Sketches of Mansfield (Two)

 

I know it has been a long time since the last blog was posted, but I am determined to complete the Mansfield series this time. Actually, as I write this, I am sitting on the balcony of the apartment at Merimbula which has featured in earlier blogs, and to which we have returned with the specific intention of catching up with my writing which has been resting on the back-burner for about 6 months.

In the first Mansfield blog I mentioned the inconvenient distance to the nearest coffee shop, but having driven into town, there were plenty to choose from. The Old Fire Station café was our first choice, and we were not disappointed.

The coffee was good, and they did not object to our friend bringing her own half-strength-soy cappuccino, which was not part of their offerings. There are some nice shops in the town, and, even though shopping for clothes is not one of my favourite occupations, I could not resist buying a couple of very nice shirts and pair of pants from one of the shops. I also found the young lad in the fishing tackle shop extremely knowledgeable and very helpful when it came to discussing why I had not managed to catch any trout in the near-by Delatite River this time. The river flows from the granite slopes of Mt Buller, and the trout from there are the best tasting of any I have caught in Victoria. But we were a tad early, and the fish were not rising to the dry fly yet. The lad in the shop advised me to use a nymph, with a bright yellow floater (so that I could see it!). However, I did not have time to return to the river for a second try, but I’ll bear the advice in mind next time I go to the Delatite! I got back to the water at the small township of Jamieson, a very small hamlet about 40 k from Mansfield, and located on a bend of the Jamieson River near its confluence with the Goulburn River.

The population today is about 380, of which there are less than 100 actually living in the township. The rest are scattered around the surrounding area. There is one pub, a general store, and a café, and when we were there, about 50% of the population appeared to be enjoying coffee in the shade of a magnificent tree in the café garden. There are a couple of churches, and a museum accommodated in the now-redundant courthouse. But in its heyday as a supply town to nearby goldfields in the late 19^th century, there were 5 mine offices, 22 stores, 8 hotels, 2 breweries, 3 restaurants, a theatre, a police station and lock-up. There were 3 doctors, a chemist, a registrar of births, marriages and deaths, 4 blacksmiths, 2 saddlers, numerous people associated with the building industry, a cabinet maker and so forth. A really thriving town! But it couldn’t last forever, and it didn’t last for long—about 50 years. The gold ran out, the First World War came, the depression of the 1930’s and then the Second World War hit it hard, and the population declined to its few hundred of today. But, tourism came, and it is now a delightfully tranquil spot. All the buildings are well maintained, the streets neat and tidy, and the park on the bank of the crystal-clear river, where we enjoyed our picnic lunch, is delightful.

 

A new ‘micro-brewery’ has been established just outside the village, and whilst it was not open at the time we were there, we managed to buy some of their rather nice beer from a shop in Mansfield. The brewery is on a road that ends up somewhere in the hills and we drove to a very good look-out spot a couple of Ks past the brewery which offered some great views of Lake Eildon.

Jamieson is also noted for its ‘significant trees’, and there is a self-guided walk one can take. Many of these trees are deciduous, and the colours in autumn would be spectacular, I think.

Back in Mansfield the next day, we strolled around the Mansfield Wetlands, with the track starting at the old railway station, and following the rail track for much of the way. This is offered as a ‘guided walk’ on some days, but unfortunately the day we were there was not one of the days! But even though we did not learn much, being on our own, it was a very pleasant walk.

There is a brewery in Mansfield, which makes a very nice drop, and I did enjoy a glass whilst sitting outside one of the pubs by the Police Memorial roundabout in town waiting for some of our party to finish their shopping. The memorial is to the three police officers killed by the Kelly gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878, and was erected only two years later in 1880, funded entirely by public donations exceeding a total of £800. The officers are interred in the local Mansfield cemetery.

There are two pubs diametrically opposite each other at this roundabout, and on another corner is the Courthouse. When I first arrived at the pub, I had intended taking a photo of the courthouse, but in light of the collection of individuals milling around its doors, mostly in the company of suited brief-case-carrying gentlemen looking rather like those of the legal fraternity, I  decided to postpone my photography until the place was deserted!

The Courthouse was built in 1868, and enlarged in 1870. Following the killing of the police officers by the Kelly gang in 1878, the gang was ordered to appear at this courthouse by November 12 of that year. The Courthouse remained open for the full 24 hours of that day, but they failed to arrive, and accordingly were declared to be ‘outlaws’, meaning, under the Felon’s Act, they could be killed without notice or challenge. Ned was eventually captured at Glenrowan in June 1880, and on November 11 of that year, was executed in the Old Melbourne Goal.

Well, so much for our trip to Mansfield and the surrounding area. All in all, it was a very enjoyable little trip, in the company of or ‘camping’ friends.

The next blog will be a quick look around the NE Victorian town of Bright.