Occasional picnic trains took large groups of visitors to the base of the mountain range & sometimes as far as the quarry. Other journeys terminated at Fyans Creek station on the south side of Mt Dryden. Most trips were Sunday School & Church outings, some on the annual Good Friday picnic. Spring was also a popular timePhoto shows train at siding. Man standing on engine roof with bucket in hand; woman in right hand corner of photo looking on; passenger looking out of open doorway. R333 written on back of engine car. Engine turned back to fronttransport, trains

Photo shows old rail bridge, surrounded by bush & passing over what appears to be a creek. Bridge is supported by wooden trestles. structures, bridges

Occasional picnic trains took large groups of visitors to the base of the mountain range & sometimes as far as the quarry. Other journeys terminated at Fyan's Creek station on the south side of Mt. Dryden. Most trips were Sunday School & church outings - some on the annual Good Friday picnic day. spring was also a popular time.Photo shows train at siding. Man standing on engine roof with bucket in hand; woman in right-hand corner looking on; passenger standing at open carriage door. R 333 written on back of engine car. Engine turned back to front.transport, trains

Grampians Halls Gap & Stoney Creek dredge. circa 1909 . 2nd man from right is Alfred D'/alton; 4th from right is James OliverPhoto shows eight men seated, two standing. 3 tents in background.Grampians Hallls Gap & Stoney Creek dredge circa 1909 written on backpeople, d'alton, water supplies, channels

Large families were the norm, rather than the exception up to the time of the World wars. perhaps the senseless destruction of those young lives sickened humanity- perhaps the increased taxes and cost of living resulting from the wars caused a necessary reduction in family size. Perhaps the independence won by women as they carried on their daily lives without their men, made mothers say, "Enough" The Warren family farmed the fertile Fyans Creek flats in the Grampian Mountains of Western Victoria. Some say Halls Gap was so named because the bushranger Hall holed up there in the early days. The rugged slopes and hidden gullies could have hidden a whole gang of bushrangers, but little remained undiscovered to a wandering family of 12 children growing up with their flocks and herds grazing the ranges. A tired rider could nod off, safe in the knowledge a trusty stockhorse would plod steadily homeward into the night. Responsibility quickly made youngsters capable and reliable. Then Australia went to war. There were three older brothers, then the girls, then young Frank. All the men went, including Frank. So the girls had to run the farm alone. Their mother had her hands full with the youngsters, still attending school, a daily walk over the mountain to Pomonal and return. But the loss of the men's casual wages from timber cutting and labouring jobs, meant great hardship is some method of earning a cash income had to be devised. Paying guests! That was it. So Myrtle Bank Guest House was born. City folk flocked to the mountain resort. High stepping mountain horses met them at the Stawell raid-head, with the tall and beautiful Warren girls driving them in experienced fashion, their auburn hair sometimes falling from its pins to fly free, as the dray bowled along towards the hills. The would hitch up their skirts to saw and chop wood for the stoves and fires. They milked cows and delivered calves. They shore sheep and trimmed their feet. They mustered their cattle as the seasons rolled by, and the paying guests watched and participated, fascinated. With laughter and song, the girls would wash up in a tin dish, throw on their house clothes to wait on table, sing and play piano, violin, accordion, enjoying the talk of the city and that other world so far away from their mountain home. The simple country menu was a hit, and the homemade bread, butter, jams and preserves, fruit and vegetables sent guests staggering to their armchairs. Picnics, hikes, goodbyes and welcomes blurred as the years of the war dragged by. Bookings were made and remade as the new enterprise became established. Peace was declared. the men returned A whole new building rose with two floors, inviting verandahs and bathrooms. Myrtle Bank would remain a family business all its lifetime, until buried below the Bellfield Dam, by which time more than one the girls had joined their beloved Frank, lost on Flanders Field. Article in book or magazine describing life at Myrtlebank during war years Other article written from letter from soldier P Lillis to his sister 3rd article of woman from country enlisting in WAAF Submitted by Carol of Bannockburn, Submitted by D Langley Submitted by Meryl of South Frankstonaccommodation, myrtlebank, people, warren

