Wed, 15th July, 2015 Butts Reserve Camping Area, Mt Tarrengower, Maldon (Maldon & Castlemaine sightseeing)

7 degrees in the van with only 1.2 degrees outside at 8am and a lovely clear sky. Condensation so bad in the van probably from the high moisture content in the area. We opened all the windows and Steve dried them off while I wiped up the water in the sills.

After a cuppa we headed off to sightsee – it was only 5 degrees outside but the truck’s heater works well. Got the big coats and gloves on too. Headed up to Mt Tarrengower tower first. No cloud cover this morning.

Read all the info under the tower.

The survey mark under the tower. We are in the centre of Victoria.

Unfortunately there was a school group who just finished a walk to here and they all headed up the tower. We climbed to the first level where the direction cairn was but the kids went to the next level. We will come back later when they have left.

Fabulous view from the first level anycase. The steam train was just heading out, easy to spot with all the steam.

Looking over Maldon.

Zoomed in on the Beehive Chimney.

Cairn Curran Reservoir. It was named after the pastoral holding taken up in 1840. The original Cairn Curran consisted of 100,000 acres and carried approx 20,000 sheep and 300 cattle. The construction of this irrigation reservoir was completed in 1956. The wall height is approx 44 metres. It covers 1,950 ha when full. A 2 Mw hydro-electric station operates when irrigation and flood releases are being made.

Headed back to the truck with all the kids screaming ‘I bought a Jeep’ from the top of the tower.

Headed back down and into Maldon. Maldon began as a gold rush village, called Tarrengower, in 1854 with the discovery of alluvial gold at the base of Mt Tarrengower in Long Gully. The subsequent gold rush increased the population to about 20,000. With more gold found at Eaglehawk and Porcupine Flat the population increased to 40,000. Unfortunately water was lacking making life difficult and hard to wash the gold. After two years the initial alluvial gold petered out and most of the miners moved away. Miners returned after a while and started working on the quartz reefs. A lot of the smaller mines sold out to bigger companies as the tunnels got longer and shafts got deeper (700m at the South German Mine). There were about 40 mines in the region which produced over 2 million ounces of gold. Now there is only one operational mine. Maldon was surveyed and declared a municipality in 1858. A lot of the main buildings were built from this time on with 60 hotels operating here at one time. At this time Maldon was ranked as the eighth largest town in Victoria. By the end of the First World War the yield of gold started to peter out and mines started to close. The North British Mine, the last of the large mines, closed in 1926. People started to leave taking their houses with them. The population dropped to nearly one thousand but the town continued on, virtually unchanged.  It was declared by the National Trust as Australia’s first Notable Town back in 1966 because of its unspoilt historic character. It has retained a lot of its heritage buildings and looks like you have walked back in town when you walk up the street as they are now protected by strict planning controls. 

The gutters are still original.

The Maldon Hotel was originally weather board in 1861 and was used as Martin’s Victoria Dining Rooms. The present building was erected in 1909 and named the Maldon Hotel.

From 1864 Franklin operated a ‘Cookham Boot & Shoe Warehouse’ on this site. The property was sold to Catherine Dabb who constructed the building by 1875. The Dabb’s Corn & Chaff Store with timber yard was just around the corner. It is now the Beehive Market.

It is Christmas in July and a lot of the store fronts have Christmas/Snow decorations.

McArthur’s Bakery had been operating from in 1857 and it continued until the 1930s. The 1854 at the top relates to Mr McArthur not the building’s date. The original oven installed still exists but is not currently used.

Now the Bakery is in this little building. Next to it is the Phoenix Building built in 1907 by Mr Trengrove, a draper.

An old Studebaker – my grandfather George Brotherton has a Studebaker but I don’t think it looked like this.

Steve loved the esky cars – thought the boys would like one each but at $899 each I don’t think so!!

The Kangaroo Hotel – the first part was built in 1856, a bballroom, butchers shop and corner section were added by 1866. The hotel was a changing station for Cobb & Co. “When approaching the town down the long hill of Telegraph Road (High St), a horn was blown for the ostlers (groom, stableboy) to have the change horses ready. Townspeople turned out en masse to enjoy the excitements of the hour.”

A cute Morris stationwagon.

More Christmas in July – they even have a shop just for Christmas decorations. I do wonder how many of these one off shops survive but a lot do internet sales now too.

The Bank of NSW building was erected in 1858. A smelting house was erected for the Bank in 1866 but was demolished in 1936.

Chatted with a shop owner who has only moved here 12 months ago. His great grandparents were from here and are buried in the cemetery. He can see the potential of the town and is getting involved in bringing tourists etc to the town to keep it alive. His nephew works in Smithfield – everyone we meet knows someone in the Cairns area. He gave Steve some spots that people have told him they have found gold. The Bushells Tea is his shop though he was selling paintings and sculptures etc.

The original pavement in front of the The Grand Maldon.

The shop fronts are not the original ones of the Brittania House as it was called in 1858. The Grand was refurbished in 1888 when the Maldon Brewing Co purchased it. The metal spikes on the window sills were to stop patrons from sitting on the window sills.

