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CHEWTON CHATCHEWTON DOMAIN SOCIETY

(INCORPORATED)Reg. No. A0034364L

P.O. Box 85, Chewton, 3451.

Published on the 1st of each month Issue 206 April, 2016.

www.chewton.net

Speed limits are always argued over. Too fast, too slow, too dangerous, too hard legislatively, too hard to police – haven’t we heard all of those before?

The old track to the goldfields that runs between Elphinstone and Chewton has been a contentious issue for a long time. After the goldrush it morphed into a highway, complete with scenic bends through “the bush”. Tunnel Hill’s traffic woes became notorious in their own right, and the Metcalfe Shire Heritage study recommended it be added to the Register of the National Estate. That didn’t happen.

Chewton achieved a 50 kph speed limit, the first town on a highway in Victoria to achieve it. But the 100kph remained east of the town. By 2006 VicRoads wanted to remove trees along that section of the highway, a move disputed by many - but it finished with VCAT approving their plans.

In May 2009 Cr. Henderson wrote of this stretch of road in Councillor’s Chat in the Chewton Chat. In Septenber 2012 the Chewton Chat reported a statewide speed limit review, and in that edition Bettie Exon wrote a letter to the editor (next page) explaining about the lobbying and petition she and Rod Hadfield had started.

Things changed in March 2016 when Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards came down to that section of the Pyrenees Highway to make an announcement…

SPEED LIMIT CHANGE TO IMPROVE SAFETY From this week, VicRoads will reduce the speed limit

from l00km/hour to 80km/hour along a four kilometre section of the Pyrenees Highway from Elphinstone to

Chewton.“Local residents have

campaigned for years to have the speed on this section of the highway reduced,” Member for Bendigo West, Ms Edwards said. “I met with residents at the site, which resulted in a petition with 82 signatures that I presented to Parliament back in September 2012. Even the local bus company made representations to me expressing their concern for the safety of their drivers and passengers. I lobbied hard for this speed reduction with the former Liberal Roads Minister under the previous Government. This fell on deaf ears. However, the Andrews Labor Government does listen to

Now it’s 80k all the way...

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Hard on the heels of the announcement of the dropping of the speed limit between Elphinstone and Chewton these 2 sights were greeting motorists the very next day.

The first – in Pitman Street Chewton. Not far from the Mitchell Street corner. In a 50 kph zone.

Then not very far away in Golden Point Road. Two deaths. In a 90 kph zone. A 90kph zone that was much discussed at Friday’s launch of the new 80 zone to Elpho.

the concerns of the community and we’re getting on with improving safety along this section of highway.”

Despite a number of safety improvements introduced along this section of road in 2014, including new wire rope safety barriers, guardrails and improving line marking, crashes are still occurring.

Reducing the speed limit will address community concerns around a number of steep embankments in the area and the winding nature of the road.

The new speed limit will be in place from west of Diggers Way to outside Chewton, and will help to address the crash history along the highway. Regular users of these highways are reminded that the new speed changes will come into force during this week.”

And Rod Hadfield had come prepared too. Standing on his front garden area that was littered with roo poo, and traffic passing metres away on the highway at 100kph he passed around a short note outlining his thoughts…

“Bettie Exon and Rod Hadfield would like to thank Maree Edwards for her efforts in securing this speed reduction. It has been four years since Bettie and I canvassed every property owner between Lawson’s Bridge and the Old Calder Highway with every single owner giving their backing to the petition, often sending letters and making phone calls to neighbouring absentee property owners .

It is extremely distressing to find injured kangaroos on your property - and even more distressing for police to have to come and shoot them. Rotting carcasses attract pet dogs which causes even more heart break when they are hit by speeding vehicles. People must slow down.

Thanks to Geoff Hansford of Castlemaine Bus Lines for his support for the speed limit. Every resident along

From September 2012 Chat...

this stretch of the Pyrenees Highway is looking forward to a safer and easier exit from their driveways onto the highway.

It is also hoped that trucks will now use the Harcourt approach to Castlemaine as was the original intention of the freeway design.”

You don’t have to look far for casualties!

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“Healthy eating and oral health was just the beginning for Chewton. They have also met the benchmarks for physical activity, sun protection, mental health and wellbeing and safe environments.”

The Chewton Chat has just received the latest “Healthy Together Victoria” Achievement Newsletter and that was a quote published in it. A case study on Chewton Primary School!

The Healthy Together Achievement Program, funded by the Victorian Government, is improving the health of our community. Cancer Council Victoria is delivering the Healthy Together Achievement Program on behalf of the Victorian Government and the Achievement Newsletter keeps the participating 2196 education settings informed of progress.

Case study: Chewton Primary SchoolChewton Primary School is proving that the

Achievement Program can help all schools – big and small! The primary school in central Victoria has been recognised in five health priority areas and is working towards making healthy changes in more. Principal Julie Holden introduced the program as part of a review of the school’s strategic plan. Her consultations with families revealed that they wanted the school to focus on student welfare.

First up was healthy eating and oral health after it was identified as a priority in consultations with parents. Some of the strategies implemented to reach the requirements (benchmarks) in this health priority area included a healthy eating policy, healthy lunchbox advice for parents, reminders about healthy eating in newsletters and ensuring healthy food alternatives are available if students bring

ANZAC Day 20168 a.m. 25th of April

Memorial GateChewton Soldiers’ Memorial Park

A healthy Chewton school recognised!

unsuitable food. The school communicates the policy to parents at the beginning of the year. It’s a collaborative process and they are given the opportunity to provide feedback throughout the year.

Healthy eating and oral health was just the beginning for Chewton. They have also met the benchmarks for physical activity, sun protection, mental health and wellbeing and safe environments. Chewton remains committed to continuing their work in each health priority area and are reviewing their policies as required.

Julie describes their ongoing focus on student health and wellbeing as a ‘selling point for the school.’ It’s part of their philosophy: ‘Nurturing the whole child in every child.’

http://achievementprogram-ceips.e-newsletter.com.au/link/id/zzzz56f07a2208a4d848P25820744bce801fd4ac4/

page.html#zzzz56e0cb2f178f5926

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A dozen of us were once again scouring the roadsides for rubbish and recyclables on Clean Up Australia Day. This was a fabulous turn-out, in view of the very hot conditions on 6th March.

It’s always a surprise to see exactly what has lodged in the nearby bush. Along with the usual discarded bottles, cans, mutilated road markers and bits of wire, we came upon six places where illegal dumping had occurred. Walkers had already alerted us to one of these. Two members of our crew had the unenviable task of hoisting bug-ridden carpets onto a trailer and then into our big blue bin, which Council had kindly supplied. A quantity of building refuse, including asbestos, was found elsewhere. One of the ‘fresh’ cases of illegal dumping made an ironic statement: a discarded ‘Earth Choice’ laundry liquid container in amidst discarded coke and beer cans. Perhaps the dumpers responsible for this mess had taken its ‘gentle on the environment’ slogan a bit too literally?

A list of the sites, including the location and types of materials dumped, has been provided to Council. This allows Council to appraise and deal with the items which we are not allowed to place in the bin (for instance, asbestos and tyres) as well as providing information on the prevalence of illegal dumping in our Shire.

A total of only 1½ hours of foraging resulted in enough garbage to almost fill our 3 cubic metre bin, with just enough space left over for Golden Point Landcare to squeeze in another six bags of rubbish from their clean-up. In addition to this, we collected 14 large bags of recyclables.

Cleaning up around

Fryerstown...

Photo courtesy of Marion Williams.

Again, we were rewarded for our efforts with a lavish morning tea hosted by Merryl and Paul Gahan, with assistance from two other volunteers, at the Old Methodist Church. And for those people who missed out on helping this year ...it will all be happening again next year on the first Sunday in March!

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An invitation to a recent forum titled “Looking after Carers in your community: Compassionate Communities” opened up a whole new world.

Carers are people who look after their friends or family member when they can no longer be independent because of a disability or illness. We probably all know someone doing that – or others that have done it. Age, dementia, illness or disabilities can mean institutionalisation – or dependence on a carer.

In 2012 there were 2.6 million Australians in unpaid caring roles! Alarming statistics. And to add to them a forum participant spoke of high rates of absenteeism at a local secondary school attributed to students having to take on a carer’s role within the family. Then there’s an increasing trend towards palliative care being offered at home. This means a greater proportion of the approximately 180 deaths each year in the Mt. Alexander region involve home based carers as well.

The role of a carer can be a tough burden to carry and one that can undermine the well-being of the carer. It is reported that one third of those 2.6 million Australians in unpaid caring roles have severe or extremely severe depression!

During the forum we heard from carers who shared their experiences. We heard from the professionals and the volunteers who support those carers. We heard of some of the challenges faced by carers looking after a terminally ill loved one and the challenges that need to be faced when the need for palliative care ends. Discussion turned to the help that is offered by people in the community and what other meaningful help can be offered. Support mechanisms and respite relief figured highly in these discussions.

Is anyone in the Chewton district in a carer’s role interested in having a confidential chat about their experiences and perceptions of that role? Either email goldenpoint2@bigpond.com or call 5472 2892.

And the big question is what we in the community can do as individuals and as community organisations to better support these carers in our midst. Castlemaine once had a volunteer network for carer support but unfortunately it faded away. Excitingly, moves are afoot to resurrect this concept and community support will be necessary. Watch this space!

And in late news - the Loddon Mallee Regional Palliative Care Consortium is currently undertaking a survey with the view to potentially creating a Carers Support Network for Palliative Care Carers and would love to hear about your experiences (see page 33).

If you are currently looking after someone with a life-limiting illness, please go to:

www.surveymonkey.com/r/28YM9FXIf you have previously looked after someone with a

life-limiting illness, please go to: www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFRHDVMSurveys are open until 30 April 2016.

If you would prefer to fill in a paper survey, please contact Susan Morgan on 03 5454 9214.

Who cares for carers?...and at Golden PointA great team effort by Golden Point Landcare in cleaning up around Expedition Pass Res and Golden Point Road this year. The boys looking for rubbish in the phragmites found a delightful surprise - delightful for a couple of reasons - much nicer to find a nest with eggs (were they dusky moorhens or coots?) rather than

rubbish and it was nice to know that these native birds can still manage to raise a family amongst all the traffic in and around the edge of the reservoir. Birds’ eggs are much nicer than barkers’ eggs too!

The rest of the team explained to some puzzled Res visitors what we were doing and we were able to say that there was much less rubbish this year - even though the white posts and black and yellow bend in the road signs had copped a bit of a battering.

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CFA Update – April 2016Tin rattling in Chewton on Good Friday saw our community raise another $2000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital. The yearly tradition saw Chewton Fire Brigade volunteers, and their friends and family, door knocking throughout the morning raising money for this amazing cause. Collecting kicked off at 9am with the fire truck and slip-on commencing at opposite ends of town, while the FCV went on a journey through the bush lands.

