Toodyay

The Old Gaol Museum of Toodyay is surely a site for research and things to see. It should be anyone's first stop beside the Tourist Information Centre. You can safely browse and soak in local history with the help of Sue or others as it has no reported or detected paranormal activity or even bad vibes anywhere. The facility was mainly used as a transit for overnight before prisoners were transported to their final destination. It seems and feels like a holiday cottage compared to Fremantle Prison.

Images from the Museum

Moondyne Joe

Joseph Bolitho Jones aka. Moondyne Joe formerly of Wales, spent most of his life in Fremantle Prison for stealing bread and ham and whatever else went with them for lunch. His original 10 years of transportation sentence from age 17 lasted for nearly a lifetime as he kept escaping. After his ticket of leave he spent some time in Toodyay as a convict marrying and according to records having a child however they just disappeared from records and history. He became the scapegoat to a few petty crimes again returning him to jail where he kept escaping from. He was found wondering the streets of Perth old and disturbed and lived out his remaining misunderstood years in the Perth Lunatic Asylum. He is buried in Fremantle Cemetery in a pauper's grave.
The picture above hangs in the Toodyay Museum where an old cell is dedicated to display pictures and artifacts about his life as a famous bushranger and notorious outlaw of Western Australia. We quite like the poor old bugger and his fame is mainly contributed to being a "smart ass" of pioneering Australia which we guess didn't go down too well.
RIP Joe

Toodyay Tavern

A rumored ghost of an old lady, two haunted rooms, a romantic well in the cellar underneath the Tavern, friendly staff and comfortable stay, Toodyay Tavern is oozing local history and is a place where you meet locals for a chat, a drink or a game of snooker. We would like to thank the publican, Dave for allowing us to investigate his Tavern and his kind invitation to return.
Address: 86 Stirling Terrace Toodyay WA 6566 Phone: (08) 9574-2250

Room 8 Toodyay Tavern

Room 8 has a steady but not so strong EMF reading compared to Room 10. Please note that they are close to each other. Both rooms had a temperature drop while in there.

Room 10 Toodyay Tavern

Room 10 at Toodyay Tavern had a continuous strong EMF reading which together with Room 8 has been confirmed by the publican to be rooms where guests reported unusual events and noises. One man complained after staying in the room that he felt "fingernails running across his chest" during his night stay and that no amount of alcohol consumption could produce the same sensation. The building is around 100 years old and there were no records of tragic events except for what already morphed into a local legend of some woman who was murdered by her boyfriend after being caught "in flagrante delicto" with another man. In his passion the jealous boyfriend kills her and throws her body into the well that is in the cellar underneath the Tavern.
Hm... For these reasons we started our investigation in the cellar gazing deeply into the depths of the well but despite our dislike of deep wells not a hair was raised on our backs nor the EMF meter bothered to show any signs of movement. In fact the well looked romantic enough to be sitting around its rim sipping red wine by candle light batting eyelashes. After we left the place and finally caught up with the local story teller, "Gipsy" Mike, he gave us the true accounts of the story together with her name. Marie was a barmaid who worked and lived in the Tavern and after a shift she walked upstairs only to find her other half with another woman. In the fight that followed Marie was killed in the room where Room 10 is standing now.
Whether the two readings in Room 8 and Room 10 are one and the same energies we do not know without further investigation. To us it seemed different, one passive and the other stronger.
We have promised Dave the publican to return for a night so keep an eye on the follow up to this story.

Ipswich View

Ipswich View Homestead and Bed and Breakfast is just a few minutes drive from the heart of Toodyay on Lot 45 Folewood RoadToodyay. With cosy rooms, antique furniture oozing Victorian charm, tennis court, swimming pool, friendly owners, great food and breathtaking views sounds like the obvious choice for a serene get away. However we chose to stay there for a very different reason. It has a reputation of being haunted by three lil' ol' ladies of the past, possibly the original owner Bessie Ferguson and perhaps one or two of her relatives as the place was in the same family for about 100 years. Since then Ipswich View changed owners a couple of times but according to visitors and the new owners some things always remained.
Following the local folklore we heard of the three old ladies asking for a "drive" from the bottom of the driveway from a guest of the bed and breakfast,then deciding to "walk instead". When the eager guest asked the bed and breakfast owner where they were from, she replied with the best answer she could give about non existent house guests asking for a lift "Oh.. they were from Room 5. " There is also the reputation of Room 2 where some guests not quite approved by the resident spirits regularly get locked in despite properly functioning door fittings, then the case of grooves appearing and disappearing on the old armchair by the fireplace as if someone was sitting there, knocks and footsteps around certain areas especially Room 5. A local psychic one day conversed with one of the owners like an old lady and informed her that she "quite likes the place and would love to stay."
Despite of all these there is a beautiful and serene atmosphere in Ipswich and their returning old visitors are harmless if not friendly.
The Homestead is up for sale at the moment but it will continue running as a bed and breakfast and I am sure that a couple of friendly ghostly old ladies and a ghost cat (will explain below) just adds to its charm and attraction.
For a booking call Carina or Greg on (08) 95744038
or fax on (08) 95744292 Email: ipswichviews@dodo.com.au

