FFoorruumm rreeppoorrtt

The Murtoa Mechanics Institute and its 1928 Willaura Railway Station Silos which Picture Theatre extension use the ‘Geelong’ model

Thanks are extended to the following people for their contribution to the Forum.

The various speakers Gail Harradine, Barengi Gadjin Land Council Chris Gallagher, Chair, Heritage Council of Victoria Peter Forbes, Department of Sustainability and Environment Ron Dodds, Greening Australia Dr Helen Doyle, Historian Heather Yates, Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Society Dr Simon Torok, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Peter Adler, Murtoa local

Discussion group coordinators Neville Wale Dr Juliet Bird John Dwyer John Hawker Renée Gardiner Helen Martin

Poster presentations Renee Gardiner and Lorinda Cramer, Chinese Settlement in the Wimmera Val Gregory, Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum Heather Yates, Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Society Associate Professor Bernie Joyce, ‘A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation’

Forum rapporteur Associate Professor Bernie Joyce

Forum Planning Committee Helen Page Dr Timothy Hubbard Neville Wale Dr Juliet Bird John Hawker

Forum Coordinator & report design Jane Andrews

Sponsors Yarriambiack Shire Council

Photographs Front cover: Timothy Hubbard Murtoa water tower/museum: Heritage Victoria All other images and graphs thanks to individual authors (otherwise specified)

Contents

THURSDAY 17 APRIL 2008

Horsham Regional Art Gallery...... 1

FRIDAY 18 APRIL 2008

Welcome to country...... 2

Chris Gallagher ...... 4

Rapporteur’s report ...... 8

Program...... 11

SPEAKERS

Peter Forbes ...... 12

Ron Dodds...... 17

Dr Helen Doyle...... 21

Heather Yates ...... 26

Dr Simon Torok...... 28

Peter Adler ...... 31

POSTER PRESENTERS

Museum of Chinese-Australian History...... 34

Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum ...... 35

Millewa Pioneer Village, Meringur ...... 37

A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation ...... 38

WORKSHOPS

Workshop discussion summary ...... 40 'Mud or dust' - the heritage of drought and water supply in the Wimmera/Mallee ...... 40 'Silos like deserted cathedrals' - the impact of railways on the Wimmera/Mallee landscape...... 42 'It's flat, dry and intriguing' - tourism, recreation and the cultural landscape of the Wimmera-Mallee...... 43 'What are the flora and fauna telling us?' - management of the natural heritage values of the Wimmera/Mallee ...... 45 'Something out of nothing' - rural heritage and the Mallee/Wimmera landscape...... 46 'What have we learnt?' - tools for interpreting and promoting the character and heritage of the Wimmera/Mallee landscape ...... 47

DAY TOUR

Field trip ...... 49

APPENDICES

Railways and the Wimmera region ...... 57

Sites of geological and geomorphological significance ...... 60

List of attendees...... 63

Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the Heritage Council of Victoria does not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Heritage Council of Victoria or the Victorian Government.

© Heritage Council of Victoria, 2008. This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1998. Copyright for all images and graphs is vested in the speaker (author) unless otherwise stated. Permission to use them should be sought from the speaker (author).

Published by the Heritage Council of Victoria 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne 3002 July 2008 Also published on www.heritage.vic.gov.au

ISBN 978-1-74208-327-8 (Print) ISBN 978-1-74208-328-5 (PDF) ISBN 978-1-74208-329-2 (CD-ROM)

Heritage and the Land Forum, 18 April 2008 Heritage Council of Victoria www.heritage.vic.gov.au

H H

o o r r s s h Horsham Regional Art Gallery h a a Merle Hathaway – Director m m Adam Harding – Curator

Thursday evening 17 April 2008 R R e The Heritage and the Land Forum commenced with an evening at the Horsham e Regional Art Gallery. Those who attended were privy to informative and g g enthusiastic talks by the director and curator who gave an insight into the i exhibits. i o o n Temporary exhibitions, downstairs: n a

a Connection ~ Reflection (Handbury Gallery, Bill & Maureen Mann Gallery) l l

18 March – 18 May, 2008

A A Heather Burness, Aspinah Houspian, Rosemary Kingsmill, James McMurtrie live in r various parts of Australia and Europe but each has engaged in Wimmera-based r t projects. t

G G Heather Burness from ACT allowed salt to etch her printmaking plates in the a Dimboola area. Arsineh Houspian, recently returned from Germany has a l photographed the people of Rainbow. Rosemary Kingsmill’s felts relate to the l l beleaguered Yarriambiack Creek near her house and James McMurtrie’s dramatic l e hot glass works reflect the nearby Grampians. e r r y y

Photographic Gallery

Jo Grant’s photographs of small town agricultural shows explore rural values that remain constant, as seen in simple rituals such as setting a table or preparing food.

The Art of Pulling Strings Community Gallery Local & regional artists respond to the theme of this years Art is… festival.

Permanent Collection, upstairs:

Restrung (Mack Jost Galleries) Curator, Adam Harding, has completely re-hung the upstairs galleries. “Restrung” features aspects of the permanent collection in a way not seen here before, with artworks of all media forming visual essays and connections. In particular, a section exploring photographic depictions of Aboriginals by indigenous and early Australian photographers, and a new feature – The Wimmera Room – which is a chance to showcase work by artists who have worked in the region. Includes Sid Nolan, Marion Borgelt, Neil Douglas and Philip Hunter

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W W e e l l c c o o Welcome to country m m Gail Harradine e e Cultural Heritage Manager

t t 0 0

c c o o u u Consent Determination n n • Area A – Native Title Determination Area t t r r • Area B – Non-Native Title Core Area y y • ILUA Area – Non-Native Title Area

• RAP – BGLC ILUA/Claim Area & ‘broader BGLC RAP boundary’

BGLC Role The primary role of the BGLC is to ensure that the responsibilities and duties, arising under Traditional Owner laws, customs and values, are carried out in relation to: • Caring for country, protecting and managing Cultural Heritage and ensuring the continuance and strengthening of law, language, culture and identity; • Representing, advocating and managing rights and interests concerning Cultural Heritage, Traditional Owner and Native Title Rights, and Indigenous Land Use Agreement matters; • Representing and advocating Traditional Owner interests concerning individual, family and community wellbeing; • Holding and managing traditional lands, waters and monies in trust for the benefit and enjoyment of all Traditional Owners, their families and future generations; • Administering native title rights and interests in their land and waters, in accordance with custom and tradition, for the benefit and enjoyment of all Traditional Owners, their families and future generations; • Acting as the Registered Aboriginal Party over traditional land and waters under the Aboriginal Heritage Act (Vic) 2006; and • Acting as the Prescribed Body Corporate and performing the functions of a registered native title body corporate as trustee for the holders of native title under the Native Title Act (Cth) 1993.

Key Tasks • Internal and infrastructure set up; • Staffing structure; • Business & Strategic Planning;

2 Welcome to country

• Agreement implementation; • New Representative Arrangements; • New CH Legislation; • Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project; and • Cultural Heritage Program.

Cultural heritage program BGLC Cultural Heritage Program objectives are to:

• ‘Care for country’, protect and manage Cultural Heritage and ensure the continuance and strengthening of law, language, culture and identity; • Facilitate and promote Traditional Owner involvement in managing Aboriginal cultural heritage; • Build partnerships between the Traditional Owners, Government and other organisations and individuals whose activities may have an impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage; and • Ensure consideration of Aboriginal cultural heritage as an integral part of land and resource management. • Cultural Centre – Community Space – Keeping Place – Gallery Space • Wergaia Language Program • Site Monitoring Program • Art Programs • Dance • Oral History

Ebenezer Mission

Photo by John Hawker 19 April 2008

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W W e e l l c c o o Chris Gallagher m m Chair, Heritage Council of Victoria e e Good morning, it’s my great pleasure to welcome you to the Heritage Council’s

fifth annual Cultural Landscapes Forum. I would also like to acknowledge the – – traditional owners of the land on which we have gathered today and thank Gail

for her welcome. It’s wonderful to celebrate World Heritage Day in such a H H beautiful historic venue, the Murtoa Mechanics Hall. e e For those who have travelled a great distance to be here, thank you for making r r that effort. This is, after all, a forum about heritage AND THE LAND, so before we i i launch into that discussion it is probably fitting that those of us from Melbourne or t t even further get a fresh taste of the landscapes and the often vast distances a a involved in living on the land! g g And to those of you who have travelled shorter distances to join us, we are also e e delighted to have you here. We certainly can’t talk about the cultural landscapes

of the Wimmera and Mallee without representatives from the region, so we look C C forward to hearing from you today! o o u u Before I continue – I want to quickly explain the Heritage Council’s role. It is an independent statutory authority and the State’s main decision-making body on n n non-Indigenous cultural heritage issues. Its part-time members are from c c disciplines such as architectural conservation, history, archaeology, property i i management and planning law. l l

One of our responsibilities is deciding what places and objects are included on the o o Victorian Heritage Register, thereby providing the highest level of legal protection f f for heritage in the State.

V V Many of the Registered places in this region demonstrate perfectly the link i i between our cultural heritage and the land. In Murtoa alone, we have some c c wonderful examples. t t o o The Murtoa Grain Store, also known as the Stick Shed, was built in the 1940s as r r an emergency bulk storage measure when grain supply far outweighed demand i i during the Second World War. It is the only one of its kind left and a really a a marvellous example of the ingenuity shown during an obviously challenging time

in Australia’s history. It also tells us a lot about changing practices in the wheat

industry at the time.

Then there’s Longerenong Homestead, one of the region’s first pastoral leaseholds, and the former Railway Water Tower, which serviced the steam locomotives that delivered the Wimmera and Mallee’s rich produce to the rest of the State.

The tower was later used to store the town's reticulated water supply and today serves as a museum – which we will all have the opportunity to visit throughout the day.

So while farming and rail infrastructure are certainly recurring themes in the region’s cultural landscapes, the relationship between water and heritage is also very apparent up here. Further west, for example, the Mildura landscape is still dotted with remnants of the pumping stations built in the 1880s, the start of an extensive ‘irrigation colony’ envisaged by the then Water Minister Alfred Deakin.

4 Welcome – Heritage Council of Victoria

Of course, our heritage is not just in our buildings and structures.

When we talk about cultural landscapes, we’re really saying that what might seem like ordinary local scenery to one person, especially those whose families have lived here for generations, is actually a very important part of Victoria’s heritage.

In 2006, Demographer Bernard Salt wrote (in the Australian newspaper) that the Wimmera is flat and boring – and from chatting to a local ABC journalist last week I gather that comment caused a justifiably irate response from the local community. The Heritage Council does not agree with Bernard’s assessment.

The Wimmera’s grain fields may well be vast and flat, dotted by the odd silo or farmhouse, often with the railway line somewhere nearby…but that distinct landscape is really a huge part of the region’s character and tells us a lot about its contribution to Victoria’s development. Where else in Victoria can you have that experience?

And I’m sure the local community in particular is very attached to the landscape, given it is the source of many people’s livelihood and crucial to the region’s economy! But that’s enough about what I think is unique about the Wimmera and Mallee! We’re here today to find out what you think is special about the cultural landscapes around us.

Another of the Heritage Council’s duties is to promote public understanding and appreciation of Victoria’s heritage. Therefore, these forums are an opportunity for us to have a two-way conversation about the region’s heritage: how to care for it, the pressures facing the landscapes and by association its heritage.

In past forums, we have discussed the Coastal Landscapes of the Bellarine Peninsula, the hinterland and coastline of the Mornington Peninsula, and Victoria’s historic towns. Last year’s forum examined the issues facing the Volcanic Plains of Western Victoria, from land subdivision to quarrying.

Certainly the Wimmera and Mallee are facing their own challenges. In the grip of drought, and with the effects of climate change becoming increasingly evident, this is an uncertain time for the land and the people who manage it.

Agricultural practices are changing, but do we know what this means for the landscape? What will happen to the region’s rail infrastructure, as industry relies more and more on road transport? What is the cultural value of that infrastructure, which helped build the State’s economy? Again, we want to hear from you what those challenges are, and of course look at possible ways to meet those challenges.

As well as having some fantastic speakers here today to highlight some of these key issues, we will also have an opportunity in the afternoon to hear from local groups involved in heritage and the land. Later, our small-group workshops will be an opportunity to reveal your opinions and suggestions. Hopefully we all walk away from today with a lot to think about, and even some new ideas and strategies to act on.

When we hold events like this in regional areas, we’re not travelling all this way to tell you NOT to develop your towns or to keep everything the way it is! These forums are about recognising what is important and finding ways to care for it and share it with future generations. Or even just emphasising the need to consider the economic, environmental and cultural values of our heritage when making decisions that could impact it.

5 Welcome – Heritage Council of Victoria

Organisations like the Heritage Council and Heritage Victoria, as well as local governments, can provide advice about how to do this and also inform heritage owners and custodians of the resources available to them. State heritage protection through the Victorian Heritage Register is one avenue for safeguarding our cultural landscapes, but local councils also play an important role in identifying and protecting important sites. And of course, there is no substitute for the dedication of heritage custodians in the community, which may well describe many of you here today.

Certainly today’s venue demonstrates just what a community can achieve if it is passionate about its local heritage. The Murtoa Mechanics Hall and Free Library also served as the local cinema from 1928 until its closure in 1970, when the impact of audiences staying home to watch television finally became too much. The building saw hard times over the next 20 years and extensive damage by the local corellas meant that part of the façade was pulled down.

However, thanks to the work of the Mechanics Hall Ladies Committee, the hall has enjoyed extensive restoration work inside and out in the past decade. I’m pleased to say that the Victorian Heritage Program chipped in $5000 to assist. But the work simply would not have happened without the sheer drive of the Ladies Committee, who I understand raised funding largely through their tireless catering efforts. That tells me two things: that Murtoa’s heritage has benefited greatly from the work of these women …and that we can look forward to some fabulous catering today!

A great rap for the committee and the local community is that the hall was recently identified as one of Victoria’s most intact rural cinemas. The study is funded by Heritage Victoria and being undertaken by the heritage advisory group Heritage Matters. Timothy Hubbard from Heritage Matters is here today and tells me that he stumbled on the former cinema by chance last year when he was visiting Murtoa to inspect some of its more well-known historic buildings. However, when given the chance to look inside the hall it proved to be one of the largest and finest historic cinemas in north-west Victoria. Being identified in the study will no doubt lead to good things for the hall, as the first step in caring for our heritage is of course knowing it is there and understanding its significance. I am sure that both State and Local Governments will continue to take an interest in its future and support the work of the Ladies Committee.

The Heritage Council works to support local communities through grant programs and funding for local government heritage advisors, who can provide vital assistance and advice on the ground. Information sharing on days like today has also proved to be a great way to form networks and start important conversations started.

The Cultural Landscapes Forums are organised by the Landscape Advisory Committee, a group of Heritage Council and non-Heritage Council experts that advises the Heritage Council on issues affecting significant landscapes.

While acknowledging the contribution of all the committee members in making this event possible, including the chair Neville Wale, it must be said that the efforts of Helen Page have been extraordinary.

Helen has contributed so much energy and enthusiasm and the forum’s three days of events really are a result of her commitment, including several trips to the region organising speakers and venues.

I would also like to acknowledge the event coordinator Jane Andrews, whose work has also been crucial to making the forum happen.

6 Welcome – Heritage Council of Victoria

Furthermore, this gathering would not be possible without the generous support of our forum partner the Yarriambiack Shire Council. Local governments play such an important role in identifying and caring for local heritage, so it is wonderful to have the council’s support and participation today.

I would also like to acknowledge:

• Peter Adler and the Murtoa and District Historical Society for providing access to the water tower museum (Peter will also speak at tonight’s dinner, sharing his experiences of growing up in the Wimmera); • Neville Bell and Lindsay Smith of the Horsham Historical Society, who will lead tomorrow’s day tour visiting some of the region’s most important sites, which I am sure will be a highlight; and • The Horsham Regional Art Gallery for hosting last night’s fantastic reception, especially gallery director Merle Hathaway and curator Adam Harding; • The Mechanics Hall Ladies Committee for today’s catering – and for keeping this venue in such wonderful shape; and • Of course all the speakers who are contributing their time and knowledge to our conversation today.

Finally, I would like to thank you all again for joining us and hope you enjoy the day.

Victorian Heritage Register The former Railway Water Tower (VHR 1193) was constructed in 1885 for the Victorian Railways; it was constructed by the Geelong firm of Humble and Nicholson. The face-brick tower is 13 metres high with a riveted wrought-iron tank at the top. Each level of the tower is marked with a string mould and the tank itself has a cornice-like rim and a basalt coping base. Each level of the tower has arched windows and, aligned with the entry door, segmented-arched openings for loading. The tower is now used as a museum by the Murtoa and District Historical Society.

