Mystery Ghost Productions took guests back in time on an adventure through Heidelberg’s rich history when they toured the town on June 10.
The tour to Heidelberg was the production’s 10th stop on their tour schedule and its first to the town.
“There is a complete misconception about the tour and what we do,” said Mark Rose-Christie from Mystery Ghost Productions.
“So many people think it is calling up spirits or ghosts. That is not the fact. We follow up on legends, stories, urban legends and folklore. We are a production company and not ghost whisperers.
“We visit historical areas where urban legends mention that activities have taken place, but the idea is to see these areas and get people to know more of the history and stories of the place.
“We never open any portals where any spirits are called up. This production deals with mysteries and stories and not ghosts and spirits.”
He compared the adventure to a mystery car rally.
The tour started at the Old Gaol (jail) where Tony Burisch of the Heidelberg Heritage Association gave a short history of the town.
Rob Milne, an author and historian, then talked about the Boer War in the Transvaal and Heidelberg.
At the old jail, they recalled the story of Salmon van As. Thereafter the tour guests got into their cars to start the tour.
The first stop was at Veiled Lady on Begeman Street, where they conveyed the legend of her story. This followed a drive-by at AG Visser’s house and Volkskool Heidelberg.
Everyone then went to the Heidelberg Heritage Museum, where information about the museum was conveyed to the attendees. More stories about urban legends and reported visions were relayed to the guests. The next stops were the Klipkerk and Heidelberg City Hall.
Next was the Outdoor River Venue near the hospital where guests enjoyed a demonstration of how people detected water in historical times.
The last stop on the tour was the Kloof Cemetery. Attendees could see the burial places of historical figures in Heidelberg. They visited the heroes acre and viewed the graves of interesting people buried in the cemetery.
“The whole tour was tasteful, with no spirits or ghosts called upon. This was truly a magical outing, ” said Rose-Christie.
“To top it, 120 guests attended. This is the most we have had to date. Usually we have about 80 guests.”
He said the event was initially planned as a once-off but will be added and scheduled as stop number 10.
“What was interesting is that the AG Visser house was one of the places the visitors viewed. An interesting fact is Visser died on June 10, 1929, and the tour through Heidelberg was on June 10,” added Rose-Christie.
