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Bruthen is a small country town overlooking the
Tambo river and
surrounded by native
flora and fauna. Situated 300kms east of
Melbourne on the Omeo
Highway/Great Alpine Road, Bruthen boasts
natural attractions such as
clean, freshwater waterholes for a refreshing
swim and a rainforest on
the outskirts of town so pristine it's hard to
believe. Bruthen is
central to all sports and recreational
activities which include:
fishing, snow & water skiing, surfing,
boating, bushwalking and 4
wheeldriving, all within a short distance in any
direction.
With a
population of around 640, the town itself offers
good old-fashioned
country style hospitality. Service station
attendants still fill your
tank up for you while you sit in the car! You
will be able to
experience home style cooking and stay over in
pub style accommodation
or else in one of the b & b's to experience
the tranquility of
country living.
For one weekend
every
February the sleepy town of Bruthen wakes up to
the sound of house
rockin' rhythm and blues at the Bruthen Blues
& Arts Festival. The
Festival is now in its fouteenth year and still
going strong. The town
puts on a showcase of stalls, music in the street,
workshops, garage
sales and of course music at the Bruthen Inn Hotel
that is the best in
its class. Bruthen sure loves its blues music and
they know how to put
on a good show. Bruthen deserves its title as the
"Victoria's
Premier Blues Town".
SEE ALSO :
www.discovereastgippsland.com.au
Map of East
Gippsland [pdf]
BRUTHEN'S
HISTORY
Bruthen is situated
on the
Tambo River, 24 kilometres north-east of
Bairnsdale and 300 kilometres
east of Melbourne. Its name derives from the local
Aboriginal dialect
'brewdthan' or Brewathan as the area was first
called, and is thought
to mean bracken or place of evil spirit.
In the 1840s, the
first
pastoralists used the Tambo Valley as a route from
the Monaro to the
Gippsland plains. Matthew and Thomas Macalister
took up the area as
Kilmorie run in 1845. By 1858, a hotel, a store
and blacksmith were
catering to drovers using the stock routes and
packers and miners
travelling north to the mining settlements around
Omeo.
In 1859 a township
was laid
out, two kilometres to the east, at the junction
of the main routes. It
was named Tambo as there was already a township
named Bruthen between
Sale and Port Albert. However, the old site at the
river crossing
remained the more popular location. When Land Acts
made selection
possible in the 1860s, the Tambo Valley was
quickly taken up by
settlers. On the fertile river flats, wheat, oats
and potatoes were
grown and by the 1880s maize and hops had become
important crops. Sheep
and cattle were grazed on the foothills. Many
settlers stripped wattle
bark and split rails to supplement their living.
The lower Tambo
River was
navigable and in the 1860s steamers began to carry
produce from Sale,
Bairnsdale and Bruthen to Melbourne. A wharf was
built at Mossiface,
several kilometres downstream from Bruthen. In
1884 a wharf, known as
Batten's Landing, was built further downstream. It
had fewer problems
than Mossiface and it also became a busy port. The
river had to be
cleared of snags and dredged at the mouth to keep
it open.
A bridge was
constructed
over the Tambo at Bruthen in 1872. However silting
was a great problem
and by the 1890s it was almost buried. The
township of Bruthen
developed, with a range of stores, post office,
school, Mechanics'
Institute and social and sporting organizations.
Bruthen was the
administrative centre of Tambo Shire from 1882 to
the late 1980s when
the shire offices moved to Lakes Entrance.
The Victorian
Municipal
Directory of 1888 stressed Bruthen's prime
location on important trade
routes. By 1900 Bruthen was growing steadily. Hop
culture was declining
due to poor prices, increased competition and red
spider damage. The
last crop was harvested in 1915. Maize was now the
main crop, with
wheat, oats, potatoes, peas, beans, sugar beet and
some fruit being
grown. There was some dairying, with creameries
and butter factories
being established.
The river trade was
still
profitable. The 1904 Australian Handbook described
a substantial
township of 400 people. To the south of Bruthen,
the Tambo township was
beginning to develop. When a post office was
opened in 1911, the
township was renamed Wiseleigh in honour of the
Federal parliamentarian
for the area, G.H. Wise. The Bairnsdale to Orbost
railway line passed
through Bruthen. Regular services commenced in
1916. However the
railway did not stimulate development as expected.
During the
depression of the 1920s, the shire suffered a
decline in population.
During the 1930s the steamer traffic disappeared.
Competition from road
and rail traffic was great and silting of the
river became an
insurmountable problem. By 1935 the rail passenger
services had ceased.
Bruthen itself was not adversely affected. Its
population rose from 530
about 1920 to 580 in the late 1930s. The smaller
townships, however,
did lose amenities. The Bruthen area has extensive
timber resources.
In the 1940s two
factories
making handles for axes and tools were set up and
there have been a
number of sawmills over the years. In the 1960s
and 1970s the mills
were troubled by financial difficulties and
distant timber allotments.
This affected the town unfavourably, with the
population falling to 568
in 1976 and 449 by 1981. However the population
has increased again,
reaching 850 in 1994, with retirees and commuters
to Bairnsdale
choosing the quieter rural lifestyle. The
Victorian Municipal Directory
described a town with three shops, two garages,
three churches and a
mechanics' institute. There are some reminders of
the past.
At Mossiface,
Calvert's hop
kilns, built in 1888 and listed in Victorian
Heritage Register, have
been restored and a giant maize crib still stands.
Near Bruthen is
Fairy Dell, 48 hectares of rain forest set aside
in 1967. A walking
track winds through this area of ferns and jungle
vegetation which is
restricted to a few locations in East Gippsland.
Bruthen is central
to all
sports and recreational activities including
fishing, snow & water
skiing, surfing, bushwalking and 4 wheel driving,
all within a short
distance in any direction.
The town has been
an
important stopover for gold seekers and early
travellers and was
actually moved north after a major flood 1870. For
a time the small
hamlet of Mossiface, just to the south, served as
a port for Bruthen
until another major flood realigned the river away
from Mossiface.
Interesting restored hop kilns dating from the
1880's can still be seen
in the smaller village.
Fertile soil abounds
in the
area, and local farming of dairy, beef and wool,
and crops of beans,
peas and maize has been very successful over the
years. The timber
industry has also been important in the local
economy, while natural
pockets of undisturbed bushland can still be found
and explored. The
Fairy Dell Scenic Reserve, with its picnic grounds
and walking tracks
set amid true temperate rainforest is well worth a
visit, as is a
stroll along the recently launched Bruthen Walking
Trails.
Many small
businesses in
the township cater to the traveller and local
community alike, and
Bruthen is a great destination for those wishing
to get away from it
all.
The town is
well
situated on the road to Omeo and Buchan, while
the road through Bruthen
provides an alternative route between Bairnsdale
and Lakes Entrance.
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