IF YOU squint hard enough, you can almost see the ghosts floating through the eerie, dark Mair Street tunnel.
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Atmospheric and intriguing with just the right dash of sinister, the tunnel will become the scene of more than just graffiti spray-paint and the odd drifter come May 8.
As part of the annual Ballarat Heritage Weekend, Child and Family Services will host a series of storytelling events, bringing to life the “secrets, suburbs, ghosts and treasures” of the past 150 years as it launches its new Legacy and Research Centre.
One of the most thrilling – and hair-raising – sessions is sure to be Anne E Stewart’s tale of the Eureka Ghosts.
The full-time, Daylesford-based storyteller will take her audience into a dark place in history that she admits is “a little bit scary”.
Ms Stewart is something of a storytelling expert, with the former librarian having travelled to Iran, Mexico, Columbia, Scotland and Wales weaving her magic.
“I think I’ve got a family gene for it but it was always a way to promote language and literature as that is what I am interested in,” she said.
“Historic narrative is what I’m interested in. As a storyteller you work with myths, legends and folk tales.”
A passion for Australia’s history has also led Ms Stewart to include Indigenous elements to her tales, particularly explaining the origins of place names.
She didn’t reveal details of her her story of the Eureka ghosts, one of her most-loved tales, because she didn’t want to give away any secrets.
“Ballarat is a place built on stories,” she said.
“I’m a story collector and I hope if I share my stories, people might tell me theirs.”
She said ghost stories in particular had a special place in people’s hearts.
“If I tell a ghost story, especially in schools, every one has a ghost story to tell too,” she said.
“Once you tell people a story, it loosens them up a bit and they want to tell stories.”
Ms Stewart’s session will be held on Sunday May 8 at 3.30pm. Entry is by donation.
Other events in the CAFS program will include banjo songs and stories with Jan Wositszky, a talk on Goldfields relationships and society with Timothy Jones, a discussion on Ballarat’s first orphanage with Anne Beggs-Sunter and storytelling with Jackie Kerin.
For more on the Ballarat Heritage Weekend, visit www.ballaratheritageweekend.com
