Broulee Community Association Incorporated
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THE BROULEE GOLDFIELD - A BROAD-BRUSH VERSION
In 1851 gold was discovered on the Deua River, about five kilometres up from Moruya, and before long gold was found along 50km of the river up to Araluen. Araluen boomed, in its prime it had 15,000 people there with hotels with bands, and dancing girls brought down from Sydney Town. Most of the diggers had traveled by sailing ship to Broulee, then walked the remaining sixty or so kilometres. You could hire packhorses at Mullenderree for 25 shillings for 100lb of luggage, but 25 shillings was a lot in those days, farm workers only got about 30 shillings a week.
In 1857 what was called the Broulee diggings were opened, in fact this was the field around Goldfields Drive, off the Old Mossy Point Road. It attracted 20 or 30 diggers, but in a few months it was deserted. However the following year, 1858, 200 diggers rushed to Cabbage Tree Creek. That was before Mogo, which soon grew up to service the nearby diggings. The Broulee Diggings became part of the Mogo Goldfield, which had mixed success for decades. The Mogo Post Office was opened in 1869.
As well as gold diggers, there were bushrangers. In 1873 James Veitch who was running the Mogo Post Office had been to Moruya selling gold. He was crossing the bridge at Jeremadra Creek when he was bailed up by two men who demanded 'Your money or your life!' Veitch spurred his horse and one of the bushrangers fired on him, the bullet went through his coat. Pretty lucky - no penicillin in those days.
The Mogo Goldfield was on both sides of the Princes Highway, it started about 5km north of the town with what was called the Big Hill Workings. By 1936 it went as far south as Pollwombra, a couple of kilometres inland from the Broulee turnoff.
Some of what I'll say next comes from a report written in 1879 by Lamont Young, a Government Geological Surveyor. At that time here was little or no mining being done in the Mogo locality, and the township was nearly deserted.
Just as an aside, if the name 'Lamont Young' sounds familiar, he was the Government man who a year later, 1880, hired four Batemans Bay men and their boat to take him from the Montreal Goldfield at Wallaga Lake to Corunna. The boat was subsequently found deserted, no trace of the men was ever found, and that's the mystery that gave Mystery Bay just near Narooma its name.
But back to Mogo. Annetts', and Degan's claims were near the junction of the Mogo Creek with the Tomaga River, and South of Mogo was a patch known locally as the 'Poor House'. Further south of Mogo was as claim known as Ryan's Hill where Spedding and party spent, 'a good deal of time and money' putting in tunnels, making a tramway and dam and erecting a puddling machine, but it failed.
King and party worked a reef between Buckenboura Road and Maulbrooks Road. Connell and party re-opened the old field along Goldfields Drive off the old Mossy Point Road. Mossy Point was called Connells Point until about 1948, its name was changed to stop confusion with Connells Point in Sydney.
Inland from the Highway, about five km west-south-west of Mogo, the reefs yielded 11.8kg of gold - about $250,000 at today's prices.
A bit further South again were the Bimbimbie Mine, Sandy Creek Mine, the Perseverance Mine and some other shafts. Workings included shafts up to 11.5m deep, with drives and adits up to 730m and an unrecorded amount of stoping, or working face. Officially, these workings produced about 198.5kg of gold, that's about $M5.4 worth at today's prices! And it would be extraordinary if the Government was told of all the gold taken out.
Flanagans or Green Range Reef was on Pollwombra Mountain, across from Broulee Turnoff. It had shafts up to 7m deep, but that's about all I know about it. That's the southern end of the Mogo goldfield.
When you drive through places like Bendigo and Ballarat, you can't help seeing how much money there was in those places, as a result of the gold mining. Beautiful buildings everywhere, luxurious mansions that started out as bank managers' houses, grand stone buildings that used to be a Bishop's house. Perhaps those who made the big money from the Mogo field took it all away with them.
But how about the life of the diggers in the 1800s? I have seen the mullock heaps and the old shafts out along the Bimbimbie road. I stood there and tried to imagine what it would be like to live there in an old canvas tent without a floor in it, in the mud after about a week's rain. No wonder that there was a well-worn path to the Rum Shanties at Mogo!
The actual Bimbimbie mine is also known as Kelly's Mine, or the Kellys Creek Mine. Work went on in one form or another for over 100 years until 1984, and the mine was proposed for Heritage Listing in 2004, but that didn't happen. There used to be a couple of little rail trucks there, about half as big as a box trailer. They've gone, but the rails are still there, together with some winching gear and a separator table overhanging the creekbank.
A couple of years ago, the track in was blocked by a new locked gate, accompanied by a sign with a licence number and a phone number for enquiries. Now, the gate has been driven over and the sign's gone. Over the mine though, there's a new sign 'Caution: This area is under surveillance'.
When gold is separated from ore, either naturally by erosion or by mining, it often liberates arsenic. Sometimes extra arsenic is used to speed up the process, and sometimes cyanide is used. Mercury is used occasionally for panned alluvial gold. Apart from a large pile of rocks and some rusting equipment, Kellys Creek at the mine shows no sign of any adverse affect.
In April 2007 the NSW Department of Primary Industry granted a 'Licence To Explore' to a Perth company called Oroya, the licence covers 300 square kilometres of the Mogo Goldfield.
Kellys Creek intersects the Princes Highway just south of the Old Mossy Point Road, then after a kilometre or so it joins up with Candlagan Creek. There's nothing at this stage to suggest that re-opening the mine would be harmful, but it's probably prudent to keep our ears pricked for any rumors about what's happening at the gold mine that's only nine kilometres up our creek.
Richard Fisher, September 2008.
Some of the historical information above is from:
http://www.finders.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=622&highlight=&sid=6c6cbf530ee23cb3e0b878739c55ddde
BROULEE RUNNERS & WALKERS
Our local running group is held each Wednesday afternoon starting from the Mossy Point Headland at 4.30 pm. Come each week or once a month, you are welcome anytime. If you are injured and wish to be part of the scene, come along and be a time keeper or recorder.
The course is out and back over a distance of 5kms along the headland and bike path to a turn around Heath Street. The format is handicap based so that the slowest start first and the fastest last. The idea is that all should finish at about the same time.
There is a handicapper, timer and a record keeper so that you can easily keep track of your performance. So if you are motivated to train you will be able to measure your improvement.
The event caters for recreational walkers to marathon runners. It is great training for those who are interested in cross country running of other vigorous sports. It could influence you to train for the City to Surf or even a half marathon. We can help those who are motivated in this direction.
The emphasis is on fun and fitness and it doesn’t matter what level you are at. Contacts Mike 44716235, Liza 44717839
The Eurobodalla Shire Council is undertaking an Indian Myna Control Program which aims to protect native birds from the threat
posed by Indian Mynas
by conducting an
humane reduction
program.
Please report all
sightings of Myna
birds in the Broulee
area on 44747442 or email courtneyfink@eurocoast.nsw.gov for further information.
The Broulee Coordinators are Peter Louttit and John Anderson