7

F F o o r r u u m m Rapporteur’s report

Associate Professor Bernie Joyce s s u u Gail Harradine, Cultural Heritage Manager of the Barengi Gadjin Land Council, opened the forum with a Welcome to Country, which was to be ably followed next m m morning with her introduction to the Ebenezer Mission site near Jeparit. m m Chris Gallagher, Chair of the Heritage Council of Victoria, welcomed us to another in the series of meetings organised by the Council, and on this occasion a a an innovative move away from Melbourne and neighbouring regions. r r y y Peter Forbes of the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Mildura

began the presentations with his talk on “The government perspective on rural land management - Landscape, Natural Resources & Government”, providing an excellent introduction to the day, and to the Wimmera-Mallee region. He demonstrated that people came to the area first, and then water and railways followed, with Murtoa’s railhead providing the incentive to the growth of the town. His use of Google imagery help with his overview, and on the field trip next day we were able to recall his interpretation as we drove across the landscape. Drainage, soils, and climate change provided the setting for government initiatives including soldier settlement, National Parks and “buying out” programs.

Ron Dodds, spoke about “Farming’s impact on the land”, based on a lifetime of farming in Western Victoria since 1904. He was able to contrast “the good years” when schools and churches sat amongst the many family farms, and a new Holden followed a successful year’s harvest, to today’s broad areas of farmed land with just a few people living there. He described the loss of lakes and wetlands, the death of the Lake Hindmarsh sailing club, changing fashions in tree planting, and how the future landscape might look. He advocated an “Adopt a tree program” for the scattered surviving farm trees, and the need to get young people back to the area. (Might the Wimmera benefit from becoming a future Geopark, as is happening now to the Western District?).

Helen Doyle, a consultant historian, discussed “The Heritage of Water Supply in North-West Victoria” in north-west Victoria, based on her study of Victoria's water supply heritage, commissioned by Heritage Victoria. Her doctoral thesis, completed in 2005, examined settlers' perceptions of landscape and history- making in Victoria. Water improvements date back to the 1850s and in turn have determined where the railways went. The engineering heritage of the area includes channels, dams, bores, pipelines and local catchment tanks. On the excursion the following day, the future of recently-redundant dams and channels was raised, now the replacement pipelines are being built.

We began to see why Murtoa is where it is. Perhaps we might have discussed this during the meeting, and perhaps examined features of the town, the lake and war memorial, the railway and the grain storage facilities, including the striking Murtoa Grain Store, registered by the Heritage Council?

Heather Yates told us about the Millewa Community Forest and Historical Society at Meringur since its inception in 1986, and “How to create an historical village…”. (A poster presentation also discussed the Society and its work). The Meringur-Millewa historical village is one of several in the Mallee and Wimmera region (the following day we spent lunchtime at the Jeparit Museum). If a museum is set up, many locals arrive with donations of artefacts they have been reluctant to throw out. The problem then becomes – how to tell a story with such a diverse collection.

8 Rapporteur’s report

Poster presentations Renee Gardiner’s “Chinese Settlement in the Wimmera” was a surprise to those who thought Chinese only arrived after the gold rush began. Beginning in the 1820s, and rising to perhaps 40,000 in the 1850s, the Chinese were both market gardeners, and discoverers of major goldfields, including nearby Ararat.

Val Gregory discussed the Murtoa and District Historical Society and its Community Museum, which most attendees were able to visit during the forum. Housed in the old railway water tower, it contains a wealth of material in suitably dry and not over- illuminated conditions. The need to digitally record and archive such a wealth of material became apparent.

Bernie Joyce’s poster discussed “A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation” on his grandfather’s Mallee farm not far from the River Murray town of Nyah, an area where the scientist and explorer William Blandowski rode past in 1856. He asked two questions: Is such a stand of surviving Mallee of landscape heritage value today? And if so, could it be preserved?

Neville Wale’s railway maps of the wheat area, both past and today, graphically demonstrated the growth (and changes) of agriculture in the region.

Bernie also drew attention to (a) the fourteen major sites of geological and geomorphological significance on the Horsham 1:250 000 mapsheet area which have been listed by the Geological Society of Australia’s heritage workers in Victoria, and (b) the State Government web site which provides up-to-date information on soils, landforms, climate, water and other aspects of the Wimmera and Mallee landscapes, as well as of other regions in Victoria. (See http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/vro)

And the only problem: more posters were needed!

The Workshop discussions which followed were limited by the numbers at the meeting, but Timothy Hubbard was able to summarise several threads:

Water has been the dominant control on development in this low rainfall area. Railways, and most recently road transport, have been the other major controls, providing corridors, which generally, but not always, follow the rivers and supply channels, and determine where people and settlement take root. So the themes were: water in a dry land, people, (and also its seems at Murtoa on this enjoyable day, thanks to the locals - Cream Cake!)

Simon Torok’s presentation on “Climate change” concluded the day. Simon comes from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research in Melbourne, and completed a PhD in climate change science at the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences, examining Australia’s historical temperature record. He presented a series of maps showing the effects of climate change. In the already warm Wimmera, adaptation (“climate-proofing”) will be needed. We need to recall how the pioneers coped, with their underground cool rooms, and local catchment tanks. His excellent presentation on “Climate Change” and the Wimmera region concluded the day’s talks, and so World Heritage Day drew to a close.

For those attending the dinner at the Horsham Art Galley, the discussion continued, and during the meal Peter Adler, a third generation Wimmera farmer, President of both the Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum and the Murtoa Cemetery Trust, and recipient in 2007 of the “Museums Victoria Volunteer Outstanding Achievement Award” spoke on his experience of “Growing up in the Wimmera”, providing a personal picture of his home region.

9 Rapporteur’s report

The following day, part of the group boarded a bus in Horsham for a tour conducted by the Horsham Historical Society, under the leadership of two local historians, Lindsay Smith and Neville Bell). We drove north over the Wimmera Plain, on the Blue Ribbon Road, across perhaps the flattest area anywhere in Victoria. In such a landscape any feature is notable, and we were introduced to the sites of former schools, churches, farms, water supply reserves and public recreation reserves, and the Sailors Home Hall (still extant). At Dimboola, we visited and saw demonstrations of the almost vanished art of linotype setting and printing at the Dimboola Banner Office, and the excellent displays of the District Historical Society in the Court House.

The Ebenezer Mission site on the Wimmera River at Antwerp, near Jeparit, was introduced by Gail Harradine, and with the assistance of other locals we examined the restored church, the graveyard, kitchen and other buildings, as well as the archaeological excavations of the foundations of the homestead.

The lunch stop was at the Wimmera Mallee Pioneers Museum near the Wimmera River at Jeparit, with a tour of the Albatcutya Homestead (ca. 1840) and several log cabins, and then self-conducted tours of the hall, school, church, chemist, gaol, and farm buildings and machinery sheds.

We drove through Jeparit, past the Sir Robert Gordon Menzies Spire, to Four Mile Beach, at the south end of Lake Hindmarsh, now dry. We drove south to Glenlee inspecting a remnant stand of Mallee on a dune-capped ridge, with views west to the valley of the Wimmera, and the distant silos at Antwerp.

At Gerang Gerung we met the railway line, and drove southeast past the salty Pink Lake to Dimboola, and finally to Horsham and the new housing development and river channel reworking along the Wimmera River.

In this flat and dry land, formed on the sediment of ancient seas, we will only feel the effects of sea level change indirectly in the form of changes in rainfall and temperature, still to be spelt out in detail. The theme continues to be people and water, in a dry land. The involvement of the local indigenous people and their knowledge, and also the gleaning of ideas from early European settlement, may help us cope better, and also help us recognise and preserve our heritage in the landscape.

Heritage and the Land Forum, Murtoa Picture Theatre, 18 April 2008 Picture by Dr Juliet Bird

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F F o

o r r u u m Program m

p 8:30 – 9:00 Registration p r r

o 9:00 – 9:10 Welcome to Country – Gail Harradine Barengi Gadjin Land o Council g g r 9:10 – 9:20 Welcome from Heritage Council of Victoria – Ms Chris Gallagher, r a Chair Heritage Council a m m 9:20 – 9:45 The government perspective on rural land management

– Peter Forbes, Department of Sustainability and Environment

9:45 – 10:15 Farming’s impact on the land – Ron Dodds

10:15 – 10.45 The heritage of water supply in north-west Victoria – Dr Helen Doyle

10:45 – 11.15 Morning tea

11:15 – 11:45 How to create an historical village without really trying – Heather Yates, Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Society

11:45–12:30 Poster presentations ƒ Chinese Settlement in the Wimmera – Renee Gardiner ƒ Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum – Val Gregory ƒ The Millewa Pioneer Forest and Historical Society – Heather Yates ƒ ‘A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation’ – Assoc. Prof. Bernie Joyce 12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 1.45 Workshop introduction Dr Timothy Hubbard

1.45 – 2.45 Workshops – designed to draw out your views on Heritage and the Land

2:45 – 3:15 Afternoon tea

3.15 – 3.30 Report back on workshops Dr Timothy Hubbard

3:30 – 4:30 Climate change: Observations, projections and responses – Dr Simon Torok CSIRO Atmospheric Research Communication and Marketing Manager

4:30 – 4.45 Rapporteur Dr Timothy Hubbard

6:30 Dinner Horsham Art Gallery supper room – after dinner speaker, Peter Adler Growing up in the Wimmera

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S S p p e e a a k k Peter Forbes e e Department of Sustainability and Environment r r s s

Making the connection between landscape, natural resources &

government The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) leads the Victorian Government's efforts to sustainably manage:

• water resources and catchments • climate change • bushfires • parks and other public land • forests • biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

Google image: Murtoa, satellite image, 2008

12 Speakers – Peter Forbes

Shaping our settlements • Government support has followed people into the Wimmera and Mallee – Bringing water to towns and farms – Rail and roads and the services that follow • Sometimes government intervention has been very direct – Soldier settlements – Vine pull schemes – Creation of parks • What brought the people here?

Natural resource issues that will change our landscape • Fire • Water • Land • Living things and.. • Air

Impacts of climate change • More frequent and extreme weather events • An increase in extremely high temperatures & a decrease in low temperatures

Regional impacts of climate change • Enhanced plant growth, but – Probably lower grazing quality – Extra growth probably offset by water deficit • Reduced wheat yield • Lower grain protein and more heat-shock proteins • Grazing: – Most impacts from changes in rainfall – Less rainfall = increased variability in stocking rates – More heat-stress for cattle, and – Less cold-stress mortality for lambs – New diseases spreading to Victoria

Regional impacts on ecosystems • Species won’t necessarily move with climate zones, due to soil, habitat fragmentation and other constraints • 25% of eucalypts have a climatic span of less than 1°C. 53% less than 3°C. • “The combination of fragmentation of the landscape and climate change …. may seriously threaten the conservation of species such as the Mallee fowl” (Peters and Darling 1985)

13 Speakers – Peter Forbes

Dryland salinity

From Wimmera Regional Salinity Action Plan, 2005-2010 Wimmera Catchment Management Authority, 2005 Frontispiece

Native vegetation

Current vegetation cover map, http://wcma.vic.gov.au posted 27/9/2007

14 Speakers – Peter Forbes

Conservation status of EVCs* within the Wimmera bio-region

* Ecological Vegetation Classes

Published by DSE on the website. Victorian catchment indicators online http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/ins-clpr/vcio

Native vegetation • Incentives to enhance and re-establish • Clearance controls embedded into P&E Act. – Avoidance, Minimisation & Offsetting • Market created in supplying offsets

The reserve system • Large tracts of land in National Park – Wyperfeld/Big Desert/Sunset Country/Hattah Kulkyne/Little Desert – The land not wanted by farmers • Increased fire activity predicted – Increased lightening predicted – More extreme fire danger days

Water issues • Problems with high salinity and nutrient levels • Problems with low flows – Stratification of water in deep pools – Lack of water to maintain biodiversity • Lack of security for consumptive uses

15 Speakers – Peter Forbes

Index of stream condition Scores for river reaches in the Wimmera River Basin

Published 2000 by DSE on website http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/ins-clpr/vcio

Outlet Creek used to flood approximately every 20 years. There has been no flooding of the Creek within Wyperfeld National Park since 1975.

Be-al, c. 1960, Field Naturalists of Victoria

Be-al 2006, The author 16

Ron Dodds

Regional Manager, Greening Australia Farming’s impact on the land A personal perspective based on my experience as a farm manager in the Wimmera and as an environmentalist.

The author inspects his wheat crop, 1995

The Wimmera landscape as altered by European settlement has provided a special lifestyle for many. Farming today is difficult, but there is still room for optimism. Across the grain belt, the top 25% of broad-acre farmers have annual results that compare favourably with other investments.

Few of the local communities I grew up with are left. We must recognise that we displaced the original custodians of the land in creating a farmed landscape. The evidence for this earlier aboriginal phase of human occupation is widely visible: on our own farm at Perenna there was a particular spot where stone tools were picked up as recently as the 1970s – they are evidence of this fundamental part of our heritage. Instead of a scattered, primarily nomadic aboriginal population we have put in place an agriculturally based regional economy that underpins the lifestyle of over 60,000 people within the region, with multiplier effects beyond.

17 Speakers – Ron Dodds

The spread of farming has affected the number & distribution of our native plants and animals dramatically. The maps below show how the extent of native vegetation cover has declined since European settlement.

• The combination of habitat loss, climate change, invasive weeds and feral animals is pushing Victoria’s native animals to the brink of extinction.

• Already 30 per cent of Victoria’s animals are either extinct or threatened. Environmental Sustainability Issues Analysis for Victoria, CSIRO

• The highest number of threatened species in any one region of Australia occurs in north-western Victoria. National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2002

• A study released early this year revealed that of the 36 Victorian mammals listed as threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, 13 have already been identified as at risk from climate change. Climate Action Network Australia

18 Speakers – Ron Dodds

Farming has reduced the stability of the soils in the Wimmera and Mallee, as seen in this photograph of the famous Melbourne dust storm in 1983.

Much has been done to improve on this; but reflect on Wednesday 3 weeks ago (Wednesday 2 April, 2008 dust storm)

Photo: Dust storm enveloped Melbourne, Feb 1982

Farming has altered the landscape in other ways. Introduced trees such as the sugar gums which were markers of habitation are now growing old and disappearing. They have heritage value for what they tell us about a way of farming that has disappeared. Often the homesteads themselves have gone, leaving the sugar gums as a memorial. The Aleppo pines around silos and sheds are also markers of past farming. Old sheds may remain unused from the depopulation of the countryside as people move to towns. There is little time left to record the history of landscape management from that era.

Farming has also altered the way in which water moves through the landscape. The lack of rain over recent years, and the reduced runoff from farms, have diminished flows down the Wimmera River into the terminal lakes. Local people recall picnics and boating in Lake Hindmarsh and Lake Albacutya, both of which have been dry for many years. Biodiversity in the river systems themselves is under threat. Reduced tilling may have contributed to the lack of runoff. In an attempt to conserve soil moisture it is common now for fields to be re-sown in lines between the previous year’s crop, rather than fully ploughed for re-sowing, with all operations guided by a GPS system within the tractor itself.

Crops have changed, too, most visibly through the introduction of the bright yellow flowers of the canola.

Over the past decade or so we have been looking at another aspect of change, the decline in population and farming in the Wimmera-Mallee. Many of us who were born to farming – our heritage – are no longer there, and there has been a significant and continuing depopulation of the rural areas of the Wimmera (and indeed across most of the ‘wheat/sheep’ belt). Some, particularly young people, have left altogether; others have moved to towns such as Horsham.

It is clear that the landscape of the future will be different, and we need to decide not only how to ensure that the land can be farmed sustainably into the future, and young people can be attracted back into the area, but also which aspects of the rural heritage should be preserved, and how the landscape should look.

Protection is urgent: already under threat are the grain silos and the power lines that used to run to every farm. Farm fences have been removed to increase field size and productivity. Telephone lines have been put underground. Rural schools were a

19 Speakers – Ron Dodds

prominent feature of the built landscape: they used to be located every 6 miles to ensure that no child had to walk more than three miles to school. Now most have closed, and children are bussed long distances to school each day. Farm houses have disappeared, the places they used to stand often marked by groups of sugar gums, not an endemic species in this landscape, but arguably part of the cultural heritage. My grandfather used a horse drawn drill to seed them along field boundaries. Aleppo pines were also planted widely, particularly around silos and sheds. As an exotic species they have no place in local biodiversity, but arguably they should be protected, perhaps even replaced, as a cultural element of the landscape.

