Rex Jackson, one of Australia’s most controversial politicians, has died on the New South Wales south coast at the age of 83 .

More news sources can be found:

• Illawarra Mercury
• ABC News
• Business Spectator

The following is Copyright © State of New South Wales (NSW Parliament).

Date of Birth: 07/10/1928 Place of Birth: Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia

Parliamentary Service

Political Party Activity

Australian Labor Party (ALP). Foundation member of Helensburgh branch, delegate to Bulli state electorate council, secretary of parliamentary party. Resigned in August 1986.

Community Activity

Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Railway employee. Educated at Harefield Public School and Junee and Sutherland High Schools; clerk from 1953 was an assistant general manager at Marchants and Company, printers; member of Federated Clerks’ Union; trustee and president of the Bulli Pass Scenic Reserves; chairman of Royal National Park Advisory park committee; delegate to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference in Trinidad in 1969; fire patrol officer, secretary of Waterfall Bushfire Brigade. Former professional boxer.

Personal

Eldest son of Patrick Penasus Jackson, railway fettler, and his wife Olive Griffith. Married Irene Sneyd on 5 November 1959 at Helensburgh, and had no issue. Church of England. In 1983 there were allegations that Jackson had accepted payments in return for granting early release to certain prisoners; in October of that year Jackson resigned from the Ministry for misleading Parliament over these allegations of corruption. A special commission of inquiry was set up which reported in July 1984 that Jackson be charged and he was subsequently convicted and imprisoned.

Resources and Acknowledgments

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/1fb6ebed995667c2ca256ea100825164/d8b96adfa502acffca256e390018f358

I attended the Helensburgh Country Fair over the weekend and had a great time. The rain clouds threatened several times early in the morning with some light drops falling around lunchtime. It held off however, and the clouds almost disappeared revealing  a beautiful sunny afternoon filled with helium balloons that children had lost.

I was manning the Helensburgh and District Historical Society stall with Jenny, Jan and Betty. Although it was far from bustling, we still managed to enjoy some chat and speak with very interesting people who had much information to share.

I managed to take some snaps around the fair and of the parade, but it was difficult with an intensely interested 2.5 year old on my shoulders. Till next year.

Enjoy the photos. :)

Click on images to enlarge.

The Helensburgh Country Fair is to be held on the 29 October 2011.

I’m looking forward to this years event.

More information will be posted as it comes to hand.

*EDIT 04 August 2011

Charles Harper Park, Helensburgh – 8am til 6pm
Listen to the music, watch ongoing entertainment, eat some delicious food, Christmas shop around our variety of market stalls, have fun on carnival rides, get your face painted – all wrapped up in the warmth and family fun you’ve come to expect from our annual country fair.

On the Saturday of the Fair, stalls will be active in the park from 8am, with the opening at 10am.

There are some amazing bands and artists taking us into the early evening and there will no doubt be lots to do around town, so be sure to hang around for a very full day of entertainment.

This is the major fund raising activity for Helensburgh Lions, with all monies raised will go to local community projects.

Entertainment

• Entirely performed by local talent.
• 10 AM GRAND OPENING With Rebecca Mowbray
• 10:15 Burgh Public School Big Band—Big Sound !
• 10:30 Award winning Symbio Reptile interactive Display
• 11:00 Stephen Goldrick—laid-back singer/songwriter
• 11:30 Popular Irish Dance Demonstration
• 12:00 Japanese interactive Dance Display—join in !
• 12:20 South of the Big Smoke—Talented musical group
• 1:10 Jackie Dee Duo—fabulous singer/songwriter + guitarist
• 2:00 Barefooted Souls—Excellent 3 piece band
• 3:00 Bec Sandridge (Ex Mad Polly)—-reunited, refreshed group—our Headline local Musicians !!!
• 4:00 GRAND PARADE led by the Ingleburn RSL Pipe Band, and our Irish Dancers.

Lions Fair Grand Parade 4pm

If you’d like to be part of the parade, please download the application form and contact Gina Krohn.

