Guildford Junction

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

28 May 2021 / 7 Comments

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

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The radio electronics maestro

23 April 2021 / 10 Comments

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

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The life of a young timber cutter on Surrey Hills

26 March 2021 / 5 Comments

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

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The Burridge family – synonymous with Guildford Junction

26 February 2021 / 9 Comments

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

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Growing up in Guildford

29 January 2021 / 16 Comments

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

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A distinguished north-west Tasmanian

26 November 2020 / 4 Comments

Jim Fidler writes this month’s Surrey Hills blog. Jim was born and raised in Launceston. Educated at the University of Tasmania with a teaching degree majoring in geology, Jim began teaching at Burnie and was also Principal at Waratah Primary School from 1984-87. Jim moved to Beijing in 2000 where he initially was a Lower School Principal and then a High School Humanities teacher at the International School, Beijing.… Read more

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Reminiscing about working on Surrey Hills from the 1950s to the early 1970s

22 October 2020 / 14 Comments

In my book “Fires, Farms and Forests”, Chapters 8 through to 10 cover the development of forestry operations on Surrey Hills. Barry Graham worked in the pre and post-industrial forestry era on Surrey Hills during four separate stints. Endnote 819 on page 248 of the book summarises his career. Barry is only one of two people still alive, that I know of, who worked on Surrey Hills in the 1950s.… Read more

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Australia’s Longest Wooden Tramway

30 August 2020 / Leave a Comment

Image: Wooden trestle bridge over Wey River looking north on the Emu Bay and Mount Bischoff tramway, 1878? (Source: Burnie Regional Museum)

Tasmania’s Emu Bay to Mount Bischoff horse-drawn wooden tramway – is it the longest wooden tramway ever built in Australia or indeed the British Empire?

Chapter 6 of my book ‘Fires, Farms and Forests’ goes into detail about the construction of a wooden tramway from Emu Bay to the western boundary of Surrey Hills that serviced the tin mines at Mount Bischoff.