The Coliban Main Channel : Walk 2: Stockyards, Preston Vale to Blossett Drive, Mandurang South

 

Cuneens Gully Flume over Springs Rd (now Bryden Rd) ca. 1900 (All historic photos, except where otherwise mentioned, sourced from the State Library)

This is the second of the revised walks described in my book 'The Coliban Main Channel: A Walking Guide" (2023). As this book is now out of print, this blog, Field Rambling in Central Victoria, seems a good place to expand on the original walk descriptions where new (and corrected) information has become available and, in addition, to focus less on the history and more on the walking experience. This walk of about 5km (6km if returning from Bryden Rd north) starts at a place Google Maps calls ‘Stockyards’, presumably because at one time stockyards were located here.

Below is a map of the walk and a closeup of the starting location, between Harcourt and Mandurang South.

    The southern section of Bryden Rd runs off Ford Rd, just near the intersection of Nth Harcourt Rd. The road is unsealed all the way to Stockyards, which is about 1.2 km from Ford Rd. The parking area, one of the most generously proportioned along the whole channel, is on the right.

'Stockyards' car parking

For those lucky enough to arrange a car shuttle, the end point will be Blossett Drive. There is ample car parking by the side of the road here. The reason I have chosen this as the preferred finish line to Bryden Rd is that while some car parking has recently been created at the latter location, it might still be insufficient for the needs of a large group of walkers.

Bryden Road was once known as Springs Rd as it leads to, as the name suggests, The Springs, a (once) pleasant picnic location where springs still flow, at least in a good year, a little north of Stockyards. Many locals persist in calling the northern part of this road by this name, although these days ‘Springs Rd’ is restricted to the sealed road northeast of the Mandurang Sth Road. Springs Road was once a main route between Harcourt North and localities east of Bendigo such as Strathfieldsaye and Axedale. This can be seen by the odd angle the road makes when it meets Sedgwick Road. In the not too distant past, a local landowner blocked off access to through traffic. The reason given was that illegal shooters and other mischief makers were a danger to roaming stock.

If you walk east (away from the road) you’ll soon reach a bridge over the Coliban Channel. Before you cross the channel look to your left (north). In the paddock behind the fence there are scattered remnants of a channel-keeper’s (later, water bailiff’s) house. Here’s how it looked about a hundred years ago and the view today.

    The old garden trees are still visible but otherwise there’s very little left of the house, which, like the Sutton Grange channel keeper’s house, was relocated in the 1980s, lock stock and water barrel. Philip Wilkin relates how the water bailiff who lived here, Jim Hodge, used to travel around the channel on horseback. Other bailiffs were Roy Furness and Earl Thomas. When the SR&WSC offered up this small parcel of land for sale, Philip’s family bought and amalgamated it with their larger land holdings in the area. Philip's book 'Along the Channel: Some of the Historical and general features along the Coliban Main Channel' 2012, is available from the Malmsbury Historical Society as a print on demand publication.

    Once over the bridge you will turn left, heading north. But first take the time to examine this section of the channel closely. It's history has been complex to say the least. You may choose to inspect the concrete flume perched on the original granite piers.

    Once, a wooden flume carried the Coliban water across this tributary of Emu Creek but later, the channel was rerouted closer to the head of the creek, and the timber structure removed. And just to complicate matters, later it was decided to bypass the channel and reuse the original piers for a new concrete flume. Below is how it looked 120 years ago and the same view today.

Preston Vale flume (looking north) ca. 1900

    Nearby is an old sluice gate, a memento of the time when the race bypassed the old flume and looped to the west. This section, and Emu Creek itself, is now choked with every weed imaginable.

        

    About 600 metres past the Preston Vale flume is the mouth of No. 5 or Brennans Tunnel, so called because Brennan was the local landowner. The entrance can hardly be seen these days as blackberries have completely taken over the channel at the entrance. At this point of the walk, the access track enters freehold land and so care should be taken to accede to the demands of the landholder. Be sure to close the gate after passing through.

    The construction of the two tunnels in this area created a saving of over 11 km in the length of the channel.

    As is the case where the track follows the underground path of No. 4 (Wirths) Tunnel, (further south near North Harcourt Rd), the work shaft here has been fenced off for safety reasons and the rock that had been removed during construction of the tunnel is piled up alongside the track.

    Along this part of the walk there is no shortage of signs warning walkers not to stray from the reserve. When you reach the top of the ridge you get an expansive view of the next part of your trek along the channel. This photo was chosen as the cover of my book 'The Coliban Main Channel: A Walking Guide'.