The route will run from Whitty Rd, down Walker Street, through the roundabout and and finishing at the soccer oval at the bottom of Walker St.

In the past, participants have included the Illawarra Scottish Pipers, United Mineworkers Band, Railway Band, vehicles from all our local Fire Services (both Town & Rural), Police vehicles, Surf Life Saving Clubs with their boats, local mineworkers, sporting organisations (such as football, netball & cricket clubs), vintage & classic cars & motor cycles, kindergartens & pre-schools, dancing schools, Girl Guides & Brownies, Scouts & Cubs, military vehicles, local businesses, the Workman’s Club, the Bowling Club and members of Pony Club bringing up the rear (for obvious reasons!). Our record parade stretched for over one kilometre!

You may wish to enter a flat bed truck with a display onboard, an unusual vehicle, your business vehicle (free advertising!) or you may wish to enter a pedestrian display (for example, the dancers and baton twirlers) – the choice is yours.

*EDIT 14 July 2011

Lions Club site is updated.  http://www.helensburghlions.org.au/helensburgh-country-fair

For those who would like to see inside Australia’s oldest mine, then this video produced by the Nine Network is a great insight. At the stage it is as likely as anyone, (who is not employed by the mine) is going to get.

Video is the inside of the Metropolitan Colliery. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/video.aspx?videoid=4246aaab-7dce-4e59-be54-995d6b4ec918

I don’t know how many times as a child I would ride in the family car along the ‘Coast Road’ (Lawrence Hargrave Drive), but it was always an exhilarating feeling. The Clifton end with its sheer drop to the ocean below was a beautiful and clean sight. On a summers day with blue skies it was truly spectacular; on a winters day with gray clouds, rain and gusty winds, it was an isolated, lonely feeling.

Never did I suspect a mine to be created along these cliffs, especially at the area along the cliffs where it seemed the most dangerous and impossible. It wasn’t till later in my life did I discover that the Coalcliff Colliery started out its existence as a mine straight into the bare cliffs, utilizing a jetty for loading. This became fascinating to my imagination on how this was achieved back in those days.

The name Coalcliff is said to have originated back in 1797 when survivors of the shipwreck Sydney Cove, set out to reach Sydney from Gippsland. It was here that five survivors found a coal seam in the sides of the cliff. Two of the survivors stayed here while three continued to Wattamolla and were eventually rescued. William Clark was one of the three survivors. After their rescue, Governor Hunter sent George Bass to investigate these claims of coal. Bass had found the bloodied remains of two survivors (presumed murdered by Aborigines), as well as several coal seams in the cliff face which may extend throughout the range.

In 1824 Matthew John Gibbons received a promise of a grant for one thousand and twenty acres from Governor Macquarie. The grant included land from the top of Bald Hill to Stony Creek, and was fully granted to him in 1833. Gibbons is said to have renamed Little Bulli to Stanwell Park after a place in Middlesex.

From here this land was then purchased by Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell in the late 1830′s. Sir Thomas Mitchell was a well known explorer and Surveyor General of New South Wales. He had purchased the property in anticipation of a highway passing through these lands. The highway was surveyed but not utilised to any great extent. Mitchell lacked the means to develop his lands in the Illawarra and it eventually passed on to his son Campbell Mitchell. There is evidence in my research that suggest Lewis Gordon was granted lands known as the Coal Cliffs (Coalcliff – Clifton) in 1840, but I’m yet to determine exact dates and timelines. [Portion number 18 & 21, Southend Parish of Scotland].

John Fletcher Hargrave, former judge and parliamentarian, eventually purchased the entire 1325 acre estate in 1872 for two pounds per acre from Campbell Mitchell. In the coming years John Hargrave was able to sell off parts of his estate at 10 pounds per acre to coal speculators. In the immediate years just prior to this, John Hargrave had asked his son Lawrence Hargrave to give an opinion on developing a mine and jetty. In 1870 Lawrence Hargrave designed a floating breakwater for the Coal Cliffs and presented it to his father. Lawrence had dreams of exploring and continued with those in 1872 and beyond; coal mining was not a great passion for Lawrence. John Hargrave continued with his other two sons Ralph and Gilbert who both developed the estate. John Hargrave built his own country house at Coalcliff in 1874 and never did get to exploit the coal at the Coal Cliffs. John Hargrave did however make the Coal Cliffs an attractive investment and in 1876 the Coal Cliff Land and Coal Mining Company purchased 315 acres from him (from Clifton to Stony Creek), netting him a nice return on investment. John Hargrave was to retain 17-20 acres around his country home.

