Heritage North

After twenty-five years of assisting local heritage groups, we held our very last Heritage North meeting in Cairns.  At the recent AGM it was decided that as the organization had not been supported very well over the past few years that it be wound up.  Heritage North grew out of the old 'Far North Queensland Museums and Historical Societies Association' which was formed in the early 1980's as an umbrella group when many of the local historical societies were getting off the ground and were setting up their museum collections.  Then after a few years in recess, the Association re-commenced operations in 1992 when a second wave of small history societies were starting up and the group was later renamed the 'Heritage North Association'.  But as the societies have developed and matured, the need for an umbrella group has lessen, although an informal group may continue to help organize training workshops for local historians and maybe an annual conference to get the societies together for a social to share news and ideas.

CADCAI

Historic artifacts from Cairns' original Chinese temple will get a new lease on life thanks to funding from the Federal Government's Community Heritage Grants Program.  The Cairns and District Chinese Assocation inc (CADCAI) will receive $13,630 to carry out conservation treatment on the Lit Sung Goong (Temple) furniture.  This was great news for CADCAI who are very active in promoting and preserving our Chinese heritage.  The Chinese Temple in Cairns was opened in 1877 in what was then called Sachs Street by settlers from the Zhongshan district of Guangdong.  The temple was a significant cultural site as it was a meeting place and the focal point of Chinese community life in Cairns well into the 1920's.  Unfortunately, a series of events including a fire and a cyclone that destroyed the front of the temple, along with dwindling attendance and a debt resulting from City Council rates, forced the sale of the site in the 1960's.  Luckily the internal fixtures and the entire collection of temple artifacts were salvaged and today, members of CADCAI are custodians of this important collection and it's their goal to establish a Chinese cultural facility in Cairns to re-house, preserve and showcase this collection for present and future generations.  CADCAI was also thrilled to announce that they have signed a three-year, $100,000 naming rights sponsorship deal for the Chinese New Year celebrations with developer KUR-World.  The group's Vice-president Nathan Lee Long was very excited to see the growth of this festival, which next year will be its fourteenth year.  Chinese New Year in Cairns will be launched on 20th January.  

Folk of Herberton's Past

A new history book entitled 'Ghosts of a Mining Town' was launched at the recent heritage walk at the Herberton cemetery.  Edited by local historian Mr Ivan Searston, this new volume is a collection of stories which has been amassed from the many 'ghost' walks conducted by the Herberton Lions Club since the early 2000's.  These stories chronicle the history of Herberton and the characters that helped to shape the town.  Ivan stated at the launch that the walks was firstly a way of telling the stories of people who are long gone but still remembered by headstones at the local cemetery and then later as simple re-enactments of the town's past.  Some three dozen of these tales have been included in this new book which are taken from five history walks.  These walks have become very popular about the North and this collection is just the first volume of several which is planed for publication in the future.  You can obtain a copy from the Mining History Centre in Herberton.

Back to the Palmer Goldfield

It had been a couple of years since I was last on the Palmer River and with the heat building up and this year's wet season approaching, this might be my last chance to get in for the year.  Our mining friend, Graham Byrne had given us permission to stay at his new mining camp on his lease at Ida for the weekend.  That along with the news that the road into the Palmer was been cleaned up, made this a proposition too good to let pass.  So we loaded up the vehicle and with some friends who wanted to learn how to metal-detect for gold on board, it was off for another long weekend exploring the heritage of the old River of Gold.

The camp site

It was starting to get quite late before we were able to hit the road on the Saturday morning for the long trip up to the Palmer River and the drive was rather uneventful until we reached the gravel road.  This end of the Palmer road had not yet been graded and the rear of the vehicle began to swing about the road.  Yes, a tyre had blown-out, no doubt on a sharp rock.  We found a place to pull over and found ourselves beside another vehicle and laughed as the other were also changing a tyre.  It was the Fitzgeralds who maintain the road and were out here to organize their next road building camp to finish off this last section of the year's road maintenance job.  So after changing the tyre and chatting with the Fitzgeralds, it was late in the afternoon before we reached Ida and set up our camp in the shed at Graham's mine camp.  After tea that evening, with light from torches and the full moon, it was out for a couple of hours work to familiarize our friends in the art of metal-detecting for gold on the Palmer.

The following morning we made an inspection of Graham's new mining plant.  He had just laid a concrete pad for a small crushing plant where he hopes to become the first hard-rock miner on the Palmer since the late Sam Elliott put through his last crushing at the Wild Irish Girl battery in 1959.  Later we the drove over to Maytown to show our friends the remains of the old town and on the way back we spent some time exploring the remains of the old houses and the mill sites about the old Ida town.  After lunch, we drove over to the North Palmer to give our friends a better idea of the extent of the goldfield and to show them the site of the Chinese village near German Bar and its cemetery.  That afternoon was spent searching for gold about the mining lease but found only old tin and nails and a few Devil's Dice.  We enjoyed the quiet of the bush camp that evening and many happy hours were spent talking about the gold that was found on this goldfield of old.

