everyone time to tune in psychically and then with the help of Anne from Oz Para Tech (www.ozparatech) who was working with me this night we set up an experiment using the SB11 Spirit Box.
The information coming through was really hitting home to some members of the group especially one lady who was almost hyperventilating and trembling so much I went and stood beside her.
Everything coming out of the box seemed to be focused in on her ancestors and the family even when asked why her ancestor came out to Stroud in the first place.
"Thief" said the SB11.
She could verify that he had been originally transported because he had been caught stealing.
We over stepped our assigned time at the Court House as we were getting so much coming through the spirit box and there was a need for a debrief as our participants had not anticipated what they were hearing.
We then stepped out into the cemetery for fresh air and a look at some of the historic grave sites including the burial site of the McAskill's - the infamous unsolved double murder that happened out at nearby Booral in the 1870's.
From there we finished the night at Quambi House, originally a slab hut on the spot but then a grand brick home built to be a school house called "Lady Parry's School House".
Lady Parry was the wife of the famous arctic explorer Edward Parry who both moved out to live in Stroud and be people of great importance to the township.
Although Stroud seems like a sleepy little Hunter township now at one time, 'anyone who was anyone' lived in Stroud.
Quambi House has not electricity or running water to the building.
It makes for a perfect spot for gadgets and ghost hunting instruments to be used during investigations.
Pity we were badly running out of time as we only moved into the house and it seems it was time to go.
We managed a quiet vigil in the rooms and Anne also turned on her SLX CAM (the one that uses stick figures to map anomalous forms) to demonstrate to everyone how it is used during investigations.
The weirdest thing with that was that as she turned it to the old fireplace, it started mapping a lit fire.
One of our other ladies there had been drawn to this fireplace and said that she had felt that the fireplace was actually on and she could feel warmth coming from it.
When Anne found the SLX CAM mapping a lit fire the lady went over to the fireplace with her torch and shone directly at it. It was definately not on. Yet it certainly looked as though a fire was glowing on the SLX CAM as we were all looking at it.
We also did some glass dowsing with some tear filled connections.
And then, an hour after we were supposed to finish, we were pushing people out the doors and still everyone stayed to ask questions and figure out some of the things they had witnessed.
From sceptic to believer, everyone got something of value out of the night.
Even if it was only to re think and consider a much wider world view than before.
We certainly left on a high.
I cannot start to even put into words how I feel when doing this work.
It is such a soul based and fulfilling life path.
I am truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to share the amazing history of these places and to engage mentally, psychically and emotionally with the spirits that still linger there.
Maybe you might like to join us next time.
I would love to see you.
As usual with a new tour I was feeling very anxious.
Would it go well?
Would people like it?
Did we have enough to keep everyone interested and engaged?
I really had little idea of what was going to work for this tour as, although we do have a set format that we run to, it is only as good as it is when the group is vibrant and interested and the ghosts connect. Each night can be totally different.
Well, it turns out, that I had nothing to worry about!
We were overwhelmed and so were our participants.
Our group ranged from total skeptics to believers to a lot of people who had had personal experiences but, almost no one had been on a ghost tour before.
Stroud is a township about an hour's drive from Newcastle in NSW.
It was a town settled in the 1820's just after the area was opened up to free settlement. It was specifically created by the Australian Agricultural Company (formed by rich parliamentarians in England) who saw Australia and the Hunter Valley as a prime spot to breed Marino sheep for wool which was needed back in England.
The first settlers to the area were assigned convict labourers and retired military as well as workers of the AA Company.
The sheep thing didn't work so they turned to growing wheat which also failed due to droughts and pestilence.
What did bring them wealth was mining for coal.
But that's another story.
Many of the buildings of the township have their roots in the early days of the convicts and thus the township is heritage listed.
We started at the Court House built in the 1870's. Here we gave everyone time to tune in psychically and then with the help of Anne from Oz Para Tech (www.ozparatech) who was working with me this night we set up an experiment using the SB11 Spirit Box.
The information coming through was really hitting home to some members of the group especially one lady who was almost hyperventilating and trembling so much I went and stood beside her.
Everything coming out of the box seemed to be focused in on her ancestors and the family even when asked why her ancestor came out to Stroud in the first place.
"Thief" said the SB11.
She could verify that he had been originally transported because he had been caught stealing.
We over stepped our assigned time at the Court House as we were getting so much coming through the spirit box and there was a need for a debrief as our participants had not anticipated what they were hearing.
We then stepped out into the cemetery for fresh air and a look at some of the historic grave sites including the burial site of the McAskill's - the infamous unsolved double murder that happened out at nearby Booral in the 1870's.
From there we finished the night at Quambi House, originally a slab hut on the spot but then a grand brick home built to be a school house called "Lady Parry's School House".
Lady Parry was the wife of the famous arctic explorer Edward Parry who both moved out to live in Stroud and be people of great importance to the township.
Although Stroud seems like a sleepy little Hunter township now at one time, 'anyone who was anyone' lived in Stroud.
Quambi House has not electricity or running water to the building.
It makes for a perfect spot for gadgets and ghost hunting instruments to be used during investigations.
Pity we were badly running out of time as we only moved into the house and it seems it was time to go.
We managed a quiet vigil in the rooms and Anne also turned on her SLX CAM (the one that uses stick figures to map anomalous forms) to demonstrate to everyone how it is used during investigations.
The weirdest thing with that was that as she turned it to the old fireplace, it started mapping a lit fire.
One of our other ladies there had been drawn to this fireplace and said that she had felt that the fireplace was actually on and she could feel warmth coming from it.
When Anne found the SLX CAM mapping a lit fire the lady went over to the fireplace with her torch and shone directly at it. It was definately not on. Yet it certainly looked as though a fire was glowing on the SLX CAM as we were all looking at it.
We also did some glass dowsing with some tear filled connections.
And then, an hour after we were supposed to finish, we were pushing people out the doors and still everyone stayed to ask questions and figure out some of the things they had witnessed.
From sceptic to believer, everyone got something of value out of the night.
Even if it was only to re think and consider a much wider world view than before.
We certainly left on a high.
I cannot start to even put into words how I feel when doing this work.
It is such a soul based and fulfilling life path.
I am truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to share the amazing history of these places and to engage mentally, psychically and emotionally with the spirits that still linger there.
Maybe you might like to join us next time.
I would love to see you.
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