Rev. Robert Alexander Redmond B.A. (1869-1911)

The Redmond Memorial in Leura Mall

Robert Alexander Redmond was born on April 6, 1869 in Northern Ireland, the son of Samuel Redmond, farmer of Slievenaboley in County Down and Catherine (Piddock). In 1896 aged 27, he entered divinity studies at Assembly’s College, Belfast, the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland. In his final year he was awarded the blue ribbon of the college: the Magill Bursary for pulpit eloquence. He graduated BA in 1898, and received his licence to preach in 1901.

Rev Redmond was ordained on November 6, 1900 in First Broughshane congregation, one of the largest country congregations in Ulster, where he spent the next two years. During this time he applied himself to his work with such diligence that his health began to suffer and he applied for leave to travel to Australia to rest and recuperate. It appears from his marriage certificate, that he may have first gone to Scotland where he married his wife Sarah Wilson.

Rev Redmond travelled initially to New Zealand but came to NSW in 1904 with his wife Sarah (Wilson) and daughter Molly, and was appointed by the Home Mission Committee of the Presbyterian Church to minister to the Parish of Leura - Wentworth Falls. In 1905 he was inducted into the combined Presbyterian Churches of Leura and Wentworth Falls; and as a sign of his growing community involvement, was also listed as a founding member of the Katoomba & Leura Tourist Association when their inaugural guidebook was issued in the same year.

Widely regarded for his oratory; the power, the wit and the eloquence of the Irish rector could move an audience to laughter and tears, and they would come again and again to listen spellbound as he preached. Eloquence that was also believed to have contributed to the success of the record fundraising effort of ₤200 for extensions to the original 1898 sandstone church in Leura. In fact such was the popularity of his sermons that even after the Leura church was enlarged to twice its original size, it was often unable to accommodate the overflow congregation that flocked to his services to listen spellbound to his words. A congregation that included many Sydney residents with holiday homes in the Mountains, as well as those staying in guest houses, for whom a stirring Redmond sermon was among the highlights of their stay.

Panoramic photo of Leura Mall showing the Redmond memorial at the intersection
of Megalong Street (left) and St David's Presbyterian Church centre right

Rev Redmond was actively involved in the establishment of a golf club in Leura and was one of the first directors of the original company. When that company went out of business he set about raising capital for a new company. In an unpublished history of the Leura Golf Club, it states that 'Rev R A Redmond canvassed Sydney businessmen as well as local residents and his untiring efforts resulted in the amount of three thousand four hundred pounds being raised'. At the first general meeting of the Golf Links Estate held in 1909 he was elected a director, although he resigned the position later that same year.

However the health concerns that had prompted his trip to Australia again surfaced and in September 1911 he underwent surgery for stomach cancer, from which he never recovered and died quietly on November 11, 1911, aged 42. The official cause of death is listed as carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion over a period of seven months. His wife and daughter were away visiting Ireland at the time of his death and there is no record of their returning to Australia.

Interior of St David's Presbyterian church in Leura Mall
where Rev Redmond preached, lost in the 1957 bushfires  

The church in Leura was created in agreement with the Methodists and Congregationalists, who agreed to ‘confine their activities to Katoomba’. Although this rather artificial division worked amicably for a decade, eventually the increase of population compelled them to look after their own people in Katoomba. On 9 January 1911 a meeting in Katoomba declared that ‘the Presbyterian residents in Katoomba deem that the time has come for the establishment of a Presbyterian church’ and a committee of four was set up, consisting of the local minister, the Rev. R.A. Redmond, the prominent Katoomba doctor, Alexander Allan, J. Nimmo and L. Duff. Later in 1911 vacant land on the corner of Waratah and Lurline Streets was purchased and the local people decided to proceed to build ‘a substantial and ornate church’. Redmond had died in the course of 1911 and the building was to be called the Redmond Memorial Church. 

Following his death, a public subscription was launched to raise funds for a memorial in Leura Mall, on which the inscription reads:

Erected as a mark of esteem to the late

Rev R A Redmond, BA,

by the residents of Leura,

November 11th, 1911

The Blue Mountains Echo newspaper recorded the funeral on November 17, 1911:

   By the death of Rev. R. A. Redmond - news of which was received in town on Saturday - Leura loses one of her foremost citizens, and the Presbyterian Church a most eloquent and able preacher. The deceased gentleman had been associated in all movements for the advancement of the district, and his demise at so early an age will cause a vacancy difficult indeed to fill. A large number of representative townsfolk paid their last tribute to his memory on Monday when the funeral took place at Wentworth Falls. A well-worded reference to his untimely death was made by the Rev. W. Ellis at the Anglican Church on Sunday last. The hymn, “'Now the Laborer's Task is O'er”, was rendered by the choir, and at the evening service, Mr Inman played The Dead March in Saul.

Rev. Redmond's grave in Wentworth Falls Cemetery

The obituary in the Blue Mountains Echo reads as follows:

   Dead! And there's many a man could have been better spared, was the general verdict when the news flashed through from the city hospital that Rev. Redmond, the popular Presbyterian Pastor of Leura, had paid life's penalty - the victim of a malignant growth, which, for the past year, had caused him trouble.

   His death was not unexpected. It was well-known that the good man was booked for his last long journey, but nevertheless, a deep gloom settled over both centres when it was known that his spirit had fled. Rev. Redmond was a man of strong personality. He was a cultured and convincing preacher, and worked wonders for his Church in both Leura and Wentworth Falls. Blessed with a heart as big as a house, he had a large fund of sympathy for human frailties, and his good deeds, performed in every instance with almost apologetic secrecy, will live for ever with Leuraites. He was a happy combination of human and divine, and was beloved by all denominations on the Mountains.

