Lascelles silo VK-LSS3

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Our next activation for Tuesday 22nd October 2024 was the Lascelles silo VK-LSS3 for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.

Lascelles is located about 377 km northwest of the city of Melbourne.

Above:- Map showing the location of Lascelles, Victoria. Map c/o Google Maps.

The township of Lascelles is named in honour of Edward Harewood Lascelles (b. 1847. d. 1917), a pastoralist and businessman. He was born in 1847 in Van Diemans Land (Tasmania). By the age of 21, he was a partner in his uncle’s wool broker firm in Geelong. He became an expert wool classer and broker. (Wessels 1974)

During the 1870s Lascelles developed an interest in the Mallee region of Victoria. He became the owner of Lake Corrong sheep station. The property later included the Minapre and Wilhelmina runs. (Wessels 1974)

In 1887 Lascelles married Ethel Dennys. They had six children. Lascelles died in 1917. (Wessels 1974)

Above:- Edward Harewood Lascelles. Image c/o Wikipedia.

Prior to European settlement, the Lascelles area was home to the Wergaia and Wotjobaluk aboriginal people. In 1891 Edward Lascelles surveyed the nearby township of Hopetoun and he also served the township of Minapre. The Lascelles Post office opened in 1903 following the arrival of the railway. By 1905 Minapre had a hotel and a Mechanics Institute. The following year a school was opened, followed by a Presbyterian church. In 1909 Minapre was renamed Lascelles. At its peak, Lascelles had its own football team. (Aussie Towns 2021) (Phoenix 2022)

Following an unusually warm winter in 1917, Lascelles suffered from a mouse plague. It was so large that mice filled every square inch of ground. It is estimated that over 100 million mice were slaughtered before the end of the plague. (Trove 2025)

Above:- Article from The Argus Melbourne, Sat 31 Mar 1917. Image c/o Trove

Other than the silo art there is not a lot to see in Lascelles. We stopped to view the Lascelles War Memorial Gates that were erected to honour the men of Lascelles and District who served during the First World War. (Vwma.org.au 2024)

The grain silos at Lascelles were built in 1939. (Aussie Towns 2021)

The silos are part of the Australian SIlo Art Trail. They were painted by artist Rone and feature a local farming couple, Greg and Merrilyn Horman. (Aussie Towns 2021)

Rone painted the silos in mid-2017. It took Rone two weeks to paint the silos. He used a unique technique which included the addition of water to the paint. (Australiansiloarttrail 2024)

Marija and I parked on Lascelles W Road and operated from the 4WD. We ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 antenna with the 1.5 metre stainless steel whip.

Above:- The activation zone at the Lascelles silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3CJN
  2. VK3QHU
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK3APJ

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3CJN
  2. VK3QHU
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK3APJ
  5. VK1AO
  6. VK2MET
  7. VK4NH
  8. VK4DXA
  9. VK2LEE
  10. VK2IO
  11. VK3ALF
  12. VK7DD
  13. VK1TTY
  14. VK7PJM
  15. VK2SLB
  16. VK4MPB (Rosins Lookout Conservation Park VKFF-1635)
  17. VK4CEG (Rosins Lookout Conservation Park VKFF-1635)
  18. VK5AYL
  19. VK5HS
  20. VK4EMP
  21. VK4TI
  22. VK4GKO
  23. VK1CBR

Following the quick activation we headed to the Minapre Hotel for dinner. Marija and I had driven past this hotel a few years prior and thought it was such an impressive building that we had to visit.

Above:- Article from the Ouyen Mail, Wed 5 Oct 1927. Image c/o Trove.

Sadly our visit was not a memorable one. The meal (average) took a very long time to come out despite the hotel not being busy. And to make things worse there was a local who clearly had consumed a little too much alcohol who was swearing and cursing in the outside beer garden area. When joined by some other people, he commenced to swear and brag how he was going build some cabins to rip off the tourist suckers (that is my polite language) who came to the town to look at the silo art.

Meal consumed and we were out of there.

References.

  1. Aussie Towns. (2021). Lascelles, VIC – Aussie Towns. [online] Available at: https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/lascelles-vic [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
  2. ‌Australiansiloarttrail.com. (2024). Lascelles Silo Art. [online] Available at: https://www.australiansiloarttrail.com/lascelles [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
  3. ‌Phoenixauctions.com.au. (2022). Post Office List – Phoenix. [online] Available at: https://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025]‌
  4. ‌Trove. (2025). MICE PLAGUE. – MILLIONS SLAUGHTERED. Numbers Not Decreasing. – The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) – 31 Mar 1917. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1607868 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
  5. ‌Vwma.org.au. (2024). Lascelles War Memorial Gates, Lascelles, Victoria, Australia. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/3301 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025].
  6. ‌Wessels, S.F. (1974). Lascelles, Edward Harewood (1847–1917). [online] Anu.edu.au. Available at: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lascelles-edward-harewood-582 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025]‌

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