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1HERITAGE July - August 2013

HERITAGENEWSLETTER OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION

OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.JULY - AUGUST 2013 ISSUE No. 28

HERITAGE FOREST OF WOLLEMI PINESMany botanic gardens are increasingly becoming involved in conservation activities that integratein situ and ex situ approaches to tree conservation, which are typically undertaken in partnership

with other organisiations such as national park agencies, forest services, non-governmentorganisations(NGOs) and local communities.

(BGCI- Integrated Conservation of Tree Species: A reference manual)

View into rugged a gorge and selected planting site on Blue MountainBotanic Garden conservation area. Photograph Greg Bourke

by Ross Ingram,Acting Curator Manager,Blue Mountains Botanic

GardenIn the early 1990s Blue MountainsBotanic Garden acquired almost200 hectares of wilderness,adjoining and to the north of theexisting garden.

Following the discovery of theWollemi Pine in 1994 and with thedeclaration of the Greater BlueMountains World Heritage area afew years later the acquisition tookon even greater significance andopportunity.

All of these changes precipitatedthe need for a review of the gardensthematics to refocus the role andfunction of the garden in a WorldHeritage area and to explore thenew opportunities and possibilitiesarising from these changes.

Into this context came an approachfrom University PhD student HeidiZimmer in conjunction with theWollemi Pine Recovery group whichstimulated interest and theimmediate possibility to initiate aplanting of some 200 trees. Toquote Heidi’s report –To date, research of the naturalpopulations of Wollemia nobilis hasbeen observational.

Studies on the natural history, andmorphology, biology, genetics andphylogeny of Wollemia provides afundamental understanding of thespecies and is a necessaryprecursor to informing conservationstrategies.

However, the current populations ofWollemia exist in a relatively narrowset of environmental conditions.

One potential conservation strategyis to establish ex situ populations innatural environments. To maximisethe effectiveness of this approach itis critical to understand howWollemia responds to a broaderrange of environmental conditions.This requires an experimentalapproach. (Zimmer and Baker,2011)

After careful exploration andresearch of a number of locationswithin the conservation area, a sitewhich almost replicates the originaldiscovery site, was identified andthe challenging task of planting outbegan

With this planting project completedsuccessfully, the idea arose ofcreating another site using somevery advanced trees not utilised inthe initial project to create an ex situ

A new visitorexperience

forest that would provide visitorswith a relatively safe and managed“wild Wollemi experience”.

Access to the conservation areahas to date been challenging.

The first obstacle was overcomewith the donation of funding by theFriends of the Botanic Gardens fora footbridge which made safeaccess across the highwaypossible.

Visitor access has been limited tostudents participating in formal fieldstudy trips and to those who wereprepared to book and pay for anorganised tour with a guide.

The area is abundant with naturalattractions ranging from lushrainforest to dry sclerophyll andheath, ancient rock formations,wildflowers, dozens of bird speciesand spectacular views.

Continued page 3


An opinion from the editor.......

John Leary, OAM -President, Blue MountainsAssociation of Cultural HeritageOrganisations Inc.

Contents.........HERITAGE

July - August 2013

*P1 Heritage Forest of WollemiPines by Ross Ingram

*P2 Sealing of Cox’s Rd isheritage vandalism by localgovernment by John Leary

*P4 ‘Crossing of the BlueMountains’ an outstandingexhibition by Jean Winston

*P7 Council were set to destroyheritage integrity of Cox’sRd, Woodford by JanKoperberg and John Leary

*P8 Devotion - Sir Joseph andDame Mary Cook

*P9 Alice in Wonderland byJohn Low,

*P9 Longtime series*P10 Sydney Rock - on the Ways

to the West*P11 RAHS Conference in

Katoomba*P12 Lithgow migration and

settlement study*P13 Capt Cook’s pistol fetches

$220,000*P14 History at your fingertips*P14 Polar trek made to measure*P14 Plans to bring water into

the museum*P14 Aboriginal heritage grant

for Kandos Museum*P15 Cronje the brumby brigand*P16 New Aboriginal heritage

tour at Blue MountainsBotanic Garden, Mt Tomah

*P17 “The biggest Estate onEarth: how Aboriginesmade Australia” -a critiqueby Andy Macqueen

*P22 Focus on the GeorgeEvans story

*P22 The sex lives of Australia ---a historical reflection

*P22 Walk to the Cattle Rustlers’Yards

*P24 Lynn Collins will facilitatemuseums workshop

*P24 Across the Blue Mountains*P25 Western Crossings*P26 Ancient Syrian sites

imperilled by war

Sealing of Cox’s Rd isheritage vandalism by

local governmentPlans by Blue Mountain CityCouncil to apply bitumen over theunsealed parts of Old BathurstRoad (Cox’s Road), Woodfordimpregnating with tar, a roadconstructed of and onsandstone,198-years ago; can atleast be considered cavalier and atworst sheer heritage vandalism.

When one considers the wealth ofmisinformation that councillors andsenior staff spread, suggestingthat this roadway had no heritagesignificance and that ‘there is noheritage listing at either local orstate level’, it is well time thatsomeone should look at council’sflow of information both within theorganisation and to the ratepayersand residents of this city.

It has been claimed by severaldescendants of the explorers thatpressure was brought upon themnot to alert the media. as it mightaffect the success of thecelebrations.

It is certain that every member ofBlue Mountains City Council’sheritage advisory committee wasaware of the listings and theheritage significance of this roadconstruction had council or itssenior staff taken the trouble toconsult with this body.

The simple fact is that the Cox’sRoad is listed on the StateHeritage Inventory and in council’sLocal Environment Plan 1991.

At council’s ordinary meeting ofJune 4, 2013 some councillorsappeared to be in complete denialabout these facts.They could notor did not want to understand, thatthe heritage value is in the roadconstruction itself, not in somecast-off shoe from Cox’s horse or abroken clay pipe dropped by oneof his convicts.

There is a legal requirement oncouncil to take note of this item inthe SHI and LEP 1991 andcertainly a moral obligation tofuture generations.

It is ironical, at the present time aswe commemorate and celebrate thebicentenary of the WesternCrossings 2013-2015, that thiswork which if it goes ahead willultimately destroy one of theearliest colonial road-lines whichallowed the starving settlement atSydney to expand and open up thegolden west of NSW.

It is almost like a Bacchanaliancelebration of ancient Greecewhere after the festivities therefollowed a drunken orgy of crimesand conspiracies. Here in the BlueMountains, after thecommemoration and celebrationsof the achievements of the threefeted explorers, an orgy ofdestruction of one of the only majorheritage structures remaining fromthat period will follow.

Many who live in this rustic settingwould prefer it to remain anunsealed road unattractive to thehoons likely to see it as a route to abush rubbish tip or worse. Theconcerns of local residents need tobe taken into account. The mostserious concern is drainage aftersummer storms. Sealing the roadon its own will only make thedrainage problem faster and moredestructive. The drainage concernscan and should be addressedwithout having to seal the road.

Council will now wait on anarchaeological report before takingfurther steps to seal the road; butuntil councillors accept thatheritage is just more than a word towhich they pay lip service, thefuture of heritage conservation inthe Blue Mountains will sound veryhollow. With a little innovativethought by council, Cox’s Roadcould be equal to Old Great NorthRoad - World Heritage walk whichfeatures a historic convict-built,some in chains, road overlookingthe Hawkesbury River, in DharugNational Park.


Continued from page 1Here was the opportunity to offer atruly unique visitor experience bycreating a varied wilderness walkwith the chance to experiencerainforest, open woodland andwildflowers, cliff edges, a magicAngophora forest and then finallyplunging into a Wollemi gorge.

However, this is more than justabout providing visitors with apleasant, relatively safe ”emersion”in wilderness.

The botanic garden of the 21st

century has a role and aresponsibility to address much morethan simply providing visitors withpleasant experiences anddisplaying collections of plants inwell organised high standardhorticultural displays.

Here is the chance to interpret andexplain conservation, the natureand importance of biodiversity,habitat, the relationship betweenpeople and plants and theunderstanding of place - in abotanic garden managedwilderness.

Blue Mountains Botanic Gardennatural area staff have begunsystematically surveying the areaso that we have a good idea of whatthe area has to offer and whatresponsibilities we have inmanaging the site.

Tracks have been created andsome preliminary guided walkshave been laid out.

A circular walkthrough a varietyof ecosystemsand features andacross differentterrains will leadwalkers to theWollemi grovewhich nests in amoist gullybeneathsandstone cliffs.

The proposedboardwalk willminimize theimpact of walkers,avoid erosionproblems andenable intimatecontact with thetrees andassociatedvegetation.

Unfortunately theconservation areais difficult terrainand access will belimited to relativelyfit and ablepersons.

At least two hourswill be needed to

A wilderness walk plunging into a Wollemi gorge

Research scientist Heidi Zimmer (right) andhorticulturist Chris Crottey take a break during

“operation plantout”. Photograph : Greg Bourke

Wildfire and disease represent thetwo big threats to a project such asthis.

Recently, in collaboration with theBotanic Gardens Trust, the RuralFire Service conducted a very

fully enjoy the walk and the countryis quite steep in places.

Because it is a heritage andconservation area, the proposal isto not intrude unnecessarily and forthe infrastructure to be asunobtrusive as possible.

Approval was sought and receivedand work has started.

The project will need to attractsubstantial sponsorship as it will benecessary to construct a lengthyboardwalk to provide access.

The boardwalk will reduce theimpact of visitors on the fragile siteand provide means to maintain thehighest standard of hygiene. (Thedisease Phytopthora is carried onfootwear).

successful hazard reductionexercise to help manage the threatof wildfire.

Part of the ongoing managementplan for the site is that suchexercises will need to be conductedat regular intervals as determinedand recommended by ecologists toboth ensure the integrity of thenatural ecosystems and to protectthe Wollemi plantings into thefuture.

Horticulturists planting out andrecording details. Photograph:

Greg Bourke Wollemi nobillis


An outstanding exhibition, tocommemorate the bicentenary ofthe ‘Crossing of the Blue Mountains’has been created at the MountVictoria Museum.

The concept and execution of theexhibition were driven by thedetermination of Marcia Osterberg-Olsen whose family were pioneersin the Little Hartley district.

