EXCURSION TO YARRAM
(M. Fullard)

Our first stop was in the Mullundung forest, near the Old Rosedale Road. Led by Geoff Collis, we walked down a dirt road for some distance until we came to a lone grave. Geoff explained that in 1870 a German migrant, Alex Stranner, aged 74, had stopped his bullock team to fix the brakes. The leading bullocks moved forward to eat some grass and unfortunately Alex Stranner was run over and killed. His body was found 4 days later, by mill workers who wrapped him in a tarpaulin and buried him in a gully where the ground was softer. In the 1930s a cross had been made from a plough part and a car spring, marking the grave. Geoff respectfully put flowers on the grave and reminded us of the dangerous and difficult lives of timber workers at that tide. Being alone at these times could prove to be fatal.

We moved on, to the site of Goodwood, 1910-1920. There had been a sports ground, tennis court, 2 boarding houses, shops, a hairdresser, a Post Office and a hall where concerts and dances were held. The telephone was connected to Port Albert. There were 80 workers in the town and the 145 men in the bush worked up to Holey Plains.

The mill was owned and built by Western Australians and most of the workers came from there; it was known as "the foreign mill" and there was no mixing with local people. The mill was on stilts and the belts were underneath. The boiler was huge - 30 ft, by 8 ft, high. Yellow and Stringy Bark was cut for sleepers for the Victorian Railways, also for jetties, blocks for the tramways and for street paving. Bullock teams were used to drag the timber to railway sidings. There were 3 trains, "Mona","Lila" and "Amie", that could pull 8 1/2 to 9 tons, which went to Port Albert. In 1914 "Mona" blew up and the driver was killed. The mill was relatively safe as only 6 men were killed during its operation. It was also always profitable. At this time, there were 15 mills operating in the district.   

  In 1917 the "Mona" was rebuilt and used to transport the mill to Noojee and to pull up the line. The houses went to Yarram or Noojee. To the north,we saw the huge wooden trestles which were all that remained of a bridge. Now there is nothing left of the township or the mill. There is just a flat sparsely grassed area. The bush has regrown. (TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GOODWOOD AND THE SAWMILL, CLICK HERE)

We drove to The Big Tower, which was erected in the 1940s as a lookout for submarines. It is a wooden structure, about 94 ft, high; the pylons were rammed 12 ft into the sandstone. No lifting equipment was used. The tower was built around a tree which was subsequently cut down. The timbers were tapered and originally there was a shed on top from which to watch the Ninety Mile Beach.

We had lunch at the White Woman's Waterhole, in the Won Wron state Forest. This is a natural bushland setting amongst yellow stringybark, grey gums and banksias.

The next stop was at Greenmount Cemetery which is a flat tranquil place beside a dam where black swans were swimming. Angus Mcmillan and Edmund Buckley had explored near here in the 1840s, and in 1858 the latter had willed this land to be used as a Catholic cemetery. There are many pioneers and early settlers buried here. The Greenmount Catholic Cemetery Trust has restored the site and researched and recorded about 200 burials.

The Yarram Court House was planned to be demolished but a Committee of Management was formed to save it. The elaborate wooden carved ceilings, stained glass windows, polished cream pine floors and Court furniture make an impressive home for the Information Centre currently using it. Mr. Ian Turnbull, President of the Yarram Historical Society, welcomed us and invited us to afternoon tea with creamy country cakes.

Our Secretary, Mrs. Valma Plant, thanked Mr. Geoff Collis for his guided tour, Mrs. Margery Missen for arranging the day, and Mr. Turnbull and his Society for spending the day with us and for the afternoon tea.

Our final call, led by Mr. Turnbull was to the Regent Theatre which is being restored, funds being raised by the local community with grants from the Shire Council and the State Government. The theatre, built in about 1930, has been returned to its former glory; the ceilings are steel pressings, there are new carpets, it has been repainted, new toilets installed and newly roofed supper room, all of which have made the theatre a great asset for Yarram.

Many thanks to Mrs. Dawn Hustler for organizing this interesting day.