Horse shield clear

Stories abound of strange happenings at a gate on a rough track between Glengallan and Goomburra, just over Mt Marshall. Stockman Dan Hartigan, for one, was "off the grog" for weeks after an apparition opened and shut the gate as he galloped through. Likewise, Edward (Ned) Sparksman, riding home after playing his fiddle for a dance in the Glengallan woolshed, was shown the same hospitality. There were some who said a large white owl perched on the gatepost and that, as it flew off at a horseman's approach, the sudden movement caused the gate to swing open. That did not explain how the gate swung silently shut. Either way, a signpost on that backtrack bears the name "Ghost Gate Road". Today the spot is marked by a great white owl, as depicted by local sculptor David Blomfield, and is commemorated in the Glengallan labelled Ghost Gate Port which captures the spirit of the story in shiraz grapes of a dry vintage fortified with brandy from Hidden Creek winery on the Granite Belt.