Alexander Stuart, (who was to become Premier of NSW from 1883-1885) was at this time (1876), the principle proprietor of the Coal Cliff Land and Coal Mining Company. Thomas Walker was a merchant and financier, and helped to fund the coal mine. Together they founded the Jetty Mine at Coalcliff in 1877, officially opening on the 11th January 1878. [There is evidence to suggest John Robertson may have been instrumental in forming this company with Alexander Stuart].

From 1878-1880, a man named Thomas Hale was engaged by Alexander Stuart as Mine Manager. Thomas Hale (former owner of the Bellambi Colliery), was to bring much needed experience with him to the construction of the Jetty Mine, as his team had been involved in the construction of jetties at Bellambi and Bulli. Thomas Hale’s team was able to erect a jetty some 150m into the sea from the Coal Cliffs. In April 1877 an adit was driven into the coal seam to prove the seam. A timber slide was constructed to lower wood down to the rock shelf below the adit. While a rough pathway to the rock shelf and adit was hacked down into the cliff face from the southern side utilizing ladders.

On the same day as the official opening, the first steam collier ‘Eagle‘ left the jetty mine for Sydney; the mine was an instant success. Alexander Stuart had two small steam colliers constructed in Glasgow, the ‘Hilda‘ and the ‘Herga‘, designed for treacherous conditions. Hilda was lost after hitting a reef near Port Hacking in 1893 but Herga continued work throughout the life on the jetty mine.

In June 1878 just six months after opening, huge seas destroyed several outer spans of the jetty, necessitating the entire jetty to be rebuilt three feet higher than before. Due to its location, the jetty would be held to the full force of nature regularly, and again in June 1881 it was severely damaged forcing the mine to close for four months. Again in 1904, a storm caused considerable damage to the jetty.

Thomas Hale continued to developed the jetty mine with a large working platform, boiler plant, workshop, stores, stables, offices, etc. (evidence of these can be seen in historic photos). A second adit was established for ventilation purposes and a furnace type ventilation shaft was built level to the former Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

In 1880 Charles Harper* would replace Thomas Hale as the mines manager while 3 years later in 1883, Charles Stuart (nephew of Alexander Stuart) would replace Charles Harper as mine manager. In 1882 a miners strike was settled with Alexander Stuart conceding a 3 pence per ton above other mines. I am sure Charles Harper had a great deal to do with these negotiations as he is remembered for his fairness to all.

*Charles Harper would go on to be instrumental in the founding of the Camp Creek Mine and township soon to be named Helensburgh.

In 1883-1885, Alexander Stuart became the Premier of New South Wales. Demand for coal around this time took a dive and underselling was rife. Despite the success of the mine, Alexander Stuart died in 1886 financially ruined by the Jetty Mine which he kept running at a loss in hope of returning fortunes. After Alexander died, the property was passed to Alexander’s wife, Christiana Stuart who died herself on August 1889. Soon thereafter, the company was incorporated and two of Alexander Stuart’s partners, Sir John Robertson and Charles Cowper, took control of the Coalcliff and Land Company Ltd in 1890. With the grand opening of the Illawarra Railway Line on the 3rd October 1888, the Jetty Mine now faced stiff opposition from other mines who could transport their coal via the railway to Wollongong or Sydney.

In 1892 the colliery estate and two ships were acquired by Ebenezer Vickery and he had decided to develop a shaft. In March 1893, Ebenezer Vickery banded with other local mine owners and formed the Southern Coal Owners’ Agency. Their aim was to sell coal for various mines. 1902 saw legal ownership transferred from Ebenezer Vickery to E Vickery & Sons Ltd and later to Coalcliff Colliers Ltd in 1909. Changes were formal as these companies were controlled by the Vickery family until 1936.