A great effort was put in by all involved with everyone enjoying a fish and chip lunch back at the station where all the money was counted. Tins and tins of coins and notes were poured on to the tables and tirelessly counted out. The tally for the day showed we raised $2.052.75 (if we can count properly!).

This contributed to the $1.76 million dollars raised by CFA brigades across Victoria, which made up more that 10% of the $17.4 million dollars raised for the Royal Children’s Hospital as part of this year’s Good Friday Appeal.

A huge thanks goes out to all our volunteers who gave their time to collect for the appeal as well as everyone who donated! We couldn’t do it without you!

March also saw Junior Brigade Training back up and running after a break during the school holidays. Our Junior members have been kept busy with fortnightly training running on Thursday nights. Training kicked off with pine plantation hose laying, a very useful method of fighting fires in bushy areas and pine plantations, which resulted in the Juniors setting up the hoses ready for a water fight on a nice hot evening. Luckily our Junior Leaders managed to avoid being caught in the middle!

Our Juniors also had the opportunity to go on excursion out to Expedition Pass Reservoir to learn how to draft water. This was a great session with some evening visitors at the res getting the opportunity to see our budding young firefighters in action!

Finally, a timely reminder about the Change your Smoke Alarms Campaign which is in full swing again. Each year at the end of daylight savings we remind everyone to please change your smoke alarms batteries and check that they are working.

A task as small as this could mean all the difference to you and your family so please remember to change over those batteries with the end of Daylight Savings falling on the first weekend in April.

ONLY WORKING SMOKE ALARMS SAVE LIVES!

Community Safety UpdateOn behalf of Chewton Fire Brigade we would like to apologise to residents of Henry Street, Steele Street and Eureka Street! Property Visits that had been scheduled for March the 6th unfortunately had to be rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances so we apologise for any inconvenience.

Henry Street and Steele Street Homeowners please be aware that Chewton CFA Volunteers will be visiting your street this month to provide useful information about the fire season. Members from the brigade will be door knocking in the above streets of Chewton on Sunday the 10th of April between 10am and 12pm. This is part of the brigade’s new Property Advice Visit Service (PAVS) sessions which will be run completely by volunteers. These sessions will provide crucial information about preparing your home and planning for fire season.

Members door knocking will be wearing CFA Turn Out Gear so that they can be clearly identified and we would like to speak to as many households in the area as possible so please try and be home on this day. Paige Mounsey.

Paige Mounsey, Chewton CFA Communications Officer.

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CHEWTON CFA

CARBOOT SALE

SATURDAY 30th of APRIL!Chewton Fire Brigade will be holding a Car Boot Sale on Saturday the 30th of April at the Fire Station in Mount Street, Chewton between 8am-12pm! This is a new fundraising idea that the brigade is trialling to help us raise funds to be put towards replacing the brigade-owned Slip-on in coming years as it comes to an end of its service. To make this event a huge success we need your help!

Sites will be available for members of the community to bring down their own items to sell. All sites will be at a cost of $10 which will go directly to the brigade and bookings are essential. If you wish to book a site please call Lisa on 0497 231 188. Places are limited so get in quickly to avoid disappointment. Please note, money from items sold at your stall will be yours to keep, only the $10 site fee goes to the brigade.

Can’t have a site but still want to help us reach our fundraising goals? Here’s how you can help.

On the day there will also be a stall being run by the CFA, all profits from purchases here will go directly to the brigade! You can help out by coming down and buying something from us. Alternatively, we are also asking for donations of items from the community which can be sold by the brigade. If you have something lying around at home that you would like to donate for us to sell you can do so by dropping the items off at the Fire Station any Sunday morning at 10am.

Large items, on the other hand, cannot be dropped off until the Friday the 29th of April as we have limited storage space. So if you have a larger item you would like to contribute please contact Paige on 0413 942 331.

Chewton Fire Brigade will also be cooking up a storm on the BBQ as well as providing tea and coffee on the day. All food and drinks purchases will again go directly to the brigade.

One final attraction for our Inaugural Car Boot Sale is our traditional Wood Raffle! Chewton Fire Brigade will also be selling tickets for a Wood & Wine Raffle, these two raffles are being run separately so you can enter one or both. Tickets will be available on the day or from the Chewton Post Office!

We are hoping to have a very successful day and hope that our tight-knit community will get behind us and support this event. So book a site, buy a raffle ticket, come find a bargain or grab yourself a snag off the barbie because every little bit helps us help our community!

We hope to see you all there: Saturday the 30th of April from 8am!

St John’s Services for AprilThe Rev. Anne Mckenna is happy with the idea of services at Chewton each Saturday evening. There will be a service at St Johns on each Saturday in April at 6pm.

• Saturday April 2nd• Saturday April 9th• Saturday April 16th• Saturday April 23rd• Saturday April 30th

The Rev Anne Mckenna comes to Castlemaine from the Par-ish of Stawell and Diocese of Ballarat. She felt a call to be-come a priest following the death of her husband. She worked as a Deacon prior to ordination, serving on many committees and in the Mission District of Woady Yaloak. Anne was born in Ireland and has deep sense of the spiritual, a love of people and typical Irish humour, not to mention a gentle Irish accent. Anne has twin daughters and 4 grandchildren.

(Taken from Anne’s Induction Service).Anne comes to us accompanied by a geriatric dog called

Guinness and two cranky leprechauns! We are delighted to welcome her to Christ Church and St. Johns Chewton.

Welcome to St. John’s

2016 concerts @ St. John’s• A Sunday concert at St John’s to raise funds for the

Chewton pool will be at 2pm on April 17.• CONCERTS TO FUND CHURCH MAINTENANCE:

Third Sundays at 2pm• May 15• June 19• July 17• Aug 21

Donations of food for afternoon tea welcome.

Willing performers please contact Julie on 0497 231 209

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Julie Henchman was born in Sydney, a century after ancesters arrived here in 1866, but moved to Castlemaine with her mother when she was three.

‘My mother, who has just turned 90, has long had a connection to this area.’ Julie grew up in Castlemaine, ‘then I lived in Taradale for 25 years, where I raised my three children. In 2012 I moved to Chewton, where my partner Gary had built his home.’

While in primary school Julie was asked if she liked to sing, and if so did she want to be in the church choir. ‘I learnt music through doing that, and also learnt to play the recorder. This was very good training.’

All of her family, a son and two daughters, have an interest in music. ‘My son is a flautist, a harpist and a saxophonist. He plays a blackwood and silver flute made by Chewton’s famous instrument maker, Michael Grinter. I feel very grateful that my son grew up in this area where there’s such strong musical support for young people. My children have each been involved with local theatre and dance companies. We all thrive on concerts, plays, volunteer and work at festivals.

Some friends and I have been singing each week since 2000 as a group called The Blenders. We’ve even recorded an album. We sing across the shire and at festivals such as Newstead and Maldon. In Castlemaine we also do the Fringe festival.’

The Blenders enjoy singing at St. John’s Church in Chewton. ‘That is such a lovely acoustic local space. I love a small space with an intimate crowd. Last year we held six concerts there. A variety of musicians came along, many from Chewton. We also had some poetry, dancing and singing. We have different instruments playing, guitars, keyboard, harpsichord, dulcimer. We’ll try to do another six performances this year. The money we raised has enabled us to buy new heating and lighting for the church, and to do some stone work there as well.’

Julie says she loves the fact that by living in Chewton she lives on the Goldfields Track with the bush just behind her home. ‘I was on 20 acres in Taradale, also adjacent to Fryers Range Forest, but I feel there is much more advantage being in Chewton with town water. Our quarter acre is far more productive. I’ve been able to have a more vibrant, diverse and productive garden here in Chewton.’

Another thing Julie loves about living in Chewton is that people wander by and say hello. ‘We were a bit isolated in Taradale. I like that friendliness about Chewton. I like that I can ride my bike down to the pool, and swim with the Golden Girls. It’s been good, too, meeting new people through volunteering at the kiosk there.’

Gloria Meltzer.

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The light changed several weeks ago, which for me always signals the end of summer even though the days and nights were hot. Now though we finally have some relief.Properties for sale around Chewton are listed as follows:Bendigo Property Plus:• 40 Eureka Street, stone and weatherboard 4 bedroom,

3 bathroom family home with retreat and picturesque outbuildings located adjacent to the Diggings, 2000 sqm and 2 hectare leasehold, price range $470,000,00 - $495,000.00;

• 28 Eureka Street, well maintained and comfortable 3 bedroom brick home sits within well-established mature gardens on 1400 sqm. Outbuildings and rain water tank. For sale at $399,000.00.

Cantwells Real Estate:• 1/40 Madigans Road, craftsman built off-grid on

14.5 acres in the Bushlands with space for 6 vehicles, $349,000.00;

• 11 Eureka Street, rear vacant level lot of 3030sqm with views across to the Bushlands. Township Zone with services available. Building covenant applied. $195,000.00;

• 50A Fryers Road, 1982sqm vacant site with panoramic views, located on the fringe of town, $129,000.00;

• 28 Albert Street, 674sqm vacant site with north-eastern views to the Diggings National Heritage Park, services available, $129,000.00;

• 41 Gallway Street, 2 bedroom mud brick with stone facing home in peaceful setting not far from the centre of town on 5.26 hectares of box iron bark trees. Trust for Nature protected adjoining Crown land. Well set up for off grid living with organic vegetable garden. Additional Architecturally designed plans for an 8.5 energy rated dwelling by local Architect Geoff Crosby available upon negotiation, $379,000.00;

• Lots 1 & 2 Archers Road, each lot measures 1600 – 1700 sqm, spectacular views and planning permits for a dwelling on each, $185,000.00 each lot;

• 14 Church Street, elevated 1050 sqm lot with northern views to Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park, services to front boundary, $160.000.00;

• 562 Pyrenees Highway, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with multiple indoor and outdoor living areas. Multiple shedding on 2 hectares. $695,000.00;

• 1/72 Steele Street, north facing vacant allotment of approximately 2234sqm. Backing onto state forest but with services available. $190,000.00;

• 225 Sparks Road, 58 hectares on the edge of the Bushland for sale, reduced to $480,000.00.

Cassidy Real Estate:• 97 Pyrenees Highway, 2 bedroom, 2 living areas and

plenty of period features. Large allotment of 1500sqm with workshops and room for several cars. For sale at $515,000.00;

Castlemaine Property Group• 12 Old Settlers Road, substantial stone and timber

home on 2.4 hectares of bushland. Offering 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms over 2 levels. This is comfortable off-grid living. For sale at $635,000.00;

• 114 Fryers Road, clean and crisp 2 bedroom with low maintenance gardens on the rural edge, $275,000.00 - $295,000.00;

• 23 Archers Road, light filled contemporary home designed around environmentally principles, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with professionally designed gardens and spectacular views, $740,000.00;

• 77 Pioneers Road, single bedroom log cabin set high in the Bushlands with views over Chewton and onto Castlemaine, $295,000.00.

