Surrey Hills

Picking the eyes out of Surrey Hills

This blog has involved many hours researching historical deeds and has taken a long time to put together. It has been challenging to access information while travelling full-time, well away from Tasmania.

I have called upon others to assist me in completing this story. Thank you to Brian Rollins for his patience and kindly sharing information on how to work through the historical Tasmanian title index cards and historical deeds, all found online.… Read more

Unique partnerships for conservation

I invited Phil Collier to share a story about his experiences with Surrey Hills. My involvement with Phil started when my colleague, James Dick, first told me about a plan to have volunteers do conservation work on Surrey Hills. I was immediately cautious and a little wary. But, as Phil points out below, so were the volunteers! … Read more

Nursery times – the development of new technologies and practices

Les Baker and Ian Ravenwood write this month’s guest blog. 

Chapter 11 of my book “Fires, Farms and Forests” provides the story of how AFH and North Forest Products were instrumental in developing an industrial eucalypt plantation estate on Surrey Hills. This blog offers specific details of improved nursery techniques and the creation of a world-class nursery, which adds significantly to the Surrey Hills plantation story.… Read more

Sod seeding on Surrey Hills in 1960

Bob Hardy was born and grew up in Burnie. His mother, a Jones, came from a mixed farm at Cuprona, with her Jones line going back to Britton Jones, the ex-convict who built Franklin House. As a twenty-year-old graduate from Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Bob first started working on Surrey Hills in 1960.… Read more

Heading for “The Gates”: memories of the old Hampshire gatehouse

I didn’t provide any coverage of the gatekeepers in the book “Fires, Farms and Forests”, as I had limited information at the time. And yet, you couldn’t tell a story about Surrey Hills and AFH without mentioning the gatekeepers. 

Back in the 1950s, the Ridgley Highway didn’t exist. You could only get to Waratah via the Murchison Highway through the Hellyer Gorge and then onto Guildford Junction.… Read more

The radio electronics maestro

This is a story about a quietly spoken Dutchman who had responsibility for setting up and maintaining a radio communication system in the early days of AFH when access to Surrey Hills was much more limited than today.

The radio system was the only form of communication between the administrative office in Burnie and the workers in Surrey Hills.… Read more

The life of a young timber cutter on Surrey Hills

In this month’s blog, Noel Mather revisits his younger years working as a tree faller on Surrey Hills. Noel virtually grew up with an axe in his hand. He commenced work on Surrey Hills in 1955 when systematic logging first started under APPM stewardship. He got to work in the pick of the timber stands.… Read more

The Burridge family – synonymous with Guildford Junction

Last month I shared a blog written by Lloyd Wilson, who grew up in Guildford in the 1940s and 50s. This month I want to share another Guildford story from Margaret Brown who was born at Guildford in 1935 and lived there until 1958.[1] She is the longest-serving resident born at Guildford.… Read more

Growing up in Guildford

This month’s guest blog is by Lloyd Wilson. I met Lloyd online and on the phone when writing “Fires, Farms and Forests”. He enthusiastically provided me with a lot of material for the Guildford chapter of the book. Born at Guildford in 1946, Lloyd spent his childhood living there.

Despite its isolation and persistently cold and wet weather, Lloyd provides a fascinating account of what life was like at Guildford and how the kids occupied themselves to keep out of mischief.… Read more