Ipswich a haven for ghosts

Jack Sim runs ghost tours around Ipswich.

Poll

Do you believe in ghosts?

This poll ended on 31 December 2011.

Yes - the truth is definitely out there.

74%

Undecided.

14%

No - don't be silly. There's no such thing.

10%

This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

IPSWICH is a very haunted place. Just ask dark historian, author and tour operator Jack Sim.

Sim’s latest book, Haunted Ipswich: Ghosts of the Heritage City, reveals 13 of the region’s most-haunted locations including The Old Flour Mill, Ipswich Cemetery and The Challinor Centre.

“Ipswich was, and still is, a Gothic little town, Sim said.

“Locals wouldn’t really think of it that way, but it has all the elements required.

“Though on one level an uncomplicated, working-class town; on a deeper level there are mysteries here,” he said.

“The city has a history disproportionate to its physical size. Its origins are older than the city of Brisbane, which was its rival over two centuries ago.

“Ipswich is a very haunted place. Even as a child, before I really knew what a ghost was, trips to visit my great-grand- mother at East Ipswich made me aware that the town had atmosphere. Ipswich seemed very different to Brisbane. It was old.”

Sim said the Warwick Road cemetery was “a morbid museum of Ipswich’s past”.

“Graveyard hauntings here take many interesting forms. Silhouettes of people moving have been observed darting across the tracks, and footsteps can be heard walking on the gravel that covers the tracks,” he said.

“People say gravestones suddenly light up then continue to glow as car headlights fade. The cemetery attracts unusually large numbers of lightning strikes.

“On cold, still nights mist can be seen hanging low to the ground in the oldest section, crawling through the cemetery and moving among the graves.

“The spirits of dead soldiers are seen marching on their graves. A lady in olden-day dress and a young child are often seen across from the cemetery, on the side of the road to Warwick.

“This goes back generations, and both were said to be buried somewhere in Ipswich Cemetery.”

Lija Abelitis, owner of Inkuku Arts and Crafts in the supposedly haunted Old Flour Mill, said many customers had stopped to tell her the building was haunted.

“I’ve never seen anything myself, but it does feel a bit creepy when its very quiet. So many people have told me there are ghosts here,” she said.

Sim said other Ipswich icons and sacred sites such as Limestone Hill, St Mary’s Church, the North Ipswich Railway Workshops, Goolloowan and the Goodna Mental Asylum held the keys to the city’s past.

He said celebrated spirits included the ghost of founding father Benjamin Cribb and a touching tribute to Bertie Piper, a child who died in 1904.

“Ipswich seems to attract ghost stories. Unlike Brisbane, the pace is slower in Ipswich. Unlike busier towns, people remember their local ghost stories,” he said.

“Ipswich has grown dramatically; there is no doubt it is in the 21st century.

“However, interest in local ghost stories has never been stronger.”

Haunted Ipswich: Ghosts of the Heritage City is available at www.jacksim.com.au.