   About a month ago he went to Sydney to undergo an operation. Although the surgeon's skill was successful, the sufferer never rallied, and on Saturday morning he was summoned to meet his Masses, for Whom he had laboured so loyally in this Vale. The funeral cortege started from Messrs Woods' Funeral Parlour, Sydney, at 7.45 am on Monday, and was entrained at 8.27 am for Wentworth Falls, several ministers and other friends accompanying it. At various stations en route, many of the deceased minister's co-Presbyters joined the train. On arrival at Wentworth Fails, a large number of people from his late charge and district were sorrowfully waiting.

   The Right Reverend, the Moderator of the State General Assembly (R. Kay, M.A.,), who had travelled from Germanton, joined with the Rev. James McKee, Moderator of deceased's Presbytery, headed the procession. These were followed by the members of the Presbytery, the Rev. Steel, M.A., J. Paterson, A. Dandie, W. R. Milne, H. Wilson, R. B. Garner and the Rev. Prof. Clouston and Rev. J. J. Gilmore.

   The Church at Wentworth Falls was overfilled with a sorrowful congregation. The suitable music was kindly arranged for by Rev. Mr Robison, C.E. Minister, whose organist officiated. Within the Church, where the coffin, covered with beautiful wreaths, rested, the Rev. J. McKee presided, prayers were offered by the Right Rev., the Moderator and Rev. J. Paterson, and the lesson was read by Rev. R. Steel. Upon leaving for the cemetery, the Ministers formed a double line, between which the coffin was borne to the hearse, and the procession, largest and most solemn ever seen at Wentworth Falls, wended its way to the last resting place of mortality. Here reverently the Rev J. McKee committed the body to the ground, which loving thought had beautifully carpeted and lined with ferns and white flowers.

   The resurrection lessons were read by the Rev. J. J Gilmore, and prayer was offered by Rev. H. Wilson. The Rev. Professor Clouston pronounced an eulogy on the beloved Minister, whose mortal remains were now consigned to the tomb. He referred to his success as a student and as a pastor of one of the largest and most important Churches in Ulster before threatening sickness urged him to come to Sunny New South Wales. He testified, as they all knew, to his success at Leura and Wentworth Falls, the Church at each place being a monument to his earnestness. Though dead, he would still speak to them, for the memory of one so singularly gifted and of such happy nature would remain green. Before the benediction was pronounced by Rev. W. R. Milne, it was announced that the Rev. J. J. Gilmore, a long-time friend of the late Mr Redmond, would conduct memorial services at Leura and Wentworth Falls on Sunday, 19th November. Mr W. Wood, Financial Secretary, and Rev. R. Steel made the arrangements for the funeral.

***

There are actually four local memorials to Rev Redmond: a wing in the Leura Fairways retirement village on land formerly held by Leura Golf Club was named the Robert Alexander Redmond Wing, a plaque on the wall of St Andrew’s Church at Wentworth Falls, a stained glass window in the former Presbyterian church in Katoomba, and the obelisk in Leura Mall. There is also a larger reminder of Rev Redmond in the form of the Katoomba Presbyterian Church on the corner of Waratah and Lurline Streets, which was built on land purchased with funds of ₤500 he had raised for the purpose before his death. The church cost ₤2,000 to build and was opened on 25 January 1914. Subsequently a Church Hall was built for ₤600 and a manse purchased for ₤2,500.

St David's Presbyterian Church, Leura Mall in the 1950s

The Redmond obelisk was designed by E P Andreas of Leuralla "in the form of an obelisk in freestone, upon a blue stone base, bearing upon the apex two bracket lamps". A committee of ladies, including Mrs Andreas, was asked to choose a suitable site, probably in the Mall. The obelisk was originally located at the intersection of the Mall with Megalong Street and held two small, rather dim, copper lamps on brackets. The Echo newspaper complained as early as 1913 that "from a utilitarian point of view, it is very nearly a failure, the old lamp post adjacent disseminating more light to the acre than the monument does to the square inch". As a result, in 1914, the twin lamps were replaced with a "single modern lamp of high candle power". The lamps appear to have been removed at the time it was relocated to its present location on the median strip around 1930.

It now stands opposite the old Post Office building in Leura Mall, on a grassy bank among the flowering cherry trees in Spring; where picnickers and tourists relax, enjoying the sunshine. Few if any noticing the now weathered, ornate stone column, dedicated to the young, fervent Irish preacher once so beloved by his flock.

References:

* Ye Are God’s Building, a centenary history of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wentworth Falls NSW, 1905-2005, by Eve Sinclair, 2006.

* Blue Mountains Echo newspaper, November 17, 1911

* Redmond Memorial, Blue Mountains Heritage Inventory, 2001
-  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1170402
* Katoomba Presbyterian Church. (1913, July 25). The Blue Mountain Echo (NSW : 1909 - 1928), , p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119291942
*  "Presbyterian Church." The Mountaineer (Katoomba, NSW : 1894 - 1908) 11 December 1903: 4. Web. 14 Apr 2016 .

Acknowledgement:

Prof L S Kirkpatrick, Union Theological College, Belfast, correspondence 2009.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

Blue Mountains City Library, 2010

Kingsford Smith Memorial Park and Wadi Shaifa, Katoomba

The park sits in a natural gully amphitheater near Katoomba railway station bounded by Gang-Gang Street, Lurline Street and William Street. It covers portions 52 and 53 originally granted to James Henry Neal in 1877-78.