Waller Realty:• 85 Main Road, 570sqm elevated lot with cleared area

for a house, close to all facilities, with access to all services, $110.000.00;

• 173 Main Road, renovated 1800s miners cottage right in the middle of town, 2 bedrooms and terraced rear gardens, $329,000.00;

• 184 Goldspeck Road, 2 separate mudbrick homes, off grid and bursting with character. Located high in the bushlands, on over 2 hectares, with dam and bushlands. For sale at $410,000.00;

• 717 Pyrenees Highway, 3 bedroom double storey home on 3 acres on the rural edge of town, in ground solar heated pool, great outdoors areas and outbuildings, $565,000.00;

• 6 Baker Street, charming early goldrush miners hut sympathetically restored and extended, 3 bedrooms and a north facing verandah, located in the heart of town, $355,000.00;

• 16 Main Road, 1 acre of views over the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. With a sealed road frontage and the walking track into Castlemaine at the rear. Connected to the reticulated sewerage system and with all other services available, $239,000.00. Lynne Wlliamson.

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The weather at last seems to be showing signs of the changes in the seasons. Our birdbath is in much demand, even being shared between crows, magpies, rosellas and cockatoos in pairs at times, which is unusual. Usually we get a lot of rosellas, then a lot of cockatoos etc., each group independent of each other. This year they are coming more in pairs and sharing the pool with other kinds of birds, even larger and smaller birds in the pool at the same time. Slowly the garden also is coming to life

For much of the time that I have been writing these pieces on Fryerstown for the Chat I have been frequently called on the telephone by Ken Cooper who encouraged me each time to ‘keep doing what you’re doing.’ Usually Ken had some interesting extra information to add to the bits I had published in the Chat. We had some good conversations over the years and I looked forward to his calls. In his last call to me he mentioned he had moved to Bendigo. I lost his number and became quite busy with the Fryerstown book. When it was published I resolved to send him a copy and then could not find his number or address. However a few weeks ago I found in the Castlemaine Mail that he had passed away. I will miss him and especially his encouragement to write these articles.

I have been leafing through and reading parts of ‘The Gold-Finder of Australia; How He Went, How He Fared, and How He Made His Fortune’ edited by John Sherer, published in Fleet Street London in 1853, illustrated with forty eight magnificent engravings from authentic sketches by W Nicholls taken in the Colony, a few of which I have photographed and are printed here.

This book, presumably aimed at the intending emigrants and their families back home, gives detailed accounts of life on the diggings in the very early days. In the chapter describing the first impressions of the diggings he observes a scene at Forest Creek as follows:“scatter with the irregularity of chance the tents, from the bark gunya and the comfortable marquee down to the ‘rustic bower’ or the calico-covered branch; sprinkle the whole with some fine dust and strew the ground with gravel, sand and fallen timber; listen to the rocking of the miner’s cradle, the reverberations of his falling pick-axe, the shout of expectant hope, and the laugh of recklessness . . the clang of the hammer of the common blacksmith and the bay of the dog – and your imagination will, in some measure, have realised the vision of a scene at Forest Creek. It is a wonderful representation, and must be surveyed as a picture, which no other age, since the world began, has exhibited. The tents, in certain spots, are crowded together with all the compactness of a city street, and tenanted by the creatures of every country, actuated by the passions of every clime. The Government Commissioner’s establishment or residence is apparent by the mounted police on one side and the native police on the other; and a number of stores for the sale of the necessities of a gold-digger’s life are here and there scattered like so many detached shops in the middle of a town. You must not expect, however, that their frontages are windowed like those in Regent-Street or St Paul’s churchyard, or defended from the attack of the midnight burglar by ponderous doors and locks and bars. No, no; nothing of this kind; the light penetrates the receptacles as it best can, whilst their property is guarded by the vigilance of its owners, who are usually supplied with a few formidable weapons ready charged for any danger that may invade

Fryerstown

11

them. The whole scene is one of busy laborious life. The forest, whose echoes but a few months ago were awakened by the rushing of a stream, the voice of the bell-bird, or the cry of the jay or laughing jackass, now reverberates the sounds of human industry, wheeling, washing, rocking, and digging in all directions.”

He goes on to point out this great game of the gold fields, as in other speculative pursuits; one rises whilst another sinks. “Disappointment depresses one group to utter abandonment of the field; hope animates another to continued exertion. Despondency for the last day plies his axe in one hole, and drops it in despair. Manly perseverance in the next falls upon a pocket of the auriferous treasure, and is independent for life. But it must be admitted that, considering the previous occupations of many of the adventurers, by far the greater proportion of them are enabled to amass a sufficiency to place themselves in a much better position of life than that in which they moved previously, if they only added ordinary prudence and providence to the luck with which they have been favoured.”

This description of exertion and frenetic aspiration and often misery, of the gold finder is countered by Sherer’s lyrical description of the contrast between the beginning and end of the day in the Australian bush, compared to England. “The soft, calm, and beautiful hours of twilight, of morning dawn, often felt so delightful in England, are scarcely known in Australia. There night follows the setting of the sun with such rapidity that its abruptness is felt to be

absolutely disagreeable to one who has all his life been habituated to more gradual transition in the arrangements of light and shade; and day follows night with similar speed, as if nature abhorred ‘the gloaming’ as much as it is said she was wont to abhor a vacuum. But in our present situation the return of day was particularly grateful;

and we hailed the rising orb, as he flung his primal beams upon the foliage-created trees, with a joy and cheerfulness proportionate to the glorious light with which he illumined

the cerulean canopy which spread itself in spotless purity over our heads. Exhilirating (sic) as a summer sunrise always is, even though surveyed glancing upon the fruits, flowers, potatoes, and cabbage-plants of Covent-garden Market, it is a hundred times more so when beheld from a partially open space in the Australian bush. There the perfect sense of freedom which you enjoy; the boundless wilderness which you may tread as your own; the magnificent forest trees, amongst which you may wander, shoot, or hunt, with unrestricted license; the emancipation of mind from every care but that of mere existence; the gradual and imperceptible identification of self with the nature of the scenery with which you are surrounded; the brightness of the sky and clearness of the atmosphere all tend to enliven the feelings and entrance the enjoyment of a sunrise beyond anything you can conceive to exist amongst the tax-ridden, care-worn, fog-benighted islanders of Britain. If you add to this, too, the glory of having been worth something sufficiently tempting, even in a land of gold, to excite the acquisitiveness of a midnight robber, and the happiness of having escaped the chance of having had your brains blown out, you will be able fully to appreciate the feelings with which we, on this particular occasion, welcomed the radiant dispensation of the God of Day when he burst from the ebon portals of the east, almost as suddenly as the magician of a Christmas pantomime changes the caverns of gloom into the realms of light, wild beasts into fairies, and earth-born mortals like ourselves into inhabitants of the celestial spheres.” So sleeping and waking in the Australian bush had its compensations!

Following the success of the Fryerstown book ‘Celebrating Fryerstown Past and Present’ by Paul

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Gahan, Elaine Appleton has compiled a DVD covering stories and photos of Chewton, Spring Gully, Vaughan, Yapeen and Fryerstown which was launched in the Fryerstown Burke and Wills Mechanics Institute Hall a couple of weeks ago - accompanied by speeches from local identities Max Kay (Yapeen), Jeannie Lister (Vaughan), Phillip Rodda (Spring Gully) and Pat Cubeta and Julie Millowick (Fryerstown). Peter Thompson of Thompsons Family Funerals took the role of MC. This was well reported in the Castlemaine Mail of March 4 with snapshots by Max Lesser. Pat Cubeta gave an interesting talk about the changing populations in Fryerstown over the years

from when gold was king, then, following the decline of gold, there were the waves of people coming from the city during the depression in the 1930s when she was a young girl. Many of these families were desperately poor and existed on rabbits and their own home-grown vegetables and fruit. She recalled how many children

were without shoes. Some were starving. Yet there was strong community spirit, but things were very different to today. So the new populations who came from the eighties onwards seeking lifestyle choices have very little awareness of the situation a few years earlier.

When I finished writing the above Tim and I went out walking with dog Penny in the bush along Jacob’s Track last Saturday, out of the corner of my eye I saw a car coming down the track behind us. My first thought was to pick up Penny’s lead, which was trailing, but in my haste I fell forward onto the track on my face and blood poured from my nose as the car pulled up with two young men in it. I was stunned and in a lot of pain so the driver took Tim back to our car and the other rather nervous and worried looking young man stayed with me. The blood was still pouring when Tim got back and he took me straight up to the Urgent Care section of the Castlemaine Hospital where there was a kind caring and very competent nurse who quickly lay me down on the bed and bathed my mashed

up face and streaming nose and then gave me a rubber glove with ice in it to stem the blood. The doctor on duty came and inspected the damage and decided the nose was unlikely to be broken so we spent an hour or so resting and mopping up and then went home. Since then my face has been a terrible sight attracting quite a lot of attention when I go out. Some avoid seeing me in case it was domestic violence, others prefer to act as though I don’t look like a scene from a horror movie and then somewhere later in the conversation ask what happened! Over the week there have been gradual improvements but it’s still there and painful so I will not attempt any more for this month’s Chat.

I am indebted to Max Lesser for providing the photos of the Fryerstown Antique Fair in the last Chat. I have received a really lovely interesting and informative history from Jeannie Lister focussing on Vaughan for publication. As she says Vaughan and Fryerstown in the early days were considered one and the same. That history will be published over a couple of Chats so that’s something to look forward to. Kay Thorne.Engravings from from authentic sketches by W Nicholls taken in the Colony, and photo of Elaine Appleton, Pat

Cubeta and Julie Millowick at the DVD launch courtesy of Ron Lister (see article on page 17).

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Authorised by M Edwards, 8 Panton Street, Golden Square.This material has been produced by Maree Edwards MP using her Parliament’s Electorate Office & Communications budget.

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13

Why is this lady smiling? Perhaps it was due to an ad that appeared in the Castlemaine Mail recently.

Yes, this was at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens tea rooms and this is Ann Quinton! Just smiles was the request - and there were plenty of them for Ann’s 80th.

Ann was an only child but had 6 children, has 47 grandchildren, 66 great grandchildren and 8 great great grandchildren. The group photo is almost all family!

She’s holding the newest family member - Beau.Photos courtesy of Katherine Seppings.

80 clicks in the news again!

Have your say......Maree Edwards, MP Bendigo West, invites you to contribute your ideas for important legislative reform as part of the Victorian Government’sfirstcomprehensivereviewoftheLocalGovernmentAct1989inaquarterofacentury.