The last collier to depart the Jetty Mine was in 1912. At this time a double inlet, 77 diameter Sirocco centrifugal fan, driven by two vertically mounted, 17 diameter x 9 stroke single cylinder steam engines, were installed at the jetty site. The Jetty Mine site continued to be used for ventilation right up until the mine ceased production in 1991 after a life of 114 years.

The multiple Jetty Mine entrances were sealed in concrete in 1992.

Click on images to enlarge.

Resources and Acknowledgments

http://www.illawarracoal.com/coalcliff.htm

http://www.illawarracoke.com.au/Coalcliff_Cokeworks_Site_Owners_from_1824.pdf

http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/onlineresources/suburbprofiles/pages/coalcliff.aspx

http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/development/planningforthefuture/Documents/Coal%20Mines%20Heritage%20Study.pdf

http://www.illawarracoke.com.au/1878_1978%20Coalcliff%20Colliery/1878_1978%20index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton,_New_South_Wales

http://www.flotilla-australia.com/coal.htm#cclcmc

http://www.flotilla-australia.com/coal.htm#coalcliff
Wind Beneath His Wings Lawrence Hargrave at Stanwell Park - Michael Adams
Lawrence Hargrave of Stanwell Park - W.G. McDonald

Just came across an extremely interesting article from The Sydney Morning Herald dated the 1st December 1884. This article describes in great detail the drilling for coal at Camp Creek. Namely a team consisting of Messrs, James Fletcher and John Coghlan, prospected for coal and iron in 18,000 acres of land.  This land is roughly the area spanning between present day Heathcote to the north, Clifton to the south, and Woronora.

The article states that on the 20th November 1883, a diamond drill and engine was transported under the superintendence of a Mr, John Coghlan to the ground where the boring was to commence.  The bore was put down a distance of 720 feet 9 inches on the top of a ridge overlooking the Camp Creek Gully.  Putting down the original bore was difficult as the ground quality was so poor. £200 pounds of diamonds were lost before the team had reached 250 feet. The bore soon passed through a bed of soft shale and the earth caved in.

This was to be the end of drilling/prospecting at this site as the company at the time had not proposed to immediately proceed with further prospecting. It was Mr, John Coghlan that voluntarily offered to drop a second bore.  The article goes on to say; “and it may fairly be said that it is in a great measure owing to the energy and perseverance of this gentleman that the present successful issue has been reached.” [referring to the seam found at the present day Metropolitan Colliery].  It is also interesting to note that three bores where created in total and not two bores that was previously thought.

This is a significant article on the history of Camp Creek / Helensburgh. Charles Harper was present at these drilling sites as further in the article states, but it appears John Coghlan was more instrumental in pushing for a second attempt than anyone else.  I’m not dismissing Charles Harpers achievements in Helensburgh as he was instrumental in getting the mine functioning as well as significantly developing the town, but the one individual who wanted to not abandon the area after the first failed attempt to find coal was John Coghlan.

John Coghlan was responsible for introducing the Diamond Drill to Australia in which hes company had patented the rights from its French inventor Jean Rodolphe Leschote. John Coghlan had been quite successful in locating minerals around the colony and his business was called the Australian Diamond Rock Drill Company at 196 Pitt Street, Sydney.

For anyone interested in Helensburgh’s history, I whole-heartedly encourage you to read the article written in 1884 as it is absolutely fascinating and extraordinarily insightful.