There were many pitfalls to beovercome before the display couldbe mounted, including renovationsand painting of the designatedroom.

This was done by members of thehistorical society.

Money was limited and anapplication for a grant fromMuseums and Galleries NSW hadbeen declined.

A graphic designer and BlackheathRotarian, Clive Jones of Red EggDesign offered his skills free ofcharge, as did his wife Gabrielle.

The Blackheath Rotary Clubgenerously offered financial andphysical support to get theexhibition under way.

One Rotarian sent a letter to localresidents asking for financialsupport and a Katoomba Rotarianerected a false wall in the exhibitionroom.

These efforts were gratefullyreceived by the Mount Victoria andDistrict Historical Society whichmanaged the exhibition.

Marcia said that she wanted a ‘wow’factor for the exhibit.

‘Crossing of the Blue Mountains’ anoutstanding exhibition at Mt Victoria

“There has been plenty of opportunity for celebratory activities andsome of them have been memorable, such as the Blue Wave crossingre-enactment by John Sullivan and descendants of the three explorers,the spectacular flyover of aircraft and the mass circulation of thecommemorative holey dollar to schoolchildren to name but a few.

“There has however, been few enduring things which have so far comefrom the three-year commemoration of the bicentenary of the ‘westerncrossing’ other than the foundation proposed by Dr David Blaxland andthe splendid activities centred around the Hartley Valley.

“To its great credit the Mt Victoria Historical Society has producedanother enduring legacy, which will have immense value for many yearsto come — the outstanding exhibition created at Mt Victoria museum ina newly dedicated Crossings Room.

A remarkableandinnovativeengagementwith thecommunity“Not only has the concept and energy of Marcia Osterberg-Olsen, herself of descendant of some of ourearliest pioneers been harnessed, to curate this commemorative exhibit; but it has also seen theengagement by this historical society with a much wider community including Rotarians, volunteers,professional and business people as well several generous donors.

“Other groups could well learn from this successful engagement with the community for the preservationand presentation of our heritage.

“This exhibition is as well presented and as professionally created to equal those displays found in manyof larger state owned museums.

“In this article, president of the Mt Victoria and District Historical Society, Mrs Jean Winston outlines thework involved to create this exhibition. Congratulations to all concerned.” John Leary, OAM – president,Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage Organisations Inc

Continued page 5

A clever illusion: a real table and glassware in front of the graphic ofGovernor and Mrs Macquarie drawn by Clive Jones.


Cotinued from page 4This was to be achieved throughartifacts, tools of trade, stories, linedrawings, pictures andphotographs.

Her idea was to show thechronology of the crossings of theBlue Mountains starting with theAborigines and ending with thejourney by Governor and Mrs.Macquarie to Bathurst in 1815.

The three local Aboriginal tribes,Gundungurra, Darug and Wiradjurihad been crossing the BlueMountains and the Great DividingRange for centuries carrying chertand mudstone to make tools.

Examples of these objects found inthe Hartley area are on display.

The routes of four earlier attemptsto cross the mountains aredepicted, those of Bass, a ship’ssurgeon, Everingham, a convict,Barrallier, a Royal Navy surveyorand Caley a botanist.

None were successful and Caleywas amazed when he heard it hadbeen done. He is depicted sitting athome in England, with a parrot onhis shoulder, a virtual recluse.

Large panels of text giveinformation on the explorers,surveyors, road makers and on thegovernor and Mrs. Macquarie.

The display gives extensivebiographical notes on each of themen up to the time that theycrossed the mountains. Blaxlandaged 35, Lawson 39 and Wentworth23 set out in 1813.

They got as far as Mount Blaxland,further west from Mount York wherethey stood and overlooked thewestern plains.

A copy of Gregory Blaxland’s diarywritten, very legibly, on May 28,1813 at Mount York is on displayand really connects the viewer withthe explorers.

To progress each day, theystruggled through dense bush andhad to go ahead to reconnoitre aroute ahead of the main group,blazing trees as they went, and thenwent back to bring the horses.

Grass for the horses had to be cutwhere available and carried,increasing their loads to about100kg each.

The party encountered one group ofAboriginal women and children whowere frightened at first but wheninterest was shown in the childrenthey all relaxed.

It was reported that both the womenwere blind in the right eye.

Surveyor Evans, who was thirtythree years old, was asked to makea route suitable for horses andstock. He took enough stores for atwo months period.

One of his tools of trade was acircumferentor which is a surveyor’scompass, an earlier version of thetheodolite.

The Land and Property InformationService at Bathurst has kindly lent acircumferentor to the society. Theinstrument measures horizontalangles. The east and west points onthe face of the instrument arereversed from the normal way.

The road maker William Cox, agedfifty one later built a road of 101.5miles on Evans route.

Details are given of the equipmentused and some examples are ondisplay: gunpowder, block andtackle, crowbars, sledge hammers,axes, two man cross-cut saws,picks and shovels.

The method of sawing used in atwo man pit saw was for a saw pit tobe dug to about 2.5metres deepand 1.5 metres wide.

Poles were placed across the pitand the log to be sawn was placedon the poles.

The bottom man stood in the pit andthe top man or senior sawyerbalanced on the log above andguided the saw in making the cut.

English artist John Lewin whotravelled with Macquarie’s party toBathurst in 1815 painted scenesalong the way.

A huge reproduction of hiswatercolour painting ‘Spring Wood’stands in a commanding position onthe false wall at the end of theroom.

Line drawings of GovernorMacquarie and Mrs Macquarie,sitting like ghosts in the scene, aresuperimposed on it.

In front of the figures is an actualtable with a lamp, a decanter, wineglasses and a pack of cards putready for the evening game ofwhist.

Beyond the Spring Wood scene is abeautiful chiaroscuro screen named‘Eucalypt’ which was made byMarcia’s daughter Vashti Gondaand donated by CreativePowerhouse Pty Ltd. It is a work ofart in itself.

The following panels depict anddescribe Governor and Mrs.Macquarie.

It was noted that Macquarie likeother governors before him hadgiven orders that all colonists makeevery effort to live in friendship withthe Aboriginal people.

On Thursday May 4, 1815Macquarie’s expedition reached theBathurst Plains where the town ofBathurst was proclaimed.Continued on page 6

A chronologyof the

crossings


Continued from page 5The final small picture shows howthe colour of their clothesdelineated the status of thewearers.

A society member assisted Marciaby doing research for the text.

A Hartley man gave money for theinstallation of the lighting system.

Numerous other people haveassisted in preparing this exhibitionand I apologise to any whom I haveomitted.

The Mount Victoria and DistrictHistorical Society is immenselypleased with the final display and ismost appreciative of the creativeability and determination shown byMarcia Osterberg-Olsen in seeingthe project through to the finish.

...a beautifulchiaroscuroscreen named‘Eucalypt’...

Pictured is the chiaroscuro screen named ‘Eucalypt’ made inaluminium by Vashti Gonda and donated by

Creative Powerhouse Pty Ltd.

Woodford Academy seeks grant for schoolsprogram based on service in World War 1

DURING the First World War, up to48 graduates from the WoodfordAcademy enlisted in the First AIF.

They served in a variety ofcapacities. Two are known to havebeen killed in action and one wasawarded the Military Medal.

The study of the Academy’s recordsof all these veterans has not yetbeen undertaken.

These men and their experiencescan now be seen as a mini-study ofthe times and experiences of menwho served in that war.

There is a large collection ofunprocessed recourses and recordsthat contains information aboutthese men and their schoolexperience. This includesphotographs, school records, feespaid, family contacts and the like.

The military records of these menare freely available from theNational Australian Archives.

Their unit records are freelyavailable from the Australian WarMemorial in Canberra.

Woodford Academy managementcommittee has submitted anapplication for funding from theAustralian Government’sDepartment of Veteran AffairsANZAC Centenary grants program.

The funding would be used todevelop the recourses that exist atthe Academy that deal with theseboys and the period 1910-1918 andto add their military records tocreate a teaching and learningrecourse for schools in the BlueMountains.

Through the study of this history the

Descendants wearing servicemedals including a Military Crossof former students of Woodford

Academy at the 2006Remembrance Day unveiling of a

restored honour roll.Photograph John Leary, OAM

Woodford Academy would like tocontribute to the understanding ofAustralian school students aboutthe social and political situationunder which these particular menlived and enlisted and to see howthis might have been affected bytheir First World War experience.

BLUEMOUNTAINS

HISTORYCONFERENCE

IN 2014SUCCESS of the 2012 HistoryConference organised by BMACHOhas spurred the committee intostaging another in May 2014.

Three venues are currently beingconsidered and in the meantime, anumber of eminent historians arebeing approached to be speakers.

A good number of peopleinterested in heritage and historyattended the day long conferencelast October and at least thisnumber is expected to register forthe May 2014 event.

All who attended last yearsconference will be contacted andinvited to next year’s function.

Further details will be announced incoming weeks and will appear onBMACHO’s websitewww.bluemountainsheritage.com


BLUE MOUNTAINS City Councilhas damaged some of Australia’soldest road construction when itgraded Old Bathurst Road (Cox’sRoad), Woodford.

A number of local residents becamealarmed, as were members ofBMACHO and other heritage andhistorical societies on theMountains, that the Blue MountainsCity Council had graded theWoodford stretch of Bathurst Road(Cox’s Road), ready for sealing.

Council had earlier decided toinclude this heritage carriageway,as part of a project to seal presentlyunsealed roads on the mountains.

People with knowledge of the road’sheritage approached a number ofcouncillors who had been publiclystating there was no heritage valuein the roadway.

This particular section of OldBathurst Road is listed on the NSWHeritage Branch Inventory, as ‘LD019: Remnants of Cox’s Road’.

This listing covers Old BathurstRoad and Taylor Road, Woodford. It is one of the earliest colonial-eraroad-lines surviving in Australia.

The 1814 road is tangible evidenceof the development of the colony atSydney and the expansion of whitesettlement into western NSW.

This was originally listed in LEP1991 and was updated in January,2005, the study being done in 2003by Dr Siobhan Lavelle and Dr IanJack.