Maree will chair a forum on Friday 15th April from 5.30 to 7 p.m. at the Chewton Town Hall.TheVictorianGovernmentisseekingfeedbackonallaspectsoftheLocalGovernmentact,from:

• theLocalGovernmentsector–councillors,chiefexecutiveofficersandcouncilstaff• ratepayers and residents associations• members of the public

Take part in forums or have your say at Your Council Your Community. See more at: http://www.delwp.vic.gov.au/news-and-announcements/a-local-government-act-for-the-21st-century#sthash.hROK4p32.dpuf

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14

Nurturing the whole child

in every child

The term has come to end but not before a very busy final few weeks. One of the highlights of our term is Harmony Day where we celebrate our diverse culture. The children dressed in the theme of ‘Be an Individual’ and we spent the morning speaking Italian, playing games from Vietnam, learning songs and telling stories from other cultures.

Our leadership programs are in full swing. Four of our students travelled with a parent to Philip Island as part of the Coastal Ambassadors Program. The have 3 months to lead a project with the other students and present this in later in the year. Our environmental teams have been working hard on waste and water projects.

Our children always participate in district schools athletic events. It was picture perfect weather for this year’s cross country run around the botanical gardens. We have several students who ran excellent times and will now represent our school in the district event in May. We also have several students who plan to try out for the State Schools Soccer League and we wish them luck.

We have several exciting art projects planned for next term. Many years ago I saw this fantastic fence that was constructed of student picket profiles. The Castlemaine Lions Club has provided us with funds to have the ‘Men’s Shed’ cut 70 pickets and next term all children and staff will be able to paint a picket. Our fence will be titled, ‘Every Face has a Place’, so watch this space for more detail.

Our students are also part of an exciting portrait project. Each year Mostyn Street Medical Clinic chooses a local school’s art program to financially and practically support. This year, we have been lucky enough to be the recipients of this generous Art Bursary. This includes the opportunity for students’ work to be exhibited in the Mostyn Street Clinic for the duration of one year. As part of the brief given for this exhibition, students have been asked to create a work which is inspired by an exhibition they have recently viewed. Chewton students in Grade 4 - 6 will be creating artwork based around works by Ben Quilty, whose exhibition they visited last week.

Last Chat we celebrated the launch of our weather station. I don’t often admit defeat, but so far our weather monitoring has not been as accurate as I had hoped. According to children’s readings we received 30mm of rain in the first week of March followed by another 25 the next week and almost 40mm in week 3. My assumption is some prep intervention - however I am sure we would have all been delighted if the records were accurate.

Our vegetable patch is looking very sad at the moment but come next term we will have the winter vegetables in and the chooks will have to stay in their smaller run. They will be very disappointed not to roam the entire yard having been very free range this term.

As Easter looms, staff are busy planning for next term. We are studying forces and movement so there is lots of scope for creativity and hands on experiences.

Julie Holden.

Paige, Gryphon, Jo and Marcel help out on Schools Clean Up Australia Day

Kate and Emma at the Castlemaine Art Gallery viewing Ben Quilty’s work.

Mayor of Mount Alexander Shire,

Cr. Christine Henderson

presented our environmental

leadership badges during a recent visit

to discuss local government.

Oops and apologies...Thanks to those who pointed out the error in last month’s Chat when our Principal was confused with our Foreign

Minister! And thanks to Julie for a sense of humour!

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On a wild and windy afternoon that made the poplars bend after the welcome rain, the children from Chewton Primary School accompanied by staff, parents and members of Landcare, were blown along the track through Argus Flat in the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park.

The walk was intended to give the children some background to this historic area from pre-gold discovery through to a swimming place and tennis courts to the removal of the pine trees. We also wanted to find out what some of their ideas would be to look after the North Street to Mount Street area in the future.

Most of the spoken words were whipped away by the wind but when we went into the Chewton Town Hall and looked at the display of the timeline of uses of this area the children became inspired - some ideas that may not be able to be looked at perhaps could be passed on to other areas for consideration. These ideas will go into the mix of thoughts that have already been passed on by the

Argus Flat and back!

community to Chewton Landcare via the Chewton Post Office - and will be part of the consultation with the land managers, Parks Victoria.

From a Chewton School newsletter...“A couple of years ago our current grade 3-6 children were digging up treasures in the school ground. The pieces of the snake mosaic in the interpretive garden were going missing at the same time. No one was pulling them off but the treasure piles kept growing with new discoveries each day. The mosaic was sadly fading away.

Kate Banham came to the rescue and with Rob’s help the mosaic dismantled to be repaired.

Syd the Snake slithers slowly on and on...Two years later it has returned.

A huge thanks to Kate and her family. Kate’s mum and dad (Zeke’s Nan and Pop) donated funds for new tiles (sadly not all of the treasure was discovered) adhesives and a backing board. Kate, Bronwyn ( Flynn’s mum) and Jen (Tav’s mum) worked on the mosaics after Kate called for assistance when she felt Zeke might be in year 7 before the work was completed.

Over a weekend Rhonda ( Emma and Aiden’s mum) joined in as Kate, Rhonda and Rob put ‘Syd’ in place. Thanks to all. I love it and I hope you do as well.”

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It started with an ad in the March Chewton Chat. On page 19. The Bold Café ad. Advertising a dog’s breakfast. Absolutely intriguing.

Then a series of emails arrived from Eddie Ho. “Just sending these photos in case you want to put some in the Chat. We had a fantastic time at the Bold Cafe Sunday morning 13th March. Many dogs came, each received their bandana and a doggy bag loaded with dog goodies.

We had competitions and sooooo much fun. I had a judge from Melbourne via video link to ensure there was no behind the scenes bribery … and all proceedings were conducted using the dog’s name....

Alice was the winner of the “owner and dog lookalike” and Buffy was the winner of “the most serious face.”

The Bold Gallery featured an exhibition called “Dogs Everywhere” to coincide with the Dog’ s Breakfast at the cafe. This exhibition continues until Sunday 27th March (gallery hours Saturdays and Sundays 11am to 3pm). Works by sculptor Sholto Turner and the first one is bronze “Tree of life with dog.” Other photos are of dogs made from copper and tin.

Hope this isn’t too much… thought I would overspend then you can choose...

Many thanks, Eddie”

It certainly was a dog’s breakfast...

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17

ON the 28th of February 2016 Fryerstown Mechanics Institute Hall was packed to the rafters for the launch of a DVD by Elaine Appleton. The DVD was a snapshot of the history of Fryerstown, Glenluce, Vaughan, Yapeen and Spring Gully, with some written history.

A pleasant afternoon resulted. DVDs sell for $24.00 of which $10.00 each go to the Fryerstown Hall and The Friends of Vaughan. More than 50 DVDs have been sold already. DVDs can be bought by ringing Elaine on 54722498 or E: elainechewton@gmail.com They will be for sale on the 10th of April at the Vaughan Springs Open Day.

Additional photo and more detail on the launch in the Fryerstown article on page 12.

From left: Master of Ceremonies Peter Thompson, Max Kay spoke about Yapeen, Philip Rodda spoke

about Glenluce and Jeannie Lister spoke about Vaughan. Photos courtesy of Ron Lister.

DVD launched

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New stallholders always welcome.Call the Market Manager

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18

The day of the last MoBQ (Chewton Community BBQ) was a scorching hot day. In spite of the heat of the day, when evening began to fall, Chewtonians realised that the best place to be was on the hill in Ellery Park with a soft breeze wafting through the BBQ area. The numbers grew slowly, but continued to grow. So much so that traffic management was beginning to become a serious issue. Fortunately, there is not much pedestrian traffic in Cribbes St.

There was wide-ranging conversation in the shade of nearby trees, and not just about traffic management, or how the expand the parking capacity. Inevitably the there was much discussion about the optional theme of “Black & White”. In last month’s Chat, it was requested that “Collingwood supporters refrain from the obvious”. An irate local Magpie devotee approached Rob at the Post Office to say that he would be coming in full Collingwood regalia, if wasn’t for the fact that he had a prior engagement. Whew – a lucky break! But, another renowned local “black and white” fanatic – Leanne Mounsey – was there, but sans scarf because of the heat. No commitment!

The next MoBQ is on Saturday 2 April, and the optional theme is Easter. How many hot cross people will be there?

MoBQ-ing captured in black and white...

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19

Bag LadyDo you wonder why I am the way I am?Life has dealt me the full packI have nothing to fall backUpon. Now life’s become a drag.My whole world’s in a supermarket bag.Is it any wonder I’m the way I am?There’s been good times, there’s been bad;Things I’ve seen and things I’ve hadAre gone. Now I’m a lonely hagWhose whole world’s in a supermarket bag.Love? I have known it. Love? I’ve shown it. Had so much I thought I owned it. Love! Let it bind me. Love ? Let it blind me. Now I doubt that Love could ever find me.No one wonders why I am the way I am. People pass, but they don’t see me -Were life diff’rent they could be me -A loon who woos the Moon in rags My whole world’s in a supermarket bag.

David Watson.

Rae Hawkins has passed away. Living in Chewton, Rae became a regular poetry corner contributor and built up a loyal following as she documented events in her life, and she kept contributing after her husband Don died and she moved into Castlemaine.

Starting with a Landcare song she wrote when Chewton Landcare began (September 2002), Rae became a regular contributor in September 09. Rae’s poems continued until July 2015. Having read Rae’s poems for so many years it was no surprise that she penned her own epilogue...

Vale Rae... Poe try

Corner

YOUR TURN NOW?The Chewton Chat welcomes contributions to

Poetry Corner each month; just as news, articles, letters, photographs and ideas are welcomed. Email to goldenpoint2@bigpond.com

or leave

in the Chat box at the Chewton General Store.

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“When it is working, you completely go into another place, you’re tapping into things that are totally universal, completely beyond your ego and your own self. That’s what it is all about” Keith Haring

what’s on? Phee Broadway Theatre, Castlemaine. Saturday April 9

THEY SAW A THYLACINE by Human Animal Exchange. This is the story of Alison Reid - daughter of the last curator at Beaumaris Zoo - and Beatrice McCulloch - a trapper hunting the rare thylacine. Cost: $25 / $30

Phee Broadway Theatre, Castlemaine. Friday May 13

RYAN COFFEY- Ramshackle raconteur and rock-comedy Lothario and his impressive beard in an hour of comedy with the help of his guitar and a loop pedal. Cost: $15/$20

The Phee Broadway Theatre launched its 2016 program in February with a stellar performance from one of Melbourne’s favourite cabaret performers Geraldine Quinn.

The first performance of the season was ‘WOMANz’ featuring the very funny and engaging Tessa Waters. Playing to a packed house, Tessa had audiences crying with laughter as she delivered her body positive, life-affirming messages set to an all-hit, all dancing soundtrack.