1930s tourist guide entry for Wadi Shaifa

Wadi Shaifa
Until the park was acquired by Blue Mountains City Council in 1921, the area was known as Hudson’s Gully or Hudson’s Park, from the family who had owned most of the surrounding land. Their nearby home, Wadi Shaifa, still overlooks the park at 2 Lurline Street. Mary Davidson Hudson nee Talbot married Ernest A K Hudson in 1900, and with their sons Ron, Kenneth, Cyril and Laurence and daughter Dorothy, moved to Katoomba around 1910, acquired part of portion 52 in 1914 and built the house in 1916. The rate book entry for that year shows the value of the house to be ₤2,100.

Ernest purchased the bankrupt emporium business of Mullaney & Co. in Main Street and soon became known as a live-wire and a fighting force in the Bowling Club, the Jockey Club, the Rifle Club, the School of Arts, the Show Society and other posts, the business however failed to prosper. He had formerly held the rank of Captain in the NSW Lancers and in 1915 re-enlisted in the ANZAC Mounted division, and with his horse Tango, served in Egypt and Palestine in WW1. In 1917, he was posted to Divisional HQ with the rank of Major. Henry Gullett described him in the official war history as “the most effective supply officer in adverse circumstances in all Palestine”, he was decorated DSO and mentioned in despatches three times, he died in Palestine of Pneumonia in 1918.

Subdivision plan, Wadi Shaifa is located on lot 1.

The name Wadi Shaifa commemorates a battle in Egypt about 150 km west of El Alamein described in The War Effort of New Zealand, by W S Austin 1923. The Light Horse was there, with the Kiwis, the Sikhs and the Scots, so perhaps Major Ernie Hudson was too. Major-General Wallace transferred his headquarters from Alexandria to Matruh on December 7th, 1915, and four days later had his first encounter with the Senussi forces. From five to six miles south of Matruh is a tableland some 300 feet high, dropping to the coastal strip in a steep escarpment. The outline of the plateau is irregular, and ten miles to the west of Matruh, it is only two miles from the sea. Intersecting the escarpment at right angles are numerous ancient watercourses, or wadis, which are steep, dry and rocky, and in some cases miles in length.

In one or other of these wadis, the enemy would establish a temporary stronghold. Hudson had been located at Wadi Senaab, eight miles to the westward, and on December 11th, a column moved out to attack his position. The Yeomanry, aided by a squadron of Australian Light Horse, inflicted over 100 casualties and cleared the wadi. The force, which included the Sikhs, camped on the ground won. Being reinforced by the Royal Scots, the column started again on the 13th for a spot 12 miles farther west to engage the enemy, but in crossing Wadi Shaifa, was itself attacked by a force of 1,200, with artillery and machine-guns. The enemy was defeated, however, leaving 180 dead, and was pursued until dark, when the column returned to Matruh.

Following her husband's death, Mrs Hudson ran Wadi Shaifa as flats from the 1920s through the 1950s; she died in 1968 aged 88. It still operates as flats today, one of which was sold in 2009 for $260,000.

Kingsford Smith Park
Hudson’s Gully was in effect the front garden of Wadi Shaifa, when Katoomba Council resumed the land for a park in 1935. After removal of the blackberries and rubbish, it was landscaped by Mr Robert Robinson according to a plan drawn up a Mr Kerr of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. The labour force was composed of men on unemployment relief and the stone for the many retaining walls was carted in from the surrounding bushland. Robinson, originally from Lancashire, also built the gardens at Sans Souci and Leuralla, and was the head gardener for Katoomba Municipal Council.

1940s view of the entry pavilion with scale model of Southern Cross in a pivoting base

The park's first name, in 1935, was Jubilee Park to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. This however was changed only a year later to Kingsford Smith Memorial Park and Playground, in honour of the pioneer Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935).

In 1928, Kingsford Smith, in the aircraft Southern Cross, with co-pilot Charles Ulm, and navigation crew Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, had made the first trans-pacific flight from San Francisco to Brisbane, with refuelling stops at Hawaii and Fiji. Leaving Oakland Field on 31 May, they crossed the coast over Ballina at dawn on 8 June and turned north along the coast for Brisbane to refuel, landing at Eagle Farm. They then flew south to Sydney on the same day, where they were welcomed by a crowd of 300,000 people at Mascot.

Smith and Ulm had spent over 83 hours in the air in an open cockpit, numbed by cold and lashed by storms, without sleep and deafened for several days after the flight by the engine noise. Being unable to hear, the only way they could communicate with each other and with Lyon and Walker in the cabin behind was via pencilled notes passed between them, these jottings on scrap paper are now preserved in the State Library of NSW. On 8 November 1935, Smithy, at the age of only 38, was killed when he crashed into the sea near Aye Island in the Bay of Bengal, while making an attempt on the England-Australia speed record in the Lady Southern Cross, only the nose wheel of the plane was recovered.

Panorama of the park in 1938

On 7 March 1938, Lord Wakehurst, Governor of NSW, dedicated the entrance pavilion with a slate plaque, the lintel bearing the words Kingsford Smith Memorial Park. This was topped with a hemispherical metal dome showing a relief map of Australia, with a two foot scale model of Southern Cross, constructed by Mr Evan Cork of Randwick, mounted above it . In 1939 Katoomba Council constructed the band rotunda and public lavatories at a cost of ₤329 in time for the official opening on 1 January 1940, by the Hon. L. O. Martin, KCMG, Minister for Works and Local Government, a brass plaque on the pavilion commemorates this.