When council became aware of theconcerns by historians and othersof the road’s heritage status, a siteinspection took place with theattendance of several councillors,council senior staff, council’sheritage advisor, a representative ofRoads and Maritime Services whohad considerable knowledge aboutthis road, and local residents.

To council staff’s credit, when theybecame aware of the heritagelistings, the sealing of the road wasdelayed.

Council were set to destroy heritageintegrity of Cox’s Road, Woodford

by Jan Koperberg and John Leary --- photographs by Patsy Moppett taken on June 7, 2013

Following protests to council bypeople with heritage knowledge,and after grading of the road hadbeen finished and machinerybrought in for sealing, a report bystaff was presented to council.

Some damage to the originalroadwork was done to theconstruction of the 198-year oldheritage road.

The staff report stated: ’ …there isno heritage listing at either local orstate level’.

This is clearly untrue as it is listed inthe State Heritage Inventory andalso in council’s own LEP 1991.

It is understood a report drawingattention to the road’s heritagestatus was not made available tocouncillors for the council meetingof June 4, 2013.

A number of people for the sealingand against the sealing, attendedthe Blue Mountains City Councilmeeting on Tuesday June 4, 2013.

Three people were allowed to speakin favour and three against. Thosewho spoke against the sealing ofthe road were John Leary, OAM,president of Blue MountainsAssociation of Cultural Heritage

Organisations Inc, Ian Harman,chairman, Woodford Academymanagement committee and JanKoperberg, secretary, BMACHO.

Those residents in favour of sealingthis rural road cited dust andstormwater run-off problems.

Not all residents are in favour of theroad being sealed and some areconcerned that it will increase trafficmovements to a property where anallegedly unauthorised commercialactivity is taking place.

Cr Geordie Williamson, a Woodfordresident, was the only councillor tospeak in favour of retaining OldBathurst Road as an unsealed road.

At the time HERITAGE waspublished on-line, council wasseeking advice from anarchaeologist.

Stone wall is evidence of 1820s improvements to the original Cox’sRoad over which council had planned to seal with bitumen.

View of the graded road to thesouth near the stone wall Cox’s

Road foundations


AN EXHIBITION celebrating the lives and achievements ofSir Joseph and Dame Mary Cook is on display at EskbankHouse and Museum until October 7, 2013 having beenofficially opened earlier this month.

“Lithgow is very proud to have its own Prime Minister in SirJoseph Cook,” said Lithgow City Council Mayor MareeStatham. ”It is also very special to see, in this exhibition, thebond between Sir Joseph and Dame Mary and how theywere able to achieve so much together.”

The couple moved to Lithgow in 1886 and Sir Joseph workedin the Vale of Clwydd Colliery as he studied and worked hisway up through the unions and into politics.

He was a minister in the first federal government, becameprime minister in 1913, was high commissioner in Londonand knighted in 1918.

As well as being beside him every step of his career, DameMary was heavily involved in the Red Cross and was made aDame in the Order of the British Empire in 1925 for this work.

This exhibition focuses on the lives of Sir Joseph and DameMary and their devotion to politics, the community and family.

Devotion – Sir Joseph and Dame Mary CookAn exhibition celebrating Lithgow’s Prime Minister

Joseph Cook photographed at thetime he was post master general.

As well as stories and images, several items from thecouple, not exhibited before, will be on display, such as alovely reference written by Dame Mary for one of her maids

During Sir Joe’s time as high commissioner in London both Sir Joeand Dame Mary were very active in promoting Australia’s interests in

Great Britain. In these photographs Dame Mary is officiallycommissioning the first Australian amphibian flying boat “The

Seagull” in 1926. Sir Joe then took a flight in the plane. The bottomimage is Dame Mary wishing him well and the top is a very relievedkiss when he landed safely. A photograph album gifted to the Cooksby the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd. is in the National Australian

Archives and is a beautifully told story of the occasion. (Photographsfrom the National Australian Archives M3613)

and the original letter from HerMajesty’s Privy Council to SirJoseph Cook offering him theposition of Australian HighCommissioner in England.

The exhibition was officially openedby Mayor Statham followed by talksfrom Hartley Cook (great grandsonof Sir Joseph and Dame Mary),Cassandra Coleman (a member ofthe Sir Joseph CookCommemorative Group) andcurators Miriam Scott and WendyHawkes.


ALICE IN WONDERLANDby John Low, OAM - Loal historian

WHEN THE ENGLISH aristocracyvisited the Blue Mountains, as theyregularly did, the unfamiliarpleasures of the landscape oftenseduced them into relaxing thenormal formalities of their class.

Even the future Queen Mary andher ladies took to the swings atLeura Cascades in 1901 andwandered the bush paths for longerthan they should.

Almost a decade earlier, following avisit to Jenolan Caves in January1893, Alice, Duchess ofBuckingham and Chandos, alightedat the Carrington Hotel with herfriend Hilda.

Having roughed it at smalleraccommodation houses, theysettled in to the comfort of the grandhotel, a panoramic view from theirverandah and their dinner table“covered with flowers”.

The following day Sir FrederickDarley of ‘Lilianfels’ took them toWentworth Falls and the ThreeSisters and despite the heat andflies they were not deterred fromaccepting an invitation the nextmorning for “a grand picnicexpedition” to Govetts Leap.

Coach driver Harry Peckman, theirguide for the day, was a man wellversed in the art of introducing thearistocracy to the informalities of thebush.

Bushman, poet and raconteur, itwas he who had taken Lord andLady Carrington by horse acrossthe Six Foot Track in 1887 andintroduced them to the camaraderieof the camp fire and the delights ofbilly tea.

“Oh, such a beautiful, wonderfulplace!” exclaimed Alice on arrival atthe Leap, the amphitheatre of cliffsintersected with dashing waterfalls(her words) becoming thebackground against which the‘theatre’ of the picnic played out.

Both director and performer,Peckman always ensured that hisguests were part of the action.

It began with a story, a skeletonfound in the thick bush in the depths

of the valley, a lost soul who’dwandered from his friends and died“bewildered in the endless scruband forest”.

Then a lesson in fire-making andthe baking of potatoes, followed bya warning about snakes and acareful study of the ground toensure no serpents would spoil their“excellent repast”.

After lunch and an excitingscramble down to the edge of theprecipice, “throwing stones to see ifwe could hear them fall”, it was timefor the ritual of ‘billy tea’ and theclimactic flourish of the guide’s ownpoetry.

His ‘Laughing Jackass’, a humorousverse and prose piece that includeda reputedly faultless imitation of aKookaburra, brought the picnic to asuitably colourful conclusion.

But the drama had not yet ended!Nature still had a few lines of herown to deliver.

“On the way home”, Alice reported,“we were caught in a tremendous

thunderstorm, and got well soaked– hailstones like peas ... and sheetsof rain.

It rains like a water-spout here whenit once begins.

Some of the ladies were sofrightened that they took refuge in ahouse, but most of us drove on andbraved the elements”.

An outing with Harry was invariablya memorable experience!

Authors note: A copy of Alice’sletters, Glimpses of FourContinents, written during her worldtour and published in London in1894, is held in the Local StudiesSection at Springwood Library.

Also, copies of Jim Smith and JohnLow’s book on Harry Peckham, ThePrince of Whips, are still availableat the give-away price of $5!

This article was first published inHut News of the Blue MountainsConservation Spociety, Issue 298,November 2012.

KURRAJONG Comleroy HistoricalSociety will hold its annual generalmeeting on Monday, September 23when the guest speaker will beLesley Jane Abrahams.

Lesley will share local history fromthe “Longtime Series” by Hesba

Hungerford Brinsmead and otherinteresting research.

The meeting will be held at theKurrajong Community Centre,McMahon Park, Kurrajong.

Longtime series

A 19th century picnic at Govett’s Leap


SYDNEY ROCK is a strikingsandstone outcrop some six metreshigh beside the Great WesternHighway and the recently realignedrailway on the eastern approachesto Lawson.

It is listed on the State HeritageInventory and recent highwayconstruction and railway deviationshave left it more isolated and bestapproached from Somers Street.

On its irregular top surface it hasweathered into a small-scale lunarlandscape.

Beside the highway, the west sideof the rock has been chipped away,probably as a result of highwaywidening.

Historic notes forming part of theState Heritage Inventory listingstate: ‘Sydney Rock was asignificant landmark at the north-eastern approaches to nineteenth-century Lawson.

‘In 1903 it was damaged by‘vandals who had begun to blast itout for road metal’: the four drill-holes evident at the north end of theoutcrop today are probably the workof these ‘vandals’.

‘The breaking-up of the rock wasstopped in 1903 by the briskintervention of John Geggie, thestore-keeper and honorarysecretary of both the LawsonProgress Committee and theReserves Trust.

‘The damage to the lower part of therock adjacent to the highway is

‘It also gave its name to arefreshment house opposite on thehighway, known as the SydneyRock Cafe long before Hard RockCafes were invented.’1.

Sydney Rock was long recognisedas a prominent landmark along the

Eugene Stockton at the playground which he shared with butterflies.highway. Brian Fox in his BlueMountains Geographical Dictionaryrecords its recognition as early as1882.2.

Now a book Sydney Rock - On theWays to the West, published byBlue Mountain Education andResearch Trust and edited byLawson’s, Father Eugene Stocktonhas been released. Father Stocktonmay be contacted on(02) 47 591818

“Sydney Rock loomed large acrossthe highway from my childhoodhome,” recalls Eugene.

“In the 1940s we kids clamberedover the Rock imagining ourselvesas early explorers who first crossedthe Blue Mountains.

“Parties often enjoyed picnics onthe Rock, savouring the far distantviews and the mountains breezes.

“During World War 2 one watchedthe searchlights waving across theSydney horizon and the fireworks atwar’s end.

In those years petrol rationingseverely limited traffic on thehighway, but since then increasinglyheavy traffic has virtually closedaccess to the Rock and tree growthhas hidden it from the view ofpassing motorists.

likely to be the result of roadworkslater in the twentieth century.

‘Sydney Rock was a popular picnicarea, with a commanding view downto Sydney before the regrowth ofthe bush.

‘It was a vantage point from whichlocal people during World War IIwould go to watch searchlightsprobing the skys over Sydney or inpeace-time fireworks displays on[Sydney] Harbour.’

