6.30
am 9.2 degrees, nice sunrise – so glad we have our heater!! Just takes the nip out of the air while we
have breakfast then the sun is up and warming the van. Is quite hot during the
day and the sun is still burning when you are in its rays.
Watching
Sunrise – still trying to win Cash Cow!! Will have to ring Mum – Roger Moore
has passed away aged 89 – he was her favourite James Bond.
Packed
our lunch and headed off to explore the Gwalia Mine Precinct. Another mining
town that closed down when the mining stopped but luckily there were some
buildings left behind so they have been restoring them and created a museum
which has been a wonderful tourist attraction for Leonora. They look so cute
but it must have been a hard life – freezing in winter and so hot in summer.
Parked
near some old buildings in the main street and went wandering. Gwalia was home
to around 1000 people from all around the world in the late 1890s. When the Sons
of Gwalia Mine closed in 1963 it was the sixth largest gold mine in Australia’s
history and one of only two mines outside Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s ‘Golden Mile’ to
produce over two million ounces of gold. The population of Leonora and Gwalia
when the mine closed was around 1700 but after the mass exodus of miners to
find work elsewhere there were only 40 residents left. The mine has reopened
but people live either in Leonora or fly-in, fly-out and a new admin/workshop
building is the only new building around.
First
was the site of the store owner’s home. The store was next door. It had been
blown apart in a storm in 2000 but they have rebuilt it. Around 1910 this
multiple-gabled structure was moved from Laverton to the ‘Gwalia Block’ (next
to the State Hotel). The timber frame, which is constructed with half Oregon
timber and half jarrah, is clad in corrugated galvanised iron and line with
ripple iron. It was originally operated on the ‘Block’ by J A Wilson & Co.
When Victor Mazza and his family bought the store in 1949 all that remained of
the Gwalia Block, once a thriving business centre was the barbershop and
general store. After trading on the former site for 8 years, Mazza’s Store was
moved by jinker (a large, two-wheeled trailer – I am amazed how they managed to
do all this when it is such a big ordeal nowadays and we have cranes etc) to
this location and continued to trade until its closure in 1964. For more than
50 years, this store provided nearly all of the town’s supplies. Truly, a
‘one-stop shop’ selling everything from soap to ammunition.
Across
the road is a typical Gwalia cottage that we could walk through.
Back
across the road to Patroni’s Guest House. Most of the miners who came to Gwalia
were single men and stayed in these type of guest house with little twin share
rooms. They ate in the big dining room and even those who had their own homes
ate here too as many of the homes didn’t have kitchens or water facilities. The
average cost of the meals was around 30 shillings a week – roughly one third of
the average miner’s wage.
Across
the road again where we wandered around all the other remaining houses. Cute
dunny.
There
were lots of ‘great’ things for the boys to check out.
The
‘Little Pink Camp’ was moved here in 1988 from where it was situated near the
mine’s overburden dump and is a good example of the resourcefulness of mine
workers, who constructed their houses using whatever materials were available
or cheaply obtained. This tiny dwelling is known for its decoration and the
unusual construction of three rooms, and still has remains of its original
hessian walls, papered with newspapers. Unlike many of the Gwalia dwelling sit
has a plank (old packing cases), rather that dirt floor. Many residents kept
goats to supplement their food source. Even more kept poultry and there are
many remaining examples of identically built pigeon or fowl houses left in the
town. Some of these appear to have been built with more care than the houses
themselves. He must have been a little chap too!!
Next
to that was the Sly Grog Shop.
Continued
down the street to the State Hotel. It is now owned by the Western Mining
Corporation so we couldn’t go inside but we could peer in one window. It was
the first and last hotel to operate of the chain of Government-owned State
Hotels in WA. Demand had long been high for a hotel in Gwalia but no private
establishment would build in the town without a freehold title as it was all a
mining lease. Eventually, in 1903, the Government built the State Hotel to give
the town a licensed premise and so lessen the sly-grog trade. In March 1919
what is thought to have been the State’s first Beer Strike occurred in Gwalia.
Fifty residents voted for a Beer Strike and vowed not to return to the hotel
until their conditions were met. They had carefully compiled a list of
complaints, including some relating to the brand of been offered, the price,
size and cleanliness of the glasses, and the behaviour of the manager whom they
insisted should be dismissed. The boycott ended in September, although the
number of sly-grog prosecutions continued to steadily increase. During the
boycott Gwalia was it by a pneumonic influenza epidemic and the Health
Department commandeered the empty hotel as a hospital during this emergency. It
was sold to a syndicate of local residents in 1960, which ran the hotel until
its closure in 1964 after the mine closed.