Afred D'Alton was the first to discover alluvial good in Stony CreekPhoto shows members of D/Alton family outside lean to at Stoney Creek diggings Left to Right Jim, John and Charles D/Alton, Henrietta and Amy (John's daughters) Galbraith (John's son) Clare (Charlie and Jim's sister)Larger photo taken from original people, d'alton, mining, stoney creek

Photo depicts 2 slab huts in foreground and 2 in back right corner Site of Sony Creek DigginsTwo of the diggers mansions written on frontbuildings, houses, stoney creek

D'Alton's searching for alluvial gold. Photo shows Alfred and Charles D'Alton at Stony Creek Diggings. Charles is on the right and Alfred is on the left. Records 126 and 127 are enlargements from this photo showing each man separately.Photo shows two men working near a sluice. One man is shovelling into a sluice, on a creek and the other is holding an implement. A gold pan rests against a tree.people, d'alton, mining, stoney creek

A tramline was built to bring logs down from a mill up on Stoney Creek. The tramline was made of timber and the trolleys of logs were pulled as afr as possible by horse and then a driver would ride the logs down to the flat land below pulling a brake when nearing the end. (Close to site of present Primary School).Photo is a copy of Anne Borella (nee Nicholson) depicting the haulage of timber along a tramline. Two horses are pulling a trolley while a driver stands on the load with the wheelbrake ready.transport, horse drawn, structures, tramway

Horton's Reward Claim. This group of miners also worked another area called 'The Heather Bell" approx. 200 yards further up the gully. About half a pennyweight to the dish is obtained from the wash near the creek. They are panning off 3 dwts per day off one man's ground. This claim is about the best fitted up on the field. It is worked with a sluice box with iron ripples and feeder to match. The latter is a great advantage as there is a great fall below the claim for the tailings.Photo shows seven men working a goldfield using shovels and picks.mining, mount william, people

This is an extract/copy of an original photo that showed both Alfred and Charlie D'Alton together. (see Record # 127 for section with Alfred D'Alton and Record # 117 for the entire photo).Photo of Charles D'Alton looking for gold on Stoney Creek. people, d'alton, mining, stoney creek

This is an extract/copy of an original photo that showed both Alfred and Charlie D'Alton together. (see Record # 126 for section with Charles D'Alton and Record # 117 for the entire photo).Photo of Alfred D'Alton looking for gold on Stoney Creek.people, d'alton, mining, stoney creek

Photo depicts dwellings with people standing in front. A man is holding a horse loaded with bags. Huts in forground and background.the township at Diggings marked on frontmining, stoney creek

Jan 3rd, "This history of Rose's Gap police station is sketchy and rather short despite the fact that the lock up was built in 1860. The police station was closed in 1863. During its six years of operation, eleven mounted police were reported to have been stationed there" extract from Victoria's Wonderland: a Grampians history - Ch Roes Gap and Troopers Ck. Photo shows road past remains of police station Man sitting on fence rail at left of picture. Rocks on right side of photo. Opposite present Troopers Creek camping areaaccess routes, roads, buildings, police station

Woman known as Maggie Galbraith. First names of the three Galbraith children not known. Track called the Jinker track. For further information on Jinker Tracks, refer to pp. 101-102 of Victoria's Wonderland.Photo show 1 woman, 3 girls and 2 boys on a track in the bush'A turn in the Jinker track Maggie Galbraith with her small charges on Stony Creek gorge bridle trackaccess routes, vehicle track, people, galbraith

The man with the horse is Charles D'Alton, his cousin Alfred is beckoning him to come on. Charles was ther son of William D'Alton if "Silver Springs" on Dairy Creek, and Fred (Alfred) was the son of John D'Alton, Stawell Borough engineer. Fred and Charles were responsible for finding many of today's walking track routes through the Wonderland Range and in the Mt. Rosea area. The second copy is a transparency (slide) , no. 182 in the slide box.Photo shows man, left side corner with pack horse andother man middle ground with arm raised"Charles D'Alton beckoning to his cousin Alfred to come on" finding the best routegilbert rogers, vehicle track, people, d'alton

