The Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully

 

  Fifteen minutes south-east of Adelaide sits a little chalet built-in 1912, that was once a kiosk and is now a wedding venue. Waterfall Gully was once a somewhat unattractive gully, but that changed in 1912 when F.W. Young and Mr V.H. Ryan chose the area to be the first to receive beautification, as a potential tourist destination, under the States newly formed the “National Pleasure Resorts Board”.
 Local stone was used to construct the kiosk and surrounding buildings, walkways and lake at the bottom of the waterfall.
 Waterfall Gully soon became the place to visit during the 1920s. A little oasis to escape the summer heat, just a short ride by horse and cart, or later car, just outside of Adelaide.

 

 In December 1926, South Australia was engaged in another of its notorious heat waves. A bushfire spread through the Adelaide Hills and made its way into the ravines of Waterfall Gully. In those days, SAPOL wasn’t just police officers, they also acted as the states fire and rescue service, as well as its ambulance service.

 

 One police constable, taking on the fire-fighting duties on the day was Thomas Alfred Tregoweth.

 Tregoweth had served in World War One with the 48^th Battalion, 3^rd Reinforcement in Hannover, Germany. As a 19-year-old, he spent 1918 as a P.O.W. before returning to Australia in 1919. When he returned to South Australia, he took up a position in the family business as a shopkeeper at Norwood working for the family business.
 Tregoweth soon met his future wife, and settled down with her, together they had a son they named William.
 

On the day of the fire, Tregoweth valiantly fought the raging inferno from the cliff tops around Waterfall Gully, but as he fought, the wind changed, and the fire turned, cutting off his escape route.  The fire was ferociously hot and began to lick at his skin, soon the flames scorched him, and the air became too thick with smoke for Tregoweth to breath.  To survive, he made the decision to jump from the cliff into the valley below. The fall didn’t kill him, but his horrific injuries from the fire would end his life just four days later. He was 29 years old.

 Since 1930, people have witnessed paranormal phenomena at the base of Waterfall Gully and in the scenically located kiosk. So often had spirits been sighted, that it became a tourist attraction worthy of signage, which was once displayed at the entry of the walking trails. The signage detailed eye witness accounts of the “Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully”, but today those signs are long removed.

 One former owner of the kiosk reported that a ‘blue spirit’ was often seen inside the building, and was responsible for moving objects, likes plates, knives and forks. A ‘blue man’ had also been witnessed along a walking trail leading up to the waterfalls by a young woman and her boyfriend.

 The young couple had visited Waterfall Gully late at night, and while walking the path, the young lady had twisted her ankle. From out of nowhere a “glowing blue man” had appeared, looking somewhat concerned for the young ladies’ welfare. The young couple was startled by the strange man’s appearance, and ignoring her injury, made a hasty retreat to their car to escape the luminescent blue man!
 The never looked back to see if he followed, but sped back along the winding Waterfall Gully Road toward Adelaide.

 

Where the ghost jogger and cyclist are seen on Waterfall Gully Road 

  Is it a coincidence that Constable Tregoweth’s uniform of the day was blue? Is it coincidental that many psychics state that protective male energies are blue, and that this “blue man” seems to be very protective?

 The alleged ghost of Constable Tregoweth is not the only evidence of paranormal or spiritual activity at Waterfall Gully.  A phantom cyclist is also alleged to be seen cycling along the road from the area of Macallan Avenue toward the waterfalls. It is thought he could be the spirit of a cyclist who was hit by a car whilst cycling along the road, perhaps clipped by a car on one of the many visual blind spots along Waterfall Gully Road.
 Along with the cyclist, another spirit often alleged to be witnessed along this stretch of haunted road, is the spirit of a phantom jogger. Nothing is known about this spirit’s past, but a mist-like apparition in the shape of a person jogging has been seen by some locals on foggy mornings as the sun rises, heading south towards the waterfalls…perhaps there is something more to the waterfall, something unseen by the living, that attracts local spirits too it?

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the  2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 15 2018

© Allen Tiller