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NEWSLETTER
JULY 2000 HERITAGE STUDY Consultations
have been held by Wendy Jacobs, Vicky Johnston and Phil Taylor with residents of
Guildford, Fryerstown, Campbells Creek and Sandon. In the near future the final
session will be held with folks from Newstead, Welshmans Reef and Yandoit. The
consultants are delighted with the material people have been able to share with
them. They have narrowed their list of 803 sites in the original document to 190
primary sites with a further 201 under consideration. It is intended that the
study will be finished by the end of November. In the
meantime, copies of the Stage 1 book - Environmental History is still available
for sale at $20. Please let us know if you wish to purchase one. MAINTENANCE OF THE COURTHOUSE White Ants
Following on from our report in last month’s Newsletter, a pest control expert
visited us recently to give his opinion on what we believed to be white ants. He
confirmed an infestation in a door frame but considered that it had been
attended to at some time in the past. Our intrepid President volunteered to
descend from the trapdoor on the Magistrate’s bench to check out the damage
down below. He discovered evidence that the white ants had indeed visited us as
some time in the past but it seemed that treatment had already been
administered. It was agreed at the meeting that we would let Michael Taylor, the
Shire’s Heritage Advisor, know of our decision and action. John Neall
Every Monday John continues with his refurbishment of the woodwork in the Court
room. You may remember that we had the railing stripped of its old pink paint
last year. John has undertaken to stain and polish the railings and they are
looking splendid. He has also renovated the large table as well as finishing off
Baden McColl’s earlier work on the dock. The smell of beeswax greets us each
time we come to the Courthouse and we hurry to see what John has been up to.
Thank you John! SUBMISSION TO THE ECC For two years
the Environment Conservation Council has been working to categorise public land
use in the Box Iron Bark region of the state of Victoria. Areas are being
considered because of their value in regard to flora, fauna, cultural and
historic importance. Following the publication of their submission, Dawn Angliss
is concerned that much of the Muckleford Forest is presently classified as
’State Forest’. Important mining sites within the Forest, such as Thornhill
Reef, with its roasting kilns, are offered little protection from the removal of
stone or other damage. Dawn was given the full support of membership at our last
meeting and she will now proceed to present the case for that area to be
upgraded to ’Historic and Cultural Features Reserve’. We will keep you
posted as more information comes to hand. RESEARCH We have
received only a few requests for information recently. But we are often in touch
with the Castlemaine Historical Society for information which supports what they
provide to their researchers. It is great to be able to provide them, and
others, with data made possible by our ”Newstead Data” file - the
combination of Margaret Di Fiore’s work together with Janet Trudgeon’s
efforts with her indexing of the Echo. To our delight, with the work that has
been done by a growing team of typists, we now have over 9000 entries to the
file. This resource has been of enormous help with our recent research in to the
sites on our proposed walk, this to be completed by the end of November. Thanks
to all concerned. ACQUISITIONS The
acquisitions this month are as follows
EXCURSIONS Following the
disappointment of last month’s excursion, we are pleased to report success!
The Dudley Mines (the Nuggetty and John Bull officially) were pin pointed by
Bill Pitts a few days earlier and we also walked an area discovered previously
by Giselle Neall. Have you seen
our waterways since the rain? It looks as though the proposed reenactment of
last month’s adventure, undertaken by Dawn and Liz, may have to take a
different direction. The outing is planned for Monday, July 31 and as usual we
will meet at the Courthouse at 1.30pm. Whatever happens it will be a lengthy
walk and you will need to bring your gumboots and perhaps a change of socks.
Dawn will bring her binoculars, Liz the map. If the day is cold, rug up well. It
will be great fun! JOHN TULLY At the
Carisbrook Annual Dinner the other night, your representatives, Janet and Liz,
met with John Tully. John has written a fascinating new book about a Chinese who
was convicted, he said unfairly, of a crime. The book describes how he learnt to
speak and write English so that he could tell his version of the story. We have
invited John to speak at our September meeting – September 18 at 1.30pm. John
is good to listen to and this new story sounds very interesting. Come and hear
him. NEXT MEETING August 21,
2000 at 1.30pm.
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Page last updated: 20 December 2008