The entrance gates are particularly striking - four stone pillars supporting a dome in the form of a map of the world fixed on a pivot on top of the dome is an aluminum model of the famous Southern Cross so finely is it adjusted that the model turns with each puff of wind, and it takes little more than a puff to put the twin propellers in motion. Ref: SJ Bentley, Springwood Hist Soc Bulletin July 1978

1940s view of rotunda and early plantings

The park is one of many memorials throughout Australia to its courageous pioneer aviator, an unparalleled breaker of long-distance records, a trailblazer and remarkable visionary, and a man whose party trick after singing and playing the ukulele, was to drink a glass of beer while standing on his head.

The inaugural Carols by Candlelight was held 8.00 pm to midnight on Christmas Eve 1947, under the auspices of radio station 2GB with proceeds going to Blue Mountains Hospital. By then the park had an ornamental pond and a children’s playground.

1947 Carols by Candlelight program

Over the next 40 years, the park gradually fell into disuse and disrepair until local residents began to lobby Council to fund improvements and maintenance. In July 1987 high winds tore the dome from its base on the entry pavilion, it was repaired and replaced five months later. At the same time a scale profile of Southern Cross replaced the scale model, which had been vandalised and removed some years before. The original model was located in pieces and missing its two wing motors, in the old Albion Street Council depot in 1985.

In 1991 a friends group was formed and a carnival and parade were staged. Restoration of the gardens and rotunda was commenced in 1993, and since the inception of the Winter Magic Festival in 1994 and the Blue Mountains Music Festival in 1996, it has regained some of its earlier popularity as a music venue and picnic spot, weather permitting.

In 1998, a landslip caused by a leaking water main resulted in extensive damage, and a $300,000 repair bill. Around this time, there were also numerous complaints from nearby residents, of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in the park, which were addressed with tree and foliage thinning, security lighting and police patrols.

In 2001 the entry pavilion became unstable and was dismantled and re-erected on new foundations and reinforced pillars with a rebuilt retaining wall.

Kingsford Smith Park is one of three aviator memorials in Katoomba, the others being Bert Hinkler Park in Lurline Street and Melrose Park in North Katoomba named after Charles James (Jimmy) Melrose (1913-1936) the only solo flier to finish the 1934 Melbourne Centenary Air race.

Images from top:
1. 1930s tourist guide entry for Wadi Shaifa
2. Subdivision plan, Wadi Shaifa is located on lot 1.
3. 1940s view of the entry pavilion with scale model of Southern Cross
4. Panorama of the park in 1938
5. 1940s view of rotunda and early plantings
6. 1947 Carols by Candlelight program

See also a set by Merryjack

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
Blue Mountains City Library, 2009

Eurama & Weemala at Faulconbridge

Eurama
This burnt out building ruin on the side of the south side of the Great Western Highway at Faulconbridge, was once a grand house with a tower, built for a wealthy businessman named Andrew McCulloch, in the early 1880s. The stone used in its construction was quarried nearby and the work was carried out by a well known local stonemason, Patrick (Paddy) Ryan. McCulloch furnished his country house using the exclusive Sydney firm of Lyon Cottier and Co. The property boasted a tennis court, flag-staff, landscaped gardens and an ornamental lake, made by damming a gully.

McCulloch named his new residence “Weemala”, an Aboriginal word said to mean “expansive view”, and spent the next few years developing the grounds. However, at the end of the 1880s, he began to experience financial difficulties and sold the property to J.W. Cliff in 1889.


When Cliff sold the property, then totaling about 113 acres in 1907, the new owner, a solicitor named George Evans, changed the name to “Eurama”, said to be a Greek word meaning much the same as the earlier Aboriginal one. Evans had also purchased the neighbouring house, “Numantia”, a wooden cottage adjacent to the railway line with its own rail platform, It had been built in 1877 by Sir James Martin, and to this he transferred the name “Weemala”. This has proved to be a source of great confusion and many people today still refer to “Eurama” as “Weemala”.


When George Evans died “Eurama” passed to his daughter, Mrs Emily Ethel McLaurin. It was later sold to Mrs Katherine Nathan in the 1920s and around 1930, to Mrs Daisy Brown. Following Mrs Brown’s death the building was left vacant for a time and suffered from some vandalism. Over the ensuing decades many owners had their dreams cut short. The Great Depression, the Great War, and other hard times, falling on the owners. In the early 1960s, the then owner, Mr Adams, set about restoring the decaying property. Restoration had been completed just prior to the disastrous bushfires of 1968. The fire consumed the house in all its grandeur and the building remains a ruin today.

As a postscript to the “Eurama” story, the Blue Mountains City Library was given permission by Mr. Watkins, the then owner, to stage an open air children’s adventure theatre performance among the ruins during the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. With the ruins as a backdrop the property proved a most effective site for this project.


Numantia - Weemala
The site of "Numantia" later "Weemala", is now situated close to the rail line behind a high stone wall. The cottage originally on this site was erected about 1877 for Sir James Martin K.C.M.G. It was to be his country residence which he named "Numantia", the name being a region in Spain. It has been said that Sir James thought the countryside here similar to that of its Iberian namesake.

It was a wooden house set behind a high stone wall on land Sir James had acquired from Sir Henry Parkes, and it was his intention to build a huge mansion after he had built this small wooden cottage. The grand mansion never eventuated - the foundations only were laid. They were later removed  c.1914-18 and reused in the foundations for “Banool”, now “The Bungalow” on the corner of Martin Place at Linden.

In 1876 a railway platform was erected to service the well-to-do residents of the area. It became the Numantia Platform, but ceased operation in 1892 with the platform being removed in 1897.

In 1898 Adolphus Rogalsky purchased Numantia and it was he who changed the name to Weemala. This coincided with the name change for the other Weemala to Eurama.

The high stone wall of “Numantia”, later “Weemala”, still stands. The cottage was destroyed by bushfire in December 1977. Since then a new three bedroom brick veneer cottage has been erected behind the stone wall.