The green landscape has changed, too. Once there were scattered trees through the paddocks, but many have gone, either due to old age and disease without adequate replacement, or deliberately cleared to make it possible to use big machinery in the paddocks. The loss of the trees diminishes habitat value, and has a major impact on biodiversity. Some trees have been added along shelter belts and field boundaries, creating much more prominent lines in the landscape.

The future? We have to decide what should be preserved. Do we seek to only retain the linear lines in the landscape, the old stock routes, 3 chains wide, other roadside reserves and fence line trees? Or do we wish to retain a landscape that is most notable for the informality conferred by scattered patches of vegetation and single paddock trees?

In 50 years time the countryside will be different, but even though further landscape change is inevitable the picture is not entirely negative. We have put in place an agriculturally based regional economy that underpins the lifestyle of over 60,000 people within the region, with multiplier effects beyond. Our challenge is to ensure that future generations will seek to live here, and not turn their backs on the region for what they may perceive as more equable and attractive landscapes elsewhere

There are several large National Parks in the region, which are well cared for, but the landscape as a whole is also deserving of care and attention. Landcare, while being a major force for good in biodiversity protection and landscape management, is mainly focussed on patch and shelterbelt tree planting, and does little to address the decline of scattered trees. These single trees will disappear, taking with them their contribution to local ecological diversity, as well as the contribution they make to the aesthetic appeal of the region. A possible solution is to introduce an adopt-a-tree program, encouraging urban dwellers to provide financial support for tree management in return for the right to visit the trees and picnic there.

Carbon offset planting and programs such as Bush Tender may provide incentives for returning trees to the landscape. Habitat 141 is a Greening Australia led initiative that seeks to provide ecological connectivity between the coast and the dry inland along the Victoria-South Australia boundary (the 141E line of longitude). Habitat 141 will link many of the major National Parks in the region, and provide a route along which plants and animals can move, ensuring protection of biodiversity and possible migration routes if climate change makes individual habitats unfavourable.

As a long-time inhabitant of the region I remain optimistic that solutions can be found, and that we can create a sustainable farming economy in a rich and biologically diverse landscape that protects the rich cultural heritage of our past. We have a well established rural economy, but the challenge is to get young people back to the region. If they can be attracted, the opportunity will be there to pass on a sustainable heritage to future generations.

Photos attributed to Jim Robinson of Greening Australia.

20

Dr Helen Doyle

The water supply heritage of north-west Victoria Introduction Victoria’s north-west has a proud and remarkable water supply heritage, and the region’s history has been significantly shaped by the challenges of water supply. Settlers here faced greater challenges than in other parts of the colony. The water supply heritage that exists today developed as a result of settlers adapting to a variety of challenges presented by the natural environment, namely periods of low rainfall and a relative lack of topography, as well as changing economic and market forces. Early water engineers also faced the problems of new and often untested technology. With many schemes, there were faulty pipes, polluted water, inadequate supply, and a lack of pressure. Some of the ways in which settlers sought to overcome these problems represent some of the key developments in water supply in Victoria as a whole. Surviving heritage sites reflect different methods of harnessing and distributing water, and of settlers’ ongoing efforts to use technology to triumph over nature. While the region’s history has been significantly shaped by the development of a reliable water supply, the deficiencies of the system, due to the challenges of drought for example, have in part influenced what kinds of places survive today. How and what do we preserve of this important history – both in the Wimmera–Mallee and across the state?

Drawing on a recent report I contributed to, which was commissioned by Heritage Victoria and prepared by Context Pty Ltd – titled ‘Victorian Water Supply Heritage Study’, Volume 1: Thematic Environmental History – I will discuss some of the ways this heritage can be understood.1 A central component of this report was the preparation of a Thematic Environmental History, which identified a set of key historic themes in Victoria’s water supply history (see Appendix 1). These themes were devised to better understand the vast and complicated history of Victoria’s water supply across time and place, and in the light of various different needs for water (e.g. pastoral, agricultural, domestic, industrial, recreational, and ornamental). The themes help to categorise Victoria’s water supply heritage and so, in turn, hopefully better preserve and manage it.

Developments in water supply in north-west Victoria While the southern part of western Victoria was relatively rich pastoral country, the country to the north was more prone to drought, and watercourses were few and far between. Settlers wanted to create similar agricultural wealth and prosperity in the north as they had in the south. Colonial rhetoric consistently promised progress and a garden of Eden. Indeed, the fundamental purpose of colonial settlement was progress, and dreams and theories persisted about how this might be achieved in the dry north-west, including the claim of a vast underground sea beneath the Wimmera. The title of a recent published history of the Wimmera–Mallee water supply, ‘Pipe Dreams’, alludes to the ongoing discrepancy between local hopes for a plentiful water supply and the reality of droughts, failures, and dashed hopes. The struggle to obtain a sufficient water supply remains fixed in the Wimmera landscape, through melancholy place names, such as ‘Broken Bucket Tank’ and ‘Lost Swamp’.

Early efforts to secure an adequate water supply in the north-west were rudimentary – using wells, bores, pumps, and tanks, as well as the existing supplies available at springs, lakes and watercourses. Other strategies were tried by more ambitious settlers, for example Samuel Wilson of Longerenong station, who installed an elaborate system of pumps and pipes that drew water from the Yarriambiack Creek, and built a system of water channels for irrigation.

1 Context Pty Ltd, Victorian Water Supply Heritage Study, Volume 1: Thematic Environmental History, Final Report, 31 October 2007, prepared for Heritage Victoria.

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Individual settlers lobbied together for government aid. The Waterworks Act of 1865 provided government loans that enabled local townships to build local waterworks, but it was not until new legislation in 1881 that a large number of towns, including Horsham and Murtoa, set up water trusts, which financed the construction of a water supply and reticulation system. The Wimmera Water Trust formed in 1880-81, was one of the earliest of these trusts.

The first practical steps towards the development of a large-scale irrigation scheme in the region came in the 1870s with the formation of the Grand Victorian North West Canal, Irrigation, Traffic and Motive Power Company Ltd. Its founder, Benjamin H. Dods, was an ambitious Scottish hydraulic engineer whose dream it was to build a canal from Murchison on the Goulburn River that flowed through to the Wimmera, and then south to Portland and the sea. Whilst this scheme was ultimately impractical, the debate surrounding the project, which was managed by the company’s secretary Hugh McColl, did much to raise public awareness of and interest in irrigation.

The Wimmera–Mallee Stock and Domestic Supply System was built primarily for stock and domestic supply, rather than for irrigation of crops or town water. It is also believed to be one of the largest schemes of its kind in the world. It was commenced in 1887, but its beginnings can be traced to the 1850s when the Wilsons constructed weirs at Longerenong to divert water for domestic and stock use. In 1878, the Shires of St Arnaud and Dunmunkle constructed a timber weir on the Wimmera River at Glenorchy, while the Wimmera Shire began a weir on the same river at Longerenong. The Wimmera United Waterworks Trust built the Lake Wartook Reservoir in 1887, which was the first large rural reservoir in Victoria. The Trust used the natural watercourses – the Wimmera River, the Yarriambiack and Dunmunkle Creeks, and the Richardson River – as the main distribution channels.

In the age of steam power, locomotives needed to replenish their water supplies at regular intervals, and as a result many railways stations were installed with tanks, bores, pumps, and reservoirs. The location of reliable water sources in the Wimmera also influenced the route of new railway lines. For example, when new railway lines were being planned in the late nineteenth century, the position of the line was determined in part by the best positions for bores, which could be sunk along the line. Where possible, the railway reservoirs, and hence the stations themselves, were sited at a high altitude. Elevated tanks and towers were necessary where the country was too flat for a gravity- fed system, for example at Murtoa. These tanks often became part of the township water supply. The provision of a town water supply was life-changing. At Murtoa in the 1880s, there was great excitement at the prospect of household ‘baths’, as local tradesmen clambered to provide suitable plumbing for these as yet unknown facilities.

Settlement in the Northern Wimmera and Southern Mallee in the late 1880s and 1890s, placed further demands on the water supply, and led to many new channels being constructed. The 1902 drought placed enormous pressure on the new water supply, which resulted in the construction of Lake Lonsdale in 1903. A new authority, the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC), established in 1906 to replace the former water trusts, constructed township supplies as part of the vast Wimmera–Mallee water supply system and also further extended the Wimmera–Mallee Stock and Domestic Supply system for irrigation. This included building artesian bores, pumping stations, catchment tanks, and artificial catchments.

The SRWSC commenced a channel construction program for stock and domestic supply with branches from the Sea Lake and Long Lake main channels in 1906-7. Sea Lake was the first Mallee township to receive a reticulated water supply as a result. Following the 1914 drought, the SRWSC constructed additional reservoirs at Fyans Lake and Taylors Lake. The Waranga Western Channel, which brings water from the Goulburn and Loddon

22 Speakers – Dr Helen Doyle

River systems, was extended westwards following the dry years of 1927-30 to supply the northern part of the system. New reservoirs, including Moora Moora Reservoir, Green and Dock Lakes, further extended the system between 1934 and 1935. The construction of the Rocklands and Toolondo reservoirs in 1953 made it possible, by 1962, to draw the water supply from the Grampians reservoirs instead of the Waranga Channel. But the drought of 1967-68 made this new measure no longer effective and the channel was once again drawn on.

In the arid areas of the Wimmera and Mallee many waterways offer only intermittent supply and so the solutions devised by the SRWSC were aimed at gathering peak surface-flow rather than constructing dams across waterways. Catchment tanks were one method of achieving this objective. In 1910, the SRWSC, commenced construction of large catchment tanks at convenient points where underground water could not be found and where channel supplies had not yet reached. By 1928, 260 tanks had been constructed, which enabled the opening up of areas for settlement in advance of more permanent water channels.

The Wimmera–Mallee system used a series of open channels, but these are now being replaced with pipes as part of a massive project designed to improve the efficiency of the system. Aqueducts are no longer constructed, and many of the early aqueducts have been enclosed or decommissioned and replaced with pipes.

Water supply as heritage The story of water supply is strongly connected with settlers’ identity in the new country. Accounts of finding and harnessing an adequate water supply features in the collective memories of local families and townships. Because water was critical to the establishment and survival of settlements, the story of finding fresh water developed as a central thread in local history narratives. Conversely, ongoing drought has been unsettling to local communities – both economically and psychologically – and has led to the decline and abandonment of settlements. It’s difficult, however, not to see some irony here – in that the remembrance of trying to harness water, and perhaps even failing to do so, has now come to be regarded as heritage, as something we want to keep.

As with all heritage places, many local water supply places are invested with a high degree of community pride and ‘ownership’. Many sites, such as railway water tanks, wells, and local reservoirs, are central to local identity as places connected with ‘home’, ‘work’ and ‘play’. There is a strong sense that the various water supply systems, including irrigation works, are an important part of local history and heritage. Local pioneers of engineering and water supply administration have been honoured and celebrated. The pioneering irrigator Hugh McColl, for example, is remembered in the ‘McColl Bridge’ over the Waranga Channel near Birchip.

Local communities have sought to understand and remember the story of water supply in their district and, in doing so, to identify, protect and commemorate the sites of that history. This isn’t just a new appreciation. Near Marnoo in the Wimmera, local residents erected a memorial stone in 1915 at the site of Creswick’s Well, which had been sunk by the district’s first settlers in 1866. It had been used as the first source of water supply in the district and had later relieved the town in periods of drought.

Water supply sites were for a long time considered ‘engineering’ sites rather than ‘historic’ sites, but with growing interest in ‘industrial heritage’ over the last twenty years, these places are now increasingly recognised by heritage authorities as well as by water authorities. The popular understanding of water supply heritage, however, often tends to exclude Aboriginal sites, of which there are countless examples across the state. It is important to note, however, the recent recognition, through a native title grant, of

23 Speakers – Dr Helen Doyle

Indigenous cultural associations with the Wimmera River for fishing and water supply purposes.

Water supply heritage raises some difficult questions. Given the ongoing reality of drought and failing water supply systems, old and obsolete systems need to be replaced. But at the same time, there is now a strong interest in understanding early efforts at developing water supplies and a desire to preserve some of these places; here at Murtoa, for example, there is strong local support to preserve the ‘decommissioned’ Lake Marma. Many water supply sites have important community and social values, as well as engineering and technological significance. In addition, Victoria’s water supply history has tended to leave scarce material evidence. Apart from major works, such as reservoirs and channels, much original machinery has been removed, and much of the obsolete piping and associated infrastructure decayed. Buildings have been removed or have been left in ruins.

How then should we treat our water supply heritage sites? Should we prioritise water supply sites over other heritage sites? Should heritage concerns take second place to the efforts of government and water authorities to redevelop or rebuild sustainable water supply infrastructure? A framework to assist in making this kind of assessment lies in the historic themes identified in the recent report by Context. Identifying, documenting, and evaluating this heritage needs to be carried out in the context of a broad understanding of Victoria’s water supply history. A better understanding of water supply heritage should help us to assess and possibly preserve – at a state or local level – some different examples of water supply heritage.

References This paper draws on a report prepared by Context Pty Ltd, ‘Victoria’s Water Supply Heritage Study’, Volume 1: Thematic Environmental History, prepared for Heritage Victoria (final report, 31 October 2007). A full list of references is given in this report. Some references used in the report that are relevant to the Wimmera–Mallee region are listed below:

Glencross, A.W. The History of Creswick’s Well, Marnoo. Marnoo, 1915.

Hill, Ernestine. Water Into Gold. Seventh edition, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, 1946.

Kenyon, A.S. ‘The Story of the Mallee’, Victorian Historical Magazine, no. 13, September 1914.

McColl, H.J. ‘Hugh McColl and the Water Question in Northern Victoria’, Victorian Historical Magazine, vol. 4, June 1917.

Rabl, Jenny. The Romance of the Old Tower. Murtoa & District Historical Society, Murtoa, 1986.

Van Veldhuisen, Rhona (based on records researched and compiled by Bob McIlvena). Pipe Dreams: A history of water supply in the Wimmera-Mallee. Wimmera Mallee Water, Horsham, 2001.

Water and Our Heritage. Development of Permanent Stock and Station Irrigation Supplies of Water to Northern Victoria. East Loddon & District Historical Society, December 1988.

GWM Water website: http://www.gwmwater.org.au/sm/history.html

North West celebrates 150 year irrigation history: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/vic/content/2005/s1518198.htm

24 Speakers – Dr Helen Doyle

APPENDIX: Historic themes for Victoria’s water supply [from Context Pty Ltd, Victoria’s Water Supply Heritage Study, Volume 1: Thematic Environmental History, Final report, 31 October 2007]

Theme 1: SOURCING WATER IN EARLY SETTLEMENT • Theme 1.1: Appropriating Aboriginal water supplies • Theme 1.2: Sourcing water for early settlement • Theme 1.3: Water use and early agricultural development • Theme 1.4: Water and transport

Theme 2: DEVELOPING WATER SUPPLIES FOR SETTLEMENTS & STOCK • Theme 2.1: Establishing and developing Melbourne’s water supply • Theme 2.2: Establishing water supplies on the goldfields • Theme 2.3: Developing water supplies in rural areas • Theme 2.4: Developing water supply technology

Theme 3: HARNESSING AND DISTRIBUTING WATER FOR IRRIGATION • Theme 3.1: Early irrigation schemes 1840s-1870s • Theme 3.2: Irrigating Victoria (1880s onwards) • Theme 3.3: The Water Act 1905 • Theme 3.4: River Murray Waters Agreement (1914) • Theme 3.5: Development of irrigation technology

Theme 4: HARNESSING WATER FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES • Theme 4.1: Using water in early industry • Theme 4.2: Using water for gold-mining • Theme 4.3: Hydro-electricity schemes • Theme 4.4: Industrial water use in the post war period

Theme 5: ADMINISTERING VICTORIA’S WATER SUPPLY • Theme 5.1: Creating a water bureaucracy for Victoria • Theme 5.2: Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works • Theme 5.3: Managing water supplies in rural areas • Theme 5.4: State Rivers and Water Supply Commission

Theme 6: PROTECTING AND MONITORING THE WATER SUPPLY ENVIRONMENT • Theme 6.1: Protecting and conserving the water supply • Theme 6.3: Protecting forests in water supply catchments • Theme 6.3: Maintaining rainfall, temperature, water level and stream flow records • Theme 6.4: Fire protection • Theme 6.5: Improving water quality • Theme 6.6: Confronting inadequacies and failures in the water supply

Theme 7: CELEBRATING THE WATER SUPPLY • Theme 7.1: Promoting tourism and recreation • Theme 7.2: Monuments to the water supply • Theme 7.3: Public fountains and horse troughs • Theme 7.4: Designing landscapes for water supply places • Theme 7.5: Water features in designed landscapes

25

Heather Yates

How to create a historical village without really trying When I look around the Village we have created at Meringur during a quiet moment, I am amazed at what we have created. No one imagined when six abandoned house blocks were cleared to create a plantation with plaques on each tree in memory of each pioneer family or resident, what it would become.