Men have started to form the Mt Victory Road. Until the 1900's access to the Stoney Creek gorge was via a winding bridal jinker track. Increased traffic lead to much of this route being widened into what became known as Bluff Road. Within a few years the route was further improved and was officially named Mount Victory Road in 1930.Photo shows 3 men working with pick and shovel on roadPick and shovel Mt Victory Rdaccess routes, roads, access routes, road building

The road winding up Stoney Creek Gorge with Elephant Hide, the rocky slope in the picture, on the left. Sections of the earlier 19th century bridal track, which was later widened to become a jinker track, can be seen above the new road.Postcard shows Mt Victory Rd unsealed Elephant's hide on leftPostcard Correspondence Address only Kodak Mt Vic Roadaccess routes, mt victory rd, roads

Mt Victory Rd once known as the Bluff road was opened by Lady Somers Mar 1930. This section of the raod is beyond Stoney Creek Gorgephoto shows sweeping bend on Mt Victory Rdaccess routes, mt victory rd, roads

Background on Bridle Path up Stony Creek Gorge Pre 1840 C. B. Hall, squatter on Mokepilly Run 1841-1842, first European to discover the Fyans Creek valley, the entrance of which became known as Hall's Gap. He later recorded that he followed a number of tracks which he assumed had been made by the Aboriginies and described one as "leading up a wild romantic glen and over on to the source of the Glenelg River". This could well have been the route taken up Stony Creek gorge by the first timber-cutters in this part of the Grampians to the saddle between the Wonderland and Mt. Difficult ranges known as Valley Gap 1850s/60s Timber cutters and shingle splitters were reported to be moving into the eastern side of the Grampians and by the mid 1860s there were a number of families connected to the supplying of timber to Pleasant Creek living in the "Hall's Gap ranges". John Wakeham, the first store owner in Pleasant Creek in 1854, established a timer-mill in upper Stony Creek Gorge in the late 1850s. Wakeham is credited for the clearing and levelling of the first bridle-path up the gorge. 1870s By the mid 1870s the track had been extended over Valley Gap to the Victoria Forest (the upper region of the Victoria Valley). McKeon's bullock team was known to have hauled red gum from the Valley to Stawell in the late 1870s and the 1880s. 1880s In 1887 an article in the Pleasant Creek news describes the Stony Creek Gorge track as "being a ledge alongside the mountain range, formed in the early days with the aid of earth and timber, along which the bullock teams used to travel to Horsham and plains of the Wimmera beyond." 1890s Gold was discovered in the catchment area of Stony Creek and by the end of the 1890s a new track was built from "near the junction of Fyan's and Stony Creeks, up the gorge to the diggings settlement. The mining Department had paid L300 for its construction and, when completed, the track was "three miles and 30 chains in length, the side cuttings at the narrowest part being 10 feet between" and "the watercourses which cross the track at various points" having been "filled up with rocks rolled down the sides of the hills, and consequently there can be no damage caused by bushfires which destroyed the former wooden bridges erected on the old track to Wakeham's saw-mill, the remains of which are still to be seen at the side of the diggings" The article goes on to further describe the track as one which "can with ease travel with a two horse conveyance either up or down" and that the workmen engaged in the construction of the track would be attending "a ball that night at McKeon's farm near the mouth of the gap to celebrate the successful completion of the undertaking". 1900s At what time the bridle path was extended beyond Valley Gap to the Wartook basin on the Mt. Difficult Range has not yet been determined. However, it is known that, by the turn of the century, people were travelling between Halls Gap and the caretakers' residence at Wartook Reservoir along what was now known as the "Bluff Road. Wartook's embankment had been constructed in 1887 and at that time there was already a track from Rosebrook Station homestead (near the present day Wartook Pottery) to the reservoir. Philip Rose owned both Rosebrook and Wartook Stations from the mid 1840s to the late 1850s and had regularly leased the Wartook basin to Cobb & Co. to rest horses there. 1920s Following the war of 1914-1918, tourism really took off in the Grampians, and Halls Gap rapidly grew. People would travel as far as they could on the many tracks then hike to the many lookouts being discovered by local tour guides. This led to the need for access across the range so that horse riders and the increasing number of vehicles could travel between Horsham and Halls Gap. To this end, the Bluff Road was improved and extended on 1929 and at its opening in March, 1930, by Lady Somers it was renamed the Mt. Victory Road.Map of Mt Victory Road and othersaccess routes, mt victory rd, bridle path, roads