To summarise:
Weemala (1880s) became Eurama (1907)
Numantia (1877) became Weemala (1907)






Photos from the Blue Mountains City Library collection, from the McLaurin family album.
1. Ruins of Eurama after 1968 bushfires
2. Ornamental lake, Eurama
3. Emily Ethel McLaurin
4. Eurama in its heyday
5. Map of Eurama and Weemala c1920, Local Studies map collection.

Link to Weemala Heritage Listing

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian 2015, Blue Mountains City Library

The Giant Stairway, Echo Point, Katoomba

First Steps
At 540 metres in length, with 911 steps hewn from the cliff face and 32 steel staircases, the aptly named Giant Stairway drops almost 300 metres to the floor of the Jamieson Valley below the Three Sisters. At the official opening in 1932, the Newcastle Morning Herald saw it as a "triumph of nerve and skill", while the Sydney Morning Herald concluded that "patience and courage have had their reward".

Such comments, made in relation to the official opening of both the Giant Stairway and the Projecting Platform at Echo Point on Saturday October 1, 1932, were among many offering tribute to Ranger McKay, the man who almost two decades previously had conceived the idea of a track linking the cliff top at Echo Point with the Federal Pass below.

James Henry McKay was born in Balmain on December 4, 1869 and died in Katoomba on September 12, 1947. He appears to have been the third ranger employed to care for reserves in the Katoomba area, following in the steps of John Smith and Charles Deeves. His appointment as Chief Ranger in 1901 came a year after the opening of the Federal Pass, which traversed the valley floor between Katoomba Falls and Leura Falls, an event representative of a new phase in the leisure use of the Blue Mountains. Gaining full time employment with Katoomba Council may have also helped Jim McKay make up his mind in 1902 to marry Emily Cole, a twenty year old widow and mother of four, and have six more children; William 1903, Letitia 1904, Isabel 1908, Dorothy 1910, Edna 1914 and Laura 1921. Emily’s daughter Ruby Cole, born 1901, was killed in Katoomba in 1910 by a kick from a horse; her father Henry Cole had died in a fall from a horse outside the Katoomba Railway Hotel in 1902. Both were attended by Dr John Spark; Henry and Ruby Cole share an unmarked grave in Katoomba cemetery.

Prior to 1890, the development of the Blue Mountains bushland for the benefit of visitors had been concentrated primarily on the cliff tops - constructing lookout access to the most popular views. The 1890s and early 20th century saw interest moving downwards into the valleys with the emphasis placed now on the active enjoyment of walking. Track-walking remained the primary motive behind the development of the area for leisure until the 1930s, when the motor car, speeding from sight to sight with its cargo of ‘sightseers’, revolutionised tourism and re-directed attention once again to the cliff edge. Indeed, Echo Point, with its Giant Stairway down into the valley and its Projecting Platform looking out over the valley, could be said to represent both the end of one era and the beginning of another.

It was from the Dardanelles track that, in 1914, he conceived his idea of a new pass that would junction with the Three Sisters at Echo Point. Scoffed at initially, his project eventually received Council approval in July 1916 following an all-day inspection of the reserves by the Reserves Committee (Aldermen C.L. Dash, G. James, G. Davies and R.V. Smythe), In their report to Council, they recommended "that it be left in the hands of Chief Ranger McKay to construct a new track from the vicinity of Echo Point to connect with Federal Pass at a point below the Three Sisters". Council adopted the report and the work began under the direction of McKay, his assistant Walter Botting and their team of labourers, which included Reubin Esgate, father of the noted Mountains identity Ben Esgate.

An article in the "Blue Mountain Echo" in 1916 reports that McKay "took to the work from the first" and with a dedication few could match today. On one occasion, the writer asserts, his wages were eight months in arrears and he survived only on large credit accounts with local stores. Before he began work on the Giant Stairway, the Federal Pass had 1,764 steps, 500 of which were in reasonable condition. By 1916, McKay had increased this to 6,464 steps, including a new track from near Bull's Head, which skirted the cliffs and led to the top of the Leura Cascades and he planned and opened the Dardanelles section of the Federal Pass. In 1908 he had led the construction of the Furber Steps, his first great stairway into the Jamison Valley.


Delay... then renewed interest
After proceeding for almost a quarter of the distance, however, the work of hacking the steps from the sheer cliff face was deemed too costly by Council and the project was brought to a halt in August 1918 and in 1922 Council's Chief Engineer estimated that a further 300 steps needed to be cut. The whole idea then lapsed for over a decade.

In the early 1930s, Harry Phillips, the noted Mountains photographer, published a small pamphlet outlining his suggestions for the future tourist development of Katoomba. Among these was the completion of the Giant Stairway which, he argued, "Can be completed at a small outlay; it leads directly into the most prolific and prettiest Fern Glen Forest in the Jamieson Valley, Leura, where magnificent motor tracks and camping areas can and should be, opened up immediately." Following vigorous agitation on the part of Alderman W.C. Soper, a close friend of Phillips, a renewed interest in the scheme was awakened early in 1932. A motion put before Council by Soper was passed and work, again under the control of Chief Ranger McKay, recommenced. This proceeded with sufficient speed for a decision to be made in July to arrange for the official opening to take place on the first weekend of October. An extensive publicity campaign under the direction of the Town Clerk, Mr. F.C. Taylor, was set in motion, circularising the provincial and city press, various radio stations and arranging with Cinesound to make it, as the Katoomba Daily put it, "a boost day for Katoomba".