Sydney Rock - On the Ways to the West

Pictured is Sydney Rock some years ago.

Continued page 11


Cross bedding in sandstone on southern face of the cutting,beneath the third (steel) bridge.

Continued from page 10

Westernmost

outcrop ofHawkesburysandstone

“Now with the completion of theroadworks in 2012, Sydney Rockcan be restored to publicenjoyment, while the old railwaycutting left partly unfilled allowsinspection of the sandstonestratagraphy and of the pick marksof the rock cutters (1867 and 1902)

“The rock brings together thehistory of the road and railway,geology and botany – and evenmating butterflies!!,” according toFather Stockton.

Greg McNally an engineeringgeologist and chartered engineerbelieves that Sydney Rock is thewesternmost outcrop ofHawkesbury sandstone in the BlueMountains.

“With the 2013 realignment of theroad and railway, the nowabandoned and partly backfilledrailway cutting on its southernflank exposes contact between theHawkesbury sandstone and theunderlying Narrabeen group rocks

“The cutting is significant becauseit contains the only identifiedHawkesbury sandstone/Narrabeencontact in the area, though otheroccurrences could be present inlocal gullies and road cuttings,”Greg McNally has said.

Sydney Rock overlooked aprecious pocket of bushland,according to Hazelbrook’s ChrisWhiteman a horticulturist for theCommonwealth Agriculture,Fisheries and Forestry who isparticularly interested in thepreservation of the mid-BlueMountains heathland and hascompleted botanical surveys ofthis area.

In 2007, this pocket of about 1.25hectares was surveyed bybotanists Judy and Peter Smith,who found this small area,

supported a rich mix of plantcommunities and species, some ofspecial conservation significanceand interest.

The Smiths recorded 118 speciesacross 47 plant families in thecourse of a brief survey, notingthat further species, particularlygrasses and orchids, could well berevealed in future searches.

Three Aboriginal sites have beenrecorded in the neighbourhood,including rock shelters withdeposit, axe grinding grooves androck engravings

The rock itself shows no sign ofAboriginal activities.

However, Father Stocktonconsiders, to Gundungurra peopletravelling along the main ridge,Sydney Rock could well haveserved as marker turning northalong this ridge.3.

Copies of Sydney Rock - on theWays to the West are availabledirect from the publisher at $15 acopy plus postage and handling.

For more information about thispublication, telephone EugeneStockton, Blue MountainEducation and Research Trust(02) 4759 1034 or e-mail:[email protected]

End notes1. NSW Environment & HeritageState Heritage Inventory 25 Feb2000, Ld 009 Sydney Rock

2. Fox, B. 2001 Blue MountainsGeographical Dictionary (2ndEdition)

3. Stockton, E. 2009 Blue MountainsDreaming. The Aboriginal Heritage(2nd Edition).

RAHS Conference in KatoombaThe annual RAHS Conference willbe held this year at KatoombaRSL.

It will begin on Friday afternoon,November 1, with a visit to StateRecords.

This will be followed by a Meetand Greet pre-dinner drinks and‘nibblies’ at Hobby’s Reach.

Tarella will be open for those whowould like to see through thecottage.

The Conference whose theme isThe Great Divide - From Here toThere will be held on Saturday andSunday, November 2-3.

Details of the speakers and theirtopics have not yet been released.For more details visit the RAHSwebsite.


Lithgow migration and settlement studyLITHGOW CITY Council hasentered a partnership with thePowerhouse Museum’s NSWMigration Heritage Centre toundertake a Lithgow RegionMigration and Settlement ThematicStudy.

This scholarly research andresulting history will involve theresearch and production of acommunity history throughresearching and uncovering thehidden story of all the waves ofmigration and settlement to theLithgow City Council area, with afocus of industrial and familyhistory.

The history will research from firstEuropean settlement to the present.

It will encompass Anglo-Celticmigrations (with reference toparticular diaspora) and contacthistory with Aboriginal Australians,including the shared labourhistories on farms and in localindustries.

• The early pastoral economy,including settlement patternsand the use of convict labour.

• Coal, oil shale, mineralsprocessing, electricitygeneration and munitionsindustries, and their workers.

• The impact of the railwaycoming to Lithgow

• Manufacturing industry,including the linen mills andmore recently, Berlei.

• Hostels for contractual andmigrant labour, includingLithgow and Wallerawang.

• Social groups, friendlysocieties, workerorganisations and religiouspractice.

• The experience and impactof migrant women andchildren.

• The influence of migrantgroups on political activismand ideas. Employment-driven settlement patternsand subsequent living

conditions such as housingsupply.

• 19th Century Chinesemigration.

• Post Second World Warrefugees

• Recent, ie within past 20years, migration includingrefugees.

• The impact of the WhiteAustralia immigration policyand its abolition.

Research for the project willconcentrate on the Lithgow CityCouncil area including Lithgow,Wallerawang, Hartley, Portland andsurrounding districts.

Among other groups BlueMountains Association of CulturalHeritage Organisations Inc(BMACHO) is to be consultedduring the project. Other groupswho will be asked for participation inthe project are the Eskbank Houseand Museum, The City of GreaterLithgow Mining Museum Inc,Lithgow Small Arms Museum Inc,Lithgow and District FamilyHistorical Society; (all four groups

A wonderful image of coalminers from the Lithgow Valley Collierytaken in the 1880s. Research by Ray Christison indicates these mencame from Northumberland and Durham, Shropshire, Staffordshireand Cornwall. Some came to Lithgow via the goldfields, the Turon,

Bendigo, Ballarat or California. A substantial proportion of the earlyminers were Methodists and Free Methodists. (Lithgow Regional

Library 42439)

are members of BMACHO),National Parks & Wildlife Service,and Office of Environment &Heritage.

An illustrated history is to be theoutcome of the first three stages ofthe project.

The history will focus on key placesand industries – including places ofwork, recreation, religion andbusiness – that will help tell thestory of the region and its distinctivemigration and settlement history,township by township.

The history will include an oralhistory component to access theknowledge of elderly formermigrants or people withrecollections that will assist theproject. This is a priority as manypost-World War Two formermigrants are aging and frail.

Lithgow City Council is currentlyseeking an experienced consultantwith professional historianqualifications to under take stageone of this study project.

The project is scheduled to becompleted by May 31, 2014.


A RARE PIECE of Australian historyhas gone under the hammer,netting a small but tidy profit for itsseller.

A pistol belonging to Captain JamesCook handed down through thefamily for many generations, wassold at auction in Melbourne earlierthis year for almost $220,000.

For a man who had such a profoundeffect on the European colonisationof Australia, there is remarkablyvery little physical evidence ofCaptain James Cook or hispersonal possessions.

Had he failed to make landfall in1770, Australia might have becomea Portuguese, Dutch or Spanishdependency.

While his legacy looms large inAustralia’s collectiveconsciousness, only Cook’s pistolremains as the one key link to hislife and relationship with Australia.

If not for the efforts of formerMelbourne Lord Mayor, Grand Priximpresario and philanthropist, RonWalker AC CBE, even this wouldhave stayed well away from ourreach.

Mr Walker purchased the pistol in2003 from the descendants of Cookat an auction in Edinburgh,Scotland.

It had been willed to the family byCook and remained in theirpossession for more than twocenturies.

Now, almost 250 years after hisdeath in Hawaii, the early 18thcentury Continental Flintlock holsterpistol was offered for sale by LeskiAuctions of Melbourne underinstructions from Mr Walker.

“There is a wealth of memorabiliaavailable that is associated with theicons of Australia, be it Bradman,the Kelly Gang, Phar Lap, KingsfordSmith or Mawson,” says CharlesLeski.

“Yet James Cook, arguably the mostsignificant of that group in terms ofhis impact on Australia as a nation,has left us virtually nothing.

This pistol is therefore the onetangible link to him personally.

“We can confidently argue that hehas left his DNA on this, somethingthat can’t be said for the anchor ofthe HMB Endeavour which islocated at the James CookHistorical Museum in Cooktown orthe ship’s cannon which is locatedat the Australian National MaritimeMuseum in Canberra.”

Capt Cook’s pistol fetches $220,000

The lock of the pistol is signed“Corbau-A-Maastricht”, a referenceto its Dutch gunmaker, GodefroiCorbau Le Jeune.

It features a plain 13 bore barrel,brass fore-sight, spurred brasspommel, brass trigger guard,replacement ramrod and pipe, andpale fruitwood full stock with carvedshell behind tang. The barrel is31cm long.

Polar trek made to measure

Sir Douglas Mawson,

WHEN SIR DOUGLAS Mawson ledhis epic scientific expedition toAntarctica, cutting edge technologymeant being able to send dailywireless messages back toAustralia.

A century on, Chris Turney’s sixweek scientific expedition will use amodern mix of Twitter, You Tube,live streaming video conferencesand blog sites.

Surveying tools such as the clunkeytheodolite, used by Mawson’s men,will be replaced by a drone that willscan the icy continent to collectdata to create “bird’s eye” film in3D.

The drone will map areas of severalsquare kilometres in a matter ofhours, with an accuracy rate within10 centimetres. In Mawson’s daythis would have taken days orweeks.

But despite differences intechnology, the trips a century apartare motivated by the same thing: asense of scientific curiosity.

“It’s still very much science-driven,climate scientist Professor Turneysaid of the privately funded $1.5million voyage which leaves Hobarton November 25.

On his fifth trip to the Antarctic

Professor Turney said theinformation collected by Mawsonand his team between 1911 and1914 would be a valuablecomparative resource for modernscientists.

“They generated a vast amount ofdata and things like the saltiness ofthe water is today a very usefulmeasure of how much the ice ismelting.”

Professor Turney and Universitycolleague Chris Fog will be among20 scientists, oceanographers andornithologists and even a tree ringexpert, to trace the steps of Mawson

The first part of the trip willconcentrate on the sub-Antarcticislands down to 50 degree latitude.Bridie Smith, science reporter, TheSydney Morning Herald


THE AUSTRALIAN NationalMaritime Museum will turn to theprivate sector to try and realise amajor revamp of its exhibitionspace.

Its director, Kevin Sumption, has setout plans to ‘bring water into themuseum’ by building exhibits thatreach out to its 14 floating vesselsin Darling Harbour.

