Tasmanian Bush Heritage
Introduction I’m surprised sometimes by how far our searches take us back in time. This story is about a stockyard built about 175 years ago and is now little more than a ghost in the landscape. Looked for the Mole Creek Track For me, this story began more than 40 years ago whilst I was … Read moreThe Ghostly Stockyard of the Borradaile Plains
Guest writer Paula McCulloch Introduction Paula joins us again with the exciting news that she has found Stretcher Hut. She started her hunt years ago after reading a story by Simon Cubit. We all know Simon’s gift for weaving history and mystery together into a captivating story. He described a bushman carried to a hut … Read moreStretcher Creek Hut Found
Here are a few old and new snaps from searches that didn’t make it into our blogs. Maynes/Orient Tin Mine – Heemskirk Trial Harbour to Zeehan Wurragarra Creek, Mount Pillinger in the background – Mole Creek Track … Read moreThen and Now
In May 1900 Major Frederic Hughes (1858–1944) might have been fighting the South African War. Only a month earlier the Waratah detachment of the Wellington Rifles had drilled in the main street ahead of camp in New Town, Hobart, where four of their number were selected for the Imperial Bushman Contingent.1 But it is possible … Read moreThe Hughes diversion, or when the major moved Savage River
On 28 May 1882 a woman died on Tasmania’s West Coast and was laid to rest nearby. No doctor attended her, no police constable, magistrate or registrar was notified.1 No priest officiated at her funeral. None of these positions existed on the Heemskirk Tin Field. There was nothing but a scattered population of mostly Cornish … Read moreDigging up Mrs Williams, or the phantom of the Heemskirk tin boom
On the Monday of the March long weekend of 2023, I revisited Basil Steers No 3 (aka Smurf) hut on the southern end of the February Plains for the first time since 1997. Recollections of Basil, construction of the hut and numerous trips, slowly filtered into my memory and over the months began to clarify. … Read moreA Wurragarra Homecoming
In 1891, three separate surveys were cut through the mountainous centre of Tasmania towards Zeehan. Engineers, local guides, axemen and packers worked to find a route for a railway from Ouse, Mole Creek or Waratah. It was part of a series of crazy parochial conflicts later called the ‘railway wars’.1 This blog is about our … Read moreA Camp on the Mole Creek to Zeehan Railway Survey 1891
Eddie Firth and I have been visiting the old Barn Bluff mine for years. At first glance there isn’t a lot to see. But a close look reveals a lot of history. The most evocative reminder of its history is a few grainy photos. Some show men proudly staring at the camera. They are frozen … Read moreThe Barn Bluff Copper Mine – The Huts
Guest writer – Paula McCulloch About four years ago I was intrigued by the story Simon Cubit wrote on his blog (then later published in his book Mountain stories: echoes from the Tasmanian high country, vol.1) about a hut near Stretcher Creek in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. It interested me that even with … Read moreStretcher Creek Hut Site
For years Ian has told me about doors in the Mersey River when we passed Martha Creek. It was intriguing but I couldn’t really imagine what they might be. In February, they came up again when we were talking about places to explore. We would wrap in a few easy searches into one day; Ian’s … Read moreThe Mersey Doors