We are right in the NW corner of Victoria between the Sunraysia irrigation area and the SA border, the Murray River to the North and the Sunset Country at our southern border. Our pioneer village is at Meringur on Millewa Road that runs through the centre of the Millewa. We are 95 km from Mildura.

The reason all this has been possible is that our history is so recent. The closer settlement board started offering blocks of approximately a square mile for purchase lease in 1923. This means that our history is still lying around in sheds, on dam banks and under the bed in people’s spare rooms. When people realized that we were seriously collecting things from the districts early years things started to turn up from all directions.

A “Back to the Millewa” was held in 1975 as most of the area had been opened up 50 years by then. Altogether 730 farms were allocated over 600,000 acres.

Considering how incredibly tough conditions were in the early years, and the fact that by the mid 1930s two thirds of the settlers had given up the struggle and left, many people still had a soft spot for the Millewa and the “Back to” was a huge success.

Following on from this a ‘Back to the Millewa School’ Reunion was held in 1985, attracting even more people. The suggestion of a permanent memorial to the pioneers was made. Margaret Kelly, one of the main organizers of the ‘Back to’, saw a memorial plantation somewhere, and the idea of a plantation with plaques for each family was born.

Six abandoned blocks in the Meringur township, covered in 50 years of rubbish were chosen. After a couple of hectic months of working bees the trees were planted in April 1986.

A few old bits of farm machinery were brought along-just to put along the front!

Also a few historical bits and pieces arrived so we decided we needed some sort of building to keep them in. The Mildura Shire Council gave us two road worker canteen vans, one decked out as a kitchen that we used for catering, and the other, with shelves down each side became our History Resource Centre.

In 1992 we were given an original settlers cottage, which we decked out with borrowed items for a grand opening. Suddenly people were saying “I’ve got an old --- at home somewhere that you can have” and things started turning up. Not just things for the cottage, but things like old minute books from the 30s, the old CWA books, dad’s old docket books, photos etc, etc. So our collection of items, machinery and buildings began.

In 1994 we were given the old government building from Werrimull which was being replaced- three good sized rooms, weatherproof - and a railway station.

Our chaff shed, a full Blacksmiths shop, a school, two railway guards vans all arrived

26 Speakers – Heather Yates

over the next couple of years.

The most amazing thing we have is The Shadows of the Past. It consists if larger than life black metal figures which is THE nation’s memorial to the Dryland Pioneers of Australia. We applied for a grant to do that as part of Australia’s bicentenary. It was opened by John Forrest our federal member on Australia day 1999.

Along the way our own talented helpers have built a cellar, a chook house, memorial cairns and rebuilt a cottage from the 1880s that was falling to bits on Kulnine Station, a milking shed and a baker’s oven - among others.

It just happened – but not really! We needed several things in place. We needed good networking. You need people who know people on council, at the DSE, in Government departments - or at least know where to start to find the right people to talk to. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice.

Don’t be afraid to sell yourself. We applied for our first award–the ABC Country wide Tree Care Award the year we planted the trees. We have entered whatever category has been available to us most years in the Keep Australia Beautiful Awards, and won many. You also obviously need willing helpers. Our committee has had up to 40 active members. Most have been older farmers and their wives, but we have also attracted people new to the district looking for something to belong to other than a sporting club if that’s not their thing.

Our ‘magic ingredient’ however has been Margaret Kelly. For the first 20 of our 21 years she has been either secretary or president. I saw a quotable quote somewhere recently along the lines of- Impossible is an attitude not a statement. This fairly well sums up Margaret’s approach to things and someone with this sort of driving force to push you all along is invaluable.

We do worry about the future. Like many other country areas the population is decreasing, and getting older. Some younger farmers have recently started a vintage machinery club and I think they will be our future.

After we got over worrying about it being unattended, we decided to open our collection to the public ever day. We have had a caretaker in attendance when we have been able to get one, but people are free to wander around at any time regardless. Mostly they leave donations and nice comments in our visitor’s books. We also hold an open day on the first Sunday of October every year. This is our major fund raiser of the year usually raising enough to keep us going. We cater for a BBQ lunch and afternoon tea and have raffles. This is always a bit scary as we have had 600 turn up one year and the shops are not just around the corner! These days our open day consists of a working history day which is still gaining momentum.

So if you think it would be nice to have something but you think you haven’t got much, or there aren’t enough of you, my advice for what it’s worth is just start. You never know what you might make without really trying!

27

Dr Simon Torok

Communication and Marketing Manager, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Climate change: Observations, projections and responses Introduction Climate is an abstract concept, a generalisation; it does not physically exist, just as a cricketer's batting average is rarely hit during a match. Weather is what we experience, and it can be counted on to change; climate is what we expect, and it should stay the same for centuries unless it is forced to change.

External factors that change the climate include fluctuations in the amount of energy emitted by the Sun and wobbles in the Earth’s orbit called Milankovitch cycles. There are also many internal influences on climate, including the cooling effect of volcanoes, changes in planet’s surface reflectivity due to the presence or absence of ice, variations in ocean currents, and geological changes.

Climate change due to human activities is superimposed on, and masked by, these natural variations.

The natural greenhouse effect has been enhanced by an increase in activities such as burning fossil fuels for energy, expanding agriculture and deforestation over the past 200 years, since the Industrial Revolution ushered in an era where humans rely on fossil fuels. Long records show that although temperatures vary naturally between ice ages and warm periods, there is no record of temperatures ever having increased as rapidly as they have over the past 100 years.

The story so far The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fourth Assessment Report during in 2007 (www.ipcc.ch). The IPCC report provided the strongest evidence yet that human activities are causing climate change, stating there is a greater than 90 per cent chance that temperatures are rising due to human activities. Global average temperature rose by about 0.8ºC over the past 100 years, with 11 of the last 12 years being the warmest years in the temperature record.

Australia’s average temperature has risen by almost 0.9°C over the past century. There has been a commensurate increase in the frequency of very warm days and a decrease in the frequency of frosts and very cold days. Rainfall has increased over the last 50 years over north-western Australia, but decreased in the southwest of Western Australia, and in much of south-eastern Australia, especially in winter. Droughts in Australia are now hotter than they used to be, and their impacts can be more severe.

Information about climate trends is available thanks to voluntary weather observers. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology relies on a range of observers, including post-office staff, prison wardens, lighthouse keepers, army personnel, farmers, missionaries, pastoral station managers, school teachers and mining company employees, as well as Bureau staff observers from across the country, surrounding islands and Antarctica.

However, observations are not always worthy of being accepted into the climate record. A check of the Bureau of Meteorology’s archived correspondence between its Head Office in Melbourne and observational outposts around the country reveals some interesting insights into the need for quality control.

Thermometers should be exposed in a Stevenson Screen – a louvered box named after its inventor Thomas Stevenson. However, Bureau records include reports of instruments hanging under a gum tree, under a galvanised iron verandah, against a stone wall, on a

28 Speakers – Simon Torok

balcony seven metres above the ground, and even inside an observer’s house. Stevenson Screens must be painted white and correctly exposed over suitable ground, but Bureau investigators have found them painted cream, brown, green, silver, or not at all. The screens must also be clear of obstructions, and not, as has been found, with pumpkins growing beneath them, with cows, goats and other stock grazing around them, or torn laundry hanging above them to dry.

Australian weather observers faced some unique difficulties. For example, a dingo stole a thermometer which an observer had read after he had been slaughtering farm animals (presumably it smelled of blood, so the Bureau advised him to wash his hands in future). Cockatoos and crows also like to steal these shiny objects. One screen was found to contain a football. Termites have wreaked havoc, birds have entered screens and, in one case, an eagle destroyed a Stevenson Screen by flying into the side of it.

Once recorded, measurements have been destroyed by fire, or in one case eaten by a pet lamb. One observer cut the telegraph lines to prevent his neighbour reporting observations during an outback feud regarding who was to have the privilege of taking the climate measurements. But the most insightful example into the strains of maintaining a consistent climate record comes from that of an irate wife in Katanning, Western Australia, perhaps tired of being woken every morning as her husband made the 3 a.m. observations, took to the valuable Stevenson Screen with an axe, turning it into a pile of firewood.

Despite these difficulties, the clear signal from more than a century of overwhelmingly well-recorded climatic observations is that our climate has changed.

Looking ahead Depending on the extent to which humans emit greenhouse gases in future, the projected globally-averaged surface warming is between 1.1 and 6.4ºC by the end of this century. Projections of sea level rise for the end of the 21st century range from 18 to 59 cm. However, increases in the ice discharge from Greenland and the Antarctic have not been taken into account, which could add metres to rising sea levels over centuries.

Climate change projections released in 2007 by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology (www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au) suggest Australia may be hotter and drier in coming decades, with more extremely hot days and fewer cold days. If greenhouse gas emissions are low, warming is projected to be between 1ºC and 2.5ºC by 2070. Under a high-emission scenario temperatures may rise by 2.2ºC to 5ºC by 2070.

Decreases in rainfall are likely in the decades to come in southern areas during winter, in southern and eastern areas during spring, and in south-west Western Australia during autumn. Under the low-emission scenario, by 2070 annual rainfall decreases in southern Australian range up to 20 per cent, and up to 30 per cent under the high-emission scenario. An increase in the number of dry days is expected across the country, but when it does rain it is likely to be more intense.

Climate change will have social, economic and ecological impacts. There will be both winners and losers; however, unfortunately, the negative impacts of such changes outweigh the positives. Trends to greater population and investment in exposed coastal regions are increasing vulnerability to tropical cyclones and storm surges. A greater frequency of extreme events such as floods, fires and high winds may adversely affect the insurance industry, as well as the security and continuity of electricity supply. Many natural ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change and will have difficulty adapting.

Responding to climate change Our response to climate change must occur in three ways: communication and education; adapting to the changes we are already experiencing; and reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

29 Speakers – Simon Torok

Society will need to adapt to the changes in climate we are already experiencing and the changes we are very likely to experience in coming decades. Such ‘climate proofing’ maximises opportunities and minimises threats. Examples of adaptation include water recycling and restrictions, engineering solutions and planning guidelines in coastal areas, and changing crop varieties and farming practices.

However, mitigation is also required to reduce the risk of larger and dangerous changes in climate and associated impacts to which we cannot adapt. Mitigation involves reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by either reducing sources of emissions into the atmosphere or increasing processes that absorb greenhouse gases. Examples of mitigation include reducing emissions through using less fossil fuels, and enhancing carbon uptake by increasing carbon sinks through lowering deforestation, and through geosequestration.

Like the threat of nuclear war of the mid-to late 1900s, in the 2000s climate change has become a topic usually associated with an undesirable but unavoidable future. In Australia, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of media reports about climate change from 2004 to 2006. Climate change has also been addressed by 16 Australian churches, which united to state that action on climate change is a moral and ethical imperative (www.climateinstitute.org.au//images/reports/commonbelief.pdf).

The increasing presence of climate change in the media may have had a negative impact on the mood of young people and their hopes for the future – a 2007 survey of people aged 10 to 14 in Australia found 44 per cent are nervous about the future impact of climate change, and 27 per cent are so troubled about the state of the world they believe it will end in their lifetime.

A positive trend in climate change communication is the reduced voice of climate contrarians, or climate sceptics. However, climate change is reported in an increasingly alarmist and urgent language, with extreme weather events being blamed on climate change with little mention of climate’s natural variability from season to season. It is possible that the scale of the problem can be overwhelming for many and therefore lead to inaction through a belief that individual actions will be ineffective against such a vast, global problem.

Nonetheless, innovative methods of communication can portray the scale and timescales of climate change. For example, art and science collaborations can help illustrate such changes, provoking a strong emotional response to interpretations of the negative impacts of climate change (see www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2224). Climate change was communicated via a science soap opera, which used a superficial story about the social lives of a fictional team of climate scientists as a ‘Trojan horse’ to introduce complicated concepts about climate change and other science (see www.abc.net.au/science/co2). Similarly, fiction can be used to convey complicated climate change messages, enabling exaggeration, contraction of time, or the creation of hypothetical situations that can better illustrate information.

In summary, there is a natural greenhouse effect that has been enhanced by increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Global temperatures have risen and other observations show evidence of climate change globally and in Australia. While there are many influences on climate, scientists conclude most of the observed increase in temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to human influences. Projections indicate that changes to the climate are expected to continue into the future with possible abrupt, high impact changes. Impacts include more droughts, fires, heatwaves and storms, and fewer frosts, and less water resources and snow. Adaptation is required to reduce impacts, mitigation is required to avoid dangerous changes, and communication is required to increase awareness.

30

Peter Adler

Growing up in the Wimmera I was born in Horsham, the youngest of six children. My heritage is German and I am a fourth generation Australian. My father Frank was born in Murtoa, and my mother Ena was born in Portland. I am married to Trish, nee Milesi, (Swiss Italian from Hepburn Springs) and we have two boys, Stephen and Luke.

Adler Family and reminiscences of growing up in Murtoa area The Adlers came north from Winslow, (near Warrnambool) where they had first settled. Coming to Murtoa they were the fifteenth and sixteenth settlers. They farmed north of Murtoa, on open grassland. John Adler commented that they didn’t have to clear any trees before cultivating the land. This was in contrast to Winslow where the trees were that close together that you couldn’t ride a horse between them when they arrived there.

My father grew up and worked at “Union Farm”. He later obtained his own property “Karingal,” northeast of Murtoa, and this is where I spent my childhood. My uncle, William Adler (my father’s brother), farmed “Union Farm”. From 1967, I have worked on this property. The farm is south of Murtoa. After many years, I now own and work “Union Farm”. We live in the original home, which is constructed of weatherboard. It was built in 1908 and interestingly consists of three houses joined together to make one large home. The name “Union Farm” was taken from the joining of the allotments of Edward Adler, Ernst Adler and Charles Adler into one farm.

My mother came to Union Farm as a maid because my uncle and aunt were expecting their first child (stillborn). She commented on walking into the kitchen on her first day in December 1933 to seven workmen sitting having dinner at the table. Dad married Mum, the maid and they lived at Karingal from 1935 onwards.

My earliest memories of life are of a happy, healthy family and many aunts, uncles and many cousins. Our family home was one to be treasured, with never a dull moment. Life revolved around the farm, family and church. Holidays were rare, but we never went without pleasures. Mum was the best cook in the world. Our home was always an open house, and there were always plenty of food. We (the children) could each have one friend extra for a meal unannounced and Mum would manage to feed everyone. Sunday dinners were very special, everyone was told, “Eat up, don’t be shy”. Mum’s kuchen was also very special (a traditional sweet yeast fruit bread/cake topped with streusel). The great adventure in the kitchen was to have fun helping Mother with the baking, especially getting ready for Christmas. The grandchildren remember making hundreds of honey biscuits.

Our kitchen was always full of the most delicious meats, pickles, cakes and homemade drinks. Dad killed a sheep a week for meat. We were fairly self sufficient for food – the farm supplied meat, milk butter and cheese from the cows, eggs and milk from the poultry and we also reared pigs for pork and wurst. We had a large vegetable garden and an orchard of fruit trees.

Music was also another feature of us growing up. Mum was a talented pianist, and we all thoroughly enjoyed sing-alongs around either the piano or pianola. She was also a practical joker – many the times we opened our birthday cards only to find them full of confetti – and we weren’t even married at that stage. One cousin reckons that she invented confetti.

31 Speakers – Peter Adler

I remember the 32volt lighting plant and wind light from the wind generator. Except for windy weather we all had to be in one room. If the weather was windy the generator could power light for us to be anywhere in the house. The brightness of the light fluctuated with the wind speed.

We went to Murtoa Primary School by buggy. The horse spent the day in the stables behind St John’s Lutheran Church, which was across the road from the school. Murtoa High School provided our secondary education. My older brothers finished their schooling at boarding school in Adelaide. I still have special friends from my school days.

As we lived out of town we didn’t mix very much with the other younger people from Murtoa. We amused ourselves amongst ourselves. We had fun rabbiting, spotlighting for foxes and hares and loved our cars and burning through the mud. When we were older we spent time with the Youth Group.