The museum will seek to completethe first stage — a new pavilion totell the story of its submarine,HMAS Onslow, and destroyerHMAS Vampire — in time for theANZAC centenary in 2015.

More than 8 million people havevisited since the Maritime Museumopened in 1991.

Government has said that the $8million to $10 million required forthe project over a six to 8 year cyclewould need to come substantiallyfrom commercial partnerships,grants or foundations.

Later stages not yet costed, includea new exhibit to complement themuseum’s replicas of the HMSEndeavour and a maritimearchaeological centre where visitorscould don a wetsuit and step intothe harbour to explore wrecksalready owned by the museum.Leesha McKenny, The SydneyMorning Herald

Plans to bring water into museum

Plans to float HMAS Onslowinside museum

THE KANDOS Museum hasreceived a $12,000 Aboriginalheritage grant to enable it todevelop a Dabee TravellingCultural History exhibition inpartnership with the Aboriginalpeople of Kandos.

“The grant will help us with siteidentification, the building of thetravelling exhibition on theDabee people and the creationof a small introductory exhibitionat the Kandos Museum, ColinJones curator at the museumsaid. “The project is aboutrecognising family ancestors ofthe Dabee people.

“The exhibition itself will identifyindividual north-eastern Wiradjuripeople and their ancestors whocontributed to the creation onKandos and the culture in theregion today,” Mr Jones said.

Lyn Syme, Native Title culturalheritage officer at MoorlarbenCoal was instrumental in gettingthe exhibition off the ground.

Ms Syme put forward the initial$12,000 and it was with thatmoney the Kandos museum wasable to apply for the “dollar-for-dollar” Aboriginal heritage grant.

The exhibition will travel aroundto schools, other museums andcultural centres in order toeducate people on thesignificance of the Dabee peoplein the local area.

“In the local area, many peopleare under the incorrectassumption there are no moreDabee people remaining in thedistrict,” Ms Syme said.

The exhibition will includephotographs, stories and artifactsand will also include informationabout the descendants of theseDabee ancestors who were alarge community in the Kandos

area. Laueren Stanford

Aboriginalheritage grant

for KandosMuseum

History at your fingertips

A NEW WEBSITE full of BlueMountains historical photographsand publications has been launchedby the Royal Australian HistoricalSociety.

The website was developedfollowing a grant from the NSWDepartment of Premier and Cabinetto mark the bicentenary of the firstcrossing.

This fantastic collection of material isavailable for everyone to explore forthemselves,” said RAHS

president, Dr Anne-Maree Whitaker.Website: www.rahs.org.au.western-crossing/

There are over 300 photographsand six historical publicationsincluded and these will be added toin coming months.

Pictured from the website is: Thegreat wall of the old Mt VictoriaPass constructed by the chain gangin 1832 when forming the oldBathurst Road. Courtesy RAHS –The Frank Walker Collection


CRONJE, THE BRUMBY BRIGAND

It is claimed “...on one occasion Cronje hurdled to freedom over twomounted men.”

by John Low, OAM –Local historian

PIET CRONJE was a Boer General,rough of manner, ruthless,courageous and a thorn in the sideof the British in South Africa.

At the same time in the vicinity ofJenolan, in the mountainous backcountry of the Cox and itstributaries, a brumby stallion wascausing similar disruption amongthe European settlers.

Life in this isolated part of the BlueMountains demanded a toughresilience from its inhabitants.

They were skilled bushmen andexpert horsemen, every bit asdaring as the Snowy River men.

They recognised in the wild stallionthe characteristics of the BoerCronje and bestowed that nameupon him with genuine, if grudging,respect.

The story of Cronje is documentedin that splendid book,Cullenbenbong; by Bernard O’Reillywhose family settled at LongSwamp in the second half of thenineteenth century.

At the feet of his father and theolder men, young Bernard (born

1903) absorbed the stories of thewild brumbies sweeping down fromthe mountains at night, killing tamehorses and making off with themares to replenish their breedingstock.

He learned of the brumby runners,those men of “reckless courage andriding ability” who fought thesedepredations with their skills inpursuit and capture and the use ofassorted firearms and who, aided

by drought, gradually reduced thenumbers of the marauding horde.

By the end of the century onedominant stallion remained, the lastof a “long rebel line”, a magnificenthorse, “a brigand and a killer” but socoveted by the mountain horsementhat they set upon a recklessdetermination to capture him.

Drives were organised andstrategies planned, issuing indramatic displays of skill andcourage, near success, injury andeven death, but always failure.

Cronje was equal to the challenge,usually with a surprise in reserve.

He out-ran them, charged throughlines of shouting, stockwhipwielding riders, ran pursuers intowombat holes (a rider “spinningalong the ground like a football”),crashed out of timber enclosuresand on one occasion hurdled tofreedom over two mounted men.

The climax came when Cronje,cornered at the edge of a precipice,leapt “in a beautiful arc anddisappeared into the blue air”,traversed a landslide prone screeslope and in a “thrilling wild-horserun” escaped to the bottom of thegorge, leaving only “the ring of hishooves and the clatter of the rockshe took with him”.Continued page 16

On the gently-swelling ridge in the fork of two creeks stands a house –the type of house which has disappeared from the Australian scenealong with the generation who built it. It is of slabs silvered by theweather; it has a thatched roof and a great stone chimney, and likenearly every other pioneer home it faces the north-east.’ BernardO’Reilly’s Cullenbenbong still stands today in Kanimbla Valley, the

quintessential slab hut. Photograph courtesy of Ian Jack


Continued from page 15That was enough and the pursuit ofCronje came to an end.

It’s a great story, even if perhapsgrown a little more colourful in thetelling.

The isolated life of men and women,thrown back so often on their owningenuity, fosters a rich tradition oflegend and story.

Cronje

AN AUTHENTIC new Aboriginal tourfocusing on the Indigenous use ofplants was launched at the BlueMountains Botanic Garden recently.

The Aboriginal heritage tourprovides visitors with a uniqueopportunity to experience theculture and plant resources of theIndigenous people of the GreaterBlue Mountains World HeritageArea, led by an expert Aboriginalguide.

Brenden Moore, Aboriginalhorticulturalist at the Garden whohas developed and will be leadingthe tour says: “The Aboriginalheritage tour offers an opportunityfor visitors to learn about the richheritage and culture of theAboriginal people of the region.

“Although this was thought to be animpassable mountain range by earlyEuropeans, Mount Tomah and thesurrounding Greater BlueMountains World Heritage Areaprovided important trade routes forAboriginal people.

“With a diverse array of flora andfauna, ample fresh water, rockshelters and views to the coast, itwas a safe haven for many localAboriginal people for thousands ofyears.”

The one and a half hour walkingtour takes visitors around theGarden highlighting plants that weretraditionally used by Aboriginalpeople for food, medicine or tools.

The tour concludes with adidgeridoo performance byBrenden.

Bush tucker can be arranged ifbooked in advance.

The tour is available on request butbookings are essential.

To view Brenden talking about theAboriginal heritage tourvisit: www.youtube.com/user/BotanicGardensTV .

Tour detailsWhen: Book anytime.

No minimum fee on Fridays tourruns 10 am - 11.30 am.

All tours must be pre-booked atleast 24hours ahead.

New Aboriginal heritage tour at the BlueMountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah

Aboriginal tour guide, Brenden Moore playing the didgiridoo at MtTomah. Photograph by Michelle Leer.

Apparently, Cronje escaped thedevastating bushfire of 1904-1905and was last seen, still wild andfree, years later in the ranges at thehead of the Kowmung River.

If you look at your map you will findhim remembered in CronjeMountain, Cronje Ridge and CronjeGully.

This article was first published inHut News of the Blue MountainsConservation Society.

Cost: $36.50 pp. $275 minimumtour cost (except Friday 10 am -11.30 am). $16.50 student/child.Friends and Foundation discount onrequest.

Bush Tucker is available at an extracharge, at the end of the tour if pre-booked.

For further details telephone(02) 45 67 3000 or e-mail:

[email protected]


“The Biggest Estate on Earth: how Aboriginesmade Australia”

by Bill Gammage, 2011

A Blue Mountains critiqueby Andy Macqueen

IN HIS BOOK “The Biggest Estateon Earth”, Bill Gammage seeks todemonstrate, particularly throughhistorical artworks and writings, thatvirtually every inch of Australia wasmanaged by Aboriginal people bythe systematic and scientific use offire.

He discounts the role of naturalwildfire arising from lightningignitions. (Gammage 2011)Whether or not all aspects of histhesis are beyond challenge, hisbook is important in highlighting thesignificance of the traditionalAboriginal custodial role.

Gammage draws from a number ofthe journals of early Blue Mountainsexplorers and surveyors, usingthem to provide examples of thesorts of landscape management inwhich the traditional custodiansengaged.

As a person familiar with the earlyjournals and the country theyconcern, the writer was naturallyinterested to examine thereferences which Gammage relieson. These are all addressed below:

Firstly, on pages 72, 188 and 207Gammage refers to two locationsmentioned in the journal ofSurveyor George Evans onNovember 30 and December17, 1813, to supportideas concerning manufacturedclearings in the Blue Mountains.

Unfortunately, neither location is inthe Blue Mountains. The formerdate relates to the Fish Rivercountry, as Evans observed it fromthe Great Dividing Range nearCheetham, while the latter relatesto a place on the Macquarie River30 kilometres north-west ofBathurst. Both are todayrepresented by farmlands.(Weatherburn 1966)

Secondly, on page 7 Gammagepoints out Surveyor William

Govett’s observation that themountain summits were “clothedwith grass, which circumstance,considering the barrenness andexcessive sterility which pervadesall the connecting ridges, and thatregion of the mountains, is certainlyvery extraordinary … In general …the ranges are covered with shorttimber and scrub.” (Govett 1977,pp3,4) Govett was referring to thebasalt-capped Mounts Hay, Banksand Tomah.

However, he was working in thearea in 1831, by which time therehad been European impacts.

As Govett himself explains in thesame piece, the top of Mount Hayhad been totally cleared of all butone tree for survey purposes(Figure 1), while the eastern side ofMount Tomah “has been clearedand cultivated, and a large houseand buildings have been erected”.

