Beechworth - the old hospital

I did not feel engaged by the historic end of the town, but was more engaged up this end of town.

Originally called the Ovens District Hospital, it was completed in 1857 and demolished in 1940. Let's put its construction into context. The Victorian gold rush is considered to have been from 1851 until the late 1860s. Ned Kelly was born in 1855 and hung in 1880. My great-great-grand-father, Stephen Cole, settled in nearby Jamieson in 1862.


The first stage of the hospital cost 2,347 pounds. Even though another hospital was built in Wangaratta in 1871, further additions were made to this hospital in both 1858 and 1890. The hospital was demolished in 1940 when a new, smaller one, was built. Due to the shortage of building materials during World War II all salvageable materials were used for public works within Beechworth. All that remains of the 1857 hospital today is the granite facade, and remnants of the extensive gardens.


Even here, an opportunity has been lost. Down in Port Arthur the impact of the historic site has been magnified by snippets of the lives of the convicts and others who existed there. This hospital, too, would have a greater impact if we could stand and read about some of the miners and pioneers who benefited from its existence.

Beechworth - Echoes of History

My first visit to Beechworth was in 1972. Yes, nearly forty years ago. So, it stands to reason, that things will have changed in the interim: the town will have changed; and, I will have changed.

And the way history is perceived and presented has changed.


In the year 2000, I gather, a sizeable amount of government funding was dedicated to Beechworth, to enable its story to be preserved for future generations. The tagline, 'Echoes of History', is the public face of this programme.

The result is a sterile, bureaucratisation of a provincial town. I guess it was either that or history as a 'reality show'. Needless to say, I was gobsmacked and disappointed. But I will be the first to say that I have changed equally as much as Beechworth has changed.


In my mind's eye, I had visions of a tumble of junk, of dirt, of old people with flowing beards working in blacksmith's shops, of slabs of decaying wood roughly joined together into huts. Was this what Beechworth had been in 1972? I am no longer sure.

But Beechworth today is fit for the busloads of senior's groups who are plonked down in the main street for an hour or so, and who spend their time in gift-shops and bakeries.

Myrtleford - Tobacco growing

I did not realise that tobacco was a viable crop in Australia. The number of smokers in our community is down in the low 20%. All the major cigarette manufacturers are multi-nationals. Somehow I figured that all cigarettes were manufactured off-shore. However, when I think of it, in the late '30s and early '40s my mother packed Craven A cigarettes into packets in a factory somewhere in St Peters in Sydney,


These strange looking sheds are the drying sheds on the farms of tobacco growers in NE Victoria. Tobacco is primarily grown along the banks of the King, Ovens, and Kiewa Rivers and the Tobacco Growers' Co-operative of Victoria is based in Myrtleford.

The first viable cultivation of tobacco commenced in the 1930s and there is now about 1400 hectares under cultivation by about 130 growers which contributes $27 million to the country's GDP.

I sort of wish they wouldn't, but it really is up to smokers to quit.

Myrtleford - Butter Factory

This was an inspirational morning!

We first met Naomi Ingleton at the St Kilda Farmers' Market, and she invited us to watch the 'butter churn' which she did each Thursday at the Butter Factory in Myrtleford. With us watching through the plate-glass window, Naomi and her biologist set up the churn, checking temps and adding 'bugs' when appropriate. Then she came out and gave us freely of her time.


In 2007 Naomi and her mother Bronwyn, set up a cafe in the Old Butter Factory, which had been built in 1930 but which ceased churning its own butter in 1966. With a young family and wanting more, Naomi plunged into producing butter in the middle of 2010. Bronwyn had mortgaged her house to enable the refit and gear-up.


The factory building (both cafe and factory floor) is leased from the owners, a local Myrtleford couple. The company now employs 15 local people, mostly women, and across the age spectrum. It really was a hive of activity.


Naomi has had a remarkable professional life which is obvious from reading her website. She traipses around the countryside to Farmers' Markets and restaurants. She produces the butter. She helps in the cafe and with the accounts. And she has a babe in arms!

When I checked with my local Thomas Dux in Paddington, they do not stock butter from Myrtleford. They do not stock much butter at all, in comparison with margarine. Yuk! I will chat with Grant, the manager.

Myrtleford - Trout farm

After lunch - at yet another bakery - we headed out of Bright and along the Great Alpine Road toward Mount Beauty. We could see the High Country in the distance dusted with snow. As we had come to expect, the 'Mountain Fresh Trout & Salmon Farm' (just before Harrietville) was a hodge-podge of pre-loved buildings owned by people simply trying to make a go of things.


The current owner bought into the business last year, and is trying to increase his markets. He goes regularly to the Farmers Markets in Bright and Beechworth, and he had sent his son up to Sydney with x tonnes of produce, instructing him to call into the markets at Wagga on his way back.


The trout farm was 40 years old and he was the sixth owner. There was a series of 14 'ponds' that were stream fed - he had to buy a licence from the government - by hiving off water from Stony Creek (just before it joined with the Ovens River) as it stormed around the bend, sending it through the ponds, then releasing it back into the stream out the other side of the bend. The whole thing looked idyllic - but hard work.

The smoked trout we bought was D-licious.

Myrtleford - Vineyards

During our four day stay in what is known as 'NE Victoria' - which is crushingly bureaucratic, hence my label, 'Myrtleford' - we visited three wineries: Pizzini, Gapsted, and Boynton (Feathertop).


We had no pre-set agenda, working it out each morning. We bought simply to consume that evening. There were SO MANY other equally brilliant wineries we could have visited, Brown Bros. at Milawa for starters. But we were driving ourselves, and took due care. I collected the email subscriptions to each vineyard to consider here at home.


I particularly liked the Sangiovese from Pizzinis, who also had a nice Verduzzo. But, if I had to choose just one wine, it would be the Sangiovese. However, from the point of a vineyard and the visitor experience, I would have to plump for Gapsteds.

The first two images in this post show Gapsteds Vineyard. The third image shows the Boynton Vineyard. The final image is from within the tasting room of Pizzini. All three vineyards are on Facebook.

Myrtleford - Krackatinny

From our rented cottage on the Buffalo Creek Road on the outskirts of Myrtleford, we spotted this 'Blue Ridge Mountains' settlement, but could not quite read what was on the shed. I volunteered to trudge down to check it out.


Being a gutless-wonder from way back, I did not duck under the barbed-wire and brazenly check the joint out. I edged along the blue-metal road-edge, with the hairs on the back of my neck erect in silent salute.


I reported back to my road-trip buddies, and we had a quiet chuckle over our game of petanque whilst sipping chilled Verduzzo from Pizzini's.