Another highly acclaimed play is on its way to Castlemaine, with ‘They Saw a Thylacine’ coming to the Phee Broadway Theatre on 9 April 2016. Produced by Malthouse Theatre in 2015, and nominated for three Green Room Awards, ‘They Saw a Thylacine’ tells the story of Alison Reid – the daughter of the last curator at Beaumaris Zoo, and Beatrice McCullough – a trapper hunting the rare thylacine. Gutsy and rebellious, this beautiful reimagining of Australia’s lost history shines a light on extinction and survival.

Tickets to all shows at the Phee Broadway Theatre are available • at the Market Building in Mostyn Street in Castlemaine,

Phee Broadway Theatre

21

• on the door 30 minutes prior to performance time, • at www.pheebroadwaytheatre.com.au Subscriptions are still available for the 2016 season, which gives you the best seats in the house for key performances throughout the year, and offers excellent value at $105 for singles and $200 for a double pass.

WOMANz - review by Beverley BloxhamI sat in the darkened Phee Broadway Theatre with the rest of Saturday night’s theatre-goers, waiting expectantly for the show entitled WOMANz to begin. A voiceover told us that in the dim distant past, a star had sent out a spark and hit a rock on earth. Lights focus on a silver heap in the middle of the still, dark stage. Thus impregnated with stardust, the rock became alive with quivers until SHE stood up and cast off the silver carapace: there she was, in all her gold and glitter, befringed and badly dressed, booty shaking glory: WOMANz!! (aka Tessa Waters).

Over the next minute or so, she ‘evolved’ through the ages, leaping from the spotlight at her simian stage of evolution to run to the front row and nit-pick in my hair, and not liking what she found (nothing, I hasten to add), ran back to centre stage to continue her Darwinian (sort of) evolution.

Thus the scene was set for 55 minutes of dance, physical theatre, clowning, gold (lots of it) spandex

costumes in ‘a life-affirming celebration of the body, the booty and love!’

The Sydney Morning Herald waxed poetic over her performance at last year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival: ‘She’s incredibly funny, turning the female body into a giggle generator as ludicrous as it is celebratory.’

Sadly, Waters’ performance of WOMANz was for one night only in Castlemaine, so if you missed it, you missed it. But this talented comic has other alter-egos playing at the 2016 Melbourne Comedy Festival: How to be a RockStar (until April 10) and Over Promises (until April 17). If you want to see the Best Comedy performer of the Adelaide Fringe 2015, check out the Melbourne Comedy Festival website. Now!

And don’t forget to see what treasures The Phee Broadway Theatre has coming up for the rest of the year at www.pheebroadwaytheatre.com.au

Arts Open - Roz Avent The large-scale charcoal drawings filling Roz Avent’s studio space for Arts Open 2016 are both a love affair with the landscape and metaphors for the struggles in life.

“These areas are where the struggle to survive is ongoing; where drought, fire and flood have shaped the landscape over thousands of years. In such hostile surroundings trees and plants manage to grow in small pockets of soil, hanging onto life by a thread.”

On a purely physical plane, these works are a tour

22

de force produced by an artist in her prime, at one with her chosen medium yet always pushing further, challenging herself to greater heights. Standing in front of these large drawings, the eye is deceived into believing these rocks are real, that some sort of alchemy has taken place to flatten them onto the surface of the paper. Yet at the same time, the brain interprets them as superb draftsmanship and mastery over the medium. But it wasn’t until Roz moved into her present studio four years ago that she fully embraced charcoal as a medium and the Australian landscape as a subject.

After art college in London in the 70s, Roz was drawn to the wild Yorkshire landscape where the rocks emerge out of the land like dinosaur skeletons and cloudscapes imposed their shadows on the earth. Back in Australia, the landscape seemed featureless to her and held no interest. In the intervening years, life happened: marriage and children to raise, a dance studio for twenty years, and painting in acrylics (nice and clean inside the house).

Then, after seeing an exhibition of the animated charcoal drawings of South African artist, William Kentridge, she realized it was ok to make a mess with charcoal, and not to be afraid of smudges. His work also inspired Roz to draw series of figures: people on the move, refugees. As images of people displaced by war and economic and climate refugees flooded into our living rooms, Roz was compelled to express her compassion in the series of drawings, Traffic (2012-13). Warming to the ‘dirty’ medium, next came the charcoal series Verum et Falsum (True and False, 2013-2014) where snatches of conversation overheard on her walks in the park were paired with images of people, some wrapped, some grouped, so that the borrowed phrases took on new, intriguing, and sometimes mysterious meanings.

Then in 2014, Roz made a magnificent return to the landscape with As it is, this time fully embracing and coming to terms with the local landscape. But this is not only the landscape she is documenting here: harking back to the refugee issue, Roz had not been comfortable drawing refugees from photographs of real people, and so looked for a vehicle for the sense of the struggle of life to exist and thrive in hostile environment, and it was the Australian landscape that provided the metaphorical framework.

Peering into these drawings, one is taken with the individuality of each rock, each tree – portraits rather than generic. The eye is also drawn to the spaces between rocks, between rocks and trees, those small patches of ground creating passages through the artwork. And in a circular fashion, these are also metaphors for the plight of refugees to find a way through the difficult terrain - physical, political, and emotional - struggling to find a way to safety.

To further her connection with the Australian landscape, Roz is soon to take up an artist’s residency on Flinders Island. www.rozaventartist.com

Beverley Bloxham.

Arts Open - Dave HartCoiled Springs Studio is run by Dave Hart, a former commercial art director and designer for the apparel industry, and alumnus of the Julian Ashton School of Art, in Sydney. In the early 2000s, his apparel label Donde Estan appeared in local design stores nationally, such as the legendary FAT emporiums of Melbourne and Sydney.

His spectrum of interest ranges from traditional portraiture to design, including graphic novels and zines. As is the case with his effort for the A5 group show currently being staged at the Gallery of the Lot19 Artspace. “Marching Orders” is a linear visual narrative of mixed media stills captured from documentary Hi-8 video footage, shot at Café Hernandez in Kings Cross. A story is constructed from a suite of still frames, fused with psychedelic musings and departures in a manner reminiscent of artist Abdul Mati Klarwein.

Coiled Springs’ creative output encompasses traditional portraiture, as well as visual art and design in a variety of media. Dave’s visual work has previously been exhibited in National Portrait Prizes, and is currently on show as a finalist in the 2016 Maldon Portrait Prize, with

23

a graphite and charcoal portrait of local quarryman Vin Oliver. Dave explains:

“I first encountered Vin, by chance, whilst searching for a memorial stone to commemorate the anniversary of our father’s recent passing. He warmly invited us to his site at Mount Alexander, which has played host to generations of Oliver quarrymen. The result of Vin’s effort, skill and sensitivity, in hand-crafting a monument from a single column of granite, has brought great comfort to our family. Hence, I decided to return the favour.

Though solid and weathered as the stone he works with, I was also struck by Vin’s warmth, humility and wit, which I have attempted to capture here, with the tools of his trade. From the vantage point of Mount Granite Quarries, with its breathtaking views over central Victoria, it’s quite an office. I see Vin here, as a sentinel of both history and change in the district, which he and his family has, no doubt, born witness to.

The choice of medium: graphite, charcoal and chalk, is commonplace for drawing, yet I felt was an appropriate informant for this tonal portrait of Vin, as the black, white and silver-greys reflect the colour palette and properties of the granite stone itself.”

Arts Open - Hugh Makin Hugh Makin is a maker of furniture with the soul of an artist. The love of his chosen material is obvious in the way he encourages beauty out of each piece of timber, even the unpromising ones. Hugh’s personal philosophy can be read in the tabletops he lovingly crafts: he celebrates the ‘imperfections’ in his materials as an aspect of the perfect. Indeed, in his very skilled hands, splits and cracks in the timber are mended with simple yet superbly crafted devices which are as beautiful as they are practical. A pair of butterfly shaped ‘bandaids’ or patches of contrasting timber brace the flaws or fill a space; dowel ends emphasised by a seeping stain punctuate surfaces and expose the construction process. The devices add a focal point to each piece which, if not there the piece, although beautiful, would somehow be a lesser thing.

Hugh’s tables leave his studio in pristine condition with carefully selected products protecting the timber. But he wonders how his tabletops might look after years of use in a family kitchen or dining room, when all the dinner parties, family gatherings and school projects have taken their toll, and the tabletop has acquired the patina that only time and use can bring. Hugh enjoys collaborative projects, and surely the ongoing life of his furniture in use by the client is the ultimate collaboration, when after many years of service the acquired story of its life has been writ onto its surfaces.

Hugh Makin’s studio is in the Old Woollen Mill in Walker Street Castlemaine. makin.hugh@gmail.com

Beverley Bloxham.

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24

Councillor’s Chat Shire CEO moves onMount Alexander Shire Council Chief Executive Officer Phil Rowland has announced he will be moving on after nearly eight years in leading the organisation. Mr Rowland advised Council he will not be seeking reappointment as Chief Executive Officer and will take some leave before formally departing later in the year.

Mr Rowland said the decision to leave the organisation was timed to allow for a smooth transition of leadership well in advance of the Council elections later this year. “It has been a wonderful opportunity to lead Mount Alexander Shire Council staff in delivering services to the community,” said Mr Rowland. “I would particularly like to thank our staff for their teamwork and commitment on a daily basis to deliver vital services and achieve great outcomes for the Mount Alexander Shire community. I think the organisation is well placed to manage the challenges of the tight financial environment ahead.”

Council will begin the recruitment process immediately. Sustainable Communities Director Vicky Mason will be Acting Chief Executive Officer from next week.

Taken from a Press Release.

2016 is the last year of the current term of council. Local government elections will be held throughout Victoria on October 22nd. In Mount Alexander Shire there are four rural wards each of which is represented by one elected councillor and Castlemaine ward which elects three councillors. Coliban ward is composed of Elphinstone, Fryerstown, Metcalfe, Barfold and the southern part of Chewton as well as all the country in between.

Being the local councillor involves assisting residents with council-related issues: bad roads and drains, dangerous trees, planning permit applications and so on, liaising with senior council staff on behalf of the resident while keeping in mind that a councillor is not a council employee.

Council meetings are held twice a month. These are formal meetings conducted under strict protocols. The mayor chairs the meeting which is open to the public. Councillors are expected to make decisions on behalf of the whole Shire, not just their ward. An important area of decision-making is planning permit applications. While most permits are granted without the need for a council decision, it’s council policy that all permit applications which have outstanding objections or ones which are recommended for refusal must come to a council meeting, for Council (i.e the elected members) to make a decision.