Govett describes the vegetationelsewhere on Tomah in similarterms to George Caley, who back in1804 wrote that “The brush seemsto occupy the whole of the summit,as well as most of the other parts ...

The part which was void of brushwas thickly covered with timber”.(Andrews 1984, pp61-2)

Thirdly, on page 207 Gammagecites the “small piece of ground,which was destitute of trees, and noherbaceous brush” mentioned byGeorge Caley, as evidence of aclearing created by Aboriginalpeople. (Andrews 1984, p71)

The place concerned is not really“above the Grose Valley”, asGammage suggests, but on thewest flank of Mount Tomah South,traversed by Caley on November13, 1804.Continue page 18

Figure 1: William Govett’s “View of the gullies of the Grose River froma cataract named Govett’s Leap” (National Library n/a.pic-

an3364840_v). The mountain on the right is the basalt-capped MountHay, one of Govett’s “extraordinary” features. As shown by the

drawing, it had been cleared of all but one tree for survey purposes.


Cotinued from page 17That day was one of the hardest ofCaley’s remarkable expedition,involving scrub so thick that inplaces they could “scarce force apassage”.

His reason for remarking on thisspot was that it offered respite fromthe scrub and a view of the terrainahead, including Mount Bell.

His precise route is impossible todetermine, but there is no doubtthat for a time he sidled above thesandstone rim of the mountain(below the basalt) and in doing sowould have encountered some ofthe natural swamps and small barerock areas to be found there today.

There is a bare rock area some 15metres across about 850 metressouth-west of Tomah South Trigwhich appears to fit all thenecessary requirements withregards to Caley’s account, andthere are probably others.

Fourthly, on page 207 Gammagementions the “about two thousandacres of land Clear of trees”described by Blaxland (and others)in 1813, as further evidence of

Aboriginal clearing. (Richards 1979,p71)

Again the location is wrong: theplace is not “north of Katoomba”.

It is the northern part of KingsTableland, a windswept place withshallow sandstone and stony soil,typical of many natural heaths onthe plateau of the upper BlueMountains. (Figure 2)

Today it is mostly characterised byheath species of banksia andcasuarina, whereas the earlydescriptions indicate apredominance of “coarse grass”.

It is therefore apparent that the areahad been subjected to more fire inthe years prior to 1813 than it hasbeen today.

To that extent, it may be relevant toGammage’s thesis, though it shouldbe understood that today’s low firefrequency is largely due to the factthat authorities actively prevent firethere. Baker (1997, p67) hassuggested that “it is possible thatthis heath was kept in a low state byfire management perhaps to partlyallow for ease of movement throughthe area which is known for itsAboriginal occupation and industrialsites”.

That hypothesis relies on anassumption, perhaps not anunreasonable one given the place’saccessibility and views, that thesites at Kings Tableland were more

significant than the hundreds ofother known sites, many of whichare situated in shelters in scrubby,wooded areas.

Fifthly, on page 159, Gammagequotes selectively from Evan’saccount of a fire on the BlueMountains in January 1814,concluding that it was an exampleof a cool summer burn by Aboriginalpeople because Evans “walkedclose behind the flames.

He could not have done so behindany of Australia’s recent big fires”.This interpretation does not standscrutiny, and it is worthwhile toreproduce Evans’ completedescription:

3 Jan [near Katoomba]: Themountains have been fired;had we been on them wecould not have escaped; theFlames rage with violencethrough thick underwood,which they are covered with.Bad travelling the stick of theBushes here are worse than iftheir leaves had not beenconsumed; they catch myChain which makes themeasuring very fatiguing; alsotears our clothes to pieces,and makes us appear asNatives from black dust offthem. The Marks in the Treesare burnt out; therefore amobliged to go over them again;Our Horses now want Grass;the herbage in this spaciousValley [Jamison Creek] isdestroyed; we cut some sweetRushes for them that grow onthe edge of a stream of Waterwhich runs through it.distance, 4 Miles.

4 Jan: The Mountains are asyesterday; fired in alldirections; at 11 o’Clock I wasupon the high hill: all objectsEastward are obscured bythick smoke; We stoppedwhere there was feed for theHorses and Water. [Lawsonvicinity] distance, 5¼ Miles

5 Jan: Still in thick Brush; theleaves of it are burnt. Theweather is disagreeably warmand boisterous, which hasbeen the case for the last 3days. … distance, 4½ Miles[stopping in Linden vicinity]Continued page 19

The hardestday of Caley’sremarkableexpedition

Figure 2: The open heath country of Kings Tableland is extensive butnot unique. It is associated with exposed and shallow rock, as is this

open area on the Mount Hay Range. The grooves prove that thepeople clearly lingered there, but whether they fire-managed the place

comprehensively is speculative. A. Macqueen 1996.


6 Jan: The fires have been inmy favour, otherwise it wouldbe impossible to measure; theflames have consumed thefoliage from the highest Trees.The Ridges continue as usualuntil the latter part of myjourney which is Forest Land[Springwood] for ½ a Mile; thetimber on it is chiefly loftystringy Bark and Oaks; thereare small patches of grass leftthat the fire missed. …distance, 5¼ Miles

7 Jan: The Forest landcontinues a Mile farther;afterwards the brushy Ridgecommences again, the thickestof it consumed, which Iconsider fortunate, had it not Ishould be obliged to havegiven off measuring; at the endof today’s Journey is a Lagoonof good Water, with tolerablegrass round the edge of it.[Glenbrook Lagoon] distance,5¾ Miles. (Mackaness 1965,pp30-31)

This was an extensive fire, rangingat least 36 kilometres in a west-eastline and apparently well to the southand north.

It occurred in the heat of summer,and burnt through the thick scrub ofwhich Evans, and Blaxland, Lawsonand Wentworth, had previouslycomplained.

On December 29, when still in theHartley Valley, Evans hadcommented that “The Nativesseem to be numerous; there arefires in many parts not far from us”.

This statement, together with hisopening words on January 3, seemsto imply that he thought Aboriginalpeople were responsible for the fire.

However, it is not clear whether hethought they did it deliberately, andhe makes no comment on why theymight have lit it or whether theywere managing it in any way.

His description of the fire seemsquite consistent with what one mightexpect from an uncontrolledsummer wildfire sweeping acrossthe Blue Mountains today:shrubbery reduced to blackenedsticks, with the leaves on thehighest trees being consumed inplaces.

Given the extensive thick scrubwhich Blaxland and Evanspreviously reported, and the “warmand boisterous” weather, it is hardto imagine that the fire could havebeen anything other than intense.

Gammage proposes it was a coolfire because Evans was able towalk close behind it.

However, Evans does not say thathe walked close behind it. He mayhave been several days behind theflames.

Perhaps Gammage interprets thepresent-tense clause “the Flamesrage with violence through thickunderwood” to mean that Evanswas witnessing those flames,whereas Evans may only have beenmaking a general statement aboutthe character of fire in scrub.

Incidentally, Evans’ “forest land”with its “small patches of grass thatthe fire has missed”, was situatedon the rich Wianamatta Shalearound Springwood andFaulconbridge—an area noted byBlaxland for its open grassy nature.

That is the only part of the entireBlue Mountains Ridge betweenLapstone and Mount York notcharacterised by soils derived fromthe sandstones and interbeddedclaystones of the Triassic series.

Baker (1997, pp67-68) noted theevidence for Aboriginal burning inthat vicinity and along theassociated Hawkesbury Ridge.(Figure 3)

The large summer fire that Evansencountered was not unique inearly accounts.

Caley’s men accidentally started aNovember bushfire when lightingtheir campfire during his 1804expedition.

He described the subsequentinferno which raged across the hills,causing trees to fall with the soundof gunfire. (Did not Aboriginalcampfires ever similarly escape?)

Francis Barrallier observed whatappeared to be a large wildfire inthe southern Blue Mountains inDecember 1802, while William Parrencountered an enormous fire inthe Wollemi in November 1817.

These are discussed in Macqueen(2004, ch4).

Sixthly, and finally, on page 197Gammage raises matters from JohnWilson’s 1798 expeditions.

These were not in the BlueMountains as we now generallyunderstand them, but as hetraversed rugged country of similarContinued page 20

Figure 3: John Lewin’s depiction of Macquarie’s 1815 party atSpringwood (NSW State Library). This was the grassy forest landwhich Evans (and Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth before him)

remarked on. It corresponds to the rich shale-derived soils of the areawhich contrast with those of the surrounding sandstone country.


These were notin the BlueMountainsContinued from page 19geology, and because the accountsare some of the earliest of anyvalue, it is relevant to consider thematters raised. Gammage statesthat on his first expedition Wilson

reached the Wingecarribee-Wollondilly junction northwestof Berrima. In what is nowmostly dense forest, theycrossed “fine open country, butvery mountainous”, grassmeadows, thinly timberedplains. And scrub and vinebrushes, including BargoBrush, soon notorious for poorsoil, stringybark, and tanglesof scrub and fallen timber.

This interpretation relies onCambage (1920) and Chisholm(1955).

Subsequent analyses by Andrews(1990) and Brownscombe (2004),and also by the writer(unpublished), discount that view.

The terminus of the first expeditionwas almost certainly in the Berrima-Bong Bong area, which nowfeatures open farming country.

The particular “fine open country,but very mountainous” countrymentioned in the above quote wasactually encountered on January27, 1798 when the party appears tohave been travelling up the longramp which forms the watershedbetween the Bargo River and theNepean system.

The surface geology for much of theway consists of Wianamatta Shalesand would, if burnt frequently, haveproduced open grassy forest (as atSpringwood).

Much of the area, such as aroundYerrinbool, is now occupied bysmall farms, not scrub.

Gammage further states (still page197):

In March 1798 Wilson ledanother party to Mt Towrangeast of Goulburn… He found

“a most beautiful country,being nothing but fine largemeadows with pools of waterin them; fine green hills, butvery thin of timber.” They arethick of timber now.

The “most beautiful country, beingnothing but fine large meadows …”was nowhere near the party’s MountTowrang terminus.

