After four days in Bright in early May 2023 we went to Beechworth for a couple of nights. Travelling through Myrtleford where we wanted to but some wine from the Ferraro Vineyard from which Billy Button sourced the grapes for their Vermentino, Nebbiolo and Barbera wines. We were going to collect a few more bottles but the vignerons were away (probably a good thing). These are old tobacco drying sheds which are dotted all over the township and beyond. There was a statue celebrating the Italian tobacco farmers and recounting the history of the industry but it was ugly so I didn’t photograph it. A lot of these buildings are crumbling away but many are being re-purposed like these ones.
While cruising around the town we came across ‘The Big Tree’ as explained in this poster.
And here is the tree itself. It was opposite the old railway station which is no longer in use but there were photos of when it was a central hub for the town and region. A pretty little park.
We checked out the river.
It was here that a dredge was buried but there was no sign of it apart from a bucket that had been turned into a large flowerpot. But I didn’t photograph that either!
Lovely countryside on the road to Beechworth. I tried to photograph the light coming from gaps in the clouds over these hills – unsuccessfully – it was much more dramatic than this pic suggests.
Lots of bucolic rural scenes.
And finally, here we were in Beechworth at our lodgings for the next two nights at the Provenance. This is the back of the restaurant across from our room which was lovely, especially the spa bath -piping hot water and big enough for two.
We had a little wander around the shops and in the evening walked across the lawn for our dinner.
Which was, as usual, splendid. We donned our glad rags. Here’s Joe enjoying the moment.
Beechworth has a terrific bookshop and we always drop in to support it when in the town. It has all the latest releases, prize winners and overall a great selection of books. Joe has been interested in the impact of the gold rush on Victorian regions since our stay in Bendigo. ANd up here there has been the particular impact of dredging on the rivers. He bought a book about it.
Which prompted the owner to tell us about the Eldorado dredge. So the next day we drove out to see it. Kept largely as it was when operating and now quite a tourist attraction. Astonishing how big it was. Even from a distance you can’t get the whole thing in a picture.
You can go right inside it. Which we proceeded to do. We weren’t the only people there; a young couple came and went while we were looking.
There was also a group of vintage tractor enthusiasts at the site, though they didn’t seem interested in the dredge. They were having a barbeque with their vehicles parked in a semi circle. As they left, just after we finished exploring the dredge, we saluted each tractor and they tooted their horns. All very jolly. This picture gives some impression of the size of the thing.
Here at the back are the buckets that dug up the earth at the bottom of the river and conveyed it into the dredge where the gold was sifted out and the sludge spat out. Now home to weeds.
Inside was still scary although how it would have been when working would have been terrifying. It ran 24 hours and used up enormous amounts of electricity. Apparently dredges changed the course of the rivers on which they were used. Here is a map showing where this dredge went during its working life.
Afterwards we drove around El Dorado which is the scene of a major mining disaster. I didn’t photograph the memorial – too sad. There was also a nice display about the history of the township which was quite good but being damaged by weathering. It included reference to the Kelly gang including that Joe Byrne could speak Cantonese – who knew! We could have returned to Beechworth through Kelly country but too long and windy for me! Instead we had a little walk across this swing bridge.
It’s a new one next to a completely weathered and unsafe original. Here am I wearing my purchases from Bright – the hat – and Beechworth – the scarf. Important the visitors support local economies! You can see I’m wary about the stability of the swing bridge.
It was straddling this pretty creek.
Thus ended our six day sojourn in the country. Very satisfying.
The dredge at El Dorado – Cocks Dredge – was indeed an amazing spectacle and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. It was constructed in 1935 and opened in 1936 by the Minister for Mines. The proceedings were viewed by a crowd of residents and officials while Fox Films took a ” talkie” of the proceedings. It was the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and recovered 70,000 ounces of gold and 1180 tons of tin during its years of operation. It dug to a depth of thirty metres. It was a relatively late starter. Dredges were introduced in the late 1890’s and- according to the excellent book “Sludge Disaster on Victoria’s Goldfields” – the Ovens and Buckland Valley in north east Victoria hosted 47 of the States 56 dredges in 1912. There were, for example, five bucket dredges operating near Myrtleford in the early part of the 20 th century including Ovens Junction dredge which was scuttled, sank and is now buried. As the book explains there was strong opposition to the dredges because of the damage they did to waterways and farmland. And as the book recounts the fightback against the environmental damage of mining was long term, sustained and led to many innovative environmental regulation. But the environmental impact on the rivers is still ongoing.