At Denman the Goulburn River meets the Hunter River. We are now in the famed Hunter River Valley .. the Upper Hunter at this point.
We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything. Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this. The roadside monument says: In Memory of WILLIAM LEE (1794 - 1870) of "Larras Lake" a pioneer of the sheep and cattle industry and first member for Roxburgh under responsible government (1856 - 1859). This stone was erected by his descendants. --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an increase in his land to 300 acres. William developed a r
I was at the headwaters of the Hunter in the Barrington Tops back in November. The river was much narrower up there!
ReplyDeleteAnd this is from a memory back to 1966 .... this bridge is not over the confluence of the Hunter and the Goulbourn which is a couple of miles south. This is the 'new' bridge that was put in after the 1955 floods where the old bridge (just at the bottom of Ogilvie Street beside the Denman Hotel) was impassable for yonks. They re-routed the main road from Muswellbrook to Merriwa as a consequence. This is that bridge. The bridge that I took by bus to go to High School in 1961 and to end High School in 1965.
ReplyDeleteI hope you stopped to taste the wine.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, we always held our breath when driving over a river or through a tunnel. Just one of a hundred things my kids might never learn to do because (what with DVD players etc.) they'll never be as bored on long trips as I was.
ReplyDeleteThey are happy memories though.
Cool perspective.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann, is that for real that kids don't get bored in the car any more? We had all sorts of games like you describe to keep us amused too.
ReplyDeleteJulie, yes this bridge is over the Hunter only not where the Goulburn joins in.