The story of the “Walkerville Ghost” or more commonly known as the “De Deur” ghost has been around in our area for a few decades. As it happens due to being told by so many different people quite a few variations are known to exist and the details have become a little blurry. The story of the De Deur ghost below is the most common version.
It is said that if you drive down Boundary Road, De Deur, on a very dark night and flash your headlights (or a torch light) three times a headless motorbike rider will appear and drive past you at a great speed. According to some you must be parked on the actual site of the old farmhouse before any glimpse of the De Deur ghost can be seen. The story goes that there once stayed a local farmer who had a beautiful daughter. He was very protective of her and so discouraged all possible male suitors. There was lad in town whom she had an eye on and he frequently zoomed up and down that road with his noisy motorbike. Later on he became suspicious of her nightly activities and was worried that she might be sneaking off to her lover as soon as he had retired to bed.
He was never able to catch them together and confront their relationship no matter how closely he watched her. So he decided to set a trap for the young man in order to scare him off for good. He strung a piece of wire across the road between two trees on a moonless night. The wire was set at around chest height and the aim of the trap was to knock him off his motorcycle.
The signal to her lover was that she would flick her bedroom light 3 times and then he would know that the coast was clear and that he could come and collect her. That evening she slipped from her bed after her father had fallen sound asleep and signaled her lover. Unaware of the danger, the young man sped across the road on his way to his love. As he approached the house the wire caught him across the neck and he was instantly decapitated.
Some other versions state that the lover did indeed collect his girlfriend and that the wire decapitated them both. For the fans of the ghoulish the now famous “De Deur Ghost House” has become a regular spot for trying to lure the headless motorbike rider into making an appearance. They flash their car headlights or flashlights three times in hopes of a ghostly appearance. Sometimes though, the real Ghost of De Deur’s lights will be replaced by flashlights carried by local neighborhood watch members or even the Police. They like to play along and scare drunk or nervous town folk witless by their light display. Those who claim that they have indeed seen the De Deur ghost, report only a bright light flashing by at great speed.
The abandoned home was recently demolished by a religious youth group who decided to “set the spirit free”. Very little remains now of the De Deur ghost house after the groups demolishing act. Upon investigation, a fairly old ruin can be seen from the road but this is not the ghost house. The old home’s ruins are hardly visible anymore. We did find some remnants about 100 meters back from the road, but it is hard to tell whether or not this was the house in question, or ruins from an older farmhouse or its outbuildings.