Most items on a council meeting agenda come with reports written by staff, setting out an issue (e.g. an upgrade to a sports facility, a procurement strategy, a waste management strategy), background information, any relevant related council and state government policies and strategies and a recommended course of action. Ultimately most of these items link back to the four year Council Plan which is put together at the start of a Council term, and which sets out the work of the organisation over the four year period. In many cases, councillors have already had a chance to learn about these items, discuss approaches, understand differences of opinion, ask for more information in councillor briefing sessions which are held on the weeks in between council meetings. These sessions typically run for four hours. It all adds up to a lot of reading of reports. Agenda papers are often 150 pages or more.

Councillors are also expected to sit on council-related committees as council representative. I sit on six committees that manage community halls and reserves on behalf of council and the Municipal Fire Management Planning Committee. This involves attending evening meetings.

If you’re still reading it probably means that you’re interested in the work of council, in which case you might want to consider standing for Council later this year. To qualify as a candidate you must be registered to vote in the Shire. The Victorian Electoral Commission website is the place to go to find out how and when to register and what’s involved in being a candidate for the 2016 Council elections.

Cr. Christine Henderson, Coliban Ward.

25

Guildford’s big day out

Guildford’s big day out! Honouring a living part of Guildford’s history was the reason so many people and cameras were in the town’s centre on Thursday. What sports people have names that are synonymous with their chosen sport? Ron Barassi is one – and he hailed from Guildford.

The meeting of several clubs and organisations came up with the idea of a Ron Barassi bust – and just days after Ron’s 80th birthday it was unveiled. Speeches acknowledging Ron and his achievements, explaining the project’s background and even anecdotes from his time at Chewton State School were shared.

Was he pleased with the honour? What was his reaction to being in Guildford again? What was his reaction to meeting people from the past? Ron’s expressions said it all… a great achievement by Guildford townsfolk and a great day out.

Meeting old friends, presentations by the

school kids and a brand new bust.

A day to remember!

A date for the diary

Chewton’s Biggest Morning Tea

Thursday 26th May from 10 a.m.

in the Chewton Town Hall.

Catch up with old friends and meet new

ones.

Look out for the raffle for the beautiful quilt.

26

The multiple Tony Award-winning musical, Assassins, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman and based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. will be presented by Three’s a Crowd (3aC) musical theatre company at the Old Castlemaine Gaol across three weekends from 8 – 23 April.

“This is a rarely staged musical which has attracted a strong cast from throughout central Victoria and as far afield as Lara, Gisborne and Sunbury,” says 3aC Director, Matt Sheehan. “Staging this performance at the Old Castlemaine Gaol brings an added dimension, as patrons will begin their theatrical experience as soon as they arrive onsite.”

The story is set amidst the lurid debris of a travelling carnival, where a proprietor invites nine individuals to step up and hit a target in return for a glittering prize. As he hands out guns with an invitation to “shoot a President”, we are introduced to a collection of America’s most disturbing characters - from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald. This black comedy musical takes a provocative lens to the dreams, distortions and delusions of nine infamous Americans.

Assassins premiered Off-Broadway in December 1990 and opened to a sold-out run of 73 performances. Bold, original, surreal, disturbing, thought-provoking and alarmingly funny, Assassins will appeal to audiences beyond the traditional musical theatre goer.

Tickets for the 3aC production of Assassins cost $30 full / $25 members/concession and may be booked online at www.3ac.com.au

For more details visit the website or phone 0474 896 871

Photo: Matt Sheehan at the OCG.Taken from a Press Release.

Assassins to be held in the Old Castlemaine Gaol

40 Lyttleton Street (P.O. Box 632) Castlemaine 3450Ph: (03) 5472 4622 Fax: (03) 5472 4315

Email: shop@castlemaineofficesupplies.com.auProps: Andrew & Sue Thomas

STATIONERY IS OUR BUSINESS

Call in and see Andrew, Sue and Lindafor that “special” service

PROUD TO SUPPORT THE CHEWTON CHAT

Castlemaine OffiCe supplies

ABN 99 464 754 995

A busy life?Work - Open 9.00 Mon-Fri 9.30 SatRest - Close 5.15 Mon-Fri 12.00 SatPlay - Closed Sunday and P/Holidays

We’d love to see you to put a face to your purchase!

Mo’s Antiques - where age is all important!

27

Letters to the editorDear Editor,This is all about swearing (Goodness Gracious Me!). My Aunty Min never swore, instead she would say “Bust it!”. If you said “Strike” in front of Uncle Rupert he would go crook – “You’re asking God to strike you down!” If you dared to say “Crikey”, “By Jove”, “Gosh Almighty” or “What the devil?” he would explode with self-righteous wrath. Being a dairy farmer he used to say things like “Blabbin poonce of a cow” which to my young ears sounded much worse.

Another aunt, who also never swore, was fond of saying “Hell’s bells and buckets of blood” and “for crying out loud. We used to read in books, magazines etc the word “D--n”.

Let us banish the use of those four letter words,Whose meanings are never obscure,The Tudors and Stuarts, those bawdy old birds Were vulgar, obscene and impure.

But cherish the use of the wheedling phrase,That never says quite what you mean,You had better be known for your hypocrite ways,Than be vulgar, impure of obscene.

The favourite four letter word of the Goons was “bumm”! Jimminy Cricket!

Are there any other good cusses around? Please don’t get waxy. What a load of …… old cobblers! Or codswallop.

Norman Corrie.P.S. I forgot to end that with: And finally in his last illness King George V was advised by his doctor to visit Bognor Regis. His last words were reported as “God save the Empire.” When in fact they were “Bugger Bognor!”. Delightful, so there you go.

Soap in your mouth, doesn’t taste good!

The Editor, Chewton Chat.Dear Sir/Madam,I have just received a copy of the January 2016 Chewton Chat. What a high quality and interesting publication!

May I, however, ask you to rectify in your Oopses and explanations section a mistake that somehow crept into your article on Fryerstown? The author of the family history from which your contributor quoted was not written by William Murley, but by Diana Crumpler, a great-granddaughter of George and Mary Jane Murley (the last William Murley, a grandson of George and Mary Jane, died in 1963).

Thanking you, I am,Yours Sincerely, Diana Crumpler

Oops! Thanks for pointing out this incorrect attribution Diana. All research and publication is performed as meticulously as possible but occasionally inadvertent situations arise.

The reason for publishing oopses is not to point out our deficiencies - or to brag about them! The Chewton Chat, like all community-owned newspapers, is lodged with the State Library each month. This is a legal requirement, and as such means our newspaper is documenting the current history of Chewton and district.

Thus it is important to correct any issues - so thanks Diana.

Five Flags Hotel

155 Main RdCampbells Creek

54721010

* Open 7 days for Lunch and Dinner

* Monday to Friday $15.00 lunch menu available

*Sunday Roast

*Warm cosy fires

*Tab and Keno

*Drive through bottleshop

28

7.30 and it had been raining! And flashing and thundering too. After months of “dry” this was a welcome surprise. Puddles around the house. Amazing!

And the trusty rain gauge. Gone are the days when we had two rain gauges and we always got twice as much rain as anyone else. But an overflowing tube was inside the one – 26mm. on the new scale (or more than an inch

on the old!). Emptied that and poured in the overflow. A bonus 2.5mm. 28 and a half mm.

Water running or dripping everywhere. Even the barrow left out was in for its share… and who says size doesn’t matter? The extra inch today has made a world of difference!

But it will be some time before Expedition Pass Reservoir’s overflow runs again. There’s a lot of dry trees still waiting.

Blue-green algae blooms can be common at this time of year when high water temperatures, high light intensity and little rainfall create the perfect environment for the algae to grow. While there may be information signs warning of blue-green algae affected water, there may not be.

Dogs are particularly susceptible to poisoning by blue-green algae and dog deaths have been reported after swimming in or drinking affected water. Protect your dog by keeping it from swimming in or ingesting water suspected to be affected by blue-green algae.

In the event of potential exposure, watch your dog for signs of poisoning, including lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea and seizures. If your dog shows any of these symptoms, contact a veterinarian immediately.

Monthly reporting on significant blue-green algal blooms in Victorian waterways can be found at

www.water.vic.gov.au

Harvest time in the garden means lots of discarded plant material for the compost pile. The discarded corn plants and reject tomatoes are current by-products and they seem to be obliterated each night.

Party Central as the garden is cleaned up...A night camera came to the rescue – and after nearly

800 overnight photos these are a sample of the activity. Kangaroos and wallabies shared the discarded material.Party time… to say the least!

What’s this?

Blue-green algae

Buda Historic Home and GardenA property of national significance.

Home of the noted Gold and Silversmith ERNEST LEVINY and his family from 1863 to 1981, featuring authentic furnishings, arts and crafts collection, significant heritage garden and grounds.

Nursery selling drought-hardy plants, many propagated from the garden. Open hours Wed - Sat 12noon to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm. Groups by appointment.

42 Hunter Street, Castlemaine 3450, T/F: (03) 5472 1032 E: admin@budacastlemaine.org

Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) is warning the public to avoid direct contact with water in the Loddon River between Cairn Curran Reservoir and Laanecoorie Reservoir after monitoring detected high levels of blue-green algae.

Current algae hot spots

29

April 17 Exploring Yapeen and the Guildford Plateau

Guided by host Max Kay, with guests Julian Hollis and Maurie Dynon, this walk of about 5 km will include Koori sites, early white settlement, geology and natural history of Yapeen and the Guildford Plateau. Starting at the red gum koorie scar tree beside Campbells Creek the walk crosses the creek flat to a substantial outcrop of conglomerate rock, follows uphill to “Strathloddon” the 1840’s site of the first non indigenous settlement in the Castlemaine district by William Campbell and then continues to the top of the Guildford Plateau, en route identifying nest boxes housing Tuan and Sugar Gliders and significant Koorie scar trees.

There is no need to book for this one!Enquiries: Max Kay 5473 4419.

March FOBIF Walk and April’s FOBIF walk

FOBIF is the acronym of Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests (Mt Alexander Region) and was formed in the late 1990s by people in the local community interested in working towards highlighting the significance of the Box-Ironbark Forests and Woodlands. There are over 100 members with a committee elected yearly at the AGM.

The combined FOBIF/Connecting Country walk on 20 March was an enormous success. The weather was wonderful, Andrew Skeoch and Sarah Koschak’s Strangways property was the perfect location for a guided walk, and it turned out to be a great way to conclude the Feathered Five Festival. There were over 60 walkers who split into three groups led by Asha Bannon, Tanya Loos and Andrew Skeoch. Forty-one different species of birds were observed and five mammals: an Eastern Grey Kangaroo, a Swamp Wallaby, an Echidna, a Yellow-footed Antechinus and a Koala.

For a full report on the walk have look at the ConnectingCountry Facebook page which includes a series of terrific photos taken by Dean McLaren.