Behind
the hotel are rows of core sample trays and access to the open cut mine.
Across
the road was a lovely park with lush green grass. The boys found a good seat.
More
information to read. Fancy that – the first manager here was Herbert Hoover who
became a President of the United State.
An
old windlass outside the mining company’s office.
Another
house further up the street is called Art’s Place. It was restored in 1986. The
last occupants were the Lovi family. It became known as Art’s Place in about
1980 after a local, Arthur DeKlerk, who carried out some repairs to the
structure after it had been damaged in strong winds, a mini cyclone they nicknamed 'Cock-Eyed-Bob'. Steve found me a new egg beater.
Back
to the truck then we drove up to the Sons of Gwalia Mine Precinct. The Sons of
Gwalia reef was discovered in 1896 by prospectors Carlson, White and
Glendinning (Gwalia is one of the Welsh poetic names for Wales) and was the
most significant reef opened up in the Leonora area. Seeking investments in the
WA Goldfields, Bewick Moreing and Co, a London-based firm sent a young American
mining engineer, Herbert Hoover to evaluate its prospects. The active mine is
right beside it and some of the buildings have been moved as the mine moved too
close. Under the tree in the first photo is a swimming pool!! Sometime after a
huge fire in January 1921, a substantial Government loan paid for extensive
rebuilding and prosperity and employment gradually came back to Gwalia. As part
of this redevelopment a swimming pool was built. Its main purpose was to serve
as a good heat of water in case of fire but it also provided a welcome
community facility and was very popular with the residents. It was the second
public swimming pool built in WA and continually flowing water was pumped inot
it from the 2 Mile bore; no chemicals were used in the pool. It is constructed
of concrete, unlined with a timber frame.
Into
the museum office – free to enter, $2 for an recorder thing that you punch in
the number on an item and it tells you the information. A few bits and pieces
on display.
Great
timeline.
Aerial
shot of the mine.
Memories
from some of the locals.
Outside
was ‘Ken’ the Midland Wood Line steam engine. The name was an acronym for the
names of the 3 directors of the Sons of Gwalia Company. Transport was difficult
and expensive in the goldfields and Sons of Gwalia constructed a wood line rail
service to gather and transport the enormous amount of Mulga timber needed to
fuel the mine’s steam and gas producer engines. The 20-inch gauge wood line ran
west and south of Gwalia for up to 112km, covering an area of some 1,280 square
kilometres. ‘Ken’ was one of four engines built at the WA Government Railway
Midland Junction workshops in 1934 for use on the Sons of Gwalia wood line. It
ran until the mine closed in December 1963. Its engine is a 0-6-2T with outside
frames, the cylinders are 9 ½” xl 2”, it has Walschaerts valve gear, and a
boiler pressure of 20 pounds per square inch.
Checked
out the view from one of the two lookouts. The open cut is almost 300 metres
deep and almost 1km across. The open cut follows around the original Sons of
Gwalia shaft, which together have produced over 5 million ounces of gold!! In
2006 St Barbara Mines proceeded towards the Gwalia Deeps entering via a decline
tunnel (The Hoover Decline) located 125 metres below the swimming pool. It is
estimated that the Gwalia Deeps has a potential yield of over 1.5 million
ounces of gold but is located over one kilometre beneath the surface. (The
triangle flattened area is where they enter the decline.)
Zoomed
in on some of the old shafts on the other side.
Into
the Machinery Shed which is on the site of the original mine machinery shed
which was removed after the sell-off of the Sons of Gwalia Mine following its
closure in 1963. This shed now houses elements of the Leonora Gwalia power
generator, pastoral machinery and equipment and other larger items of the
collection, like this corrugated iron roller.
59
is the ‘Mum & Dad’ or ‘Dad and Dave’ shearing plant is one of the only two
known to be in WA. Mum winds the handle quickly while Dad shears the sheep.
They came from Braemore Station, west of Leonora.
Next
shed houses the huge Steam Winder. The shed and winder were relocated here in
1987 by the Sons of Gwalia N.L along with the head frame outside. The Fraser
& Chalmers steam winder, which came from Erith in Kent, England, was
installed in 1913 and is one of the largest steam winding engines remaining in
Australia. The head frame and winder formed part of the hauling systems at the
mine site. The head frame provided guidance of the hauling ropes between the
steam winding engine and the skips in the shaft, which carried the ore. The
winder elevated the skips up the incline of the head frame so that ore could be
emptied into a storage bin for subsequent treatment.
