A Fishing Trip to Metcalfe Ponds ca. 1895

 

Six men holding fishing rods, standing beside a river winding through country landscape, George Levi Carter, State Library (between 1870 and 1910)

Of all the historic photos to be found on the State Library website this must be one of the most intriguing, a group of men enjoying a fishing expedition. Quite why they're lined up like this only adds to the charm. The State Library gives this location as Fryerstown, Central Victoria, but this is highly unlikely when you look at this delightful series in total.

    We know that the photographer George Levi Carter was a well known and respected identity in Fryerstown. He owned the local boot making factory, the building still standing today on the corner of High Street and Castlemaine Street, Fryerstown. Carter lived until 1923 and died at the ripe old age of 95. Apparently, even at 90 he thought nothing of walking from Fryerstown to Chewton. And at a good clip as well!  One thing for sure, for all his other considerable talents, George Carter showed great skill as a photographer.

    Let's see if we can narrow down the date of the fishing trip beyond the 1870 to 1910 time-frame estimated by the State Library. And where exactly did they go fishing? One of the photos in the series is labelled 'Fishing Trip Fryerstown to Metcalfe Ponds'. I'll explore the latter location in more depth a little later on but it seems Metcalfe Ponds was a well known location at or near the confluence of the Coliban River and the Campaspe River, near Redesdale.

    If we look at the series in total, I think it's possible to reconstruct their path and place G.L.Carter's photographs in some kind of order. So judging by the above label, the starting point for this party of at least six men (surely a seventh is operating the camera!) was Fryerstown, and given this was Carter's place of work and residence, this seems the most likely place to set off from. Here's a tourist map from 1914 marked with their likely route. It seems fair to assume that the road network hadn't changed dramatically in the years between the mid 1890s and 1914. In fact, their route can be easily traced along the road network of today.

    It's likely they wouldn't have made this 50 km trip without stopping at least once and one of the photographs suggests they broke their journey, perhaps for lunch. In the photo below, we see some of the party outside the Red Gum Hotel in Metcalfe. Was this on their way out or their way home? The fact that the horses are facing north, downhill towards the Coliban river bridge, seems to indicate that they're on the outward journey, heading towards Metcalfe Ponds. The Red Gum Hotel would have been a likely place to stop. This is borne out by the shadows which indicate that this is early in the afternoon (west is towards the right of the photo). Back in the 19th century it seems feasible that the journey from Fryerstown to Metcalfe, about 23 km, would have taken about two hours.

 Horse  drawn buggies outside the Red Gum Hotel, Metcalfe, Victoria, G.L.Carter

     If we zoom in on the sign above the door we can see that the licensee is William Wilson. A search of newspaper articles on Trove shows that W. Wilson was the licensee of the Red Gum Hotel between 1893 and 1902.

    After leaving Metcalfe, the group then made their way east along what is now the Metcalfe Redesdale Road, turned off at Racecourse Road and then right at Lyell Road. When they reached the Junction Hotel they would have turned left at the North Redesdale Road, where they would have then faced a 10 km journey to their fishing spot.

     'Metcalfe Ponds' is rather a confusing locality name because it's a long way from Metcalfe. Many years later the area was flooded and submerged under Lake Eppalock. A connection to the old name still remains, as this arm of Lake Eppalock is now called Metcalfe Pool and there is a Metcalfe Pool Holiday Park at the end of the North Redesdale road.

    In the photo below it seems that the fishing party has arrived at their camp site. Back in the 1890's such a journey would have required some serious off road driving skills. 

Men and horse drawn vehicles in countryside, G. L. Carter

    Below is an excerpt from a 1945 aerial map of the confluence of the two rivers, before the creation of Lake Eppalock. The Coliban River is coming in from the left (west) and the Campaspe from the right (southeast), the combined rivers flowing northeast (top of page). If you look closely at the first photo it may well show the men standing on the west side of the Campapse River with the Coliban River coming in left of photo. If so it would have made this a special place. Assured of deep water in all seasons it would have created an excellent fishing spot. The red lines show a suggested angle of view.

    We know that within the likely years of this expedition George Levi Carter would have been in his late '60's. Perhaps this photo is a self portrait because the rest of the party seem considerably younger. There looks to be a rudimentary tent strung up behind the buggy. The leather satchel the man is wearing could well be a water container, similar vessels occurring in other photos of the era.

Fishing Trip Fryerstown to Metcalfe Ponds, G.L.Carter

    In the next photo in the series it seems they're watering their hard working horses, perhaps readying them for their journey home after what we hope was a fruitful fishing expedition.  Now I wonder how they kept their catch from spoiling?

    Perhaps the last photo in the series is the one below. Here they are outside the Junction Hotel at North Redesdale (see map above). We see here that the sun is almost directly overhead indicating it's about midday. I'm guessing they're on their way home from their fishing trip because the horses are facing in the opposite direction to Metcalfe Ponds (which is to the right of the photo).

Men, horses and buggies outside the Junction Hotel, North Redesdale. G.L. Carter

    The sign above the corner door allows us to narrow down the date of their fishing trip even further. Newspaper reports reveal that in July 1892, John Quain became the licensee of the Junction Hotel. Furthermore, the hotel was burnt to the ground in September 1897. So it seemed the fishing party set out some time after 1893 and before 1897. 

    By the way, although the building was uninsured it was quickly replaced. The rebuilt building still stands on the corner of North Redesdale Road (once called Junction Rd) and Lyall Road. So why was the road once called Junction Rd? Perhaps because it leads to the confluence of two major rivers, the Coliban and the Campaspe.

Rebuilt Junction Hotel (after 1897). Note differences to the pre 1897 hotel, e.g. a new roof line

        Photos like this series by George Levi Carter are precious as they provide valuable social history and bring to life a bunch of blokes who, one day, a long time ago, set off for a weekend's fishing.