The old mine 'toms'

On the last day, before we pack-up to head off home, we decided to drive over to Thomson's Creek which had been worked extensively by machines some twenty or more years ago.  It was here that we found the most interesting heritage site of this trip.  After driving down the appalling piece of road off the ridge into the mined out creek area, our attention was drawn to several rows of low stumps embedded in the creek bed.  There was another set of these stumps protruding a few centimetres out of the mud just a short way down stream and we puzzled over this for a while until we noticed the remnant sand and rocky wash of an ancient river bed in the creek bank.  Then it dawned on us that what we were looking at was the tops of old mine 'toms'.  The old time miners, possibly the Chinese who had a village nearby, had found the ancient river buried two or three metres below the modern stream and had tunnelled in to get the gold-bearing wash.  In a number of places, the roof of the tunnel must have been unstable and they had shored it up with timber posts.  Then about a hundred years later, modern miners had stripped the earth away from above to expose the tops of these old mine toms.  We stood there and wondered at just how extensive might this old unrecorded mining project had been and how much gold might the 'old-timers' had recovered for their efforts.

When we returned to the camp, we found our friend sitting there with a silly grin across his face.  He had gone off at five o'clock in the morning determined to find some gold and after spending all morning working about the old lease, he had found his gold.  A tiny piece, not much to show for more than six hours of hard work in the heat but it was his first bit of gold and Palmer gold at that.  So we had all been successful this trip and after a late lunch, we packed up and hit the long road homeward and near Adam's dam we pass the Fitzgeralds again, as they were setting up their next road building camp.

The first hard-rock plant on the Palmer since 1959.

 

Ravenshoe School History

After many years of research, the folk of Ravenshoe have finally seen the impressive centenary book on the history of the Ravenshoe State School completed.  The book entitled 'Ravenshoe State School P-12 Centenary 1912-2012' was launched recently, although some four years late, for the school's centenary celebrations.  Many past students have added accounts of their experiences at the school and the book is well illustrated with many hundreds of photographs.  This large 218 page volume also briefly mentions the many smaller schools of that local district where the local children did their early schooling.  The book is a credit to the dedication of the many people who worked over a number of years on the project to bring this detailed history to the public, particularly Mrs Starr West.  At times Mrs West didn't think it would ever get finish but it came together in the end and is now a great addition to the recorded history of the tablelands. Congratulations to all those involved in this project.

Douglas Shire Historical Society

At the Society's September meeting held at the Port Douglas CWA rooms, Peter Lloyd spoke about the historic steam tram 'Faugh-a-Ballagh'.  Peter has teamed up with the Port Douglas Men's Shed to undertake some restoration of the old engine, with paint kindly supplied by Bunnings.  The 'Diggers of Douglas' project continues with filming of the descendents' memories of their World War One soldies relatives.  Alan Crees, Marveen Hodgson and Bob Korotcoff have been filmed by Mike Stent and these interviews will soon be added to the touch screen presentation units on display at the Court House Museum and the Mossman Library.  Some history of the road transport of sugar from Mossman to the Cairns Wharf was covered by John White at the August meeting along with some Francis family history by Jocelyn White.  The Society held a very successful history walk through the Mossman Cemetery recently on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  About fifty people listened to Mossman Librarian, Judy Coulthard as she told stories about some of the people remembered there.  The group has already had requests to organise another walk which they will consider in the near future.  Recently the Society was very fortunate to have a visit from the local Shire Council and was able to show the Mayor and all the Councillors around the Museum and Dixie's Shed.  It's wonderful to know they are so interested in the community's heritage.  Members are reminded that the next meeting will be held on the new date of the 10th October at the Mossman Community Centre with Laurie Taylor as the guest speaker.

Innisfail District Historical Society

Some of the Society's members and friends had a great day out on the recent bus trip to Cairns which was organised by the Sugar Heritage Centre to see the Anzac Experience.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and the exhibition was well worth viewing.  It was great to see the Society's trench periscope from World War One which was lent to the organisers to add some local content into the display along with all the other great exhibits.  The group had a social event by celebrating a 'Christmas in July' at Richies Cafe at South Johnstone (old Gee Kee building) and what a great time was had.  All in all, it was a wonderful evening and meal.  Another recent event was the Society's display in the No.1 Pavilion at the Innisfail Show.  It was wet, cold and admissions were down but it was still a quite good Show.  The stall sold quite a few copies of the new South Johnstone Memories book, plus other publications so it was worthwhile being there.  To all those people chasing the Memories book, please email the Society on idhs1234@gmail.com and they will arrange to get a copy to you.  But the big event for the Society was the recent centenary day at South Johnstone and what an evening it was.  A record crowd turned up for the town history walk and to hear the stories of old South Johnstone town.  Many thanks to the great story tellers who brought to life some of the events and people who gave South Johnstone such an interesting history.  Thanks also to the local Policeman and Ambulance who added to the colour - and what would it have been without the sugar locos trundling in and out of the mill.  Such atmosphere.  Thanks also goes to the South Johnstone State School committee who provided refreshments after the walk and to top it all, it didn't rain.  The Society also had a successful launch of their photographic collection book 'Memories of South Johnstone'.  For those who missed out on this fun event, it is hoped to hold a Cemetery Walk there some time in October.  So put that in your diary and come along and meet some of the ghostly past.  And for all those interested people who have responded to the page for local sporting heroes - thank you for your input.  If you are in Innisfail, please call by and see the window display which has lots of photos of Innisfail's sportmen and Women and the group would be grateful to receive more names and would love photos.