FRIDAY HISTORY POST: Hurstbridge..

30 kilometres north-east of Melbourne you will find the quaint town on Hurstbridge. Regular readers will recall my family outing to this lovely town aboard the steam train a few weeks ago for the Wattle Festival.

Railway in Hurstbridge.

The extension of the railway to Hurstbridge in 1912 was primarily to service the local fruit growing area, but it was also responsible for the early growth of the Hurstbridge Township.
Most of the early growth was centred along the Main Street, on land subdivided by Frances and Bill Gray and occurred between 1912 and the mid 1920s.
Several of the older buildings, shops and houses along the main road are good examples of the architectural styles of that time.

The majority of the Hurstbridge township area was not subdivided into residential blocks until after the Second World War (1945-46). Electricity came on in 1957.
The coming of the railway changed many things and gradually produced a change in the population and the work patterns and opportunities for the residents.
It was then possible to reside in the pleasant bushland setting of Hurstbridge and work in the city, much as the people do today. Getting there by train takes 50 minutes on the Melbourne-Hurstbridge line.

Settlement of the area.

The Wurundjeri people were the traditional owners of the country that extended from where Melbourne now stands to Mt Macedon and Healesville. The Wurundjeri spoke the Woiworung language and, with other tribal groups, was part of the Kulin nation.
The Wurundjeri Willam clan lived around this local area for at least 40,000 years in small family groups.
Their descendants still live in the Melbourne area, with a strong community centred around Healesville, in the Yarra Valley.
In 1841 Cornelius Sharp Haley took up, from the Government, the 'Allwood' run. Haley ran cattle and horses and built a slab hut close to where the present Allwood House stands.
Henry Hurst, a surveyor, came to Victoria, from England in 1852.
In 1859 he moved to 'Allwood to manage 160 acres for Cornelius Haley. In about 1865 Henry's parents Frances and Robert Hurst and some of their seven children joined Henry at the Allwood run.
It was about this time that Henry built the first log bridge across the Diamond Creek. This was soon known as 'Hurst's Bridge'.
On the 4th of October 1866 Henry was fatally wounded by a bushranger, Robert Bourke. Bourke was captured and was tied to a wheel of a wagon under a tree (now known as Bourke's Tree) until Sergeant Fawcett and Trooper Hall from Queenstown arrived. Bourke was tried, found guilty of the murder of Henry Hurst and was later hanged.
Come on, visit this lovely area.

Browse the local antique shops, including the Old Tin Shed
Follow the Hurstbridge Heritage trail around the town and learn about its early pioneer beginnings. Collect a brochure from a local Visitor Information Centre
View kangaroos in the wild on the town outskirts
Stop at a local café for good coffee or enjoy vegetarian and organic fare at Chocolate Lily.
You may care to visit the Yarra Valley wineries (five of which are within 10 minutes drive of the town centre). Interstate and international visitors, quite often make Hurstbridge their base and go into the city by train on the Hurstbridge Line, or take day trips to the Yarra Valley or the Dandenong Ranges.

Oh, and every weekend there is live music played out in the main street during the month of October too :)

FRIDAY'S HISTORY LESSON: BENDIGO, PART 1.

This morning we drove to Woodend Train Station to catch the V/Line Train to Bendigo. Not before we travelled up top of Mt Macedon to have a look if there was any snow. Nope, the weather was not quite cool enough. But, we were driving up so high that we were inside the white clouds. The gardens of the houses on the Mount are spectacular. Buds are beginning to appear..a sign of Spring to come.

Woodend Station...Platform 1. The opening of the railway line linking Melbourne to Woodend took place in 1861.

Melbourne bound.

Atop the footbridge looking Bendigo bound.

Our train is approaching.

We arrive at Bendigo and walk down to take the talking tram tour. The tram runs along the main thoroughfare of Bendigo. As it goes along a narration plays for the passengers about the history of Bendigo.

Monument to those men that have fallen who served their country and came from Bendigo and its surrounds.

Rosalind Park Bendigo. The glass conservatorium you see pictured was erected in 1897. It is home to many a flower show. Namely the Chrysanthemum Association display on an annual basis. It is empty at the moment yet still lovely to view.

This is the gateway to the History of Chinese settlement in Bendigo. Back when the Chinese first came to Australia chasing the Gold Rush that had hit this region, the people got off the ships in Adelaide in South Australia and walked all the way to Bendigo. They have a remarkable place in the history of Bendigo's mining, and are still to this day a large part of the town's Culture. Beyond this entrance is the Golden Dragon Museum. It houses the famous Sun Loog Dragon, the longest imperial dragon in the World. During the Easter Fair in Bendigo, Sun Loog makes an its annual appearance. This is an image of the Bendigo Steam Tram. C. 1892. When these were in use, they used alot of water and were, for the most part, very noisy for passengers. It is said that the noise alarmed many people taking the tram, whether it was to work in the mines, to go to the station or to go to church on a Sunday. Needless to say, they were phased out.

There are up to 40 tram cars in the depot being worked on or waiting to be repaired back to their original condition. Being that it takes time and of course money, this is something that will take a good deal of years to accomplish. One of the tram cars they had there was in a very bad state. It had been found out back of an old ladie's place, thought to have been used as a storage shed or chook shed.

A picture of Sarah with her Great Grandad. He was very excited to see us all up in Bendigo.

An image of the Gas Works in Bendigo.It was built in 1859 and was in operation for over 100 years. It is the largest coal gas producing plant with horizontal retorts left in Australia. Bendigo had gas lighting as early as 1861. These gas works closed in 1973 due to the arrival of natural gas.

Due to the influx of people to this area during the peak of the Goldrush there was a problem. People had machines set up all along the Bendigo Creek, as many as 1200 at one time. These sorted the rock and dirt out and hopefully showed some glistening of gold. The by product of this, being that water was needed and a point of drainage also needed, was lurky muddy water. In order to combat this, the council of the time lined the canal with concrete, rocks and wooden sides. Which can be seen in the image above. Right now, the water level is low due to the drought. Yes, there has been some rain in this area, but not enough to fill any reservoir or this canal

Anyhow, there is much more to this tour, and much more to Bendigo..stay tuned for next week's Part 2 of Bendigo History.

HISTORY POST...16

Tomorrow there will be a big haaa-hooo celebration because it is the 150th anniversary of the official opening of the railway between Melbourne and the city of Geelong...Werribee Station included in that line. This took place on the 25th of June 1857. At 64 kilometres, it was the first long distance country railway line in Australia and equalled the combined length of all other railways in the country.

Heritage diesel and steam trains will also operate on the Geelong line on Sunday 24 June. There will be Displays held at Geelong, Lara, Little River, Werribee and Williamstown. Train nuts will be out in force this weekend!!!

During the week, I will visit our Memorial Hall where I can gather some more info on our city and take some pictures. Tonight I will get info from local oldies who were born in the first hospital for this area....and right where that was located is a McDonalds now. That is progress!!!