The Sydney Morning Herald – Monday 1 December 1884

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY OF COAL AT HEATHCOTE.
A discovery of coal which, if future development bears out the success anticipated from present indications, will be of very great importance, has lately been made at Heathcote, a distance of 28 miles by railway and 32 miles by road from Sydney.  Next July it will be two years since Messrs, James Fletcher, M.L.A., and John Coghlan took up an area of 18,000 acres of land to prospect for coal and iron.  The land is bounded on the Sydney side by the National Park, and has a frontage of about 9 miles on the Illawarra railway line, this line also passing through an additional distance of 3 miles, having the property on both sides.  The original holders of the land, soon after taking it up,  formed it into a company of equal shares, reserving no advantage in that respect to themselves over their fellow shareholders. On the 20th of November, 1883, a diamond drill and engine, with all necessary appliances, were transported, under the superintendence of Mr. Coghlan, to the ground, where boring operations were at once commenced. The bore was put down a distance of 720 feet 9 inches on the top of a ridge overlooking a gully through which flows a stream known as Camp Creek, emptying itself into Port Hacking, and is said to be a constant and abundant supply of water for mining purposes. In putting down this bore much difficulty was met with, the nature of the ground being of such bad quality that not less than £200 worth of diamonds were lost in carrying out the work before a depth of 250 feet was reached. Eventually the bore was put down to the extreme depth mentioned, 726 feet 9 inches, but without any absolute indication of coal having been seen.  The bore having passed through a bed of soft shale the earth caved in, and this impediment, together with the want of success so far, determined the abandonment of the bore.  The company at the time not proposing to immediately proceed with further prospecting works, Mr. Coghlan voluntarily offered to put in a second bore, and it may fairly be said that it is in a great measure owing to the energy and perseverance of this gentleman that the present successful issue has been reached.  The site selected for the second bore was at a point about 300 feet lower in the strata upon the near bank of the creek, and about a quarter of a mile distant in an easterly direction from the site of the first bore. It was also immediately at the side of the railway line; a viaduct, when the line is completed, spanning the gully.  This bore was commenced on (the 19th July last, and was sunk a depth of 847 feet, at which depth, on the 22nd instant, decided indications of coal were come upon, and boring operations being continued, a seam of coal was entered.  The good news that coal had been reached necessarily caused excitement among shareholders, but until the depth of the seam and its quality were tested by further boring the value of the find could not be estimated.

In order to place the discovery upon a thoroughly satisfactory basis, it was determined that the bore should be tested in the presence of a number of the shareholders and others. Accordingly, on Friday morning a party of visitors were driven to the company’s property.  The route was the main road to Tom Ugly’s Point, thence across George’s River by punt, and then along the Illawarra road for a distance of about 18 miles till a track to the right hand was taken to Camp Creek. Beyond Newtown to George’s River the drive was an interesting one, the impetus given to land-purchase and house-building by the construction of the line of railway being very evident.  Several large areas of land cut up into building allotments announced for sale; new houses, with gardens being formed; and other evidences of increasing settlement within easy walking distance of the railway line were noticed. At Rockdale a number of men were at work making the cutting and levellings for the tramway line which will connect the railway with Lady Robinson’s Beach.  From George’s River to Camp Creek the scenery is comparatively uninteresting, consisting principally of rocky hills, covered with stunted shrub.  Near the river the tints of the spring foliage of the young forest trees, bunches of Christmas roses, and   occasional clumps of golden wattle in full bloom, brightened   the landscape.  After passing through miles of country where gumtrees, gnarled and twisted into strange outlines, coarse grass, and wiry ferns were the chief characteristics, the road crossed the section of the railway line now being formed.  Several heavy excavations were seen and in the vicinity of Heathcote some extensive tunnelling works were being carried on.  The little clump of sheoaks, known as Bottle Forest, with a bee farm by the roadside, was passed through, and then the route lay through rugged sandstone hills.  Here and there a railway camp, with its tents and stores, its abundance of children, dogs, bottles, and debris, was passed through.  Sometimes a glimpse at Botany Bay could be had from the top of one of the ridges over which the road lay.  On either side were scrub-covered hills, with bald naked patches of sandstone cropping out at intervals, and breaking the dull sage-green hue of the foliage that clad the twisted branches of the stunted trees struggling upward from between the rifts and openings of the rocks.  The formation of the country was that which is characteristically known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, and was capped in places with concretionary iron ore of a poor quality, but which might possibly be useful to mix with richer ores.  Here and there were patches of iron ore five feet in depth. The formation, in fact, was precisely similar to that of all the Illawarra district to the south; that is to say, the Hawkesbury formation overlying coal measures.  Camp Creek was not reached till late in the evening.