Through the grate you can see where they slid the beer kegs down the slide to the cellars below the building.

This window received 3^rd prize in the window dressing competition.

This one got 1^st!!

Back to the truck and we headed back to the van past the beautiful old primary school. The building was started in 1874 and opened in 1875. It was made from local stone and bricks, handmade from Wagner’s Brick Kiln in Tobin Street.  The only changes are some of the windows were enlarged and extras added. There were 640 pupils in the 1890s. Enrolment now is only around 100.

Lovely cottage near the hospital.

Drove back up to the tower to climb to the top. Even with the heavy cloud it was a fabulous view. Took a video as I walked around the platform. Then I took these photos.

Steve coming back down the ladder from the second level. The top level is for the fire spotters.

After lunch we headed towards Castlemaine. Steve decided it was still too wet and cold to detect so he will endure the history walks with me!! It is still only 6.5 degrees outside and cloudy.

Stopped to check out the ‘historic house’ that the sign advised us of, but there was no information why it is historic.

Parked near the Info Centre and went in to get a photo of the diving chamber we read about when we were last here. It was used to recover 555 gold ingots in the South Pacific Ocean. The ‘Niagara’, a 13,500 tonne ocean liner left New Zealand in June 1940 bound for Vancouver, Canada. The gold was the property of the Bank of England and was on its way to America to pay for the badly needed materials of war. Just over 4 hours out of Auckland the ‘Niagara’ struck an enemy German mine off Bream Head, Whangarei and sank on 73 fathoms of water (133 metres). Luckily no lives were lost. The Royal Australian Navy said that salvage was impossible but referred the Bank to a private firm, The United Propriety Salvage Ltd of Melbourne, who took on the job. The totally enclosed viewing/diving chamber was constructed by Thompson’s of Castlemaine. The bell was fitted with quartz-glass portholes a fairly soft dome of manganese bronze. It weighed about 3 tonnes and was capable of withstanding water pressure at a depth of 125 fathoms. The diver, sealed inside, was lowered by a steel cable from the salvage ship, Claymore, and he would have breathed the same air over and over again through a purifying respirator and could stay submerged for 10 hours. The portholes enabled the diver to locate the shipwreck and then the gold. The diver then guided the salvage crew by telephone while using hooks and grabs to grasp the gold bars and raise them to the surface. On October 18^th, 1941, after 6 months of blasting and cutting, directed by the diver in the bell, the first two ingots, each valued at $8,600 (at the time) were recovered. When operations ceased on December 8^th, 555 ingots (valued at $4,773,000) were recovered. The remaining 35, worth $301,000, spilled from the grab during recovery operations. The Johnstone brothers made a total of 316 descents and worked continuously at a depth of over 66 fathoms. The salvage operation retrieved for the Bank of England, 94% of its gold at a cost of $53,400. The salvers received $118,000 and paid 70% to the taxman!! In April 1953, the Johnstones returned to the scene and retrieved 30 of the 35 remaining ingots. The diving bell was used in marine salvage as an observation and lighting tower. The final use of the bell took place off Darwin in 1970. Very interesting story.

The railway clock was from the railway station and stood on the platform from around 1865 till refurbishment of the station saw its removal in 1960s.

The Information Centre is in the Castlemaine Market building. It was constructed in 1861-62 and was used as a market til 1967. Vendors could back vehicles and unload produce through doorways along the sides into the arched stalls. This was the central building of three, the others running east and west along the Market Square block.

Lovely iron gates.

Castlemaine, the site of the famous Mt Alexander Diggings was the location of the richest alluvial goldfields in the world. At Specimen Gully, a hutkeeper and shepherds working for Dr W Barker on his Mt Alexander pastoral run, found gold in 1851. Estimates of the toal amount of gold extracted from these fields very, but it is know that in one 6 month period in 1852 Gold Escorts to Melbourne and Adelaide carried 587,584 ounces of gold out of Mt Alexander. Originally the town was located around the Government Camp site (near Barker Creek). In 1853 the first land sales of town allotments began. On 1^st November, 1853 Castlemaine was gazetted as a township. In Jan 1858 the Gold Commissioners and military withdrew and by 1860 local government were well established and Castlemaine declared itself ‘The Great Centre’. The railway in 1862 helped the town prosper. There was a population of about 10,000 people.

The Theatre Royal began around 1855 but the original building was destroyed by fire in 1857. It was quickly rebuilt. Behind the 1930s façade is one of the longest continuously operating entertainment establishments in Victoria.

The Williams’ Buildings were originally a single storey collection of shops. E D Williams redeveloped this site as his lucrative grocery and general merchandise business expanded.

Nice mural on the wall of one of many coffee shops.

The Empyre was originally the Albion Hotel. It has the lovely embossed metal ceiling and decorative metal work.

Checked out house prices at the Real Estate and found the Tarnagulla Presbyterian Church that we saw for sale. Photos show the renovations inside and you can have it for $325,000.