When old enough to buy a second-hand ute I drove it around everywhere, using petrol like there was no tomorrow. Dad commented that when he got his first car a 44-gallon (200Litres) drum of petrol would last a year. It puzzled me how he had managed it. Back then the car was only used on Sundays to go to church in town and a Sunday afternoon drive.

Water was and still is an important part of life on the farm. At home, every time a baby was born another water tank was attached to the house. Saturday night was bath night, whether you thought you needed it or not; and the girls always went first.

Today our farm water still is stored in water tanks. Channels carried necessary domestic stock water, but this will be a thing of the past with the coming of the pipeline.

Changes to broad acre farming in the Wimmera There have been remarkable changes to farming in the Wimmera since the Adlers first arrived and in my working life I have seen enormous changes.

In the beginning there was soil cultivation from virgin land – breaking up the soil started with a single furrow plough, then harrowing the soil down, sowing the seed by hand (either the farmer on foot or on horseback), then harrowing to cover the seed – then waiting for the right weather!

The early settlers said the best fallow was done with a one-furrow plough; a 2 or 3 furrow plough wouldn’t grow good crops.

Mechanization was a tremendous help for broad acre cropping. First came the mower with a flat tray that the ripened crop fell onto. The crop was raked off in about sheaf size onto the ground. It was then tied together with stalks of the sheaf. Next the wire tie binder was invented – but it proved not very successful because as it formed a knot a small piece of wire was left behind. These small pieces of wire were caught up in the horses’ feed and many working horses died as a result. When the wire binder was changed to string it became a wonderful invention.

Working horses needed feed, so haystacks were necessary. To keep the hay for a season or two the stacks were thatched after harvest. Thatching was a tedious task. The sheaf of straw was tied down to sheaf below so wind wouldn’t blow it off. Frank, my father, said the arrival of wire netting on the thatched haystack was a speedy improvement to this slow job.

32 Speakers – Peter Adler

I asked Dad when he would begin fallowing the paddocks with his 5-furrow plough. Fallowing started straight after harvest was finished. Working with horses you worked one round of the paddock and then stopped to rest the horses and to scrape off the ploughs. In the Wimmera only skeleton boards were used. Wimmera soil is very heavy and especially when wet sticks to everything. We locals know even today not to drive on our dirt roads after rain – you are guaranteed to get bogged. The old saying is “You stick to the Wimmera and the Wimmera sticks to you”. The process of fallowing went on until finished, about August.

When I went ploughing on a tractor in 1963 I covered about 25 acres a day and did not stop to scrape the plough until I finished the paddock.

In 1980s we stopped ploughing; instead we ripped the ground with points on the scarifier. The late 1990s saw the introduction of minimum tillage. Today we direct drill the seed with an air seeder behind a tractor fitted with GPS steering. Global Precision Satellite steering has made our work more accurate and efficient, reducing our input cost for seed, fertilizer, chemicals and fuel.

Early days of Murtoa and district The first child born in Murtoa was Emma Friend; her father worked on the Longerenong Station. The first settlers were the Degenhardt brothers and their families, Martin Uhe and his family and Paul Anders and his family. These men and women came from Germany to South Australia –eventually coming overland to here. The pegged their claims around Lake Marma because it offered reliable water. Degenhardt pegged his claim from today’s Memorial Gates north 40 chains, half mile –360 acres. When surveyed for a township he lost 100 acres and to allow for the Degenhart home the streets were shifted, hence the bend in the junction of Comyn Street and the Wimmera Highway.

The pioneers were very inventive people. They used their own implements – after living in tents they built their own houses, mainly of timber they cut down and mud and straw mixed together to “pug” the walls. They felled trees for posts, rails, housing, and sheds. The straightest timber was native pine. They used axes, adzes, shovels and crowbars.

Town Rivalry between Murtoa and Rupanyup With only sixteen kilometres (9 miles) separating Murtoa and Rupanyup, there has been long standing rivalry between the two towns. In 1886 it was planned to extend the rail line from Murtoa to Rupanyup. Rupanyup would not agree to this idea. After much discussion the Rupanyup finally agreed for the rail line to come from Lubeck (10 miles south of Murtoa, closer to Melbourne.) Passenger services would stop at Lubeck for Rupanyup town’s people, so they didn’t have to come to Murtoa.

Murtoa, Minyip and Rupanyup made up the Dunmunkle Shire. The Shire Offices were located in Rupanyup. In the early1900s a contractor was arranged to relocate the Offices to Murtoa – the Rupanyup community were against this move. Not to be beaten a group of young Murtoa men stole into Rupanyup during the night and took the Offices to Murtoa –9miles away. They used three teams of horses, saving the strongest team for the last mile, which was ‘uphill.’ The offices were put down on stumps where the Child and Maternal Health Centre is today.

33

P P o o s s t t e e Museum of Chinese-Australian History r r

Renée Gardiner and Lorinda Cramer p p Fields of Green and Gold: Chinese in North West Victoria – a r r regional view of economic pursuits e e s s The poster presentation focused on three aspects of Chinese economic pursuits in e e the Wimmera-Mallee region, including rural labour, market gardening and gold n n mining. The posters displayed the relationships between the space and place that t t is the Wimmera-Mallee and the Chinese migrants that contributed and continue to a a contribute to its cultural heritage. t t

i At a macro level, evidence of the Chinese occupation in the region remains in i o o structural form. Many Chinese labourers were involved in the construction of masonry and timber woolsheds from the early 1850s. Examples include the n n woolshed and cookhouse at Mundarra Station (1851) and the woolshed at s s Benayeo Station (1850s). The Chinese were also significant in the founding of

Ararat, which grew from their discovery of an incredibly rich shallow alluvial gold deposit, known as the Canton Lead.

From a micro point of view evidence of the Chinese relationship to the land remains as archaeological sites relating mainly to gold mining and market gardening pursuits. At some point in almost every town in Victoria, Chinese market gardens contributed to local fresh food supply. While agricultural activities within the gardens took place on a much smaller and more delicate scale than those associated with wheat and other crop farming in the district their cultural heritage significance is no less important.

Remnants of Georgie Ah Ling’s garden located in Donald are a beautiful example of a regional Chinese market garden. The garden, which is included on the Victorian Heritage Register (H0873), was established from about the 1920s to the 1980s. Georgie had family connections with other gardeners working in Boort, Ararat and Ballarat which shows the distribution of family ties woven across the landscape. A contemporary theme and economic pursuit related to market gardening and food supply is Chinese restaurants; several are located throughout the region.

The early Chinese were pioneers. The term ‘pioneer’ has typically been associated with men and women of Anglo descent. We must reflect and reconsider the validity of this image. To view the Chinese as sojourners, a transient floating population, does them a great injustice. They have had an incredibly rich and colourful influence on our cultural heritage.

34

Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum

Val Gregory As you know, the Water Tower is listed on the Heritage Register. Originally the Historical Society purchased the building from the Railways for $1. This cost did not include the land (try explaining this to 90 year olds!) At some stage the land was transferred to Yarriambiack Shire. Early this year the Shire transferred it to us – so we now own both the land and the building.

The James Hill taxidermy Collection somehow (still not quite sure, neither are others) became a part of the Fisheries & Wildlife Department, with the proviso it must never leave Murtoa. The Lions Club of Murtoa then undertook to be responsible for it and its upkeep. The F&W Dept. arranged for a full audit to be carried out (we have a copy of the audit, the original is somewhere in the deep dark underground cellars of what is now Dept of Sustainability, etc.), and a Scientific Licence was issued to the Murtoa Lions. (Fortunately for me my husband Syd is a member of Murtoa Lions, and a Past District Governor.) After consultation with the Historical Society the Collection was housed in the Water Tower.

Predominantly the birds are from Australia. Strangely, we don’t have a corella in the collection. Also in the collection are – a Kangaroo (with a very checkered past), emu (there were 2, each having a great tale to tell) echidnas, snakes, several goannas, legless lizards, lizards, bats, and other mammals (which were thought to be extinct. These were “given” to the Melbourne Museum, and we received photographs of them. There are also over 600 birds’ eggs from the tiniest to the largest. Many of the birds are still housed in their original cases. James also collected shells and crabs, and we still have some of these (also in their original cases).

James was a Methodist Lay Preacher, and sent money overseas to Missions. In return all he wanted back were “skins” of their local birds. Therefore, we have possibly the largest collection of American Cuckoos in the world as well as other species. We also have birds from New Guinea, including the Blyth’s Horn Bill (one of the ugliest but beautiful birds in my opinion). One little green bird came all the way from South Africa.

James came from England at the age of 5 with his family. His father had dabbled in taxidermy in the U.K. and taught James how to do it. James became a world authority on beetles and insects – we do not have this collection, the family sold it privately. James used to visit local schools to educate them on all of the above, and what it would mean if they lost their habitat – today’s topics.

Amongst the Australian birds are the “Plains Wanderer” and a yellow bird similar to a canary. The Plains Wanderer is a scientific marvel in that it has no other similar species or sub-species. The “canary” is actually a mutant of a sparrow.

Video presentations on the James Hill Taxidermy Collection are shown in this building, together with stories on how the taxidermy was done, the saga of the kangaroo, and where and when one of the goannas was caught.

The first floor has written stories of the early days of the railways, farming implements and farming from the early days, and a great collection of photographs. One photo is particular – Carl Hempel, a German migrant, with a great story (also featured on video presentation in Concordia) – Carl was a master craftsman in stonemasonry and timber. He made his own traditional coffin, which he kept under his bed and used as a storage for apples and walnuts; his children would never touch the coffin! He also knew he was

35 Poster presentation – Murtoa & District Historical Society & Community Museum

going to die during 1901-9, so he carved his own tombstone with all the words he wanted (all in German) and the figure 190 so the missing digit would be put in when he died; unfortunately he died in 1910 and the tombstone had to be altered accordingly – this became 190 with a 1 across the 0.

The next floor contains some clothing, many household and farm implements and general artefacts indicative of the area.

Concordia College building – on National Trust Regional Importance Register. Concordia was built in 1890 as a Lutheran training College and an education college open to other students of different religions. There were 10 buildings in the original cluster. In 1980 they travelled from America to teach and study in Murtoa. A few students and pastors drowned on the way over. Therefore Concordia was an important part of Australian history in that in the 1890s they TRAVELLED from USA to study. MIGRATION & IMMIGRATION, as some stayed others returned to America. EDUCATION, RELIGION, SPORTS (they had tennis, football, cricket, athletics and competed against other schools), SOCIAL and INTERSTATE (they came from all walks of life in Australia to attend this prestige school). The College was very well known for its academic studies, as shown by their Matriculation marks and University passes. Two students were drowned in the lake, when found they were wrapped in each other’s arms. It is believed one fell from the boat (they had “pinched” from the local undertaker) and the other dived in to save his friend.

At the end of 1904 it was decided to move the college to Adelaide, where it is a very successful college in its own rights today.

All but the building we have were demolished. The building was removed from its original site (opposite the showgrounds) to Cromie Street, and was used as a Salvation Army Hall, and later a private home. It was purchased for the Historical Society and given to us free gratis. It was moved to where it is now (and hopefully its last resting place).

Within Concordia you will find history and photographic details of the earliest settlers. Coromby Brass Band, which is the oldest longest-running brass band in the world, features in our video presentations, together with this and photos/stories it shows the importance of a band to any country town. We also have three gorgeous wedding dresses (one brown and two white) from the earliest 1900s. The brown dress is very unusual in style, similar to what is worn when riding side-saddle today, and the daughter of the bride in brown wore one of the white dresses. Another very different one – a child’s jumper made from socks, you can’t see where they have been joined to make this.

Obviously there are many photographs of Concordia Murtoa, including the first student, and, shock horror, a report card. Two beautiful German Bibles can be seen.

The Marma Masonic Masters Board, and a few Masonic “jewels” take up one wall. Stories and pictures of the Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist churches also are exhibited. Obviously the building is definitely not “just German.” It actually is very ecumenical.

There are three musical organs – one beautiful large ornate organ from the early Lutheran Church; one travelling organ for the young children to practice on during the early 1950s; the other one is from the Kewell Church of England, and we have been informed it is very valuable because of the different woods used.

In other words, we have much to show those willing to visit.

36

Millewa Pioneer Village, Meringur

Heather Yates Our village is set on 12 hectares at Meringur in the far north-west corner of the state. We have 17 buildings and many other attractions including a working horse works, hand pump and items of machinery set among natural scrub and a plantation of native trees with plaques as memorials to our pioneers. A feature is larger that life sized figures from an original pioneering families photos which is the National Memorial to the Dryland Pioneers of Australia.

It is open every day, and we have a special open day on the first Sunday each October, which takes the form of a working history day. This day includes BBQ lunch and fresh scones from our baker’s oven. Some of our historic building include a pine chaff shed, blacksmith’s shop, original settlers cottage, a school, railway station and guards van, and a pine log hut from the 1880s rescued from Kulnine station. These are all filled with the history of the Millewa and surrounded by other items of interest –and peace and quiet.

Visitors are always welcome, we have toilets, outdoor seats and tables and BBQ facilities. When you visit please sign our visitors book and leave a small donation.

Shadows of the Past

Simpson's Cottage, Millewa Pioneer Park at Meringur

37

A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation

Associate Professor Bernie Joyce School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne

William Blandowski, naturalist, scientist, explorer, Government Zoologist and the first Curator of the Melbourne museum, rode westwards on a hot summer day in 1856 with one of the Beveridges of Tyntynder Station. The dense Mallee vegetation proved a hazard as they sped across the wooded landscape to investigate a strange soft-floored depression about 20 miles west of the River Murray. Known today as the Towan Plains reserve, and formerly mined for gypsum, the depression’s scattered trees have now died as the saline groundwater has risen.

Now most of the original plains vegetation has been cleared, but one exception - an area about 250 m by 350 m - survives on a red Mallee soil farm not far from the River Murray town of Nyah. As a child I saw this area as a “great forest” stretching southwards from my grandparent’s ripple iron house and earlier log cabin.

Last year, 70 years later, I walked through it from one end to the other. I identified Yellow Mallee (E. incrassata) and perhaps also White Mallee and Bull Mallee, and recorded a short video on a digital camera, complete with the sounds of birds and the wind.

On the State Government 1:100 000 topographic map sheet, and on Google, this isolated area of trees stands out as a dark rectangle on the bare red and brown soils of the otherwise treeless Mallee dunes, farmed for over 100 years since my grandfather first settled there.

Blandowski’s ride would have passed due west from Tyntynder Station, and straight through this remaining patch of Mallee.

TWO QUESTIONS:

Is such a stand of surviving Mallee of landscape heritage value today?

And if so, could it be preserved?

Footnote BLANDOWSKI, WILLIAM (1822-1878), naturalist, was born on 21 January 1822 in Gliwice (Gleiwitz), Upper Silesia, son of a Prussian lieutenant-colonel of the Medical Corps and his wife, née von Woyrsch. The Blandowski family, well known since 1610 and bearing the coat of arms of 'Wieniawa', was of Polish origin and belonged to the Silesian nobility, but later became germanized, abandoning the Roman Catholic faith for the Lutheran. On 31 August 1834 Blandowski entered the Royal Prussian Cadets at Chelmno (Kulm) but was dismissed or left at his own request on 5 August 1836. Whatever his education he was once described as a mining engineer by profession.

He arrived in Australia in 1849. On 2 December 1856 the government appointed him leader of an expedition to investigate the natural history of the region at the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers, with a view to collecting specimens for the National Museum. Aided by a German naturalist, Gerard Krefft, and overcoming many personal and physical setbacks often created by his own faults, Blandowski accomplished his task, arriving in Adelaide in August 1857 with twenty-eight boxes containing 17,400 specimens.