After a night under canvas the visitors were awakened at daybreak, and proceeded to the bore. Camp Creek Gully, in which the bore has been put down, may be described roughly as a wedge-shaped excavation, made by the action of water in the country.  Its steep sides support a large quantity of straight, well, formed, sound timber, chiefly black-butt, turpentine and white gum, all of which will be of great value in working a mine.  The gully was, in fact, to the visitors, after the many miles of dull country they had passed through, quite an oasis; in its shaded, watered depth being fern trees and foliage of many delicate hues of green.

The diamond drill is the properly of Mr. Coghlan, who, as previously stated, was one of the original shareholders, and whose name has for many years past been connected with boring operations in this colony.  It is under the charge of Mr. W. Williams, assisted by Mr. Thomas  Wilkinson. Mr. Williams was one of those who were employed in putting down the bore on the Holt-Sutherland Estate to a depth of 2200 feet, and Mr. Wilkinson was one of the engineers who assisted Mr. Coghlan in putting down the bore at Moore Park in 1860. Mr. Charles Harper, representing the company, takes charge of the core. On Saturday morning the visitors present were Mr. Fletcher, M.L.A., chairman of the board of directors; Mr. John Sutherland, M.L.A., one of the directors; Mr. C. S. Wilkinson, Government Geologist; Mr. Coghlan, and the representatives, of the Press. In the afternoon a second party of visitors arrived, consisting of Mr. E. C. Cracknell, Mr. Fred. Want, and Mr. Peebles. Previous to Saturday the seam of coal had been bored into a depth of 3 feet, and shortly after midday it was announced that the bore had been sunk a further distance of 3 feet 1 inch.  It was then determined to lift  the rods, and when this had been done, amid much anticipation as to the result of the bore, the tube was emptied.  It was found that the bore was still in coal, making the thickness of the seam so far 6 feet 1 inch. The coal was dull, with occasional streaks of brighter bituminous appearance, it was closely examined, but no sign of a band in the seam could be detected in the core. So far as the core could be accepted as evidence of its quality, it was a solid, compact seam. Mr. Wilkinson pronounced it to be “good,  firm, bituminous coal, resembling that of Coal Cliff and Bulli in every respect.  It is without bands so far as I have seen it. It would be good coal for household and steam purposes, it being more a steam coal than a gas coal; that is to say, it will be superior for the one rather than for the other.  “It will also be good for smelting purposes.”

Should the new coalfield prove to be as extensive as, present prospects give reason to believe, it will not only be a source of much wealth to the fortunate shareholders, but will be a great advantage to Sydney consumers, as the facilities for transit being so great, the produce, no doubt, can be put in the market at a price very satisfactory to consumers.  The company intend to have the shaft sunk and the necessary works for the raising of coal completed by the time the railway is open to Sydney.  The shaft will be put down on the slope of the side of the gully, a distance of about 75 feet above the present bore, so that a depth of about 922 feet will have to be sunk to strike the seam.  The site of the shaft will be on a level with the railway line, to which sidings will be cut into the slope to junction with the line, at a point between a tunnel some distance back and the viaduct over the creek.  The distance of the site of the shaft from the railway line is only about four chains, so that the cost of construction will be comparatively trifling. Also, by the construction of 2½ miles of railway line the company will be able to take the coal to a point at Botany Bay, where it can be shipped; or a less distance of line will enable them to ship it at Port Hacking.  At the present time the nearest coal-mine to Sydney is at Coal Cliff, which is eight miles beyond the point where the recent discovery has been made.  With these advantages, and abundance of   wood and water, the prospects of the company certainly look very hopeful; and, should the bright anticipations raised be fully realised, the advantage to Sydney and the addition to the wealth of our colony generally will be far from inconsiderable.