Images of Ipswich View

Ipswich View Room 5

Ipswich Room 5 is where we stayed for the night. Originally the site of a veranda where the early occupants and visitors sat around for a cuppa' or a yarn , now a section of this veranda converted into a cosy and carpeted guest room with a reputation of being very haunted. Guests complained of knocks and someone leaning over them at night who smelled of old perfume. "Armed" with only an EMF meter, a thermometer and a voice activated digital voice recorder we settled in Room 5 after a long yarn with the owners and the only guests, two family members who took up camp in the other end of the homestead. We had the entire area for ourselves. It was cosy and quiet if not somewhat serene so we went to sleep. The EMF meter started to go off around 10. 30 at night with again the strong smell of old perfume similar to incense accompanying it. That was the beginning of the activity that lasted until about 4. 30 am. An old lady leaning over the bed, occasional persistent noise of someone walking on wooden floorboards ( even close to the bed where we had soft carpet). We could clearly make out the sound of a heavier more determined footsteps of a man, lighter but slower footsteps and someone walking with a walking stick. Faint whispers and rustling and to our biggest surprise a ghost cat who's "meeooww" was recorded despite no cats around for miles. One of the more interesting aspects of this recording is that we left the additional microphone behind that would have been enabled us to record from a distance however despite our door being shot this cat was determined to leave his meeeoow recorded from close range. The EMF meter indicated 8 times between 10. 30 pm and 4.30 am. with temperature drops.
The above picture is of one of the original occupants displayed in the homestead.

"Gipsy" Mike

Mike is a part of Toodyay like the Museum or the Avon River. He is the local story teller and we would like to sincerely thank him for his time and stories. He invited us into his family's home and shared his knowledge about the history of the town and the places surrounding his home, such us the Sisters of Mercy Convent and its adjoining buildings. His God Daughter's home served as the old presbytery and we had the opportunity to see every corner of it, including the old veranda where it is said that two Catholic priests are still walking around at times like they used to do their"rounds" many years ago.

Deepdale drowning site

Deepdale is a section of the Avon river used as a swimming hole by the locals. It is also a site of a tragic accident involving Ruby Ferguson, young daughter of Bessie(Elizabeth) Wroth and John Ferguson, original owners of Ipswich and one of the most prominent families of Toodyay. Both the Ferguson and the Wroth family had its share of losing many children. On New Year's Eve 1920 21 year old Ruby and her sisters went to Deepdale and as Ruby was the strongest swimmer of them she decided to swim across the river. As the water was calm and the opposite bank not far she did not hesitate and made it to the other side. Then on her way back she cried out to her sisters who were watching her " I can't go any further" then she head first (!) disappeared into the water and never seen alive again. Her body was found after organizing a search party.
Deepdale is now part of private property and this nightvision snapshot of the site Ruby drowned was allowed by the owner of the property who was kind enough to come with us to the location. All shots we took showed large amounts of orbs and naturally it is an eerie place not for the faint hearted. We do not recommend to visit it without prior permission and escort as sections of the area fenced off with barbed wire and obviously you would be trespassing.

Avon River

One of the reasons the Avon Valley is the land of plenty. Its waters.
The Avon river... a scene of serenity and nature's beauty. We had a continuous slight EMF reading under the bridge on the bank.

Lost children of Toodyay

At the outskirts of Toodyay lies the local cemetery and of course it isn't a real visit without spending some time strolling between the graves. The first impression we got is the unusually large number of children's tombs which generally of course could be explained by the early typhoid and polio epidemics. However reading the inscriptions and epitaphs on the headstones revealed a tragic phenomena. The early deaths of some of these poor young souls are particular to a few families and this tragedy seems to be repeating itself sometimes with a generation gap or straight down the family line since the 19th Century. Some of the causes were also accidental such us drowning. Between the tombs of children lay the many heartbroken parents who had to live to bury a child or in the case of some families several children and the same grim task passed down to the next generation. It is more intriguing that we found no real explanation from historical research or from the locals.