Real Hauntings 4-Book Bundle. Mark Leslie

changed to rock, corals and other organisms became fossilized.[6]

About one million years ago, the area was subjected to several ice ages, with the inland sea retracting and great slabs of ice covering the land. The effect of this ice on the landscape was dramatic; in some places it exposed the escarpment rock face, and in others it buried it farther beneath drifting material.[7]

At the end of the last ice age, a period of high water levels etched and carved many fine details into the landscape of the Niagara and Hamilton region. Powerful runoff streams from the melting ice plunged over the escarpment at Stoney Creek, carving out a gorge that seems almost bottomless if viewed from the safe side of the surrounding guardrail.[8]

      Numerous stories circulate as to how the Devil’s Punchbowl got its name. One possibility is that it was named for the pails of home brew that, at one time, was bootlegged in the surrounding woods. Rumours abound regarding moonshiners who made their product available along Ridge Road, with thirsty road workers claiming to go to the waterfall to fill their buckets but instead filling up with the devil’s brew.

      Another story suggests that people saw the beautiful sight as God’s work but, knowing that God would not want something named after him, decided they would name it after the devil instead.

And although the Devil’s Punchbowl may not have been named after God, one monument located at the site is a large, ten-meter high steel cross, erected by a man named William Sinclair (1925–1994) on December 18, 1966. Sinclair wanted to bring a little light to the world by building the steel monument, which has 106 light bulbs along its edges. It was originally planned to be lit up for six weeks of each year, during Christmas and Easter.[9]

Since 1991, however, the cross has been lit up every night of the year, sharing the “Good will of God” with one and all, thanks to donations made by a Stoney Creek branch of the Knights of Columbus.[10]

      An incredible view is offered by the Devil’s Punchbowl and the platform erected there. It overlooks Stoney Creek, Hamilton Harbour, and the Skyway Bridge. From the lookout spot, a trail descends down into the gorge. The first half is quite steep and difficult to traverse, but the second half is a stairway that leads to a trail to the creek at the base of the falls.

      As with any stunningly picturesque and magnificent historical area, legends abound regarding the Devil’s Punchbowl. Despite being an ideal spot for photography or romantic picnics, the site has been the scene of much vandalism. The HCA had to shut down the stone washroom building many years ago due to vandalism, and it’s still not uncommon for picnic tables, lengths of fence, and other miscellaneous debris to be tossed into the bottom of the gorge by vandals. Local residents have also often complained of the drunken parties on summer nights down in the Punchbowl ravine that carry on into the wee hours of the morning.

      Despite being the perfect spot for photography or a romantic picnic, the Devil’s Punchbowl has been the scene of vandalism and suicides, as well as the source of many eerie legends.

       Courtesy of Stephanie Lechniak.

      And, due to the nocturnal activity in the area, the site has seen its share of deadly accidents and suicides. There is a legend of a boy and his dog who ventured too close to the edge of the gorge, when the hillside gave away and they plunged to their deaths; this tragic and senseless type of accident is one that is regularly reported in newspapers, the bodies of the deceased often being found the next morning by hikers out for a walk. Young men and women feeling they had nothing to live for have leapt to their deaths from the lookout spot, and a man is even alleged to have hung himself from the railway tracks that run near the base of the gorge.

      One of the legends told of the Punchbowl is that of a lone still operator who, on dark and moonless nights, can be heard lugging pails of moonshine along Ridge Road, the eerie red glow of his eyes beaming through the dark — a reminder of the “devil’s brew” he was offering.

Due to its magnificent scenery, the Punchbowl has been the location for various television and movie shoots. In 1989, television star Super Dave Osborne taped his “atomic yo-yo” stunt here.[11] As he rode inside the hub of a giant yo-yo suspended from a crane, the yo-yo broke free of its tether and rolled off the cliff, plunging into the ravine.[12]

Both the Devil’s Punchbowl and the large illuminated cross were featured in the first few scenes of the 2006 horror film Silent Hill,[13] which is about a woman’s search for her missing daughter within a small, desolate town. It was a fitting sort of movie for such a picturesque yet ominous piece of Hamilton landscape.

      Chapter Six

      The Hermitage

About three kilometres west of Ancaster and located in the Dundas Valley is a once-large residence that now stands in ruins. Called the Hermitage or the Hermitage Ruins, they are part of the Hermitage and Gatehouse Museum maintained by the Hamilton Conservation Authority. The location is quite popular with hikers and those interested in the paranormal.[1]

I went on a ghost walk run by Haunted Hamilton as part of their Ghost Walks and Historical Tours[2] under a new moon in July of 2011. Of the phases of the moon, a new moon, the time when the moon is not at all visible to the naked eye, is as significant in terms of ritual as a full moon. And for those who are not interested in the effects of lunar phases on supernatural energy and ritual, walking through a forest at night without a radiant orb in the sky can be that much more unsettling.

      Just driving out to the location where the tour began, alone in my car and heading down the long and winding Sulphur Springs Road, I began to feel trepidation set in. It felt as if the forests on either side of the road were closing in on me, that beyond the range of my headlights were eyes following my every movement.

      When I arrived at the site, a dark and faceless figure in long, flowing black robes, holding a single white candle, stood by the entrance and greeted me, waving me into the parking lot. It was only after I parked the car and walked out near the gathering crowd awaiting the 10:00 p.m. tour that I started to take comfort in the presence of others around me.

      Of course, once the tour began, and Ghost Guide George led our group down the path into the rich blackness of the night and relayed the history of the Hermitage to our group, I again felt the eyes of the forest upon me as I delightedly stepped down the path and into a spooky historical journey.

The first building to appear on the now legendary spot was a small and humble home built in 1830 by Reverend George Sheed, Ancaster’s first Presbyterian minister, who had a dream of building and ministering his own church. Unfortunately, Sheed died before fully realizing this dream and his funeral took place in the very church he had been building (the 1st St. Andrew’s Church on Mineral Springs Road in Ancaster).[3]

Not long after, the property was sold to Colonel Otto Ives, an English officer who had fought in the Greek War of Independence and emigrated to Ancaster in 1833 with his wife and their beautiful young niece.[4]

      A servant of Ives, William Black, fell in love with his master’s niece. Some accounts of the tale indicate that Black was a coachman