Thanks to Andrew and Sarah for sharing their property with us and helping to organise the day. Also thanks to the walks leaders and others who put time into organising the day. Taken from the FOBIF website.

FOBIF’s belief is that that the health of the land is intimately linked to its vegetation cover and the wildlife it sustains: that forests, soil and water are ‘an inseparable trinity.’ That’s why they work to encourage and support sound land management practices, on private and public land.

What is FOBIF?

Golden Point LandcareApril is a good time to deal with some garden escapees before they become a huge problem. There have been reports of pest plants appearing on footpaths and

roadsides - if these plants can be treated (either dug out or cut and painted with herbicide) before they become a problem the way that gorse, blackberries, cape broom, bridal creeper etc have become it would be a great help to keeping our local bushland healthy.

Some plants that have been reported are cactus, gazanias, cotoneaster and a fairly recent one called blanket weed. For further information you can contact your local Landcare group or Golden Point Landcare at goldenpoint2@bigpond.com

Daylight saving will finish in Victoria on Sunday, 3 April 2016.

Clocks will go backward one hour at 3am.

30

Chewton Domain Society

Advertising in the ChatBetween donations and advertising, the Chat needs about $800 a month to cover printing costs. Almost $10,000 a year. FYI, current charges are:

These costs are based on A4 page layout, 2 columns of 90cm width:• Column centimetre $2.50 (equates to $10 a business

card sized ad or $20 a double b/c sized ad.)• Half Page (app. 240 square cm) $100 • Full page (App. 480 square cm.) $200

N.B. Most ads carried by the Chat fall in the business card or double business card sizes, and sizes for regular ads do vary slightly from month to month to fit the surrounding layout.If you know anyone who might consider advertising for 6 months or a year let’s know so it can be followed up.

The listing of outward correspondence noted a letter to Elaine Appleton accepting her resignation from the CDS Management Committee with thanks for all her work over the years and her offer of continuing with the People and Places Program. There was also a letter to Joan Scott acknowledging her resignation as a volunteer and thanking her for her time supporting the People and Places program. A thank you letter is to be forwarded to Parks Victoria acknowledging its, and Ranger Noel Muller’s, support for the Monster Meeting over the years.

The treasurer’s Report showed a balance of $21,512.85 as at 8.3.2016. Accounts passed for payment totalled $1,611.79 leaving a balance of $19,901.06, some of which is already committed.

Another print run of the extremely popular Chewton Visitor’s Guide is underway - 10,000 copies this time. This is being managed through the generosity of Ewen and Linda MacDonald and Bettie Exon with the CDS picking up the balance.

A grant application to Federal Government’s Small Grants for Volunteers has been submitted. This is to further extend the town hall’s kitchen catering equipment.

Membership secretary Glen Harrison reported that the CDS has 171 financial members. He also reported that for People and Places:

• Visitor numbers for the last month were 24• Door takings were $22.00• Donations - $45 Woodend Probus Club with thanks to

Allan Dry• Sales – nil.

These figures will be used as a baseline to report on each month.

Property Management reported on an inquiry being made about booking the town hall for yoga sessions. Furniture moving may be an issue because of space. Further promotion of the availability of the hall for hire with MASC and the arts community was discussed and advertising is to be planned.

The Chewton Chat reported on recent progress and suggested a push for advertising may be necessary as some long-term advertisers have changed career paths recently and advertising has stopped as a result.

The Monster Meeting sub-committee reported the initial print run of 50 copies of Monster Meeting Book

have all been distributed/sold. Another 50 copies have been printed and are being distributed. Copies of the book and CDs are for sale in Stonemans Bookshop, Market Building Information Centre and the Chewton General Store. Final distribution of the book to libraries (as per copyright requirements) is underway and some have been provided to organisations and/or publications for review. The Monster Meeting CD pack and book will be available for sale at the town hall when it is open during weekends.

In general business it was moved that the CDS acknowledge the great community effort by Rod Hadfield and Bettie Exon and others in their efforts to have the speed limit reduced to 80 KPH along the Pyrenees Highway from Chewton to close to Elphinstone. This was carried.

The next CDS Management Committee Meeting is on Monday April 18th at 7.15 p.m

LICENSED FOR ROADWORTHY

VEHICLE TESTINGPetrol and Gas

Ring 5472 3469Main Road, Chewton

CHEWTON GARAGE

31

Issuuing and FacebookingHow Chewton gets around the world...

As a matter of interest the statistics for the Chats appearing on www.issuu.com were checked out. Posted on the 28th, the March Chewton Chat shows 50 readers spending an average time of 5 minutes 14 seconds each. And these people had come from Germany, New Zealand, the U.S.A. and Hong Kong.

That was intriguing so it was time to check the effectiveness of the Chewton.net Facebook page. The late Doug Ralph had always been intrigued by the figures chewton.net could access – and they hadn’t been explored since Doug passed on. Looking at the reach (the number of people the posts was served to in the past 28 days) we see the figures of Australia (3,117) followed by Germany (57), United Kingdom (52), United States of America (50), New Zealand (34), Canada, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, Tonga, Spain, France, Italy, Indonesia, Hong Kong,

Thailand, Malaysia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Albania, South Africa, South Korea, Guinea, Israel, Myanmar, Russia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Qatar, Brazil, Latvia, Luxembourg, Denmark, Jordan, Fiji, Nepal, Sweden, Ireland and China.

Amazing isn’t it? And all in the last 28 days!The count for “cities” in the last 28 days is led by

Melbourne on 1,147, followed by Castlemaine, Ballarat, Bendigo, Perth, Kangaroo Flat and Chewton (a “city” for this exercise!). Then comes Maldon, Gold Coast and Sunbury. There’s also Grevenbroich (Germany) with 31 readers, Larne (Northern Ireland) with 12, London with 9 and Dusseldorf (Germany) with 8.

Anyone from any of these exotic non-Chewton locations prepared to share their Chewton Chat stories with Chat readers? We would love to hear from you!

32

The Argus – Monday 3rd April, 1916

MINING MEETINGS. SOUTH WATTLE GULLY.

The half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the South Wattle Gully Company, Chewton, was held on Friday at 325 Collins street, Dr. J. P. Teague presiding.

After considerable discussion, the reports and bal-ance-sheets were adopted. The chairman said that owing to a shortage of money the director had been unable to pro-ceed with the working of the 350ft. level, though they had a reef there between 3ft and 4ft wide. The reef would aver-age about 2dwt, which would barely pay the cost of work-ing. With Government assistance they were boring with a diamond-drill, and he advised share-holders to await the result before endeavouring to do much work in sinking. The mine was being kept free of water at a moderate cost, and if drilling results were favourable no trouble ought to be experienced in raising money to proceed vigorously with the work. The company had about £183 in hand, but as the cost of boring was about £40 a fortnight, of which the Government allowed half, the funds would not last for more than a few months. The great trouble was the num-ber of forfeited shares, which totalled 31,975, which the directors held, and wanted permission to deal with.

After considerable discussion, permission was given to the directors to deal with them as they thought best.

Mount Alexander Mail – Tuesday 18th April,1916CORRESPONDENCE. BUTTON DAY PROCEEDS.

Sir, Can you tell me if there is any truth in the rumor that for every button sold at 1/- for the benefit of the troops, 4d is kept by the seller? I have heard this rumor several times within the last few days, and sincerely hope you will be able to contradict it.

- Yours, etc.,SUPPORTER OF BUTTON FUNDS,

Chewton.April 17th. 1916,

[Questioned yesterday, the local secretaries of Button Funds, stated that the work done by the young ladies who sell the buttons is absolutely voluntary. The whole funds go direct to the authorised bodies. - Ed. “Mail.”]

Kyneton Guardian – Saturday 29th April, 1916Metcalfe Council’s Next Meeting. As the amalgamation of the Borough of Chewton with the Shire of Metcalfe will take effect on May 31, it was decided at the meeting of the Metcalfe Council on Tuesday to write to the Borough of Chewton asking them if they wished to be represented at next meeting of the council, and if so to postpone the latter from May 30, on which day it would fall in the ordinary course, to the following day, when the Chewton council-lors could legally take their seats.

Glen Harrison.

Chewton - 100 years ago...

TOWN HALL EXHIBITION ROSTERSATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS (& most Public Holidays) 1pm to 4pm SCHOOL HOLIDAYS WEEKDAYS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

We need friendly people with an appreciation of Chewton’s history, who are prepared to give 3 hours one Saturday or Sunday each month. Please ring Allan Dry 54723385 or Elaine Appleton 54722498 if you would like to be part of the team.

April, 2016Saturday 2 Glen Sunday 3 Rose Saturday 9 Frank Sunday 10 Elaine Saturday 16 MarionSunday 17 IreneSaturday 23 AllanSunday 24 FrankSaturday 30 Closed - Private Function

Have you moved into Chewton recently and want to know about your house - or your area?

Or have you read somewhere about a long lost relative who once lived here?

Or want to know if there’s a story about what used to be there before the pine trees?

Or are just interested in people and places?Volunteers are available to help you in your search for

information at the

People and Places DisplayOpen 1 - 4 p.m. at weekends

Chewton Town Hall

A query from Facebook...

33

Time on your hands?Drop in to Mo’s Antiques

Any other photos of Chewton entertainment

to share?

It is expected that in the very near future bollards will be installed at the western end (Church Street end) of Hunter Street to prevent cars from entering, becoming stranded then have to be extricated - usually by residents. Two of the bollards will be removable to allow rear access to private properties. This work will be done by DELWP employees. At this stage any further revegetation using tube-stock is being thwarted because of the lack of rain and very hard, dry ground. Our main emphasis is the replacement of lost habitat for indigenous species such as the phascogale. Additional nesting boxes will be made and installed.

During the time that POHAG has been in existence a lot of information has been accumulated from official sources and Chewton residents. This is currently held by members on computers, in drawers, in envelopes and needs to be properly organized, then made available for public perusal. A lengthy discussion was held at the last meeting to decide how best to manage this. As a result, this information will be collated then a large book

Post Office Hill Action Group (POHAG)produced which will be retained in the Chewton Town Hall as another component of the historical collection. To acquire as much information as possible POHAG would be delighted to share any information and anecdotes which residents old and new may possess, and are agreeable to these being included in this publication. All information received would be handled carefully and copied then returned to the owners. There is a dead-line set for this to be completed in October 2016. Other related activities will be revealed in future publicity.

Now here is a query we wish to solve ... where was the Post Office Hill Free Library located? Did it operate from a pub, a community/church hall, a tent, a private home, or the back of a wagon/cart?

To obtain further information or offer suggestions, contact any of the following - Ian O’Halloran 5472 2587, John Ellis 5472 2892, John Leavesley 5472 3812.

The next meeting of POHAG will be on Sunday, 10th April at 10am at the Chewton Town Hall. All welcome!

