Not seeing a Scroll to Top Button? Go to our FAQ page for more info. Northbrook Designs: “And So She Waits” Chapter 2

Thursday, June 27, 2013

“And So She Waits” Chapter 2

The inspiration for this doll began a few years ago, but at the time, I had no clue that what happened would years later become a doll. A friend was visiting from out of town and we were showing her around. Saxe Point is always a good choice for visitors. You get the ocean view, on a clear day you can see a roadway on the other side of the water that is the coast line around Port Angeles, in  Washington state.

There is a lookout at Saxe Point that I believe was used in war time, and it’s the perfect place to view up and down that part of our coast line.

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We were walking toward the opening of the lookout and I looked up and saw a woman getting down just about where that seagull is perched. I even remember to this day, very clearly what she was wearing. Short cropped denim jacket, jeans, red turtle neck sweater and she had shoulder length black bobbed hair and bangs. She was kind of brushing herself off. I turned to say something to my friend and when I looked back the woman was gone.

As you can see from the design of the lookout, there is only room for one person at a time to pass through and there are no other exits. As I realized she was gone, I felt a big rush of cold air blow past me on my left. I asked my friend and my hubby if they had seen a woman standing there. Hubby said no, my friend said yes. We looked over the wall down to the rocks, looked around the area, no woman.

So, my only answer was an apparition. That didn’t scare me, there was nothing to be afraid of, the woman was not a threat.  The way my friend described her was somewhat different than what I saw her dressed like, but I think that can happen. Perhaps an expert in these things would say you see what you’re meant to see. I saw a current way of dressing, my friend saw a woman in more of a Victorian era dress. When she returned home, she emailed me a drawing she had done before coming here. It was a drawing of the same woman she saw in the lookout. I don’t know if that would have influenced her or not, but that’s what she saw.

Because I had to know more, I did some searching to see if there had been sightings at this location in the past. Nothing turned up there but the story of a young woman from the mid 1800’s did. As in my story yesterday, the actual story goes like this.

The original Four Mile Roadhouse was developed in the mid 1800’s by Peter Calvert and his family, who had come from Scotland. It was used as a staging place to provide rest and refreshment for weary travellers and their horses. It was said that there was a parrot that was situated outside the front door and it would call out, “Whoa” and indeed the horses would stop and turn in.

Eventually Wilfred Gouge, the grandson of Peter Calvert became the owner of Four Mile Roadhouse, and that is where “The Lady in White” enters the story. It was said that the young woman would come and stay with the Gouge family at Four Mile House, while her husband, a sea captain, would leave on his sea voyages.

This picture is from 1928.

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Every day she would go to the Cove to watch for him, she would stand on the highest rocks. The story concludes that she became very ill and lingered for a long time and eventually died alone and lonely without ever seeing her sea captain again. Later, there were reported sightings of a lady in white standing on the rocks looking out to sea. I have been unable, to date, been able to find out who this lady was. That’s the one piece of the puzzle that I guess will remain a puzzle, as this story goes back well over 100 years. The locals refer to the beach as White Lady Beach.

While I was doing some research into how to make this doll, I decided to visit Four Mile House. The name changed a bit over time, but most people now refer to it, as Four Mile Pub. We had lunch there and in my readings I discovered that there was a stained glass window with a depiction of the White Lady, so of course I had to see that.

This picture is from 2012, how the house looks today. The exterior is much the same and inside, the old wooden style of decor remains. It is just as I would have expected to see it. Reading one of the comments on the food at Four Mile made me laugh out loud. “The food was unexpectedly good but the decor needs upgrading”. People are funny…

fourmilehouse2012

We had a lovely lunch there and were able to take in the surroundings. The server gave me a couple of pages of information about Four Mile with some of the history of it and the ghostly legends. If you want to read more and about other spirit sightings, follow this link. Then there is this about the haunted locations throughout Victoria and there is a Ghosts of Victoria Festival including Ghost Walks. You don’t have to be a believer, but it doesn’t hurt to listen.

This is the stained glass window of the White Lady. As I said in the beginning, my vision of the woman at Saxe Point is different than what my friend saw, so it’s possible this White Lady appeared differently to others as well.

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We went for a walk to the Cove after lunch, my way of experiencing a bit of the history. After so many years, you can imagine the depth of development in the area, so the only place we could access the beach, was this that I showed you yesterday, and the other photo, is just from panning to the right. I tried to find something on the beach to add to the base of the doll, but nothing really popped out at me, but just the same it was a fun to get a small sliver of insight into the Lady in White and try to bring her back from the past.

My interpretation of her may not be historically accurate, but there are no known photo’s that I’m aware of and I based my design on the time in history and what she might have worn in that era.

Tomorrow I will conclude with how I put the doll together, so come back for chapter 3…..

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2 comments:

  1. Such a sa story! But you got to see a ghost!! Glad you made a doll using this inspiration! And for the bottle challenge. So outside the box!
    hugs Karen

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  2. I got shivers as I read your post Romona, what a wonderful story and I am so glad that you have given life again to the "Lady In White". I've heard of the ghost walks in Victoria and my Mom and I did a little ghost walk of our own in the graveyard several years ago. So much history there, I especially loved visiting Emily Carr's grave. Thanks for telling the story of your wonderful doll, I hope that she and her sea captain are now together again. Deb

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