The structure surrounding the Tree of Knowledge is an imposing & incongruous site as you drive into Barcaldine. In the middle of a wide country street there is a large wooden pannelled box hovering in the air. Your first reaction is "What?". The now dead tree, was the meeting place of the striking shearers in 1891 & ultimately the Labour Party was born from this strike. The tree was poisoned by an unknown person in 2006 but a clone was planted in 2005 & is growing in the garden of the Australian Workers Heritage Centre.
The shearers obviously liked a beer after their hot & back breaking work. Of eleven pubs, six remain in the Main Street. A cold beer would still be welcomed by locals & travellers. Not sure what the population is but lucky to be 1700 people so they must all still have a good thirst.
The Artesian Hotel is another iconic pub. Opposite is the windmill that was the erected in Qld on the first free flowing bore.
The Workers Heritage Centre was interesting, housing displays depicting various occupations of working men & women in a series of old relocated buiuldings. The Telegraph & Post Office display held particular interest for Tony & I as my Dad was a postman in horse & buggy days as well as operating morse code as an essential service in Australia during the World War II. Tony's mum & my sister were both telephonists in the days of moving & changing the plugs in the board to manually connect the caller to the number. These girls knew all the local gossip & scandals even though they weren't allowed to listen in.
Early telephonists - a bit before Dulcies era!
Tony in the old school room. It's a bit scary when this type of school room & furniture is part of our history. We both sat at desks similar to these & learnt to write with a nibbed pen & ink pot before the Biro pen was invented. Memories of smudged letters, ink spots & the boys dipping the end of the plaits of the girl sitting in front, punishable by a few swats of the cane, are very clear! God! Our lives are becoming, or should I say, have become museum relics
So from this outback town & the shearers strike there has been a big impact on the history of Australia & I guess indirectly on all of our lives.
This is probably as close Tone would get to the Labour Party these days!
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment