Category Archives: Forests

Spot and Ted Stabb became friends in the late 1980s during the days of the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL). Rob Chalwell (ex-Bright Forests Commission) told Ted that Spot had been looking very sad and lonely in the front window of the Lands Department Office at Bright for some years.  Ted then rescuedContinue reading “Spot & Ted.”

The colours and emblem for the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) were designed in 1916 when Charlie Carter became the Principal. The school opened only a few years earlier in 1910 and he remained as Principal until 1926. The design was a joint effort with the students. The motto “CIRCUMSPICE”, which is Latin for “lookContinue reading “Victorian School of Forestry regalia.”

Picture this… a leisurely Sunday drive in the Wolseley 24/80 from a modest weatherboard home on a quarter acre block in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, along Ferntree Gully Road up to the nearby Dandenong Ranges, to spend a lazy afternoon in the bush, and let noisy kids run riot with sticks, with Dad bent over aContinue reading “Bush BBQs.”

Sugar Gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) originates in South Australia in three distinct populations: the Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. Sugar Gum is also widely planted across the drier western district of Victora as a windbreak or shelterbelt and for durable farming timber as well as magnificent firewood. Sawn timber harvested from sugar gum hasContinue reading “Sugar Gum Plantation – Majorca.”

On ANZAC Day we gather to remember those who served our country. We may attend a dawn service, go to a march, wear some precious family medals, or lay a wreath at a cenotaph. We may even follow with a cold frothy or two and a game of two-up at our local RSL. But acrossContinue reading “Havelock Avenue of Honour.”

This great footage from the Imperial War Museum highlights the events at a sports day competition between Forestry Companies from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand at Pont-Remy, France, on 15th September 1918. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022799

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 led to a worldwide economic collapse, which quickly spread to the Australian economy and signalled the beginning of the “Great Depression”. At its worst in 1932, unemployment in Australia reached 32 percent, but this figure did not include women who had lost their jobs or teenagers who had neverContinue reading “The Great Depression – Sussos.”

An innovative School Plantation Endowment Scheme was initiated in 1923 as a joint venture between the Education Department and the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV). Mr William Gay, the former Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) resumed his role with the Education Department in 1922 and took responsibility for the Scheme under the guidanceContinue reading “Melbourne High School Forestry Camp – Sherbrooke Forest.”

William Edward Ricketts purchased 4 ½ acres near Kalorama, on the Mt Dandenong Road, in 1935 as an artist’s retreat which he called “Potter’s Sanctuary”. The land adjoined 9-acres of State forest. Bill supported himself with commissioned art works and received some philanthropic donations. From 1949 to 1960, he made frequent trips into Central AustraliaContinue reading “William Ricketts Sanctuary.”

Just about every student who has spent time at the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick will be familiar with Brackenbury Hill, but few would probably know about its interesting history. Brackenbury Hill sits just north of the Great Dividing Range, with an elevation of 1757 feet, and is about a mile to the eastContinue reading “The Creswick Old Boys & Brackenbury Hill.”

At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Australia had only three months’ supply of fuel and was totally reliant on imports. The Victorian Government response was to severely ration petrol and turn to charcoal as an alternative fuel for motorists. The Victorian Premier, Albert Dunstan, directed the Forests Commission to establishContinue reading “Charcoal powered motorbike from Footscray – 1942.”

There are several growth stages of a forest, and it’s much the same for foresters. Firstly, there is germination, which is followed by the seedling, sapling and pole stages. These are the tree equivalents of childhood, boisterous youth and effervescent adolescence. But once tree roots have become established there is a long period of growthContinue reading “The growth stages of foresters.”

Today, 21 March, is World Forestry Day (WFD), which was proclaimed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation 55 years ago in 1971. The date was set down to coincide with the vernal equinox when the sun passes over the equator giving equal lengths of day and night. It also marks the first dayContinue reading “World Forestry Day.”

This Wednesday, 18 March at 3:00 pm, marks 135 years since the first official meeting of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) in 1891. The idea of the MMBW was inspired by a similar body established in London 35 years earlier. Water-borne diseases were killers in all major cities throughout the nineteenth century.Continue reading “Edmund Gerald FitzGibbon.”

Like lots of people, I enjoy the views from above – from an aeroplane, a helicopter, a hot air balloon, a bushfire lookout or the top of a tall building. William Herbert Hansom was better known as “Airspy” and was a pioneering aerial photographer based in Melbourne during the period after WW1. He was bornContinue reading “Airspy – William Hansom & Charles Pratt.”

The 1980s will be remembered as the beginning of the heady era of “big money”. An era of conspicuous consumption perhaps best characterised by flamboyant and freewheeling entrepreneurs like Christopher Skase and Alan Bond, celebrities in private jets and luxury tax-dodgem cars, newfangled mobile phones, expensive consultants in sharp Zegna suits, and power dressing withContinue reading “Process Gridlock.”

In an Australian first, Bushfire Prevention Week was initiated by the Forests Commission in the wake of the disastrous 1926 bushfires. Victoria’s State Governor, Lord Somers, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir Harold Luxton and the newly appointed Minister for Forests, William Beckett launched the innovative campaign with great flourish to 250 invited guests atContinue reading “Fire Awareness Week.”

Uncontrolled bushfires had been burning from early October 1925 in many places such as Olinda and Sassafras in the Dandenong Ranges and at Healesville in the Yarra Valley. The forests at Powelltown, Noojee, Toorongo Plateau and the Baw Baw Ranges were then swept by fire on 14 and 15 February 1926, killing stands of matureContinue reading “Impact on the forests.”