greenery

Townsville Central State School is a heritage-listed state school and former prison at 4-6 Warburton Street, North Ward, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1877 to 1880 by J Rooney. It is also known as the former Townsville Gaol and Residence of the Police Inspector. In March 1869, four years after the settlement of Townsville, the first recognized school, the National School, was opened in a building that had been used as the Burdekin and Flinders Hospital on The Strand. The school began with 48 students with an average attendance for the year of 53. The school expanded in 1873 to include a girls' school for which a new building was erected in 1874 and an infant school was established in 1876 with its new building erected in 1879. In 1878 over 200 girls were attending the school. The school is located on Warburton Street at North Ward on a 3.405 ha flat site facing east at the foot of Castle Hill. The brick fence with iron balustrade to Warburton street is covered by a hedge and lined with mature shade trees. The gardens contain a variety of equipment, mature and ornamental trees, garden beds and seating areas. The site is bound to the south by a residential unit development on Gregory Street. A car park with entrance from Gregory Street, to the Dental Clinic adjacent to the west side of the quadrangle wall is fenced off from the school and sit adjacent to the hospital reserve. The Botanical Gardens form the western boundary and a day care centre and a preschool are located along the northern boundary to Kennedy Street. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsville_Central_State_School

Enjoying the view from Victoria Park on the hill.

Rumors of a ghost at Ascot House in Queensland, Australia, have been circulating as far back as the 1890s. It wasn’t until some one hundred years later, that the ghost could finally be put to rest. Ascot House was built for wealthy businessman and politician, Frederick Holberton, in 1876, and was originally named ‘Tor’. Situated in Newtown, a suburb of Toowoomba, it once stood on 13ha (32 acres) of land. It eventually changed hands, and the new owner renamed it Ascot House and undertook numerous renovations. Ascot House contained a gothic tower, sweeping staircase, and large high-ceilinged rooms. Many years later, the house would fall into a state of disrepair. During the 1940s, flats had been added, which housed people looking for cheap accommodation. It was not until the 1980s that the house was sold to a successful renovator, who proceeded to bring the house back to its former glory. No sooner had the new owner moved into Ascot House, that she would hear footsteps walking down the hallway at night but see no-one. Once, during the early hours of the morning, she felt fingertips brush her shoulders. One warm evening, she leaned against a wall where the surface was icy cold. The cold patch lasted for months and defied explanation. There have been numerous eye-witness accounts, including one man who saw the apparition of a young woman that looked as if her neck was broken. It had been rumored that a young servant girl had hung herself within the house. After many years of searching, the owner identified the young woman as Maggie Hume, who had worked at Ascot House as a housemaid under the employ of the original owner, Frederick Holberton. At 23 years of age, she committed suicide, not by hanging, but by taking strychnine. According to the police reports, it was believed she suicided after learning she was pregnant. At the inquest, a couple of male staff members confessed to having ‘connections’ with her. As a single woman committing suicide, Maggie was buried in an unmarked grave. Now, a headstone has been placed at the site, giving her the sympathy she never received in life. Source: debbie-johansson.com/2021/09/29/the-ghost-of-ascot-house/