TINY Talbot has long fascinated this Day Tripper, for it is a place rich with stories.
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Consider its Chinese baths, its gold diggings, its Aboriginal birthing tree… these are all things I need to know about. The latter is a 15-metre-wide, 700-year-old giant River Red Gum dating from the time when the Black Death swept across Europe.
The hollowed-out gum was used as a shelter by Jajawurrong women giving birth.
Go searching for Talbot stories and you’ll find ghost tales, too. According to one visitor, Mrs Chesterfield still rules the roost of her bluestone hotel, despite long having left this mortal coil.
The very walls of this place tell stories. They’re peppered with ghost signs – soft and faded typography from another time, still lingering.
Tonight the locals will gather in Market Square from 7pm to share their own ghostly tales. Some of the region’s writers and poets will read their words by firelight, and an art installation will project apparitions on an historic building.
It’s a free, family-friendly event, guaranteed not to scare the kids… too much.
Book in for a beautiful meal at Bryce’s Bistrot next door, or bring your own after-dark feast.