Category Archives: Forests

The Sherbrooke Forest pole plot is at the southern end of Coles Ridge Track, between Belgrave and Kallista. The study plot in wet forest was paired with another site in drier bush near Winton, on the old Hume Highway. Both research plots are thought to have been established in the 1930s by Post Master GeneralContinue reading “Pole Plot – Sherbrooke Forest.”

In about 1900, experiments were conducted in England by Mr William Powell to perfect a new process of preserving wood. Mr Powell, who owned a sugar refinery in Liverpool, had noticed that the wooden staves supporting the vats on the side where the molasses was spilt lasted longer than those untouched by the solution. PonderingContinue reading “Powell Wood Process – Powelltown.”

Timber bridges demonstrate the fundamental significance that State forests played in the rapid development of the new colony of Victoria after the gold rush of 1851. Two Acts of Parliament passed in December 1880 and December 1884, authorised the construction of 89 new railway lines, more than doubling Victoria’s network to over 2,900 miles byContinue reading “Muckleford Creek Railway Bridge.”

The Army Reserve was always willing to help the Forests Commission and rural municipalities blow stuff up. In November 1976, sappers in the 7 Field Engineers Regiment (7FER) from Ringwood, plus some other engineers from Gippsland, helped the Horsham Shire remove an old wooden bridge on Bulgana Road, east of Stawell. About 63 kg ofContinue reading “More blowing stuff up.”

The Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) had a large and active engineering branch for making stuff… as well as breaking stuff… Most overseers, as well as some foresters, were trained in the use of explosives to “blow stuff up” such as removing stumps and rocks from roads. Districts usually had a small powder magazine tucked awayContinue reading “Blowing stuff up.”

Edge-notched index cards were invented in about 1896 and have holes punched around the borders. The top right-hand corner is also clipped to help stacking the deck. The holes could be clipped to search and sort information. For foresters, these cards were commonly used to identify timber samples. Using a 10X magnifying lens, or aContinue reading “The knitting needle computer.”

The decision to build the massive Thomson Dam in Gippsland was a result of a State Government inquiry into Melbourne’s water security in the late 1960s. The dam wall and diversion tunnels were built in three stages between 1969 and 1985. But unlike the Upper Yarra and Maroondah catchments which were “vested“ in the MelbourneContinue reading “Thomson Reservoir High Water Mark.”

The 1960s saw more prolonged droughts and water restrictions.  There were also deadly bushfires on the fringes of Melbourne in 1962, and again in 1968. Growing concerns about long term water security led to a Parliamentary Public Works Committee inquiry between 1965 and 1967. In response to the inquiry, the Bolte Government immediately approved worksContinue reading “Yarra Tribs.”

Melbourne grew rapidly after the 1851 gold rush and struggled to maintain adequate water supplies and sewerage disposal. All the night soil, trade waste, as well as waste from kitchens and homes was just thrown into open channels in the street and it simply flowed wherever gravity took it… mostly into the Yarra River. TheContinue reading “O’Shannassy Aqueduct.”

Up to a thousand Sessile oaks (Quercus petraea) were felled to reconstruct the ancient 800-year-old timber roof and fallen spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after it was destroyed by fire in April 2019. A nationwide tree hunt began soon after French president, Emmanuel Macron, decided that the iconic Cathedral would be rebuilt exactlyContinue reading “Notre Dame.”

Warrnambool in southwest Victoria has a strong dairy industry that once boasted two factories making thousands of wooden butter boxes. The first factory was opened in 1896 near the railway station by Welsh immigrant Henry McGennan. The second factory owned by the Western District Co-Operative Box Company, came a few years later in 1912, onContinue reading “Butter Boxes.”

The figures for railway sleepers produced from State forests are simply astounding. More than 26 million were cut between 1919 and 1986, primarily from the red gum forests along the Murray, the yellow stringybark forests of Mullundung near Yarram and greybox from East Gippsland. Sleeper cutting began around Orbost in the 1920s and there areContinue reading “Sleepers”

In the wake of the 1939 bushfires, a major log salvage program was undertaken by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) across the Central Highlands. Logs salvaged from the Thomson Valley and destined for sawmills at Erica travelled on a complex network of timber tramways. Before the fires, the well-established Ezards company already operated several sawmillsContinue reading “South Cascade Bridge.”

Also known as the Tramway Bridge or the Old Steel Bridge, Poverty Point Bridge was designed by Mr. Timmins, an engineer from the Victorian Railways. The prefabricated steel components were manufactured by Dorman Long and Co and erected in 1900 by Austral Otis Co from South Melbourne. Dorman Long and Co was a Middlesborough firmContinue reading “Poverty Point Bridge.”

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 “Macedon Avenue of Honour.”

In the 1930s, the Forests Commission took a leading role in stabilising soils in the desert country of northwest Victoria ravaged by drought and excessive clearing of Mallee woodlands for farming. Revegetation works by the Commission using Cypress Pine were carried out in the dry Hattah – Kulkyne forests in 1937-38 but it was severelyContinue reading “Bill Middleton – Wail Nursery.”

Forestours were launched by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) at Lakes Entrance in January 1977. A brainwave of Bairnsdale forester David Buntine, Forestours got their inspiration from the NSW Forestry Commission on the south coast which offered free self-drive, or tag-along tours on mostly gravel roads in State forest under the guidance of local forestryContinue reading “Forestours.”