Malmsbury's Ephemeral Lake

Last year this photo came to my attention. It's one of many John Collins took last century as honorary photographer for the Victorian division of the National Trust of Australia. His collection of almost 20,000 black-and-white negatives has now been digitised and is available on the State Library of Victoria's website.

    The photo is labelled 'MALMSBURY. Road bridge over railway line [south of the viaduct], September 16, 1979'.

    The initial theory seemed compelling. John had been standing south of this beautiful bluestone railway bridge (one of a number along this section of the Melbourne to Bendigo railway line) and had captured the view to the north west.  I mean, surely that's Malmsbury Reservoir in the middle distance.  What else could that lake be, between the low hill on the far left and the large tree a little more to the right?

    But not everyone was convinced and so the only answer was for me to drive out to the Lasslett Street bridge and have a look for myself. And yes, I'd also been lead astray. I found that the only feasible explanation was that John Collins was looking south east toward Mount Macedon (which in fact can be seen half hidden behind the trees in the middle right of the photo). This is how the view looks today.

    But what about the water? I drove south down Breakneck Rd trying to get as close as I could to the area in the middle distance. Luckily a local resident, Steve Jaan, was pulling out of his driveway and wondered what I was doing gazing at his paddocks. He confirmed my suspicions that his property, which has been in the family for generations, often used to flood. In fact when he was young he used to swim in this seasonal wetland. Over time this marshy basin has been filled in but it still manages to flood in a very wet year.

    So problem solved. John Collins had captured his scene just at a time when the ephemeral lake had reappeared. But of course the questions never stop. Where were, or are, that clump of distant pine or cypress trees that can be seen just to the left of the swamp. I've searched for them on Google Earth without luck. Were they cut down when the Calder Freeway was constructed? I feel another journey awaits me.