This photo of Guildford looking north towards Castlemaine was taken around 1909. The scene is tranquil but in the background there's a reminder of a harrowing adventure four young men had on New Year's Day in 1889.
On that day, close to 250mm of rain fell in Central Victoria within 5 hours. The devastation it caused throughout the region was unprecedented. As the editor of the Tarrangower Times, Maldon wrote: "New Year's Day of 1889 will long be remembered by the residents of this district as being one of the saddest experienced by the community as a whole...The old year closed peacefully, but, within 24 hours from the advent of the new one, hundreds of homes were devastated and many lives were lost by a phenomenally heavy downpour of rain and subsequent floods". (Wed, Jan 16, 1889)
In Guildford, as a result of the floodwaters pouring down Campbells Creek, a drama played out which captured the attention of the public and featured in a number of newspaper stories at the time. Amidst widespread tragedy it was a small good news story of rescue and redemption.
The scene for this adventure was the old site of the Argus Gold Mine bordering Campbells Creek, and the Argus Mine bridge which, until 1889, had survived at a point near the mining mounds in the above photo. Here's a closeup showing the mine (far left) and a line of spoil mounds west of Campbells Creek. On the east side of the creek, in the centre, there is a cone shaped heap, which I believe to be the mullock heap mentioned in the story below.
The Argus Gold Mine was a relatively short lived venture which in the 1860's attracted the interest of investors but by the late 1860's, with expenses outstripping returns, the patience of creditors had been exhausted and it was wound up in 1868. It limped along under new ownership as the Belmore Mining Company for another year or two before fizzling out. But at it's height, at the mine site, there were some buildings, an office, a residence and a smithy. There was also the Argus Mine bridge which continued to serve local residents right up to the day of the monster flood.
Here is an aerial Google Earth view which shows where the bridge and mine might have been located.
It's likely that the current concrete bridge, which can be seen within the circled area above, is a little further downstream (to the south west) than the original Argus Mine bridge.
In 1912 one of the young men caught up in the floods of 1889 had returned to Guildford and been surprised that the mullock heap shown above had vanished. It had been demolished by the Guildford Bucket Dredge, one of the enormous river gravel churning machines (mentioned in a previous blog, 'The Newstead Dredge, Loddon River, Newstead'), that had recently moved down the creek past the site of the mine. I'll let the reporter tell the thrilling tale of New Year's day 1889.
THE BIG FLOOD OF 1889, AN EXCITING INCIDENT RECALLED, GUILDFORD MULLOCK HEAP SAVES FOUR LADS (Mount Alexander Mail, 1912, December 3, page 2)
"The four 4 lads, (two Hockings, Kelom and Kennedy) were having great fun on the day of the flood shooting at barrels, etc. from off the Argus bridge, when they suddenly felt the structure shake. Rushing across to the other side, they had just time to scramble on to the heap, when the bridge was swept away, and they were surrounded with water. All night they were huddled together, thinking every moment would be their last, as they could hear large pieces of the mullock crashing down into the water. All the residents of Guildford were assembled on the railway line listening to the cries of the lads, and as they ceased towards morning the people feared they had been swept away. One frantic father had to be forcibly restrained from dashing into the water to rescue his son, but when the flood eased about 4 o'clock in the morning the lads were found safe and sound, but severely frightened".
Others weren't so lucky in the flood of '89 but it proves once again that interesting stories lurk hidden in the background of our historic photos.
Below are some photos showing all that's left of the short lived Argus Gold Mine.
Spoil mounds, Argus Gold Mine, Guildford
Remains of an old stamper?
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