The Wannon Ford - typical of creek crossings in the Grampians.Photo shows a rough, unsealed road running through a ford (the Wannon Ford).access routes, roads

Photo shows an unsealed section of Grampians Rd. near Jimmy's Creek. The sharp profile of Mt Frederick can be seen in the distance.access routes, roads

A major rebuilding project took place. Brothers John & Thomas Morgan with local storekeeper Harold Goodwin Taylor designing and building a grand new Guest House with 22 bedrooms plus the original bungalows. Unheard of at the time the guests bedrooms had hand basins with hot & cold running water. This was achieved by building a weir on Stony Creek and piping the water to a high holding tank at the guest house. The dining room was a grand affair, a 4.5 metre high ceiling with beautiful gold leaf cornices, art deco ceiling and wall lights with feature plaster lights in the form of blue bells, wall to wall carpet and Kentia palms completed the picture. Ladies & gentlemen dressed for dinner, the ladies resplendent in their long evening gowns and jewellery would come down the stairway from the entrance hall to the lounge then the dining room. The tables were beautifully appointed with damask table cloths & fine silverware. The kitchen was well appointed with a huge coal fired range and a donkey for hot water. Milk & cream, bacon & pork, chicken & eggs together with vegetables were all home grown on the property. A large ballroom with a beautiful timber floor was the scene after dinner for many dances and party nights with guests from other establishments and locals joining in for the night. A huge fernery was also a feature of the gardens. During the day tennis parties would be held on the courts, together with horse riding and guided walks were taken out by local guide Gilbert Rogers.Photo of newly built Grampian Houseaccommodation, guesthouses, accommodation, grampian house

Large Party of well dressed people sitting and standing on rock slabs beside a creek known as Falls Creek The number 2 in the bottom right hand corner relates to the fact that this was one of a number of Grampians photos from a newspaperrecreation, roses gap, scenery, waterfalls

The creek is Stoney CreekPhoto shows man sitting on rock in middle of creekPicard Stawell Stony Creek (sic) Grampians scenery, stoney creek

The location of the photo was in the vicinity of Myrtlebank, upper Halls Gap. The pool was called "Mirror Pool"Photo shows large pool of water bordered by the sandy banks of a creek (Fyans Creek).Hand written "A Happy New Year to all PS this is close to where we live Typed Post card, correspondence, Address only Kodak, Australia. 'Mirror Pool" written in ink in top, left border of photo.scenery

Photo shows Fyans Creek, looking South West towards the Pinnacle. View probably taken from the bridge. Fyans Creek appears to be very wide, perhaps after a flood.scenery, fyans creek

The photo shows a small weir on the Stoney Creek which used to supply water to a number of early businesses in Halls Gap, such as the general store and Grampians House. Each business ran a pipe from the weir to their premises and three outlets can still be seen embedded in the wall. Record 248 was taken at the same time.Photograph of a woman approaching a small weir with three large boulders behind it. The original level of the weir can be seen on the boulders. The additional image is a description of how to get to the weir.scenery, stoney creek

The photo shows a small weir on the Stoney Creek which used to supply water to a number of early businesses in Halls Gap. The weir's former level can be seen on the large rocks behind but once a town water supply was installed, the wall of the weir was breached. Record 247 was taken at the same time and includes an image of a description of how to get to the weir.Photograph of a woman approaching standingh on a rock near a small weir. There are large boulders behind it which show the former level of the weir.scenery, stoney creek

The back of Warren's/Greer's Bakery on the far right side, with the back of Warrens/Greer's house adjacent (and at right angles to the bakery). The cottage on the left side was rented out. The bed of the Stoney Creek is in the foreground.Postcard shows three buildings with trees and a hill in the background. There are numerous fallen/felled trees and a fence in the foreground. Robert Greer was the baker. He married Ida Warren.media, advertisements, people, warren