Trooper Pete has been 22 years on the Bradshaw Street beat.
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The Sovereign Hill trooper retired this week after 23-years at Ballarat’s outdoor museum.
Peter Bray came to Ballarat as a baby but had been “in and out” until joining “the Hill” in 1995.
Mr Bray said he payed his part to the last.
“I played the role, I played right to the end, of a really grumpy sort of police officer.
“It never felt like acting to me, a lot of the people in our acting areas in Sovereign Hill, they said ‘come on we need you to get into some acting’ and I said that’s not me, acting you have to learn lines, that wasn’t me.
“I was off the cuff, I’d work with people with what they were about.”
Since his retirement Mr Bray said his phone was ringing off the hook.
The former trooper has boxes of cards from visitors and friends, including one from the father of a boy who was “spellbound” by Mr Bray.
The letter read “his (Mr Bray’s) ability to interact with others outstanding … and at an instant can step out of his role to be a gentlemen”.
“The boy took a shine to me and he didn’t want to leave me, all he wanted to do was be with me,” Mr Bray said.
“They couldn’t believe I had this kid spellbound, the kids just get so spellbound with me.”
Troopers are often the first point of contact for visitors to Sovereign Hill.
Keeping with his character has been easy for Mr Bray he’s often put his badge aside to list to give comfort to somebody in trouble, he said.
“You have to be able to play that right, you have to treat people right and treat everyone like they’re special - you can play two sides to that, sometimes you have to step out of that role, sometimes you might find a visitor that’s not happy and for some reason they're not happy.
“Over the last week there were times when I had to go outside not only my role but outside Sovereign Hill and listen to someone who had some problems and needed someone to talk to and they had the trust in me enough to put those things to someone.”
Hanging up his badge and coat had been tough, he said.
Mr Bray was farewelled from Sovereign Hill on Monday.
“Taking the costume off now, it was a hard decision because it was a great role.
“It was a lot of fun, each day was a challenge.”
In a post to their Facebook page, Sovereign Hill said: Over the years we've received many 'then and now' photos of children visiting Sovereign Hill and having a photo with Trooper Pete, and then visiting many years later and recreating their childhood photos with Pete again.