Our first activation for Tuesday 28th November 2023 was the Maldon Bushland Reserve VKFF-4292. The reserve is located about 7 km south of the town of Maldon and about 139 km northwest of the city of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Maldon Bushland Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps.
The reserve is located on the southern side of Cemetery Road at Welshman’s Reef. However, the park is known as the Maldon Bushland Reserve.
Above:- An aerial view of the Maldon Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.
Prior to the activation we visited the Welshmans Reef cemetery which adjoins the reserve. The cemetery was previously known as the Sandy Creek Cemetery and was in use from 1870 to 1956. It features a pioneer memorial and numerous historic headstones, along with many simple graves marked with wooden posts. (Goldfields Guide 2024)
Nearby is the old church.
The Maldon Bushland Reserve is about 1.6 hectares in size and was established on the 26th day of February 2002. (CAPAD 2022)
Marija and I ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts output, and the 20/40/80m dipole for this activation. I used the special call of VI10VKFF.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK3VIN
- VK2HRX/p (SOTA VK1/ AC-039)
- VK3CLD
- VK2LOC/m
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK2IO
Marija worked the following stations on 40m AM:-
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK3SQ
- VK2BD
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK2HRX/p (SOTA VK1/ AC-039)
- VK3CLD
- VK3LOC/m
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK2IO
- VK3SQ
- VK2BD
- VK3PWG
- VK3EJ
- VK3VIN
- VK3MCK
- VK3UAO
- VK2MOP
- VK1AD
- VK1NAM
- VK3DX
- VK3AP/m
- VK7AAE
- VK2SLB
- VK3CEO
- VK2VAR
- VK2GOM
- VK1AAF
- VK3UCD
- VK3BBB
- VK2CCP
- VK3MTT
- VK3UT
- VK7ZA
- VK3ZSC
- VK3BEL
I worked the following stations on 40m AM:-
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK3SQ
- VK2BD
- VK3UCD
- VK3CEO
- VK3BBB
- VK2CCP
- VK3BEL
We packed up and headed off to visit Rod VK3RH. Rod is one of the Net Controllers on the Australia New Zealand Africa (ANZA) DX Net with me. Although I had spoken with Rod dozens of times on air, we had never met in person. It was quite slow going to Rod’s house due to graders undertaking repairs on some of the surrounding roads.
Marija and I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at Rod’s house, enjoying a cup of coffee and some other goodies. I also admired Rod’s collection of Mustangs and of course, had a look at Rod’s shack.
After leaving Rod’s home, Marija and I visited the ruins of the mining venture at Lisles Reef. It was operated by Dr. Lisle and his partner who discovered gold there in 1856 when searching for his horse. It is reputed that Lisle and his partner took about £34,000 worth of gold (about 8,500 ounces) from their claim (Historic Mining Sites 1993).
We then visited the ruins of the North British Mine at Maldon. During the 1880s the North British Mine was one of the richest mines in the world. It was owned by Robert Dent Oswald who employed more than 100 men. Oswald was born in 1830 in Lauriston, Stirling, Scotland and emigrated to Australia in 1854. As a young man, he joined other miners on the Maldon goldfields. He soon found himself the sole owner of The Caledonian, a large crushing works, and the North British Mine He became one of the colony’s most wealthy men and a ‘quartz king’.
Above:- Robert Dent Oswald. Image c/o Maldon Museum & Archives Assoc Inc Facebook page.
There are extensive ruins to be viewed along the walking trails and kilns which are some of the best-surviving quartz kilns in Victoria.
Our next stop was the old dredge and dragline at Porcupine Flat northeast of Maldon. This was once part of the flourishing Maldon goldfields. The Porcupine Inn was opened here in 1846. In 1958 George Heywood commenced working the site at Porcupine Flat and purchased the dredge soon after. In 1974 mining operations ceased. The dragline was brought to Porcupine Flat from the Yallourn Coal Mine to assist in creating the initial dam, however, it was of little assistance and abandoned in its current position. (Blake 1977) (Goldfields Guide 2024)
Marija and I then headed towards Melbourne, along the Calder Freeway, detouring into Kyneton for some lunch.
Kyneton is a small rural town about 75 km northwest of Melbourne. The area was once part of the Carlsruhe pastoral run which by 1839 had been split. The area around current-day Kyneton was called St Agnes, and by 1839 a small slab homestead had been built on the river flat by Charles Wedge, one of the owners of St Agnes Run. The area became a teamster’s camping area and by 1848 a courthouse had been built. By this time, Henry Jeffreys and Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe owned the run. La Trobe decided to make the area a township and named it Kyneton after Mrs Jeffrey’s birthplace of Kineton in Warwickshire. By 1850 it was gazetted as Kyneton. (Victorian Places 2024)
Above:- Lt Gvnr La Trobe. Image c/o Wikipedia.
Kyneton became a stopping place and supply point for those travelling between Melbourne and the Bendigo goldfields. Several buildings were constructed including the Anglican church in 1852, the Congregational church in 1853, the Mechanics Institute in 1854, a Catholic church in 1855, and a hospital in 1857. In 1857 Degraves mill was constructed, and in 1863 a railway station was built. (Victorian Places 2024)
It was then down to Melbourne where we planned to stay with friends for a few nights.
References.
- Bannear; D, 1993, Historic Mining Sites in the Maldon Mining Division.
- Dcceew.gov.au. (2023). Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2022 – DCCEEW. [online] Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/2022 [Accessed 9 Apr. 2024].
- https. (n.d.). Welshmans Reef Cemetery. [online] Available at: https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/502/welshmans-reef-cemetery/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2024].
- https. (n.d.). North British Mine and Quartz Kilns. [online] Available at: https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/109/north-british-mine-and-quartz-kilns/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2024].
- https. (n.d.). Porcupine Flat Gold Dredge and Dragline. [online] Available at: https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/19/porcupine-flat-gold-dredge-and-dragline/#google_vignette [Accessed 1 May 2024].
- Leslie James Blake (n.d.). Place Names of Victoria.
- Maldon Inc. (n.d.). Gold Dredge and Dragline. [online] Available at: https://www.maldon.org.au/explore/gold-dredge-and-dragline [Accessed 9 Apr. 2024].
- http://www.victorianplaces.com.au. (n.d.). Kyneton | Victorian Places. [online] Available at: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/kyneton [Accessed 9 Apr. 2024].
VK5PAS 