Beechworth - The Diggings

Touted as a grand drive through the diggings of a bygone era, I found the gorge to be rather sad and forlorn,, emphasising the destruction of the natural environment to man's insatiable greed.

This hand picked and sawn race flows under Newtown Bridge. This bridge, on the eastern outskirts of Beechworth, started operation in 1875. Using no mortar whatsoever, it is held together with keystones.

Louis Chevalier set up a water-powered saw mill using water from this race in the middle of 1853. Later it was converted to grind flour, but ceased operation totally in the 1880s.

This entire gorge is very sad. All I can envisage is hordes of men, who failed at city jobs, desperately digging to try to make ends meet. Pounding the sides of this gorge into mountains of detritus and pock-marks.

A Hill End life

Death and the dream chasers

Sofala, in the Turon River valley, grew after Edward Hargraves discovered gold in February, 1851 with the Royal Hotel being built that same year. However, with other - more lucrative - finds nearby, come 1855 Sofala was in decline. By 1871 the population of the town was 644. Nowadays, its main claim to fame is the 1948 painting by Russell Drysdale.