7am
16.9 degrees, clear sky and still.
Mum
and Dad rang for a chat and to see how the prospecting was going.
Headed
out detecting but no luck so far – lots of bullets and lead shot. Kev and Lin
found two lovely old bottles from Oliver & Co, Broad Arrow. Unusual neck on
the bottles.
Kev
and Lin are getting the hang of using their 2300 – just wish we could put them
on some gold!
Went
for a drive and found some old shafts. On the historical mines info on the Dept
of Mines site it says the mine area was called Klondyke. No gold for us here
either.
Found
the rubbish dump too.
I
found parts of a pottery bottle from Kalgoorlie Brewery and a glass bottle from
Nettle & Nettle, Kalgoorlie.
Googled
info on the bottles – didn’t find much history on the Broad Arrow or Nettle one
– just bottles for sale. The pottery one was from Kalgoorlie Brewery & Ice Company
which was founded in 1896 and traded to 1943 when it was taken over by Swan
Brewery. The name was simplified to Kalgoorlie Brewing Company and was known
locally as the ‘Big K’. It was the second brewery to start and the last
survivor of 19 breweries that once traded in the Eastern Goldfields. In 1981
Alan Bond, through his company, Bond Corporation, made a $150 million offer for
the Swan Brewery of which included the Kalgoorlie Brewing Co. On 21 Nov, 1982
the Kalgoorlie Brewery ceased operations and the brewery was dismantled.
Drove
across the road to check out the bottom triangle of Ross’ lease and found a
very neat camp on the boundary. Met Syd who is the caretaker and he invited us
to check out his camp – even has roses growing!! Of course we got the life
history and all about how he watches what happens on the lease using video
cameras etc.
Headed
back to camp. Stopped at the other camp to say hello and Steve recognised the
chap as Brownie for Aussie Prospectors that was on Fox TV. Chatted to him about
it and detecting around this area.
Late
lunch then we tried another spot – more rubbish and the ground is very
mineralised.
Back
for drinks around the fire, enjoying the lovely temperature and watching the
moon rise. Spotted two satellites. A bit of cloud coming over from the east.
Hi, I can help a little with your bottles. Gomer Oliver and his brother manufactured Aerated Waters and Cordials at Broad Arrow from about 1900 to 1910, At the time Broad Arrow was a thriving gold mining town.
ReplyDelete