BEACONSFIELD

 

1/ Beaconsfield is located in north eastern Tasmania north of Launceston. It is an old mining town with a very proud history. This modern shaft controls access to tunnels over a kilometre below. It was recently the scene of the famous rescue of 2 miners in 2006 and it is today the symbol of Beaconsfield.

2/ This is the original Beaconsfield Branch of the Bank of Tasmania, where the gold was kept usually safe in the roaring days. However, in 1884 this bank suffered the biggest robbery in Tasmania.

3/ This is the Ophir Hotel. It was build in 1878 and is the oldest hotel in Beaconsfield. The wing on the left was rebuilt in more recent times.

4/ This abandoned cottage is a survivor of a bygone era. It is one of the oldest in Beaconsfield. Beaconsfield once had a much larger population than it has today.

5/ This is a view of the old mining office, which is now the council office. The park is to the right.

6/ This is the entrance to the council house.

7/ The orange building was once a class room in the old school at nearby Flowery Gully. It shows visitors what a school looked like in the Golden Days.

8/ Back in the Golden Days of Beaconsfield the Alicia Theatre hosted stars like Melba and Caruso. There are plans to restore it to its old glory.

9/ This old office is now a news agency. It is one of many heritage buildings in Beaconsfield.

10/ The Exchange Hotel was a very important place in the Golden Days of Beaconsfield.

11/ The Catholic Church still has its bell, which once summoned the faithful to church on Sundays.

12/ The Holy Trinity, Anglican Church of Beaconsfield was built in 1907 in a European, Renaissance style. Note the distinctive tower with a hat. Its style demonstrates how the different religions were competing. There was an older church built in 1878 formerly on this site.

13/ These two monster palms demonstrate in their size, how old this cottage is.

14/ These 2 facades are remnants of the ancient mining buildings of Beaconsfield. They are now part of the famous mining museum.

15/ This is the entrance to the mining museum. It is build to blend with the older mining buildings.

16/ The mining museum is now decorated with this lovely mural. It celebrates mining.

17/ The old courthouse is now the computer centre and the visitor information office.

18/ Beaconsfield has a stylish war memorial. On the right behind it is a skate park.

19/ This ex army leopard tank of the 1980s flanks the war memorial.

20/ Near the tank is this World War One trophy. It is a German 105mm field howitzer.

21/ The Club Hotel at the northern end of Beaconsfield is a proud survivor of the Golden Days of Beaconsfield. Exciting things once happened here.

22/ Near the museum is this attractive new memorial. The wheel is an imitation of the water wheel that once powered a crusher mill. Behind it are 4 panels of some historic personalities of Beaconsfield.

23/ The two panels on the left are of the 19th Century founders of the Beaconsfield mines, T.C. Just and W. Dally. The first right panel celebrates a historic Chinese personality T.R. Sing, while the last panel celebrates the spectacular rescue of the two miners, Todd Russell and Brandt Webb, from the mine disaster of 2006.

 

1/ Museum tours are conducted by an informative guide. Here he explains the multi level layout of the mine, plus aspects of its history and what the visitors will see on the tour.

2/ This display shows what a poor miner's hut looked liked. The ancient exhibits make much more sense when you see them together in their historic environment.

3/ This display showed what an ancient clinic looked like. The clinic was an important place as accidents were common in the mines.

4/ This display showed a variety of vehicles and machinery used in the mine at different times.

5/ This locomotive once hauled trucks around the mine site. Steam machinery was very important in 19th Century mines like Beaconsfield.

6/ This steam prime mover played a vital role in opening up the farm lands around Beaconsfield.

7/ This display shows a 19th Century middle class nursery. Again the exhibits make much more historic sense, when you see them together in their actual environment.

8/ This shows an early 20th Century telephone switchboard. In the early days of telephones a lady operator had to connect you to the other place that you wanted to talk to. These operators, naturally, learnt all the gossip in their area.

9/ This display shows an early 19th Century waterwheel. This was used in an iron smelter before it was replaced by steam. The man in the cart gives you some idea of its relative size.

 

1/ Deviot is south east of Beaconsfield in northern Tasmania. It is the site of the Batman Bridge, which joins the western and eastern sides of the Tamar River Valley. It makes for impressive geometric style photos.

2/ This photo shows the impressive lines of the Batman Bridge from the park on the eastern side.

3/ This photo shows the clean symmetric lines of the Bridge.

4/ This photo emphasizes the power and size of the pylons.

5/ This shows a long shot of the Bridge from Sidmouth.

6/ This is the Auld Kirk at Sidmouth near Deviot. It was built by convicts in 1845.

7/ This profile shot of the Auld Kirk shows the clean finish of the masonry.

8/ This object is a pilot light for boats navigating the Tamar River.

 

1/ In 1804 the first European settlement in Van Diemen's Land (Later called Tasmania.) was established on this site by Lieutenant William Paterson. It was made to prevent the French from establishing a base in Tasmania from which they could isolate the new settlement of Sydney Town. This was during the long wars against Napoleon. A small town grew up here, until the settlement was moved to what became Launceston in 1809. This photo shows the monument at Yorktown. There is a short walk through a reforested area that starts behind this monument.

2/ Yorktown is today an archaeological site. You can do an interesting walk around the site and see the restoration of the vegetation that is taking place. This hut has been built to show what the huts in the original town looked like. More are planned.

3/ This is the creek at Yorktown at low tide. It was once busy with ships unloading their stores.

4/ About 4 kilometres south of Yorktown is this plaque. It commemorates the landing of farmers from Norfolk Island here in 1805.