Official Opening
The official opening duly took place at 3.30 p.m. on the Saturday of the Eight Hour Weekend. Following the speeches of welcome by the Mayor Alderman A.E. Packer, and the local members of Parliament, Hon. J. Jackson, Minister for Local Government and Mr. J.N. Lawson M.H.R., The Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. B.S.B. Stevens, responded and declared both the Giant Stairway and the Projecting Platform open. In his speech, the Premier paid tribute to those who carried out the hard physical work, work that on occasions was so dangerous that they had to be roped to prevent them falling. He praised their skill and courage and assured them that "they will always have the satisfaction of knowing that their initiative and labour will bring pleasure to countless thousands in the years to come", and to "have shaken the hand of Chief Ranger McKay made this a memorable day".

The ceremonies over, the huge crowd witnessed an exciting exhibition of rock-climbing by three members of the Blue Mountaineers Club: Dr. Eric Dark, Mr. Osmar White and Mr. Paddy Ellis.

"These intrepid mountaineers first appeared on the sheer wall of the western precipice about 4.00 p.m. and quickly ascended 500 feet of cliff face to the summit of the Second Sister, where the Australian Flag was flown. The descent proved even more spectacular and although the climbers did not take any unnecessary risks, and were on no occasion in danger of falling, many of the spectators literally held their breaths as they witnessed the amazing ascent of the beetling crags". (Katoomba Daily).

While the motor car was ushering in a new era of leisure activity in the mountains, which reduced somewhat the popularity of walking tracks, the Giant Stairway, though perhaps representative of this earlier phase, has, with its panoramic views and as a companion to the Scenic Railway, survived as a popular tourist attraction for the eight decades since its completion. As a memorial to the work and vision of Chief Ranger Jim McKay, and others like him, its value to the Blue Mountains is even further enhanced.



Photos
Top: Chief Ranger Jim McKay poses on the Stairs with his assistant Walter Botting (Harry Phillips photo).
Second: McKay with workers, showing use of picks, hammers and chisels to cut back rock prior to step making.
Third: The official party, The Premier Sir Bertram Stevens 4th from right, the man in the bowler hat at rear is Percy Wilson, President of Blue Mountains Shire.
Bottom: The crowd at the official opening, Echo Point.



References:
"The Giant Stairway 1932-1982", by John Low, Blue Mountains City Library 1982.
"The Giant Stairway", by Keith Painter, Mountain Mist Books 2005.
"Walking the Federal Pass, the first 100 years", by Jim Smith, Den Fenella Press 2001.

John Low, John Merriman, Local Studies Librarians.
Blue Mountains City Library 2009

Stratford Girls' School, Lawson

Stratford Girls School, San Jose Ave. Lawson

The original building with its three floor levels and tower was constructed in 1879 and named “San Jose”, by Joseph (Jose) Guillermo Hay, an official in the Lands Department, who had received a grant of 300 acres at Lawson the previous year. In the 1880s Hay took advantage of the Mountains’ new and growing reputation as a health and recreation retreat, and by 1882 the name “San Jose” had the words “The Blue Mountains Sanatorium” added to it and described in a local guidebook as “the best for private families” and “with grounds laid out with romantic paths in all directions”. In 1889 Hay applied for a publican’s licence for the property then known as “Hay’s Family Hotel”, described as having fourteen rooms for public use. During the 1890s the property was acquired by John Ralston who ran it as a guesthouse known as “The Palace” for the next two decades until, in 1919, it eventually took the name and function for which it is best known.

The original Stratford School was founded in Lawson in 1915 by Miss Effie Townsend Wiles, known as Edith, who began classes with six pupils in a rented cottage named Tahlia, on the Bathurst Road as the highway was then known. By 1919 the old cottage was “bursting at the seams” and a move became imperative. The school made the move across the highway and railway line taking the name “Stratford School for Girls” with it. In 1924 Miss Wiles and her sister, who was also a member of staff, purchased the building from the Ralston estate and were then able to make additions and alterations to accommodate the school.

When Miss Wiles died in 1930, the enrolment was 49 girls of which 31 were boarders, five girls sat for the Intermediate Certificate exam and two girls sat the Leaving Certificate. Control then passed to the Stratford School Council and subsequently, in 1936, to the Church of England, and the school entered its heyday as “Stratford Church of England School for Girls”.

“The development of capable Christian gentlewomen in an exceptionally healthy, bracing and invigorating climate” - that was the promise of Stratford School, to prospective students and parents in the 1940s-50s. According to a 1950s school prospectus, boarders at Stratford enjoyed an atmosphere of individuality and co-operation. Pupils were “fitted for practical business”, whilst encouraged to regard life from the stand-point of high ideals and to further their studies at the university.

Stratford’s curriculum, extending from primary to leaving certificate, included scripture, English, history, geography, French, Latin, mathematics, physiology, biology, business principles, book-keeping, art, handicrafts and speech training. Music and singing also featured as an important part of school life and students could choose to sit for Australian Music Examinations Board grade exams.

The girls wore an attractive grey uniform, but jewelry was strictly forbidden, with the gracious exception of the school badge and a wrist watch. Money was also controlled, with all funds going to a pocket money account. Statements on expenditure for outings, church collections and incidentals were issued to parents. There were three school terms, each 13 weeks long, though the girls were allowed one weekend mid-term to visit relations or friends. Travel to and from Sydney for vacations and mid-term holidays, was always supervised by a mistress from the school.

During term, visitors were allowed, by arrangement with the headmistress, but no student could accept invitations without written permission from her parents. Non-vacation weekends were devoted to healthy activities and visits to places of interest in the district. As with most Mountains boarding schools of the era, great emphasis was placed on fresh air, healthy diet and wholesome activities. The dining room menu boasted copious quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, home¬made jams and preserves and plenty of milk. Prospectus photographs showed bright, healthy young ladies, poised with grace and decorum in the dining room, clearly enjoying their healthy, wholesome meal.