It was reported by the diarist onMarch 19, 1798 just south ofBerrima, in today’s aforementionedopen farmlands. It is certainly not“thick of timber” today. (Figure 4)

To conclude. The archaeologicalrecord tells us that the sandstoneterrain of the Blue Mountains was ofgreat cultural significance to thetraditional owners.

However, the pattern, frequencyand purpose of their occupation orvisits is not well understood.(Attenbrow 2009)

Nor is the nature of their burningpractices.

However, it can be said withreasonable certainty, based on theearly historical accounts and on thebotanical evidence, that most of thesandstone country was covered inthe scrubby vegetation that we stillsee today, rather than the opengrassy woodlands that manyimagine. (Macqueen 2004, ch4;Benson & Redpath 1997)

This is not inconsistent withGammage’s thesis. Heacknowledges that “people burntthe most useful land most and themost sterile or sensitive landperhaps not for generations”, andthat they might only have burnt dryridges “every 15-25 years”.(Gammage, pp162, 165)

However, if dry ridge country of theBlue Mountains were left alone forsuch periods one would expect thatfire from lightning ignitions,accidental ignitions, or escapedfires, would attain moresignificance.

This would be consistent withpalaeoenvironmental researchwhich suggests that the frequencyand intensity of fire on the BlueMountains mainly reflected theclimate. (Mooney & Martin 2009)

Setting those questions aside, it isunfortunate that Gammage’s aboveacknowledgement is relativelyhidden in the book.

By the manner in which he presentsexamples from the Blue Mountainshistorical record, he implicitly invitesthe reader to think that attentionwould have been given to all themountains on a detailed andfrequent basis.

However, from the above discussionone is entitled to conclude that thepieces of evidence cited have notbeen properly examined withrespect to their context orrelevance.Continued page 21

Figure 4: Rural scene near Berrima. This is the country crossed byJohn Wilson on March 19, 1798, which Gammage states is “thick of

timber” today. A. Macqueen 2011


Continued from page 20In terms of their usefulness insupporting Gammage’s thesis thatall of the country was managed bythe systematic and scientific use offire, they are variously notapplicable to the Mountains,misleading or doubtful.

While the cited evidence suggeststhat part of Kings Tableland andplaces on the Nepean Ramp mayhave been burnt frequently topromote open landscape, suchpractice can simply be associatedwith the particular geologicalenvironments to be found there, inthe same way that frequent burningmay have been applied to theWianamatta Shale country atSpringwood, the alluvial flats of theBurragorang and other large incisedvalleys, the alluvial flats of Puttyand Mellong, the volcanic diatremesand the upland swamps. (Figure 5)

Those examples say nothing abouttraditional management on the vastarea of rugged sandstone countrywith its scrubby woodland.

It is not intended to deny that thetraditional owners managed theircountry throughout the BlueMountains.

However, the evidence educed byGammage is unhelpful inunderstanding the nature of thatmanagement.

The writerAndy Macqueen has spent manyyears analysing Blue Mountainsexplorers’ accounts and following intheir footsteps.

He has also been closely involvedin the survey of remote Aboriginalcultural sites.

His knowledge of fire in themountains derives fromobservations as a bushwalker, andwide reading and briefings in thecourse of his 18 years on theNPWS Regional AdvisoryCommittee.

He is not a fire ecologist, but neitheris Bill Gammage.

ReferencesAndrews, Alan E.J. (ed.) (1984) TheDevil’s Wilderness: George Caley’sJourney to Mount Banks 1804. BlubberHead Press. Hobart. 1984.

Andrews, Alan E.J. (ed.) (1990) “MountHunter and Beyond: with Hunter, Bass,Tench, Wilson, Barrallier, Caley, King,and Macquarie, 1790-1815.” JRAHS vol.76, 1990.

Attenbrow V. (2009) The MountainDarug. In: Stockton E. & Merriman J.(ed.) (2009)

Baker, Margaret (1997) ‘Fire and thePre-European Cultural Landscape of theHawkesbury-Nepean Catchment.’ InScience and Technology in theEnvironmental Management of theHawkesbury-Nepean Catchment,Proceedings. Geographic Society ofNSW Conference Papers, No. 14.

Benson J.S. & Redpath P.A. (1997) “Thenature of pre-European nativevegetation in south-eastern Australia: acritique of Ryan, D.G. and Starr, B.J.(1995) The Australian Landscape –Observations of Explorers and EarlySettlers.” Cunninghamia 5(2)

Brownscombe, Ross (ed.) (2004) OnSuspect Terrain: Journals of Explorationin the Blue Mountains 1795-1820.Forever Wild Press. 2004.

Cambage, Richard H., (1920)“Exploration Beyond the Upper Nepeanin 1798”, JRAHS vol. 6, 1920.

‘…systematicand scientificuse of fire…’

Figure 5: The explorers came across many natural clearingsassociated with swamps, such as this one (Burralow Swamp)

encountered by Caley in 1804. Elsewhere on his journey Caleydescribed the same scrubby vegetation that we see today.

A. Macqueen 1996

Chisholm, Alec H. (1955) “How andwhen the lyrebird was discovered”, Emu55, 1955, 1-15.

Gammage, Bill (2011) The BiggestEstate on Earth: how Aborigines madeAustralia. Allen & Unwin, 2011.

Govett W.R. (1977) Sketches of NewSouth Wales : written and illustrated forthe Saturday magazine in 1836-37.Renard. Melbourne.

Mackaness, George (ed.) (1965)Fourteen Journeys Over The BlueMountains of New South Wales 1813-1841. Horwitz-Grahame. Sydney. 1965.

Macqueen, Andy (2004) Somewhatperilous: the journeys of Singleton, Parr,Howe, Myles and Blaxland in theNorthern Blue Mountains. AndyMacqueen, Wentworth Falls. 2004.

Mooney S.D. & Martin H.A. (2009)Environmental Conditions in the Past inthe Blue Mountains. In: Stockon E. &Merriman J. (ed.) (2009)

Richards, Joanna A. (ed.) (1979)Blaxland—Lawson—Wentworth 1813.Blubber Head Press. Hobart. 1979.

Weatherburn, Alan K. (1966) GeorgeWilliam Evans: explorer. Angus andRobertson. 1966

Holey dollars - a greatmemento of the bicentennary

of the Blue Mountainscrossing celebrations

[email protected] telephone (02) 4757 1425.


THE SEX LIVES OF AUSTRALIANS:A HISTORICAL REFLECTION

(and other topics)For those interested in topicalhistory beyond the BlueMountains, the Blackheath HistoryForum will be hosting the first ofits 2013 lectures on SaturdayAugust 3.

The speaker will be FrankBongiorno, author of the recentbook “The Sex Lives ofAustralians: A History”.

The History Forum will be heldevery second Saturday untilOctober 26, at 4pm at theBlackheath Public School hall.Anyone is welcome. Entry is just $5.

For more information on this year’sprogram visitwww.blackheathhistoryforum.org.au

FOCUS WILL be on the GeorgeWilliam Evans story, explorer,surveyor and artist seconded byGovernor Macquarie to survey thenewly found route over the BlueMountains in late 1813 whenAssociate Professor, Ian Jackspeaks at the mid-year dinner ofKurrajong-Comleroy HistoricalSociety.

The dinner will be held at Loxleycirca 1833, on Bellbird HillKurrajong on Friday evening, July26.

The cost is $55 per person andbookings should be made withSuzanne Smith on 4567 7410 byJuly 19.

George Evans lived in theHawkesbury area, near the presentday RAAF base.

Along with Surveyor Meehan, Evansassisted in the survey of the fiveMacquarie Towns.

He was the man who did the all-important surveying and mapping ofthe route blazed by Blaxland,Wentworth and Lawson.

They had turned back at HartleyValley, but the surveyor went muchfurther west and created his ownroute to what became Bathurst.

Focus on the George Evans story

The surveyor, in short, was also anexplorer, and the first European tostand on the Bathurst Plains.

George William Evans was a well-educated Englishman, who came toNew South Wales via the Cape ofGood Hope.

He had eloped to Cape Town in1798 with a fifteen-year old brideand moved on to Sydney in 1802,where he was soon appointedActing Surveyor-General whileCharles Grimes was in Britain.

Evans’s story is not, however, asimple one of colonial success.

He was dismissed for someunspecified fraud in 1805 and went

to live on the quite largeHawkesbury farm which he hadbeen granted in trust for his twoinfant daughters in 1804.

Evans’s 519 acres was immediatelyadjacent to the 200 acres held bythe young children of William Cox.This is half-way between Windsorand Richmond: the presentRichmond Air Base.

The association of Evans and Coxdid not begin with the planning ofthe western road, but had begun adecade earlier, with an unexpectedintimacy.

Both the Cox and Evans farms werelargely rich arable land on theHawkesbury River flood-plain, witha small strip of high land at thesouth end, adjacent to the common.

The two farms, looked towards theriver with the Blue Mountainsevocatively in the distance.

When the rains come in earnest, allthat lowland as far as the BlueMountains can be under water, eventoday. Cox prudently built hishouse, Clarendon, on the strip ofhigh land. 1

1. Jack, RI. In an Australia Day 2013address to the Royal AustralianHistorical Society.

Reference

Walk to the Cattle Rustlers’ Yardswith members of Glenbrook & District Historical Society on Saturday 10 August

For information Doug Knowles 4751 3275 or Tim Miers 47439 2384

Evans’s house, 1806-1810, front. Photograph, Ian Jack 1989


Across the BlueMountains ... the new

CD byJim Low

Jim Low is a singer/songwriter and author. He presentedsome of his songs and observations of the region at lastyear’s Blue Mountains History conference produced byBMACHO

Across the Blue Mountains is his latest CD released onUndercover Music’s Rouseabout label and it contains 18songs about the area and its history.

Many of Jim’s songs have been inspired by the BlueMountains where he lives.

The human impact has made the Mountains rich inhistory.

Jim has captured some of it in his music with songs aboutexploration (Cayley, Evans, Blaxland, Lawson andWentworth) road and rail building (Cox and Whitton),travellers (Mrs Elizabeth Hawkins) and bushfires.

Also included are songs in response to the natural beautyof the landscape.

Along with the CD there is a website which is also calledAcross the Blue Mountains. It can be found at: http://acrossthebluemountains.com.au

As well as links to the songs, it contains articles andresources pertaining to the Mountains and the Crossing.