38 Poster presentation – A relict stand of original red dune Mallee vegetation

The relict stand of original Mallee vegetation in a sea of ploughed red dunes, as seen on Google Earth (2008) Downloaded by Bernie Joyce 15th April 2008

39

W W o o r r k k Workshop discussion summary s s h h Topics o o 1. 'Mud or dust' - the heritage of drought and water supply in the Wimmera-Mallee p p s s 2. 'Silos like deserted cathedrals' - the impact of railways on the Wimmera-Mallee landscape

– – 3. 'It's flat, dry and intriguing' - tourism, recreation and the cultural

landscape of the Wimmera-Mallee d d 4. 'What are the flora and fauna telling us?' - management of the natural i i heritage values of the Wimmera/Mallee s s c c 5. 'Something out of nothing' - rural heritage and the Mallee/Wimmera landscape u u s s 6. 'What have we learnt?' - tools for interpreting and promoting the character and heritage of the Wimmera-Mallee landscape s s i i o o n n

'Mud or dust' - the heritage of drought and s s water supply in the Wimmera/Mallee u u Workshop facilitator: Juliet Bird m m

Our history is inscripted in the landscape for those who want to see it m m

a The group discussed two aspects of water and heritage: a r r (a) the natural water landscape, which has been affected by extraction of y y water, changes in run-off, etc, and will now have a major impact from climate change and

(b) the structures associated with water management

Nature and water • Wet lands • Terminal lakes • Natural water holes • Streams • Canoe tree • Creeks • Blue gums plantations • Waterways • River flows • Natural Springs

Structure and water • Canoe/pullie • Environment water allocation • Channels • Bores • Pipelines • Tanks • Dams • Gray water (recycled water) • Windmills • Water conservation • Pumps • Unbungling water/land • Whim horse • Stock and domestic water

40 Workshop – discussion summary

What do we want to preserve? 1. Need to identify where important water related sites are, educate young and old, tourist/drives 2. And to recognise that water is life; life is our heritage and our experience and our future

Pre 1800s Wim horse Waranga scoping dams channels Minimal 1920

2000 Pullie IMPACT 1927 Pipeline restore environment Mallee channel flows dams

Restoring incidents via interventions

Started to worry about impact of water intervention Rocklands Dam 1962

Changing attitudes to water management in the Wimmera

We can learn from past practices – an important value of heritage e.g. best practices of what has survive

Ways of learning:

• Field days • Understand importance of terminal lakes • Landcare • Footprints of farm practices • Competitions • Recognise Wetland complex system • Greening Australia

“The old ways not necessary the wrong way”

41 Workshop – discussion summary

'Silos like deserted cathedrals' - the impact of railways on the Wimmera/Mallee landscape

Workshop facilitator: Neville Wale

The Selection Act of 1869 opened up of the Wimmera to grain farming in the early 1870s accompanied by rapid expansion of the rail network which continued up 1930s providing access to most of the arable land in the western plains.

Early railways were labour intensive - train servicing facilities provided employment and necessitated major locomotive servicing centres and infrastructure such as water towers at regular intervals to meet needs of locomotives.

Heavy horse transport gave way to motor trucks in the 1920s for not only farm to rail head transport but longer journeys. Bagged grain was loaded manually from dray or truck to train, and exported in small ships from various ports – usually Melbourne or Geelong.

In the 1930s the small ships were replaced by larger steamers and bulk grain handling methods were widely adopted with the establishment of the Grain Elevators Board in 1934

At the end of WW2 the Victorian Railways replaced ageing locomotives and rolling stock with new J and R Class steam engines. However in 1952 the first Clyde–GM “B” Class diesels went into service needing neither specialized coal, nor highly specialized and fit crews.

Communities along the rail network declined as steam locomotive depots closed and passenger services were replaced by road transport. Numbers of branch lines also closed, their buildings removed and other material such as bridge girders reused to upgrade functioning lines.

Rail freight services are increasingly the province of private operators. Modern methods of farming place emphasis on large scale operations, greater diversity of crop, with bulk handling and storage facilities. Many older forms of storage such as grain silos are threatened with redundancy.

• Railways had social as well as economic impact – important locations marked by infrastructure such as water towers. • Silos, water towers, telephone lines and lattice communication towers are vertical elements or reference points in the landscape of the western plains. • Railway reserves, like streamlines, are marked by remnant vegetation significant within the plains landscape. • Railway reserves function as biolinks. • Past regular burning of railway reserves developed certain herb ecology - now changing because the former burning regime is too labour intensive. • Change from bagged grain to bulk handling and replacement of steam locomotives with diesels has increase efficiency but impacted on communities. • Need to look at alternatives for retention of population and services. • Railway use reduces road traffic, improves amenity in cities and towns along rail routes and is the most efficient user of transport energy. • Silos, like cathedrals, are the “lighthouses of the plains”. Like community centres and places of worship they need support to find alternative use for future generations.

42 Workshop – discussion summary

• Leave concrete silos standing as symbols in recognition of the way of life of the community they represent.

Issues

1. Water 2. Landscape 3. Cropping • Infrastructure of • Visual impact of railways as • Infrastructure (silos) railways such as water defining element in the introduced after towers now largely landscape. 1920s response to redundant. • Linear routes containing remnant bulk handling needs. • Towers are now rare and vegetation valuable as biolinks. • Encourage other uses are of significance. • Encourage restoration of habitat that facilitate • Examine carbon offsets through carbon offsets. retention. and rate rebates. • Rail reserves alternative use as • Document and recreational trails. photograph silos.

'It's flat, dry and intriguing' - tourism, recreation and the cultural landscape of the Wimmera-Mallee

Workshop facilitator: Helen Martin

Characteristics • All landscape is ‘cultural’. • Big sky landscape, distance is relative. • ‘Dark sky’ (no light pollution); extensive ‘star scape’ – something that that is very attractive to visitors. • Vegetation: Bulokes, Sheoaks, open woodland, August flowering in grasslands and heathlands. • The openness, flatness, mirages, morning fog and frost, sunrise and sunset. • Pink salt lake, birdlife, sound across the landscape.

Myths and stores • Duff children – story of rescue after being lost in the bush (1864) • German history (1870 selection) • Aboriginal sites, canoe trees.

Built fabric • Brickworks, remains of German building styles, below ground rooms • Mud brick • Remains of farming technology • Windmills for power, gas works

43 Workshop – discussion summary

• The town in the landscape – very important, given the length of views • Silos as focal points.

‘Symbolic’ tree on local property • Scar where bark removed for canoe (tree continue to live) • Scar from ring- barking to make way for agriculture (tree killed) • Demonstrates different attitudes to the land and its vegetation.

Issues • Funds for museums and maintenance of collections. • Lack of good accommodation and tourism information. • Volunteers not always well suited to the role of interpretation. • Quality of publications for marketing. • Need to understand what we’ve got! This includes ‘Modernist’ sites, e.g. some fine inter-War architecture. • How to penetrate the area? Guidance of tours, threats of loss. • Loss of young people. • Loss of vegetation, need for basic maintenance. • Need for more indigenous planting, direction on where urban growth goes, protection of water catchments. • The region is seen as a ‘drive through’ space, rather than as a destination in its own right. • This is the ‘outback’ of Victoria. • Travel is solitary and many visitors touch the towns lightly. They come to camp in the Parks or for recreational activities, but don’t engage with the people or culture. • Climate change: less vegetation may make the landscape less appealing. • Owners’ rights vs. heritage - sometimes controls are not wanted!

Summary of points • Recognition of ‘what’s there’ – the need to protect existing fabric, both built and living. • Support for tourism, including: – facilities – breadth of ‘product’, better services – a more sophisticated approach – accommodation, food! • ‘Containing’ a town character that protects the local identity. • A need to attract young professionals and provide the things they value. • Funding for services. • The need for ‘sustainable’ landscapes and protection of vegetation. • Sustaining the environment is essential to sustaining communities.

44 Workshop – discussion summary

'What are the flora and fauna telling us?' - management of the natural heritage values of the Wimmera/Mallee

Workshop facilitator: John Hawker

• Strong interaction between vegetation and soil types, and rainfall. • The flora and fauna can change within a few kilometres of each other. • Great diversity of flora and fauna – need to observe, some subtle and others marked. It’s not all the same! • 25% of wetlands in West Wimmera. • Clearing done on better soils for farming • National Parks on poor soils • Sugar Gums grown to drain swamps, a potential source of disease , eg typhoid,. • Monterey Pines, Sugar Gums and Pepper Trees were the main trees planted around 1900 and early 1900s. Now dieing and disappearing. The planting of Aleppo Pines is changing the landscape. • Need to use the landscape, ‘new people’ don’t understand, • For 6 months the bush is dry, the other 6 months the bush is green. • Trees in the paddocks are a feature, but now disappearing due the age, impact of farming and changes in farming practices • Roadsides, aim to increase planting and increase width of ‘corridors’ and provide connection for wildlife and plant survival. • 5 chain roads have significant habitat and revegetation opportunities • Buloke country – lots dying, ringbarked in 1880s. Poor regrowth and slow to establish • Landcare and Greening Australia symposium on one species or community – successful in increasing awareness in the community. • Rare Plants Committee – CMA (biodiversity) and conservation groups. • Removal of rabbits and stock on roads has been good for revegetation. • Removal of trees, require 10 new tress/removed tree. 75% required in 5yrs but not monitored. The drought has a large impact on revegetation. • Mines, agreements to plant up other areas. • Some roadsides under cultivation for cropping, threat to vegetation and soil.

Need a Wimmera Land Trust, coordinate various groups, and increase expertise. Successful groups in revegetation.

• Funding for fences. • Habitat 141 – brings 3 states together, farmers and landcare groups. • Now buy land, plant – carbon offsets, bush tender. • Clearing of the Little Desert, now marginal, biolink, Little Desert and Sunset, Envirofund, council. • Expanding width of roads – ‘corridors’, give farmers money for fencing. • Adopt a tree – difficult to manage, not sustainable.

45 Workshop – discussion summary

• Need connections (e.g. Hindmarsh) Little Desert and Big Desert. • Use disused railway lines. • Indigenous vegetation, includes area and threatened species, eg Acacia pendula. • Vermin and weed control. Weeds, include olives, bridal creeper, and horehound • Can’t leave everything up to ‘nature’. • Use local knowledge – ‘ownership’, part of decision making. • Post World War II, West Australian natives planted (influenced by Alf Grey & Bill Middleton) by CRB and were propagated at Wail Nursery. • Scar trees are protected but are disappearing due to decay

'Something out of nothing' - rural heritage and the Mallee/Wimmera landscape

Workshop facilitator: John Dwyer

Space – geographical • flatness – low horizon • big sky • no view points/always ‘in it’

Importance of community • settlers • challenge of survival within landscape • declining population of concern

Built landscape • Silos – prominent landmarks/physical presence & symbolic – food – are they full/empty? fluctuating riches – past wealth – stand for “monoculture” • Railways

Murtoa as a place to – live in OR – pass through to destination …

È Water – major issue: • cultural/changes: – eg recreation È (sailing È), È fishing/yabbies – lakes È - towns were built near them in Wimmera, can they be preserved? • Pipelines: - open channels, closed channels – in landscape • Settlement can’t survive without water

46 Workshop – discussion summary

Wind? • but ‘no wind breaks’/plantings/hedges • windmills • soils blowing across landscape

Trees • sugar gums – remain as monument to buildings/property now gone, preserved/ replaced (symbolic of absent people)

Dry land farming area • unique farming challenge • depend on natural rainfall • ‘wait and hope’

How is community responding to change? • What to do about È population • Need to maintain basic infrastructure • Its (communities) capacity to sustain ‘wait and hope’ view of those remaining is vital

Does the communities sense of past help with its sense of the future? • Appreciated more as get older • Young more interest in immediate world – need relics for future interpretation

'What have we learnt?' - tools for interpreting and promoting the character and heritage of the Wimmera/Mallee landscape

Workshop facilitator: Renee Gardiner

What are the important characteristics of Wimmera-Mallee • Big old eucalypts in low lying areas • Waterways & associated vegetation • Irrigation • Single trees in paddocks • Vertical silos acting as sign posts for town • Roadways, stock routs • Towns • Cleared land • Farm buildings – corrugated iron sheds

47 Workshop – discussion summary

• Powerlines • Fences • Openness, big sky • Exotics – prickly pear (weed)

Issues and possible future directions • Historical village • Historical societies – fabulous repositories of local information & knowledge but they need to be brought together on a larger scale – pooling of resources – large scale approach • Feed oral history into a bigger project make part of virtual experiences • Oral history project capturing knowledge of generations (farming families) • Digitisation of historical e.g. newspapers • Visually through art – thematic approach • Tourist outlets • Make use of internet • Councils, regional bodies, state bodies – funding & resources – intellectual resources • Car, clubs, motorbikes club – attracting tourists – flow on effect to local economy • Individual markets – branding landscape • Big events – bring people to region – and then promote heritage • Geo Park – individual elements within the boarder landscape • Virtual tourism – making use of Google Earth & various overlays. geological/geomorph maps, photographs of landscape, photographs of townscapes, historical information • Thematic studies – guiding planning decisions • Thematic histories – regional approach to the elements of collections that are on display in local museums

3 most important values: 1. Vegetation 2. Towns 3. History of land use, farming landscape

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t Field trip t o o u Saturday 19 April 2008 u r Trip planned and led by Horsham Historical Society Secretary, Lindsay Smith r

Leave Horsham 9 am Travel up the Blue Ribbon Road to Dimboola passing through the Wimmera Plains and along the 5 Chain Minyip Road to Dimboola

Along the way plaques on memorials were pointed out to us showing us, that with reduction of population in area and increased use of cars, how much has been lost in terms of schools, churches etc

Site of Greenland Dam State School 2042 1880/86-1887/96-1906/53 Also Tennis Club 1902/1923-1945/1957 Unveiled October 22 1995

Kalkee Methodist Church First erected 1876. 1 kilometre north closed on this site 17-8-1975

Centenary This plaque commemorates 100 years of education at Kalkee Primary School no. 1840 1877 – 1977

Kalkee Primary School no. 1840 In commemoration of closure after 117 years of education 1877 – 1993. Unveiled 5 December 1993

This plaque commemorates the selection of land 315 acres by James Reynolds on August 25 1874.

In March 1875, James, his wife Flora and their two sons, John and Alexander moved from Strathalbyn to take possession. In the following years five more boys were born and added to the family, Donald, Harold, James (Dec 1894), Bert and Charles. Unveiled 17 October 2004

We drove past the Sailors Home Hall James Ryan Kelly, known as 'Sliprail' (a teenage nickname that carried through his life), was born in 1876 and was the second son of Mr and Mrs J. B. Kelly. He married Margaret May Cassidy. The estate grew to 1100 acres which incorporated the historic Sailor's Home property. A small piece of the Sailor's Home property (otherwise known as the Blackheath Homestead) was donated on which the Sailor's Home Hall was later built. The hall was officially opened by James Ryan on October 16 1923. James was the first person holding the secretary role of the hall, carrying this official duty from 1923 to 1925. He was also a councillor of the Wimmera Shire and was involved with the Victorian Farmers Union. He loved politics and poetry. In later years he wrote articles for the Mail Times on a regular basis giving his opinion and views on any topic. Armed with an astounding knowledge of local affairs, his advice was keenly sought. During 1925 he moved to Horsham and towards the end of his farming career he let out land and sold parts off until the last of the estate was sold in 1953. James Ryan died in 1954 aged 78.

This plaque commemorates the site of Murra Warra State School No. 2344 opened Jan 1881 closed Dec 1980. Unveiled March 1994

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Plaque read Francis Smith marked this allotment of 320 acres on 18 December 1873 at 2 pm. He applied for a licence on 18 May 1874, purchase was completed on 7 February 1884. Francis Smiths’ family sold to Victor Percival Lehmann in 1920. This plaque was unveiled at a Smith Family reunion on 15 April 2006, 150 years after Francis Smith arrived in Adelaide.

Francis Smith’s selection On 9 August 1877 Francis Smith made a declaration at Dimboola in front of William Henry Lloyd JP that he had met the requirements of the first three years of the selection process. He had constructed a five room house in which he was living with his family. This house was 37 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet high and constructed of peasy walls (semi-dry earth of a low clay content rammed into temporary formwork), plastered inside with a grass roof. It was valued at £65. Part of the application is shown below.

Adjoining landowners, G.F. Miller (north side) and Drabsch and Harders (west side) each paid their own share of fencing. The fencing consisted of:

Post, Rail and Wire 90 chains @12/6 £56.5.0 Post and Wire 154 chains @12/6 £96.5.0

Cultivation he had carried out consisted of

Number of acres Cost per Crop Yield per Total ploughed and cultivated acre acre First year 40 acres 25/- Wheat 13 £50.0.0 Second year only 70 acres 25/- Wheat 6 £87.10.0 Third year only 70 acres 25/- Wheat £62.10.0

He had stable and shed that was 36 feet long and 18 feet wide valued at £20 and a barn that was 28 feet long and 18 feet wide valued at £20. Both buildings were wood with straw roofs. There were two dams valued at £30 and £15. The first was 25 yards by 10 yards and 2 yards deep and the other was 25 yards by 7 yards and 4 feet deep. The lease was approved.