    The track now winds down the hill and rejoins the channel a little after the outlet of the No. 5 Tunnel. Both Wirths and Brennans tunnels are unlined and were built when economy was needed in order to finish the Coliban Water Scheme, the budget of which had been well and truly blown. The photo below, taken in the 1920's, appears on the cover of Philip Wilkin's previously cited publication (Wilkin 2012) and shows members of the Simmons family posing, quite daringly, at the outlet of Brennans tunnel. A present day view is included for comparison.

        A little way past the tunnel exit the channel approaches the first of the 'waterfalls', the official name for these structures being 'gradient checks' as they are built to withstand an appreciable drop of level within a short distance. 

     As you climb a hill, at least when the water is running in the channel, you gradually become aware of the roar of a waterfall, and at the top of the rise to your left is a lookout. Here you can see a stream of water pouring over the edge in a vertical sheet to race down a long chute. This is the first of two similar structures in this area. The photo below was taken around 1920. It's still much the same today.

    The brick structure shown in the foreground was once known as a horseshoe breakwater, a redolent and descriptive term. They're designed to absorb and dissipate the energy of rapidly flowing water. These days they're known as dissipators. 

    As you descend the track you will see that the old horseshoe breakwater has been modified. Instead of the water flowing through the ports in the breakwater, the channel has been rerouted sideways, not only to cut the rate at which the water descends, but to do away with the original wooden flume (which surely required continual maintenance). The photos below show the flume and how it appears today.

    The track passes below the horseshoe breakwater at Womans Gully and loops around, following the path of the more recently constructed channel. Philip Wilkin writes that this gully was known to locals as Old Woman's Gully, which suggests that an elderly, and presumably single, woman lived in its vicinity (Wilkin op. cit., p 59). The altering of place names may reflect changing social attitudes but it does risk erasing or obscuring local history.

    Little remains of this flume's outlet, just a few granite capping stones randomly placed. Not long ago a bulldozer, clearing the access track, scraped back the ground to reveal the original brick abutments. They may still be visible.        

    In about 400 m, as the track rises again, the noise of another waterfall can be heard. This structure is the even more spectacular Cuneens Gully drop chute. Here, there are two breakwaters or dissipators, although only one is still in use. There is now a locked gate barring access to the walkway on top of the still functioning breakwater. This is probably due to the deteriorating quality of the concrete top. It’s certainly a thrilling sight watching the water cascade down the long chute. 

Cuneens Gully drop chute ca. 1900

    

    Following the channel chute down the steeply sloping path you will see that the channel now takes a sharp bend to the left (west), looping around closer to the head of the gully and part of the earlier channel leading to the lowest horseshoe breakwater has been isolated. It overlooks Bryden Road next to the new picnic shelter built by the Dja Dja Wurrung Corporation.

    Before the channel was altered, the breakwater shown above emptied into a long wooden flume which carried the water over the road. This photo dates to around 1900. Compare it to the view today.

     This seems a perfect time to have a snack, or a sandwich, and a drink in the new shelter. After your break you can wander up to where the channel drops under the road. This is the end point for those walkers not continuing on. You will head back the way you came and perhaps be able to enjoy views you missed on the way up.

    Walkers who have arranged a car shuttle might choose to cross the creek here (which in a wet year is a tricky proposition) to keep to the channel. This the culvert outlet under Bryden Rd.

    However most walkers will choose the easier option and head back down Bryden Rd to the Coliban Channel access track to resume their journey northwards.

    Luckily quite a few photos have survived of the Cuneens Gully flume. Here's how it looked in the 1920's for the early traveller heading west, accompanied by a contemporary photo for comparison (photo, Wilkin op. cit., p 61).

    As can be seen, basket willows now choke Emu Creek, which make it impossible to recreate the early historical photos taken from the north side of Bryden Road. This is the flume looking south. (The photo at the head of the article is the same flume taken from roughly the same spot, but at a later date, given the wear on the cross boards in the foreground).

    Here is another of Phillip Wilkin's photos, again showing the flume from the north side of the road looking south (Wilkin op. cit., p61).

    If you'd like to examine the flume outlet (photo above), you will need to head back up to the channel via an old and rather overgrown side track.  

     The walk finishes with a relaxing 2km stroll to Blossett Drive, where your car awaits. There are one or two interesting historical features along the old bypassed section of the channel near Daley Lane but it may require a little effort to view them.       

Stormwater runoff, old channel, Daley Lane

Jonquils, Preston Vale