The CD is available from the website, selected BlueMountains outlets and digitally on iTunes.

Lynn Collins to facilitatemuseums workshop

THERE ARE still some vacanciesfor those wishing to register for theMuseums Workshop beingsponsored by Blue MountainsAssociation of Cultural HeritageOrganisations Inc. on Saturday, July20.

The workshop is to be held at theMt Victoria & District HistoricalSociety’s Museum, Station Street,Mt Victoria and will commence at10am and finish at about 3pm.

This workshop will be facilitated byLynn Collins,(pictured at right) theBMCC Museums & GalleriesAdviser.

Lunch will be provided byBMACHO, at the Blue MountainsManor House, Montgomery Street,Mt Victoria.

The objectives of the meeting is formembers of other societies/organisations to exchangeinformation, and to identify possiblejoint ventures, for instance -

• skill based workshops (eginterpretation/displaytechniques, collectionmanagement issues,marketing)

• combined displays andpromotions, linking withtourism industries

• research and publishingopportunities

• collection development

• the feasibility of well-appointed, shared storage

• building numbers andusers

• succession planning andsupport

• making best uses of allresources in the Mountainsand beyond

Each participant is asked to come tothe workshop with three issuespresently concerning their groupand/or where your society/organisation is/will be in five years’time.

RSVP to Jan Koperberg by email:[email protected] or byphoning 02 4751 5834 (ifunanswered, please leave amessage).


Western crossing commemoration 2013-15great ideas - thoughts - just being talked about or it’s really going to happen!

A Gundungurra Ancestral PathwaysWalk will take place in the BlueMountains later this year as part ofthe bicentenary commemorations.

Participants will walk from west toeast following the Aboriginalpathways.

The walk which is expected to takeplace in October will make use ofthe traditional and post-contactAboriginal pathways and cover 67kilometres of country in seven daysand six nights.

The official Crossings website saysthe walk “affirms the ongoingpresence of Aboriginal people in the

Aboriginal insight in crossingswalk

The bicentenary Festival of Walkingwill be launched in The Gully,Katoomba in conjunction with theGully Traditional Owners,Gundungurra Heritage Association,National Parks & Wildlife Serviceand Blue Mountains, Lithgow andOberon Tourism at 9am onSaturday, October 9, 2013.

Activities will include: self guidedinterpretive walks, indigenousgallery exhibition, bush tucker,cultural performances and launchesof Aboriginal Cultural ExperienceGuide, iconic Six Villages Walk andthe latest bush trackers guides forchildren.

Festival of Walking

Mountains, connected to andwalking their country, looking after itand uttilising it for cultural purposes.

It recognises the ongoing storiesand beliefs that account forCountry.”

The walk is also open to “non-Aboriginal people to participate andexperience the Blue Mountains froma different perspective”.

Participants will experience first-hand Aboriginal cultural heritageand tradional sites of theMountains, the website states.

The crossing of the BlueMountains was significant for thedevelopment of inland Australia. Inthe same year that a route wasfound, the explorer Evans mappedthe way to the plains which henamed the Bathurst Plains.

Bathurst Regional Council islooking forward to acknowledgingthe importance of the first crossingin opening up of the towns ofinland Australia. Between 2013and 2015 a series of events andactivities will be developed tofollow on from the celebrationsand re-enactment of the successof the first explorers.

We look forward to history buffsand tourists retracing the steps ofthose brave men who made thatfirst crossing and the subsequentroad builders. We have alreadywelcomed surveyors to come toBathurst to recreate and replicatethe original surveys using old andmodern techniques.

The first Sunday in May is calledProclamation Day in Bathurstwhich marks the date when the

first flag was raised, the site of anew town to be called Bathurst wasproclaimed and the first divineservice was held west of the BlueMountains. The flag staff which waserected on May 7, 1815 remained inplace until the 1850s and served asthe survey point for all explorationinland.

I am sure that the energy andenthusiasm which have beengenerated by the interest in theearly crossing of the BlueMountains will continue until 2015when we plan to have manycelebrations to mark the history ofAustralia’s first inland settlement.

CLR MONICA MORSE

Mayor of Bathurst

Bathurst looks to 2015proclamation celebrations

MonicaMorse

More than 14,000 school studentsand teachers throughout the areahave received a set ofcommemmorative coins as part ofBusinesses Supporting theBicentenary co-founder ScenicWorld owner Philip Hammon’slasting legacy of the Blue MountainsCrossings Bicentenary 2013-2015.

The holey dollars will be a reminderof the first recognised Europeancrossing of the Blue Mountains byexplorers Gregory Blaxland, WilliamLawson and William CharlesWentworth in 1813.

Mr Hammon personally underwrotethe cost of the holey dollars. whichhe and descendants of theexplorers, presented to students atspecial school assemblies.

Each holey dollar accompanied byan inspirational message tostudents from NSW Governor HerExcellency Professor Marie Bashir.

The coins are also available toindividual members of thecommunity at $10 plus postage.Orders for 6 or more are free ofpostage.

All enquiries [email protected] ortelephone (02) 4757 1425.

Coins stillavailable


THE ORGANISATION Blue Mountains Association ofCultural Organisations Inc. (BMACHO) was establishedin April 2006 following a unanimous response to aproposal from Professor Barrie Reynolds at the 2004Blue Mountains Local History Conference which soughtfrom Blue Mountains City Council the creation of acultural heritage strategy for the city.BMACHO in its constitution uses the definition: “Culturalheritage is all aspects of life of the peoples of the BlueMountains which was later changed to cover Lithgow andthe villages along the Bell’s Line of Roads. It thereforeinvolves the recording, preserving and interpreting ofinformation in whatever form: documents, objects,recorded memories as well as buildings and sites.”The objectives of the organisation are:

i. To raise public consciousness ofthe value of cultural heritage. ii. To encourage and assist culturalheritage activities of member organisations. iii. To initiate and support culturalheritage activities not already covered bymember organisations. One of the aims of BMACHO isto bring the various bodies into closer contact, toencourage them to work more closely together and toprovide a combined voice on matters of importancewithin the heritage sector.

AFFILIATIONS BMACHO is a member of the RoyalAustralian Historical Society Inc.

MEMBERSHIP The following organisations are members ofBMACHO: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah,Blue Mountains City Library, Blue Mountains Cultural HeritageCentre, Blue Mountain Education and Research Trust, BlueMountains Historical Society Inc., Blue Mountains FamilyHistory Society Inc., Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute,Eskbank Rail Heritage Centre, Everglades Historic House &Gardens, Friends of Norman Lindsay Gallery, Glenbrook &District Historical Society Inc., Hartley Valley District ProgressAssociation, Kurrajong-Comleroy Historical Society Inc,Lithgow and District Family History Society Inc., LithgowMining Museum Inc., Lithgow Regional Library – LocalStudies, Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum Inc, Mt Victoriaand District Historical Society Inc., Mt Wilson and Mt IrvineHistorical Society Inc. (including Turkish Bath Museum),Mudgee Historical Society Inc., National Trust of Australia(NSW) - Blue Mountains Branch, National Trust of Australia(NSW) - Lithgow Branch, Scenic World – Blue MountainsLimited, Springwood & District Historical Society Inc.,Springwood Historians Inc., Transport Signal andCommunication Museum Inc., The Darnell Collection Pty Ltd,Valley Heights Locomotive Depot and Museum, WoodfordAcademy Management Committe, Zig Zag Railway Co-op Ltd.The following are individual members: Ray Christison,Associate Professor Ian Jack, Joan Kent, John Leary OAM,John Low OAM, Ian Milliss, Patsy Moppett, Professor BarrieReynolds, Dr Peter Rickwood and Dr Peter Stanbury OAM.

COMMITTEE The committee for 2013-14 is: John Leary,OAM (president), Ian Jack (vice president), Jan Koperberg(secretary), Kevin Frappell, Wendy Hawkes, Doug Knowles,Dick Morony (public officer),Scott Pollock and Jean Winston.

DISCLAIMER Views and opinions expressed inHERITAGE originate from many sources and contributors.Every effort is taken to ensure accuracy of material. Contentdoes not necessarily represent or reflect the views andopinions of BMACHO, its committee or members. If errors arefound feedback is most welcome.

BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION OF CULTURALHERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.

REGISTERED OFFICE 1/19 Stypandra Place,Springwood, 2777 (02) 4751 5834E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.bluemountainsheritage.comABN 53 994 839 952

HERITAGE BMACHO’s official newsletter is editedby John Leary, OAM.Blue Mountains History Journal is edited byDr Peter Rickwood.

Ancient Syrian sitesimperilled by war

Across much of Syria, the country’s archaeologicalheritage is imperilled by war, facing threats ranging frombombing and bullets to opportunistic digging by treasurehunters who take advantage of the power vacuum toprowl the country with spades and shovels,

Ebla has been celebrated for insights it offers into earlySyrian civilisation. Now it is a prime example of thescores, if not hundreds, of archaelogical sites often builtand inhabited millenniums back, because of theirmilitary value, puts them at risk as they are once moreput to military use.

In the 1960s and 70s Ebla became well known amongarchaeologists when the city-state’s long-buriedarchives of more than 16000 stone tablets werediscovered. Elba was the most important kingdom in theera of 3000BC.

Translated from cuneiform script, these tablets haveshed light on life in a city from another time

First settled more than 5000 years ago, Ebla became afortified walled city whose residents traded olive oil andbeer across Mesopotamia. Destroyed about 2200BC itflourished anew centuries later and was then destroyedagain.

The latest disruption came after war began in 2011.Once the rebels pushed the army back and into nearbygarrisons, the outcrop which is Ebla made it ideal forspotting government planes that in turn the MiG andSukhoi jets have repeatedly bombed on towns thathave fallen from Assad’s control

Maamoun Abdul-Karim, who leads the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria, hasappealed to combatants on both sides to avoid usingancient sites for military purposes, and to protect theruins from vandals, looters and thieves.

“A whole civilisation belonging to all humanity is beingdestroyed,” he says. New York Times

Part of the excavated city of Ebla

heritage newsletter jan-feb 2009bluemountainsheritage.com.au/wp-content/uploads/... · *p17 “the...

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