Recreation was also high on the list at Stratford with tennis, netball, Vigoro and swimming at the nearby Lawson Pool offered to all pupils. The girls were accommodated in bedrooms for two and four boarders and there is also mention of a fine glassed-in balcony with an eastern aspect which appears to have housed a few beds as well. During the winter, swimming lessons were abandoned and wood fires were lit in the assembly hall and classrooms. Stratford girls, unlike their counterparts at Osborne College, Blackheath, were also afforded the privilege of a hot water service. The prospectus makes no mention of students’ academic records, but in the early 1950s, following a report by the Department of Education; the school was reduced to Intermediate Certificate level.

The 1957 fees brochure shows that the Leaving Certificate had been reinstated and announced the launch of a building fund to raise ₤5,000 for the erection of new and modern classrooms and to “gain help for Stratford to develop along modern lines.” Two coaches from the Lawn Tennis Association had joined the staff to provide coaching to pupils for which a fee of ₤2.10.0 per term was charged. It appears however that all this was unsuccessful, so with the buildings and furniture run down, changing trends in education and competition from Public schools and other private schools such as Blue Mountains Grammar at Wentworth Falls - Stratford finally closed in 1961.

In 1966, the building was sold to a Sydney couple, who refurbished the interior to house wedding receptions, dinners and private patties. The establishment lasted until the late 1970s, when in 1977, the Blue Mountains Community School moved in with 18 students, a new teacher and Government grants for a library and mini-bus.

By 1980, the building was owned by brothers Lionel and Vivian Coleman of Sydney, but there would be no more tenants for Stratford. On June 4, 1980, as the result of an electrical fault, the building was gutted by fire. Today, the only reminder of Stratford’s former glory is a large stenciled sign on the building's tower, the rest has gone. The remains of the building, except for the tower section, were demolished by a developer in the early 1990s. No further move has been made, at the time of writing, to develop the site, which is listed on the local heritage register.

Stratford at Tahlia and the Japanese Cherry Tree
In 1915 the first home of the school was the rented cottage Narbethong on Bathurst road, then until 1919 at a house named Kawarree, later known as Tahlia House, situated near the Lawson Community Hall. In 2008 Talia was threatened by road widening plans for Lawson and was re-sited back from the highway alignment by the RTA. While the school occupied Tahlia, in 1916, Woodford resident Toranosuki Kitamura, manager of Kinematsu (Australia) Ltd, imported a Yedoensis flowering cherry tree which he planted at the school as a token of respect for the high quality of education his three daughters, Jean, Una and Beth had received. The tree thrived for many years but due to its age and poor health could not be moved to make way for traffic. However over 100 young trees were successfully propagated from cuttings which are to be incorporated into landscape plans for the new highway and town centre. In 2002 a farewell ceremony for the old cherry tree was organised by a former Stratford student from the 1940s, Mrs Kathleen Hooke nee Barwick, and attended by the Japanese Consul General, the Mayor and the Member for Blue Mountains, local councillors and the grandchildren of Mr Kitamura.

Headmistresses of Stratford Girls School
1908 - Miss Effie WILES, known as Edith,“a woman of high ideals and rare courage.”
Effie Wiles, the daughter of a Methodist Minister, the Rev Henry Wiles, was educated at the Maitland High School and at Burwood Methodist Ladies’ College. In 1908 she opened a small school at Lawson, in a cottage called Narbethong. At first there were six pupils, but it was not long before larger premises became necessary and Miss Wiles opened the school in a larger cottage named Kawaree, and it was she who chose the name ‘Stratford’(SMH April 1930).

1919 – Move to the building in San Jose Ave.
Miss Wiles and her sister moved from the rented house to Stratford School for more class rooms. Later teachers were Mrs Senga Erratt, nee Rose, a pupil of Miss Wiles and also a gifted musician and a triple certificated nurse; Mrs Tibbits (nee Plummer) and Lady G. Cassidy, nee Waterhouse, a former Stratford School captain, were pupils of Miss Wiles.

1929 - Placed under management of Stratford School Council

1930-33 - Mrs Jeanette ASHTON
When Mrs Ashton became the new Headmistress in April 1933 the pupils still were devastated by the news of Miss Wiles’ death. She found the fiancial situation difficult and eventually left in 1933. A small committee had been formed to address the financial situation and it was agreed that £100 be borrowed from the Diocesan Education and Book Society on the personal guarantee of Mr R Allen and the Rev F H B Dillon

1934-35 - Miss Rita J ALLAN
In l936, the Rev Barwick was asked to leave the Kurrajong Parish and to come to Lawson to become the Treasurer of the Stratford Council. In the same year, the Archbishop, the Most Rev HWK Mowll D.D. asked Miss GML Watkins to consider becoming the Headmistress of Stratford School, she ‘graciously consented’ to accept the position as Headmistress.

1936 – 1948 Miss Gertrude Mary Lethbridge WATKINS
Miss Watkins exerted a unique presence throughout the school by her kindly smile, a quiet nature and yet maintaining strong discipline and by her long and saintly leadership, as well as her Sunday evening ‘Devotions’ conducted by her in her lounge for the Boarders with discussion of problems and the sermon of the Rector delivered at the Church that morning.

All helped to ‘mould’ the school together into a ‘more or less’ unified whole. She had been in charge of the ‘Holmer’ School, in Parramatta for about 10 years (1915 -1925) and then there is a break between 1925 and 1935. She may have gone to Bedford College, London to do extra teacher training there. She started at Stratford Girls’ School, Lawson early in 1936.