Ian O’Halloran (for POHAG)

34

FIELD NATSVISITORS ARE WELCOME AT CLUB

MEETINGS AND EXCURSIONS

Fri April 8: Meeting.Speaker to be announced

Sat April 9 field trip: Coliban Reservoir - geology with Prof. Julian Hollis

Ordinary membership: Single $30, Family $40, Pensioner or student: Single $25, Family $30. Subscription includes postage of the monthly

newsletter, Castlemaine Naturalist.

General meetings - (second Friday of each month, except January) are held in the Uniting Church (UCA) Hall (enter from Lyttleton St.) at 7.30 pm. Field Trips - (Saturday following the general meeting) leave from the car park opposite Castle Motel, Duke Street at 1.30pm sharp unless stated otherwise. BYO afternoon tea. Outdoor excursions are likely to be cancelled in extreme weather conditions. There are NO excursions on total fire ban days.

CASTLEMAINE FIELD NATURALISTS,PO BOX 324, CASTLEMAINE 3450http://castlemainefnc.wordpress.com/

Vocal Nosh! Our first sing for the year! A good sing & good food in convivial company

Sunday 10th April at 6pmAt Newstead Community Centre

Led this month by the fabulous Fay WhiteTheme: Rhythms to raise our energy

• 6:00 - 7:00pm Vocal entrée - warm up and easy stuff• 7:00 - 7:30pm Food - Hearty soup, crusty bread, fresh fruit• 7:30 - 8:30 pm Musical main course - delicious harmonies

Songs in the folk style, mostly a cappellaNo prior musical experience necessary. No need to read music.

Singing for the pleasure of it.Whole session including food $15, concession $12,

children $5, first hour only $5.Bookings by email: faywhite.music@westnet.com.au

or phone Fay 5461 5471

Who’s Zoo at Mo’s Antiques

Good Fridayin thebush...

Good Friday in the town...

Chewton CFA leaves no stone unturned!

“You ‘Spring’ forward, then you ‘Fall’ back.”In other words, you move your clock forward one hour in Spring (when Daylight Savings starts) and move it back one hour in Autumn (when Daylight Savings ends.) Pretty foolproof, eh?Okay, so we don’t actually say “Fall” in Australia, but this is one occasion when we’re willing to let an Americanism slip. If you’re one of those people who can’t remember which way the clock turns, commit the above saying to memory and you should be right as rain.

Daylight saving demystified...

35

Advertisers in this Chewton ChatAppletown,PartyHire P24Baker Earthmoving P 8BendigoPropertyPlus,RealEstate P17BenRoss,Allbuildingwork P10Bluesmusic,jamsessions P35Bold Café P 16Buda Historic Home and Garden P 28CameronStewart,Podiatrist P12Castlemaine Mini-Diggers P 6CastlemaineOfficeSupplies P26CAE Performance Products P 3Chewton Garage P 30Chewton General Store P 4Chewton Service Station P 13Collector’s Cafe P 5Come Clean Window Cleaning P 13ComputersintheShire,Computer/Websupport P19ConradConstructions,Builder P16DougDrury,CarpenterandHandyman P18Elphinstone Firewood P 12EzyDig P 11Five Flags Hotel P 27GoldfieldsConcreting P30LisaChesters,FederalM.P. P19LucaRuizMassage P24MarcusHouston,BricklayerandStonework P4MareeEdwards,StateM.P. P12Merlarue,EtchingPresses P23Mo’sAntiquesPVarious!NewsteadNatives,NativeNursery P21NickHaslam,RealEstate P9Printz Plumbing P 18RayFowler,MasterPainter P29Red Hill Hotel P 8RobinHaylett,GardensP22SoldierandScholar,2ndHandBooks P15Surtierra Alpaca Stud P 8Thompson Family Funerals P 21Tim’s Gardening Services P 10Vault Self-Storage P 3Waylaines Tiling P 29Wesley Hill Market P 17Wildlife Rescue P 17

Paper used in producing the Chewton Chats is donated byEwenandLindaMacDonaldofMoroolbarkExcavations

Chewton Chat• 2007 - Winner - best editorial comment• 2008 - Finalist - best hard news reporting• 2009 - Finalist - best history article• 2010 - Special mention - best community reporting• 2011 - Finalist - best editorial comment• 2012 - Winner - best editorial comment• 2013 - Winner - best news feature story • 2013 - Finalist - best editorial comment• 2014 - Winner - best history article• 2015 - Finalist - best editorial comment

Published by the Chewton Domain Societyand produced on a voluntary non-profit basis

P.O. Box 85, Chewton 3451goldenpoint2@bigpond.com or 5472 2892

A CDS subcommittee of John Ellis (Ed.),Bettie Exon, Gloria Meltzer, Debbie Hall, Phil Hall and Glen Harrison is responsible for the publication. Many volunteers help with production and circulation. It is circulated on the first of each month, necessitating a deadline of about the 22nd of the month before. Material can be left at the Chewton General Store, with any of the sub-committee members, sent by e-mail goldenpoint2@bigpond.com or by contacting 5472 2892.

Contributions of ideas, news items, articles, and letters are always welcome; as are advertisements that help meet monthly production costs. Circulation is via the Chewton General Store, Chewton Pet Supplies, Chewton Post Office, Chewton Service Station, Red Hill Hotel, Castle Automotive Enterprises and Tourist Information Board, as well as the Bold Cafe, Castlemaine Library, Market Building, CHIRP, CIC, Castlemaine Copy Centre, Castlemaine Office Supplies and Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum. Mt. Alexander Hospital Residential receives monthly copies too. Whilst copies are free, there are donation tins at many collection points and donations can be mailed to the CDS address below. Subscriptions for mailed copies can be arranged. Circulation is now 700. A full colour Chewton Chat can also be downloaded each month from www.issuu.com - as can some earlier issues. Email subscriptions are also available.

The Chewton Chat wishes to advise that the views or remarks expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of the editor, the management team or the Chewton Domain Society and no endorsement of service is implied by the listing of advertisers, sponsors or contributors.

Are you interested in

BOPPING THE BLUES?

You are invited to a monthly Jam Session at Elphinstone

This is a non-professional, informal get-together

of people who want to make some noise and have some fun!

If you are into Blues, R’n’B and Rock music and sing or play an instrument

you are welcome!

For more information: Email: patrickcox53@gmail.com

Chewton Town HallThe Chewton Town Hall offers a beautifully restored

space available for a variety of events and uses. (Because of the age of the building universal access is limited)

To discuss what you might need, what we can offer and the costs of hiring all or part of the hall...

contact Bettie on 5472 3892

or goldenpoint2@bigpond.com

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I do not suppose you need reminding that we are already one quarter of the way through 2016. The 2015–16 El Niño is maintaining its gradual decline. The Pacific indicators are headed towards a more normal temperature distribution, but the still active Indian dipole is likely to reduce the rain in the top end. But, for us in south-eastern Australia, more normal autumn and winter rainfall is likely to resume in coming months. So says the Bureau of Meteorology.

We have had a couple of ‘drippy’ days in which we got just one or two millimetres of rain. In contrast however, two really good drenchings. The first was on the tenth of the month, when we got 5.5 millimetres at my place, some of us got more. The second was a really good downpour, the sort that took all night and much of the day to leave us with something between 20 and 30 mils. I got 26 millimetres. The tanks were all nicely filled because it ran down the gutters, rather than bouncing off the roof and down the driveway. There is a sort of greenish tinge across some patches in my paddocks, might even be known as grass in some past years; and who knows, it might even turn out to be just that. The kangaroos cannot believe their luck.

So are we still in summer weather or not? It is supposed to have been gone for the last month, but my thermometer does not agree. No forty degree days,

Is March the new summer?and month high of 37 degrees C. so little fire concerns; nevertheless, we have had just seven days of less than 20 degrees, thirteen with thirty or more and ten more that gave us more than twenty degree temperatures. With just three days above thirty-five degrees C., it has been a pleasantly warm period which has been enjoyed by many. Interestingly, the month’s average daytime temperature was only 19.5, though the mode was 35 degrees. Is this the new autumn or summer?

The overnight temperatures have remained warm with an average of fifteen degrees celsius, and a mode of eleven. We had a week of warm nights at the beginning of the month with a string of 20+ degree nights, the highest of them was 26 degrees Celsius. They settled down to the upper-teens mid-month, and are now down to the lower-teen temperatures at the end of the month. The coldest overnight temperature was just 10 degrees.

I have been receiving lots of advice about what to do with the cabbage patch about now. Many people seemed to do well with tomatoes this year so its out with the spent tomatoes (though a few are still going strong to see us well into April). The soil is still warm, so should give the brassicas a good start. I am not good with broccoli as the florets seem to spread everywhere, so its just savoy and red cabbage in my plot.

John Leavesley..

Calendar of eventsApr 2nd Service 6 p.m., St John’s Anglican Church Chewton. Apr 2nd MoBQ – Chewton’s community barbeque 6 p.m., Ellery Park. BYO everything!.Apr 8th Assassins opens, Old Castlemaine Gaol (see page 26).Apr 9th Service 6 p.m., St John’s Anglican Church Chewton. Apr 9th They saw a Thylacine 7 p.m., Phee Broadway Theatre (see page 20).Apr 10th POHAG Meeting 10 a.m., Chewton Town Hall.Apr 10th CFA Comm. Safety doorknock 10.00 a.m., Henry, Steele and Eureka Sts. (see page 6).Apr 10th Vocal Nosh 6 p.m., Newstead Community Centre (see page 34).Apr 11th Term 2 starts Chewton School.Apr 12th MAS Council meeting 7.30 p.m., Castlemaine Civic Centre.Apr 15th Local Government Forum – Maree Edwards, 5.30 – 7p.m., Chewton Town Hall.Apr 16th Service 6 p.m. St John’s Anglican Church Chewton. Apr 17th FOBIF walk 9.30 a.m., meet at Continuing Ed. Lyttleton St., Castlemaine (see page 29).Apr 17th Concert 2 p.m. St John’s (see page 7).Apr 18th Chewton Domain Society Man Come. Mtg., 7.15 p.m., Chewton Town Hall.Apr 24th Chewton Chat deadline.Apr 23rd Service 6 p.m. St John’s Anglican Church Chewton. Apr 25th Anzac Day Service 8.00 a.m. Chewton Soldiers’ Memorial Park GateApr 26th MAS Council meeting 7.30 p.m. Maldon Community centre.Apr 29th Folding the Chewton Chat 2.30 p.m. Chewton Town Hall (Note Friday).Apr 30th Service 6 p.m. St John’s Anglican Church Chewton. Apr 30th Chewton CFA Car Boot sale 8 a.m. (see page 7).May 1st Vocal Nosh 6 p.m., Newstead Community Centre (see page 34).