Group split into 2 to visit the Dimboola Banner office and the Court House both managed by the Dimboola and District Historical Society

The Dimboola Banner The first issue of the Dimboola Banner was printed on May 10th 1879 by Chicago born Henry Bond Barnes who had previously shared ownership of newspapers in Beaufort The Riponshire Advocate and East Charlton The East Charlton Tribune. It appears the printing plant had been set up by one John Edgar in late 1878. Barnes only stayed three years in Dimboola before selling up. He became a colourful character in the newspaper industry, going on to establish the Nhill Free Press and eight more rural newspapers throughout the state. Over the years the Banner was printed in four different town locations. The present building has been the home of the Banner since 1929. The print Museum became a project of the Dimboola & District Historical Society in late 2003 when the paper and premises were put up for sale. The Dimboola banner is one of the oldest continuously printed newspapers under its original title in the Wimmera-Mallee region. It is now printed in Warracknabeal although the premises are still used by the local journalist.

The Dimboola Court House The original Dimboola Court House building was designed by A T Snow of the Public Works Department, and erected in 1875 by R Spry of Horsham at a cost of £660. It was located at 51-61 Lloyd Street on the Police Reserve some 200 metres south of its present site. The building was also used for the first meetings of the Lowan Shire Council before

50 Day tour

the Shire Hall was completed in 1877. A Magistrate’s room and a 15’ extension of the courtroom was agreed to in 1899 after considerable community demands for a completely new court house. In 1913 the court was upgraded to County Court status and another room was added for the use of the jury. This new status was withdrawn, however, in 1917. In 1998 the Court House was sold by the Dept of Natural Resources and Conservation who had taken possession of it in 1987. The building was to be demolished by the purchaser but a public campaign led by the Dimboola & District Historical Society saved the building and saw it relocated to its present site where it (along with a two-roomed extension at the rear) became the home of the Society and its museum.

Ebenezer Mission Our Land – Our People In Wotjobaluk country our people spoke the Wergaia language. A total of 57 clans were divided into two major clan groups, the Wergaia and Jardwadjali. The areas we occupied stretched from Ouyen to the Northern Grampians, down to Cavendish and around to the South Australian border.

We had a good life, shifting around in our own clan area, depending on the season, in order to hunt and gather our food.

Our elders taught us the history, knowledge and laws of our country. We learnt where to collect food in the different seasons. They taught us the many skills required to survive in our fry country.

The knowledge and skills were developed over more than 40,000 years. Our people learnt to be good conservationists, collecting what was necessary for survival and leaving enough for future years.

Then a change occurred with the new sickness spreading across the land and reducing our population. This occurred before the passage of the explorer Major Mitchell through our land.

After the explorers, squatters came to our land. In October 1847 George Shaw and Horatio Ellerman brought sheep that started to eat our food supply.

We tried to protect our land and food source, but hunger drove us to eat sheep. This upset Horatio Ellerman who took punitive action resulting in our men folk disappearing and our women and children hiding in the bush.

Wild shooting into the bushes b Horatio Ellerman resulted in the death of one of our women. Horatio Ellerman found the dead woman with her son still clinging to her neck. This child was later named Willie Wimmera, although we knew him as Jimmy Crow.

More change occurred when a house was built on our corroboree grounds. Two missionaries, Spieske and Hagenauer moved in to this house.

Our life was about to change again. Food was being offered to our women and children, who were starving. So the women moved into the Mission Station area. Our men were not so sure, and did not follow the women. Eventually Phillip Pepper, who had been converted to the new religion, convinced them that they would be safe living at the Mission Station.

Many of our traditional practices were discarded, although the men would kill animals for meat and the women still gathered what they could find.

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New skills were learnt while helping to build a log church and huts of wood and stone for permanent homes. We helped clear our land, set up an orchard, vegetable garden and to grow crops.

All our work was paid for, and we could purchase food and clothing from the Mission Station. The main source of income was managing sheep.

We were good workers and our labour was in demand by squatters and our labour was in demand by squatters and later by settlers. The money we were paid caused problems for our people when a Wine Shanty opened at Nine Creeks (now Dimboola).

People from other clans, some as far away as the Murray River, were shifted to the Mission Station. The change of diet and white man’s diseases meant many deaths and all were buried near the church regardless of whether this was the land of their clan or not.

The missionaries recorded 94 burials between 1875 and 1901. later investigation indicates there are around 150 burials in the area of the church.

The legacy of the Mission Station is the loss of our history, much of our language, our names, culture and sustainable lifestyle. We gained improved shelter, food production skills and learnt to trade our effort for money to purchase our requirements. Our thanks go to the missionaries, who offered protection resulting in the survival of our people.

The history of the mission is now interwoven with our history and has become an important part of our heritage.

Wimmera Mallee Museum, Jeparit The Wimmera Mallee Pioneers Museum was originally started off by the efforts of one man who would see that the days of horse drawn machines were coming to a close. From this came the idea to collect some of the very early pieces of machinery which grew into what is now known as the Wimmera Mallee Pioneers Museum. The Museum is located on the 4ha of land adjacent to the Wimmera River on the outskirts of Jeparit which was officially opened on September 3, 1970 by Sir Henry Bolte the then Premier of Victoria. The Hindmarsh Shire Council has the overall control of the museum but the day to day operations of the Museum are carried out by volunteers on a roster system. The volunteers under guidance of a committee help to look after the surrounds and any other jobs that come up, this helps to maintain the image of the Museum as you see it today.

As the Museum grew it was decided to collect household items as well as machinery. The committee were able to procure several old buildings and halls were rebuilt at the Museum as was the case with Albacutya Homestead. These buildings are classified by the National Trust and period furnished. The surrounds of the house have been maintained to help in giving a vision of station life; old fences, wool presses and the like give a portrait of white settlement in the area.

Over the years and even right up to today we are still being offered various bits and pieces of by gone days which has allowed the coverage of a wide range of many different things. From these donations the Museum has been able to keep items in reserve and periodically change the displays. This stops the complex from becoming static and persons re-visiting the museum always find something new to retain their interest. Items of farm machinery are being added when available and in this way the sequence from the time of the first settlers is maintained.

52 Day tour

Machinery The machinery display at the museum is the latest collection in Australia and ranges from very early blacksmith made cultivating machines to early model strippers and harvesters for the 1890s right up till the 1940s. The H. V. McKay Pavilion houses a collection of restored McKay implements. A wide range of early model oil engines which were used to drive stationery machines such as chaff cutters, grain thrashers etc are also on display. The tractors on display range from mainly 1920 to 1940 models and are kept in running order. Almost all machinery is restored to working order and are given a run every now and again.

Buildings There are a number of early buildings on display and are as they were when originally built: • Flock owners’ Huts • Albacutya Homestead (c 1840) features axed logs with hand sawn timber frames in furnished with period items of the 1850-1900. • Werrap Hall (c 1886) made of wattle and daub displays household items and handcraft work. • Tarranyurk Hall (c 1922) of timber frame clad with small fluted iron is the display for saddlery, carpentry and plumbing tools along with and interesting display of weapons and stones used by the Aborigines of the area.

Other buildings exhibited are a country gaol of the 1800s, a rural state school, complete with desks, books, teacher’s desk and high stool and hand bell. Rural chemist shop has a complete dispensary and many items of patent medicines etc, rural church complete with organ, hymn books, pews and altar. The straw thatched roofed shed as used by the early pioneers for stables and machinery sheds. The Blacksmiths Shop features a forge complete with tools, iron tyre shrinker, anvils etc. The administration area is an early 1900 homestead which is characterised by the iron laceworked wide verandah and decorated ceilings.

Among the hundreds of household items in the Museum there are some of particular interest. A Spiral Turned Half Tester Bed made in 1790, an Edison Gramophone and Cylinder records and various other records. A combination Organ and Piano probably the only one in Australia along with various other records. A combination Organ and Piano probably the only one in Australia along with various other pianos and organs. A collection of ornate hanging kerosene lamps along with a Kangaroo Butter Churn, early model washing machine and refrigerators, button accordions and ornate clocks.

Briarley History When Alfred Deakin, late Prime Minister of Australia, visited the USA to study the latest techniques in irrigation in 1885, he met the Chaffey Brothers and persuaded them to commence a project in Mildura.

In 1997, new settlers came from all over the world, and began to plant their orchards. Mildura went through times of severe depression until in 1903 the new rail link with Melbourne gave an assured transport outlet.

The land that the Briarley House was built on was owned by various people, including Ben Chaffey, a relative of W.B. & George Chaffey, the founders of Mildura.

In 1909, the Briarley Home was built by Mr & Mrs Hubert Goldie. It was timber framed, with American Red Pine weather boards, with choice cas lace on both sides and front.

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Mrs Goldie was the widow of Mr J Burgess, who was the Customs Officer in Mildura, when the river was the main means of transport and trade between the states was subject to duty. Mr and Mrs Goldie lived in the vineyard until 1937, then went to live in Elwood. They died childless, Mr Goldie a few years prior to Mrs Goldie.

The house was built by Mr Austing who was also the undertaker in Moama.

In 1972 the property was sold by its owner of many years, Mr Briarley for subdivision.

The house was removed to Jeparit for the Wimmera Mallee Pioneers Museum, the building is used as an administrative block, also for sales of literature, souvenirs and for general tourist promotion. Mr Ken Wright, MLC for North Western Province was associated with Mr Griff Perkins in finding the property. The Mayor of Mildura, Mr Bruce Weir opened the house at the Museum on August 19.

Of the 23 acre property at Mildura, eight acres will be a parkland 15 subdivided.

An unusual feature of the subdivision is that the magnificent Norfolk Island Pine in what was formerly the front garden has been preserved, in spite of the fact that it is right in the middle of Sandpiper Drive the main street of the subdivision.

The street forks around both sides of the tree and must be the most expensive tree in the north west. Three feet of land has been taken form the park and from the corner allotment and expensive kerbing has been built around it.

Albacutya Homestead Albacutya lease was granted to John Coppock in 1846. The area extended from Lake Hindmarsh in the north of Lake Albacutya. Seven log cabins had been erected by 1850.

John Coppock never married and his nephew J.C. White succeeded him in 1865. His grave is on the Homestead site engraved thus: 1865 John Coppock An Honest Man

In 1877 the station was purchased by Spencer & Scott the price being £64,000. Stock on hand 26,000 sheep. The bushranger Dan Morgan held up the occupants in 1868, the staff were confined to the kitchen which is the bark roofed cabin at the rear of this building. The buildings were donated to the Museum by Mr & Mrs Petschel of Rainbow, the last owners.

The original site of the Homestead was about 25 miles north of the this spot on the southern end of Lake Albacutya.

The buildings were all measured and photographed before removal. The timbers in the Log Cabins were numbered before dismantling.

Timber used in restoration was cut in the vicinity of the original. All material (Red Gum and Native Pine) used in the buildings was cut from trees in the area have been vacuum pressured and treated against white ants.

Albacutya Station - 1846 Lease granted to John Coppock of Little River ( Inn keeper). Coppock settled at ‘Yon Yon’ in the sand hills on the north-east corner of Lake Hindmarsh near the 36th parallel. The station was called Halbacutya and Lake Albacutya was known as Halbacutya Lake. Robert William Von Steiglitz of Pine Hill Run (Lake Hindmarsh) protested that Coppock had settled on his boundary, Coppock moved permanently to the south end of Halbacutya

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Lake. Coppock died in 1865 and was buried on the station. J.C. White nephew of John Coppock became owner of the lease. Melbourne Banking Co appeared in control in 1867. John Coppock never married and it was an all male station until in 1868. Eugene O’Sullivan became manager and the front portion of Albacutya Homestead was built for residence. Mrs O’Sullivan remained at Nine Creeks (now Dimboola) awaiting arrival of their first child. This birth certificate is still held by the O’Sullivan family.

1870 – Lese purchased by Turnbull & Murray Smith. 1874 – Rowe Bros in possession. 1876 – Transferred to new Zealand Loan Co. 1877 – Purchased by Spencer & Scott for £32,000 ($64,000). 26,00 sheep were on the station at this period, rabbits appeared and ate the station out and the lease lapsed for several years. Later New Zealand Loan Co., again took up the lease with Scott as Manager. The lease was transferred to M.A. McCrae who remained until 1912. The area was much reduced in the late 1930s owing to subdivision for agriculture. 1912 – Tom Dumphy took over the home block followed by Norman Dart. Fred Liesfiels became owner in the 1920s followed by C.N. Gould and his sons. Mr & Mrs Len Petschel are now the owners and they made the homestead available to the Museum. 1968 – The Homestead was moved to the site at the Museum and was officially opened in 1970.

The Robert Menzies ‘Thistle’ at Jeparit This spire was erected in September 1966 to honour Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, former Prime Minister of Australia, who was born in Jeparit on 20 December, 1894.

Alfred Hermann Traeger Alfred Hermann Traeger was born at Glenlee, Victoria on 2 August 1895. Alf’s family moved to a farm near Balaklava in South Australia. As a schoolboy age of 12 years he successfully set up a communications link between the house and an implement shed 50 metres away. Bits and pieces from around the farm were used to make a microphone and earpiece. The diaphragm for the earpiece was made from a tobacco tine lid, the magnet was the prong of a pitchfork and the carbon for the microphone came from the kitchen stove.

At 16 Alf commenced studies at the Adelaide School of Mines where he completed a Diploma of Electrical Engineering. During his studies he became interested in the work of Guglielmo Marconi & Heinrich Hertz into the nature of radio waves.

Alf went on to become an Amateur Radio Operator with the call sign VK5AX. He was a member of the Wireless Institute of Australia – the oldest amateur radio society, which was established in 1910.

For his final practical examination at the School of Mines, Alf had to build a high voltage generator. Because of this project he met the Reverend John Flynn in 1925. Alf went on to invent a low cost pedal driven generator capable of producing about 20 watts of DC power to run a HF transceiver which could be used at remote stations all around Australia. The future of communications in Australia – the Pedal Wireless and the Royal Flying Doctor Service was decided by the ingenuity of Alf Traeger, and the vision of Reverend John Flynn.

In 1929 Alf installed the first RFDS base station at Cloncurry in Queensland. This was the first of many stations he installed and then trained operators.

Alf Traeger died in Adelaide on 31 July 1980.

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• 4 Mile beach on Lake Hindmarsh • Glenlee • Pink Lake • Grain silos Concrete silo construction 1. Silos were built by many specialized work gangs – housed in tent work camps and local billets. 2. Vic Railways construction teams and some local labour. Langford – name of railway engineer chief. 3. Foundations involved the digging of a 20 foot deep pit, by approx. 10 foot diameter. This provided the gravity feed to the elevator boot from the receival hopper and bin pipes all controlled by manual valves. 4. Form work was elevated by a series of jacks as the walls rose. 5. Wooden boxing held the concrete pouring – approx. 4 ft each around the bin. 2½ ft mobile gantry surrounds. Marks can be seen today both inside and out, often used to calculate stock inside. 6. Much steel was used to reinforce the concrete, each 12” there were 1” steel jack rods, hooking into each other at 4ft intervals. 7. Gravel and stone for cement mixing was usually obtained within the districts where silos were constructed such as Wal Wal (tram line), and local quarries. 8. Water was carted usually by Furphy tanks and horse from nearby dams. 9. A plumb bon suspended into a small circle at dead centre of silo pit provided the exact vertical for the upright construction of walls. 10. Carpenters were involved for the roof work and cupola area. Cupola is the name given to the workhouse above the bins. 11. Mechanisation was limited, horses used to lift concrete bucket trolleys to gantry by winch. Some small engines and pneumatics were in use, but mainly pick and shovel. Safety work practices were not existent. Workers were oblivious to vertigo, gravity and mortality. The job would not have got done today. When materials ran out workers were stood down without pay. It has been stated that up to 40 men would be at some sties waiting for work if available. 12. Silos were powered by 22hp KL engine driving a flat horizontal belt to a 4 sheaved pulley to run the vertical rope driven lift to the top of the elevator. Continuous rope 870 feet, 3 ½ times the height of the silo to lift the wheat up the conveyor belt. 365 buckets on a rubber elevator belt, 4 bolts holding each bucket to the belt. Only a few people knew how to join/splice the rope when it sometime broke! A suspended weight held the tension on the pulley ropes (i.e. the ½=4th rope). The KL engines were sold off after electric conversion. Some were then used as pumping units in irrigation districts and a few sold offshore to New Guinea. 13. A series of cables to the top of the elevator – known as distributor box, determined which bin the wheat was to go to. This was operated from the ground floor office bin inside the silo. Bins were known as up and down, engine and office. Up and down being railway terminology! Later bins were numbered (about 1975). 14. During construction there were several accidents resulting in deaths and injuries. Goornong and Lascelles were tow known sites. Reported that work gangs were rough and tough, and weekends could be wild! However labour was readily available with many men willing to do any form of work.