The Verey’s Corner. Occupants over the years have been decorator, photographer, confectioner, photographer then a chemist. Verey’s first photographic studio was here about 1884 but the new premises was built in early 1900s. Next door is the Geo Clarke Buildings. George Clarke started with a general store out of town where he prospered and then built these ‘new’ premises from which to conduct his wide ranging business. An arcade was developed in the late 20^th century.

The Post Office – the first Post Office was at ‘The Camp’ in 1852. As the town developed a wooden building was erected on this site in 1859. The present building dates from 1875, complete with clock bell which was cast locally at Horwood’s foundry.

A statue of Sir Harry Lawson who was Premier of Victoria 1918-1924 and later a Senator.

The Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum building was built in 1930-31. The committee though was formed in 1913.

Steve liked the engraving above the door.

Up the road were two churches opposite each other. The Presbyterian Church was very impressive. It was originally the Congregational Church). They weren’t on my ‘history walk’ information so I don’t know the dates etc.

Opposite was the Uniting Church which was originally the Presbyterian Church.

Down passed a hotel we noticed the cellars again hidden by the grates. Obviously they must have a good drainage system or everything would be wet down there.

The Town Hall like the Post Office are magnificent buildings. It was built in 1898.

Next was the School of Mines building which began in 1887 in the old Police Court on this site. This building was constructed in 1889.

Beck’s Imperial Hotel, built 1861. Another of the many hotels built in ‘grand’ style with interesting mansard roof and extensive cellars.

I liked the little room on the roof with the coloured windows.

Lovely work on the front of the building too.

The Court House, 1877, replaced an earlier court building on this site, which itself superceded the first courthouse in the Gold Commissioner’s Camp on the other side of Barker’s Creek (will go and check that out).

The Supreme Court Hotel, 1859-1913, has extensive cellars. It was built as legal offices by solicitor FE Paynter, who came ‘not to crush quartz but to curve tyranny and injustice’.

Back to the truck we headed down to the Gold Commissioner’s Camp Reserve. At the entrance to Goldsmith Crescent was an information board. Needs redoing but it shows where original houses etc are still existing.

Down the street was the first Court House which now houses the Historical Society. It was built in 1851 and is one of the oldest surviving public buildings from the Victorian gold rush era. We enter from the back now but the street was originally on the other side.

I walked around the front for a photo. Certainly a simpler building compared to the later more elaborate ones in town. Goes to show the growth and wealth of the town.

Across the road (which was dirt I might add) was a ‘National Trust Significant tree’. Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box). The story is that prisoners were chained to the tree while they waited for their cases to be heard in the Court House. There are records that prisoners were chained to logs beside the log lockup, which was sited near here. Therefore it is now protected.

Drove up a hill to the site of the Castlemaine Gaol perched on the hilltop overlooking the town.

Construction of the gaol began in 1857, it opened in 1861 and was built in two stages from sandstone and Harcourt granite quarried nearby. It was based on the Pentonville prison model. Between 1865 and 1876 there were 10 executions conducted in the gaol. It closed in 1990 and was sold in 2013. There are tours but at the moment it is only open on Fridays.

The entrance doors.

Drove around it,

then up onto the nearby hill to look over it. Lots of other houses etc to see but it is getting colder so I will explore that next time we come through – hopefully when it is warmer!!

A modern home in amongst all the history.

Stopped off at a carpet place to enquire about carpet for the van. The chap had some kitchen carpet we were wanting that was left over so was happy to sell it to us for $20 for 6 metres. We originally only wanted a runner for the hall but we will have enough to do the lot now.

Headed back towards Maldon. Stopped at the Ruins of the Gowar School. Until 1880 Gowar was known as North Muckleford. A 1.2 ha reserve was gazetted in 1873 and the school was built and used from Feburary 1874. The walls were stone with a shingle roof and pine floor. The building was unlined and bitterly cold in winter. The average attendance in 1882 was 34 but declined to 20 in 1888. As the attendance continued to decline the school was closed in 1908.

The remains of the underground tank which was used for drinking water.

Steve got out the detector and went for a wander while I read by book. The temperature is dropping so I was happy to stay in the truck. At 4.30 I went to see how he was going and he put a lead pellet in my hand then spat out the tiny gold nugget that he had been holding in his mouth. He forgot to take a container with him. He stood on the cord of the detector and opened his mouth at one stage and the gold fell out so he had to spend another 15 minutes looking for it again. At least he didn’t swallow it!!

Back through Maldon and I got a picture of two cute houses on the main road.

It was 10 degrees in the van before I got the heater going and only 5 degrees outside – no wonder I was getting cold.

Took a photo of his big nugget!!! Need another 100 of these.

Alan and Diane texted so I rang them back. They are heading off on their trip up to southern  Queensland tomorrow.

Rang Tracy and Grant, who were in Brisbane. Grant was in hospital for check ups etc so we had a great chat with Tracy. So glad to hear Grant is improving though it is still a long road ahead they are both very positive and have great kids to keep them going.