SEPTEMBER 2000 NEWSLETTER

THE MARKET

The time is approaching for our November market day at the Rotunda Park on November 18. This is one of our big fundraisers for the year and we are again going to have a raffle for a Christmas Hamper, which as those of us lucky enough to have won one will attest, is a beauty! As usual we are looking for donations of goodies to fill the hamper with and are including with this newsletter, raffle tickets that we hope you are able to sell. Joan and Alex Culvenor have arranged for a ”Corby Starlet” training aeroplane to be there and children will be able, under the watchful eye of Alex, to climb aboard and try the controls.

EXCURSION

The Saturday excursion with David Bannear leading a group of us through the area in the Muckleford Forest called Gardner’s Gully and Boswarva Hill was great. An area that had seemed to lack significant traces of gold mining took on a new look as David found the remains of different eras of mining. On the east side of Blow Mine track the remains of a dam, puddIer and tailings were seen while on the west side, the signs of later deep mining were there - mullock heaps roasting kilns and stamper- foundations. Some guides from the Mount Alexander Diggings group were there and were keen to say thankyou by inviting us to share a trip to the Welsh village with them. News on a date perhaps in the next newsletter

BUILDING AT THE SCHOOL

As the building at school is in progress the courthouse is a temporary home for the Honour Board and historical records. The series of books written for the centenary of Education in Victoria ”Vision and Realisation” edited by Les Blake which contains articles on the history of each school in the state has been very popular.

JOHN TULLY - GUEST SPEAKER

John gave an insight into his latest book ”A Difficult Case – An Autobiography of a Chinese Miner on the Central Victorian Goldfields by Jong Ah Siug” which he co- authored with the late Ruth Moore. It was a fascinating story, not always able to be easily followed but John was able to explain that they purposely left the diary as close as possible to the original. Jong Ah Siug wrote the diary several years later while in an asylum and when he remembered something he had missed, he would write it a second time. Added to that, Jong was an opium smoker so his hallucinations are difficult to separate from the real memories. Don’t be put off be that! The work that Ruth has done in researching how the Chinese were treated on the mines in our area and John has done in tracing the exact site of Ah Jong Siug’s house shouldn’t be missed. A copy of the book is now available to be borrowed from the courthouse

THE HARRY LAUDER MINE SANDON

A series of coincidences has aroused our interest in this mine. Do any of our readers have information about this mine? According to the information in the Newstead Echo in 1910 great hopes were held for its future and locals and others such as George Lansell rushed to get shares I feel an excursion coming on!

”NEWSTEAD NEWS”

The copies of this paper that ran from 1968 to the early 70s have now been put into plastic sleeves and stored in binders thanks to Di Reid who is also indexing them to computer. They will be then readily available for research as it is planned to have them on the magistrates bench.

TRIP TO THE WELSH VILLAGE

Following on from the excursion to the mines with David Bannear, the guides from the Mount Alexander Diggings group are keen to repay our hospitality with a return tour – to the Welsh Village in Chewton. This has been arranged for Sunday morning November 12 at 9 am. (An early start in case it is a hot day!). We will meet them at Ellery Park Chewton but will car pool from the courthouse at 8.30. It should be a good morning

THE WALK

Plans are in hand for the grand launch! You will be hearing more next month. Stay tuned!

The next meeting is on Monday October 16 1.30 at the courthouse when plans for the Market Day will be finalized.

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