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p p p p e e n Railways and the Wimmera region n d Neville Wale d i i c

Initially the Colony of Victoria entered the railway age with private enterprise c developing the network in and from Melbourne. The first country railway (the e e Geelong and Melbourne Railway) opened in 1857. Because of a lack of private s capital it was not long before the Government intervened and took over the s construction of the main trunk railways of which the Mt Alexander and Murray River Railway north west to the goldfields of Castlemaine and Bendigo was the first. It was built to the British standards encouraged by the wealth flowing from Gold (1862-64). The North East Railway to Albury was opened in 1873.

Light lines Possibly because of the need to provide transport links to the rapidly expanding areas of the Colony encouraged by the Selection Act of 1869 which resulted in the opening up of the Wimmera to grain farming, the early 1870s were a time of rapid expansion of the rail network. They were also accompanied by cost cutting measures which ushered in the era of “Light Lines”. Further construction of the main lines occurred during this period as well as branch railways to places such as Daylesford and Wahgunya. Most of the goldfields towns were connected with the expanding network to ports such as Portland and Geelong.

Boom years and the octopus acts 1880s The 1880s saw the passage by the Victorian Parliament of the “Octopus” Act of 1884 which resulted in the construction of some 51 country lines and 8 suburban lines. Substantial brick station buildings were erected in important country towns and more elaborate decorated timber buildings in lesser towns, although the majority of stations on branch lines and branch termini received temporary timber buildings. Cutbacks in railway expenditure by 1890 were caused by the perception of excess and news papers of the day attacked the Railways Commissioners for extravagance:– bridges had been built to standards higher than deemed necessary, earthworks and embankments were excessive, stations were over manned, serious cost overruns had occurred during construction, station grounds were often too large, and standards generally higher than those adopted for minimum gradients and curves for “Light Lines”. Although railway construction in much of Victoria was severely curtailed in consequence, works continued in the Wimmera – Mallee.

Railways and population distribution The early railways were labour intensive and the need to locate personnel and train servicing facilities throughout the network provided employment and necessitated the building of housing for workers and their families in many towns along the routes. The driving and firing of stream locomotives was demanding on personnel involving long shifts and dirty working conditions. Key town became centres for major locomotive servicing such as Ararat and Ballarat. Major structures such as Water towers were required at regular intervals to meet the water requirements of locomotives. With railway stations came station masters and administrative staff who generally took a prominent part in town affairs. In small towns the permanent way gangers and in isolated places the fettlers were often the only people in communities with permanent positions and regular wages.

57 Appendix 1 – Railways in the Wimmera region

Western plains and Mallee lines The first trains rolled into Mildura in 1903 establishing the transport spine upon which the other the Mallee lines were based including a line west to South Australia.(1903 -1931). The Border Railway and Development Act lines were built from 1912 -1938 to southern South Australia enhancing the connection to the port of Portland.

Grain operations from 1930 The drought of 1929 stimulated a record sowing in 1930 when 1.8 million hectares was committed mainly to wheat. The world price for grain was low and growers were hurting as the world depression struck. This level of cropping was not sustainable and contributed to the subsequent and frequent dust storms and red rain affecting Melbourne. The demand for oats declined as heavy horse transport gave way to motor trucks for not only farm to rail head transport but longer journeys. At the peak of the network in the 1940s the railways were able to serve most of the arable land in Victoria. Throughout the western plans most properties had access to a rail connection less than 25 km from the farm gate.

During the 1800s grain crops had been sold to Corn merchants who undertook the shipment of the bagged grain from farms or rail centres to various ports – usually Melbourne or Geelong. It was sent in small sailing ships to Britain – trade was all in bags, loaded manually from dray or truck to train and ship. During WW1 export ports became clogged and two new grain lines were built connecting Horsham and Hamilton (1920) and another running west from Heywood to South Australia (1916) to Portland although the port suffered from the lack of shelter and was less than efficient. The introduction of more powerful steam locomotives allowed longer trains and changes to some country lines facilitated access to Geelong which became the focus for the bulk haulage of wheat by train.

In the 1930s the small ships began to disappear and were replaced by larger steamers and grain accumulation and discharge methods changed. In 1933 an expert committee was set up to study the receipt, transport and storage of grain in Victoria. This resulted in the establishment of the Grain Elevators Board in 1934 charged with all activities involving grain handling from storages, supply management, quality control and data. It also established a corporate structure for management and facility operations, and the construction and maintenance of grain elevators. The demand for orderly marketing grew and finally the Australian Wheat Board was established in 1939 under wartime emergency powers. Government monopoly of wheat marketing ended in 1948 when growers gained control of the AWB.

In 1977 the Grain Elevators Board became the sole grain handling authority in Victoria. In addition to a number of regional offices it maintained two export terminals at Geelong and Portland. The Grain Elevators Board was dissolved in 1995 and its assets sold to a private operator, Vic Grain Ltd, which continued the key operations of the Board. Grain has moved increasingly to deregulation and the range of grain production has also diversified to different cereals, pulses oilseeds and process products.

The end of steam - 1960 At the end of WW2 the Victorian Railways were in serious plight needing to replace ageing locomotives and rolling stock. Operation Phoenix saw the introduction of new J and R Class steam engines and the electrification of lines to the Latrobe Valley. It became more difficult to find fit steam engine crews and when added to the shortages of fuel and fuel handling the advantages of diesel traction saw the virtual end of stream during the 1960s. In 1952 the first Clyde–GM “B” Class diesels went into service, soon proving economic needing neither specialized coal, nor highly specialized and fit crews.

58 Appendix 1 – Railways in the Wimmera region

Diesels ran an average of 130,000 miles per year compared with the 35,000 to 60,000 miles for main line stream locomotives. The consequence of these changes, compounded in later years, saw line closures and changes in freight handling. This impacted on the communities along the rail network causing a decline in employment and population as many rail depots closed and passenger services were replaced by road transport.

Current rail operations In recent decades the emphasis in the rail network has been on deficit reduction, lifting cost recovery for freight and passenger services and improving service quality. Bulk commodity transport has become a major part of rail operation. The advantage of grain handling in bulk by rail transport is acknowledged. Operations have however been restructured and 60% of traffic is now directed through “central receival points”. Numbers of branch lines have been closed and their buildings removed and other material such a bridge girders reused to upgrade functioning lines. Rail freight services are increasingly the province of private operators. Modern methods of farming place emphasis on large scale operations, with bulk handling and storage facilities so that many older forms of storage such as grain silos to be threatened with redundancy. Port facilities also become bigger with each new development.

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Sites of geological and geomorphological significance

Horsham 1:250 000 mapsheet area Associate Professor Bernie Joyce

HR 001 Mount Arapiles Mitre 574000 5932000 A mesa-type mountain of Silurian- Devonian sandstone rising abruptly above the Wimmera Plains. The area is an outlying peak of Grampians Group sediment that form the bulk of the Grampian to the southeast.

Mount Arapiles is bounded by impressive near vertical cliffs of horizontally bedded sandstone to the north and northeast. Excellent views can be obtained of Mitre Rock (HR 004), Mitre Lake (HR 013) and the surrounding Wimmera Plains. State Although similar rock types and cliffs occur 40 km to the southeast in the Grampians, Mt Arapiles is probably the largest and most impressive Monadnock in the State. Hills, 1940a Hills, 1975 King, 1984a Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1979 Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1982

HR 002 Briggs Bluff - Mount Stapylton Dadswell Bridge 630400 5914900 This area of Silurian-Devonian aged sediments of the Grampians Group forms the northern tip of the Grampians Range. Apart from numerous individual rock outcrops, these sediments as a group form a rugged and spectacular landform providing a dramatic contrast with the surrounding Wimmera Plain. Local The area on its own is of local significance as numerous and better examples of these features occur to the south. However, this area forms part of the larger landform that makes up the Grampians which, as a whole, is of national significance.

HR 003 Diapur Railway Cutting Diapur 539600 5980700 Cutting in the Pliocene Parilla Sand displaying lithology and bedding. Local Good exposure of a widespread and uniform unit.

HR 004 Mitre Rock Mitre 574000 5937000 Monadnock of Silurian-Devonian sediment standing above the Wimmera Plains. It is separated from Mt Arapiles by a broad saddle of weathered Silurian-Devonian sediment and Quaternary scree. It provides good and easily accessible outcrops of sandstone and mudstone, as well as good views of the surrounding landscape. When viewed from the west the rock has the form of a bishops mitre. State Isolated monadnocks of sediment such as this are rare in the State. Being a small outlier of Mt Arapiles its significance is linked with this larger monadnock to the south. Hills, 1975 King, 1984b Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1985a Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1986 Lawrence, 1974

HR 005 Little Desert (central) Nhill 577000 5958300 The Little Desert is an area of irregular siliceous sand dunes of Quaternary age (Lowan Sand) and can be equated with more well developed irregular subparabolic dunes to the north and interstate. There is a wide variety of dune forms varying from flat sheets to areas with a relief of 30 m. The dunes have been derived from deflation of the Late Tertiary Parilla Sand. Regional This dune type, widespread in central and eastern Australia, is near its southern limit and therefore rather subdued in form. In Victoria better developed dune systems in the Lowan Sand are present in the Big Desert and the Sunset Country to the north. The dunes at this locality are representative of the dune forms that occur in the Little Desert.

HR 006 Cliffs (The), Lake Hindmarsh Jeparit 577200 6011500 Cliffs of Pliocene Parilla Sand form part of the western coastline of Lake Hindmarsh. Such wave-cut cliffs are found on the western side of a number of lakes in the Wimmera/Mallee region. The cliffs just north of Shultz’s Beach are 4-6 m high and display the nature of the Parilla Sand in this area, with coarse cross-bedded sandstone and micaceous sandstone. The

60 Appendix 2 – Sites of geological and geomorphological significance

sediments are highly ferruginised. The sediments are late Miocene-early Pliocene in age while the ferruginisation is probably Pliocene in age. Regional Best example in the region of sandstone cliffs bordering a lake. Good exposure of the Parilla Sand overlain by the Woorinen Formation King, 1984b Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1985a

HR 007 Salt lake, northwest of Mitre Mitre 668500 5937000 A small depression bordered by a lunette to the east. When wet the depression contains saline water indicating the area is one of groundwater discharge. This small depression and lunette is typical of the saline lakes found in the narrow groundwater discharge zone running south from the Dimboola area to Douglas (on adjoining Hamilton mapsheet). Local A representative example of a locally common feature.

HR 008 Mortat Swamp to Round Hill Swamp Goroke 574150 5933800 This is a typical group of swamps (freshwater) and associated lunettes located between low sandstone and dune ridges trending north-northwest-south-southeast, marking former coastal strandlines. There is probably sluggish movement of surface water from time to time from south to north which terminates at Round Hill Swamp butting against the dunes of the Little Desert. Local A representative example of a common geological phenomenon in this area south of the Little Desert. Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1985a Lawrence, 1974

HR 009 Lake Bringalbert Apsley 514500 5923000 This general area has no substantial development of a surface drainage system apart from sluggish surface water movements in wetter periods. Most of the surface water collects in numerous small lakes and swamps, with the whole area acting as a groundwater recharge area. This small lake is typical of those in the area. It is freshwater and is bounded to the east by dune and to the north-west by a low wooded hill of Parilla Sand of Late Miocene? - Pliocene age. Local Typical example of one of the numerous small freshwater lake-lunette complexes in the area.

HR 010 Tullyvea gypsum flats Jeparit A series of swamps and gypsum flats often bordered to the east by gypsum rich lunettes. The area lies in a more general linear zone running from Lake Hindmarsh to Dimboola where numerous deposits of gypsum occur. This narrow zone is an area of groundwater discharge which has resulted in lake development and the deposition of gypsum. Gypsum has been mined for many years in this zone from both the flats (where it has precipitated from groundwater) and the dunes (where it has accumulated from deflation of the adjacent gypsum flat). Regional This group of depressions and dunes is representative of the landscape in this linear zone of saline groundwater discharge.

HR 011 Lake Hindmarsh and dunes Jeparit 583000 6008000 A large freshwater lake about 17 km by 10 km bordered to the west in part by low sandstone cliffs and to the east by a series of lunettes. The Wimmera River flows through the lake and hence it is freshwater. It is likely that Lake Hindmarsh has always contained a substantial amount of water through the Quaternary climactic variations that in the Wimmera/Mallee region, saw the drying of many lakes and the development of adjacent clay rich lunettes. The Wimmera River has ensured a continuing source of water and sand to the lake and hence the lunettes to the east contain a high proportion of sand, having been constructed in part by deflation of sandy beaches. Sand is quarried under extractive industry licences on the inner lunette. The maximum height of the dune is about 60 m above water level. State This area an impressive relic of the once numerous and more extensive water bodies and associated dunes that dotted the Wimmera/Mallee region around 50 000 years B.P. Its size (second only to Lake Tyrrell), permanent water, western cliffs and the high sandy eastern dunes make this lake-lunette complex significant at state level. Hills, 1940a King, 1984a King, 1984b Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1985a Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1986 Lawrence, 1974

61 Appendix 2 – Sites of geological and geomorphological significance

HR 012 Lawloit cutting Nhill 542300 5971000 A large road cutting in a prominent sandline of Parilla Sand. This heavily ferruginised sandstone, showing various sedimentary features is Late Miocene? or Pliocene in age. Local This is the best cutting in the region of a widespread and uniform unit. Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1986

HR 013 Mitre Lake Mitre 574000 5937000 A saline lake and lunette that is particularly conspicuous from the top of Mt Arapiles and Mitre Rock. Local A good example of a locally common feature. Hills, 1975King, 1984bLand Conservation Council, Victoria, 1985a Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1986 Lawrence, 1974

HR 014 Connan Swamp lunette Mitre 570300 5940000 Lunette adjacent to swamp. The part of the lunette that lies on Crown land (8 ha) is a geological reserve. Local An example of a landform that is common in northern and western Victoria. Land Conservation Council, Victoria, 1986

Further information: Susan White, Convener, Geological Heritage Subcommittee, Victoria Division, Geological Society of Australia Inc. ([email protected]) http://vic.gsa.org.au/heritage.html

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List of attendees

Name Organisation Peter Adler Dinner speaker Juliet Bird National Trust Roger Borrell Heritage Matters Pty Ltd Jan-Bert Brouwer Friends of Wail Arboretum Mabel Brouwer Friends of Wail Arboretum Paula Clarke Manager Community Services - Yarriambiack Shire Council Lorinda Cramer Museum of Chinese-Australian History Robin Crocker Robin Crocker & Associates Mary Dodds Local Ron Dodds Greening Australia Helen Doyle Historian Joan Dwyer John Dwyer Heritage Council Landscape Advisory Committee Marie Ruth Dwyer Wendy Dwyer National Trust Peter Forbes Department of Sustainability Environment Chris Gallagher Chair, Heritage Council Bart Gane Warrnambool City Council Renee Gardiner Cultural Heritage Specialist Fiona Gormann Swan Hill Val Gregory Murtoa Museum Adam Harding Horsham Art Gallery Gail Harradine Barengi Gadjin Land Council Alison Harris Department of Planning and Community Development John Hawker Heritage Council Jim Heard Horsham Historical Society Timothy Hubbard Heritage Matters Pty Ltd Bernie Joyce University of Melbourne Helen Martin Shearwater Associates Pty Ltd Dawn McBride Water in Drylands Collaborative Research Program (WIDCORP) Doug McCroll Warracknabeal Historical Society Colin Mibus West Wimmera Shire Council Garry Moorfield Corangamite Shire Janet O'Hehir Student (Uni of Melb, Burnley) Helen Page Heritage Council Landscape Advisory Committee Rob Pilgrim Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement Trudy Rickard Light House Terry Sanders Manager Economic Development - Yarriambiack Shire Council Roslyn Savio Landscape Architect Bryan Small North Grampians Shire

63 Appendix 3 – List of attendees

Name Organisation Robert Stephen Warracknabeal Historical Society Damien Sutton Department of Planning and Community Development Simon Torok CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Brooke Turner CFA Neville Wale Heritage Council Landscape Advisory Committee Annabel Walton Heritage Matters Pty Ltd Dane Walton Heritage Matters Pty Ltd Kelly Wynne Heritage Matters Pty Ltd Heather Yates Millewa Community Pioneer Forest & Historical Society Rob Youl Landcare Australia David Young Planning Officer - Yarriambiack Shire Council

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