The visitors returned to the city on Saturday evening.  Yesterday (Sunday) Mr. Coghlan arrived in Sydney, and stated that the bore had been sunk a further distance of 3 feet, and was still in coal.  This so far gives a depth of 9 feet 1 inch in coal, and still more to go through.  He brought with him a piece of the core, which showed a marked improvement in the quality of the coal, it being much brighter in appearance and more bituminous in nature.  So far no perceptible increase of water has been caused by the coal deposit being entered. The discovery of this apparently splendid seam of coal is undoubtedly it matter of exceeding importance to the community, and will cause no little interest in mining and commercial circles, it having been by many regarded as improbable that any extensive coal deposit would be struck this side of Coal Cliff at a depth which would render it possible to successfully work it.  The sample of the coal brought into the city yesterday will today be on view in Messrs. Paling and Co.’s window, George-street.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28366585

As I am basing the entire piece I’m writing on this one article, I will leave plenty of room for further information to be available to me on this subject.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Otford Tunnel again on the 27th December 2010. With all the recent rains I was keen to see if any erosion damaged had occurred to the tunnel floor as it is already in a very poor state. It had hardly suffered any ill affects from the rains at all , and not surprising as it has been there for 122 years.

It was great to walk through the tunnel again. What immediately sprung to mind was the sheer undertaking require to bore the tunnel and construct the elliptical brickwork. The central culvert running the entire length of the tunnel is still functioning in most of the tunnel and the sandstone capping blocks are mostly intact. What amazed me was to find a single plant growing in the eroded soil approximately 300m into the tunnel. I have no idea how it is photosynthesizing, (see photo below).

What a sight it must have been to emerge from the Otford Tunnel southern portal to see the white sand of Stanwell Park beach and the entrance to the Illawarra. Oh how I wish the time machine was a reality.

To read my original post on the history of the Otford Tunnel, click here.

Click on images to enlarge.

Otford Tunnel, 122 years old and still there.

Opened: 3 October 1888
Closed: 10 October 1920

http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Otford+Tunnel

To read my original post on the history of the Otford Tunnel, click here

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,000 times in 2010. That’s about 14 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 10 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 17 posts. There were 75 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 30mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was June 8th with 85 views. The most popular post that day was Lilyvale Tunnels No.1 & No.2 – Closed.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, en.wordpress.com, spheresoflight.com.au, mail.live.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for otford tunnel, +bridge over ghost creek west wollongong nsw australia, old otford tunnel, helensburgh rail, and old helensburgh railway station.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Lilyvale Tunnels No.1 & No.2 – Closed November 2009
2 comments

Otford Tunnel – Closed November 2009
18 comments

Metropolitan Tunnel 1st (Tunnel No. 4) – Closed February 2010
3 comments

Helensburgh Tunnel 1st (Tunnel No.3) – Closed November 2009
4 comments

Lilyvale Railway Station 1st & 2nd – Closed February 2010
2 comments

Have added 14 new photos taken on the 31 October 2010.

Fortunately for me and the photos, the Helensburgh Railway sign had just had a fresh lick of paint and is looking spectacular.  Work is to be carried out in the first half of 2011 at the Helensburgh Railway Reserve.  (new railway sleepers, re-routing of water course to prevent the railway station wall from shifting due to water build up in the soil behind it, weed management, etc… all to be carried out

Click here for more photos

http://helensburgh.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/metropolitan-tunnel-1st-closed/

I attended the Helensburgh Country Fair over the weekend and had a great time.  Before 8am the clouds were thick and grey, with thoughts of rain immediately coming forth.  Thank goodness they thinned out and disappeared as the sun came shining on through.

The attendance seemed much greater than last year with plenty of stalls. The street parade was not as great as 2009, but a large gathering of people crowded Walker Street for it.

It was enjoyable catching up with new people and old friends. I even had time to visit the Helensburgh Railway Reserve and the old Coal Cliff Jetty / Mine under the Seacliff bridge.

Thanks Mad Polly for the CD, (raffle).

Enjoy the photos. 

Click on images to enlarge.