A
recording of whistles shows what it was like for the winder operator. He even
had his own toilet as he was never allowed to leave the building whilst the
mine was in operation. There were a few accidents – once when he was under the
weather he hit the wrong lever sent the winder in the wrong direction and a
skip crashing back into the mine.
Learnt
a new thing here – to make replacement parts they made a copy of the item out
of wood. Now I know what a ‘pattern maker’ does when I was researching my
family tree.
Outside
to the head frame which was designed by Herbert Hoover. It is closed off at the
moment so some repairs can be carried out. They didn’t worry about barricading
areas off in the old days for men to work!! Originally this head frame was
located where the open cut mining is now in progress. It is made of Oregon pine
and built in 1899 and is the only large timber underlie or incline head frame
surviving in Australia and indeed it is one of the very few timber head frames
of significant size of any design dating from the 19th century. It
is largely intact and the tipping ramp, ore bin and primary crusher can still
be seen. It was extended in 1912-13 to accommodate the new larger winder.
Steve
found some new ‘balls’.
Next
is the Assay Office. It was constructed in 1898 and is a substantial brick and
corrugated iron structure with a hipped roof and a skillion connection (lean
to). The prominent brick chimneys were constructed to service the assay
furnaces which were required to determine the quality of gold in the ore
obtained from the mine.
Inside
was also lots of information about the many men who went off to war from this
area.
The
Mine Office is having some renovations too. It was built in 1898 and was
converted into a museum in 1972 by a group of local residents. Display items
for the museum were plentiful as a surprising number of personal objects were
left behind when the miners moved on. In the 1960s before vandals made their
mark, it was possible to find miner’s possessions of all description including
photographs, cleverly devised household implements and letters in the debris of
the town. What was salvaged is still significant and many of these articles
were collected. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in to see them.
Across
from that is Hoover House. Herbert Hoover, as manager of the mine, designed
this substantial brick home before he left Gwalia; it was built between
1898-99. It took around two years to build, due to the many disputes with upper
Management over the cost of the house; at the time when an average house cost
100 pounds to build, this house cost 600. Some of the original furniture from
that time survives to this day such as; the built in robes, the sideboard, the
small square coffee table and the large display pedestals. Some of the other
furniture items are original, not from Hoover’s era rather, left behind from
other mine managers who lived the house in the decades following. Hoover left
Gwalia before the house was completed but spent his 24th birthday in
the dining room and stayed in the partially completed home before being called
away to the expanding coalfields of China. Hoover also stayed in the house on
his numerous visits to Gwalia after his return from China in 1902.
The
grand dining room where the ‘Gold Bar Dinner’ was held.
Beautiful
Oregon timber floors.
Down
the hall way which the three bedrooms fronted. You can stay here – The Hoover
Room was being used at the moment.
This
area was the old kitchen and it now used by the Bed & Breakfast people for
their meals.
Back
outside we explored some more old bits and pieces and huge cacti.
The
other side of the head frame. The workmen were finished so we could go in and
read the information. 24 men used to fit in one of the skips to be lowered down
into the mine – amazing!!
Looking
across to Mt Leonora.
Kev
and Linda headed back to camp but we decided to drive up to the lookout on Mt
Leonora. Bit of a rocky trip so we walked the last bit. Great view over the
mine and townsite then around to Leonora, continuing around to where we are
camped at Malcolm Dam near the bump of a hill.
Steve
added another rock to the cairn.
Back
into Leonora to the water point. I checked out the signs and stamper display.
We still haven’t done all the Loop Trails.
Glad
I don’t have to ‘go’.
The
stamper display.
Into
town and we drove around the streets – found another ore crushing battery but
of a later era.
Parked
in the main street and checked out the buildings. They use an app for mobiles
to get the history – which I don’t have so just took photos of the interesting
ones.
Between
the two old pubs though they have erected a modern ‘thing’ – why not build
something to celebrate the history of the area instead of thing that looks like
a honeycomb!!
Mum
had tried to ring us so I rang her back. Her land line has gone again so she is
back on the mobile. I asked if she had heard about Roger Moore passing.
Drinks
around the fire and lots of chatting. After a warm day it cooled off quickly
once the sun went down.
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