On her staff were the following:

Senior School: Miss M C Day, Miss Jean Frazer, Mrs A L Gorrod, Miss A. Howard, Miss I A Sawkins, Mr Bernard Schleicher BA Oxon.(languages, mathematics, history, ref. John Low).

Junior School: Miss Blaikie, Miss B M Holt, Miss R Missing and Miss G E Waring (ref. Autograph Book of K H Hooke).

The Assistant Headmistress, House Mother, Music Teacher and Matron was Miss Lilian Murray, from Wellington and Kelso, who was at the school in Miss Wiles’ time and then continued till 1952 and died on 23rd June 1953, age about 24 years.
Miss Watkins wished to retire at the end of 1947 but there was no successor to replace her so she offered to stay until there was someone who would continue her work. All this was done for 13 years without any salary! (ref. Kathleen Hooke)

1949 – 1950 Miss Nina BRENTNALL B.A. died 1984
Miss Brentnall was chosen by the newly elected Stratford Council and warmly congratulated after the first few months of her being in office, in registering the school, reintroducing inter school Sports and for getting a new Playing Field for the girls. Though the girls had to help in the kitchen in making meals, maintaining discipline seemed to prove difficult and the school seemed to be on the wane after Miss Watins left. She extended her time at the school till another
headmistress was chosen. On her staff: were the following Miss Adam, Miss Carnarole, Mrs Eastman, Miss Graham, Miss Daphne Kellet (3rd Class Art and Drama, Shakespearean plays), Miss Parr, Miss Thomson and Miss Nancy Walsh (ex C.M.S. India).

1951 – 1956 Mrs Helen McT WAYNE
Mrs Wayne improved the appearance of the school with painting and new furniture, and the Inspector of Education was impressed with the educational standard of the school, but it was reduced to the Intermediate Certificate Level. ‘A lovely
person’ (ref Miss J. Thomas) Mrs Wayne resigned in Dec. 1955 after being there for 9 as a teacher and 5 as Headmistress, 14 years in all. (ref. Kathleen Hooke)
1956 (1st and 2nd terms) MISS Mary THOMSON B.A. Work greatly appreciated by the School Council, lived out of the school grounds.

1956 (3rd term) Mrs Deirdre HAYTER The Council acknowledged that she had worked untiringly.


1957 (January) 1959 Miss Judith THEWLIS, B.Sc. Dip.Ed.
Miss Thewlis was appointed by the Council. She insisted on the wearing of gloves when girls left the school grounds, she also introduced a new summer uniform, a beautiful cotton frock with a window frame check, in blue and gold, and no white dresses for Speech Day to save expense. She fell down some polished stairs and broke some bones and then died of pneumonia just 42 years of age (1960). She was greatly loved and sorely missed. On her staff were the following: Mrs Baker (Primary 1st to 4th class), Miss Gwen Thompson (English and History), Mr Trask, from Penrith, teaching Etiquette. Stratford almost burnt down. A miracle that it was saved. (ref. Kathleen Hooke)

1959 – Miss Bannerman (Ascot Aggie, her brand of cigarettes, thanks to Kerrie McNamara)

1961 – School closes

Stratford School Song
The mountains are rolling around us,
And the blue sky is arching above.
Stands the old Stratford grammar at Lawson,
The school that we honour and love.
Chorus:
Stratford, Stratford the school of the blue and gold,
Gold for the sunshine and blue for the mountain tops cold.

The future lies glorious before us,
And though we are eager to try -
Its pleasures, we’re all of us ready
For the duties that close to us lie.
Chorus: repeat

Though all of us cannot be clever,
We all can be useful and kind.
Or learning to cherish forever,
The treasures of spirit and mind.
Chorus: repeat

Whether defeated of winning,
Heads high we shall smile and press on.
‘Til at last we shall sigh to remember,
Our school days at Stratford are done.
Chorus: repeat

End

Fees 1957
Boarders
Primary per term ₤85.0.0
Secondary per term ₤88.0.0
Laundry per term ₤3.10.0
Yearly linen fee ₤2.2.0
Entrance fee ₤3.3.0

*****

References
Stratford School Headmistresses, notes by Kathleen Hooke, 2000
Stratford Prospectus, Anglican Diocese of Sydney, c.1950
Stratford Girls School – Local Studies clippings file, Blue Mountains City Library

Images from top
1: Stratford ruins after the fire, photographed by Neil Billington(1983) for Blue Mountains City Library.

2: Advertising poster for San Jose, The Blue Mountain Sanatorium, note Blue Mountain was the earlier name for Lawson from the 1840s until 1879.

3: Stratford girls in uniform (centre) at the opening of the relief map of Australia at Lawson swimming pool 1932, Lawson public school pupils on left and Percy Wilson, Blue Mountains Shire President, in bowler hat with his wife on the bridge; a Stratford mistress appears to be with them on left of bridge. The cement model was constructed by Mr Frank Higgison (1909-1943) of 35 Allen St Lawson, who was to die on the Sandakan Death March on Borneo. Frank may be present in the photo, he would have been about 23 at the time.

4: Stratford about 1960, colour slide by Milton Porter from the Local Studies Collection.

5: Miss Judith Thewlis, photo courtesy Mrs M E Patrick, Local Studies collection.

Note, July 2010: Kathleen Hooke (nee Barwick) died in October 2009 having published her memoirs of Straford as:
Hooke K.H. (2008) Blue Mountains Heritage and Nostalgia including Stratford Church of England School for Girls, Lawson and Memoirs. Self published, Kathleen H Hooke, 2008, Printed by Cliff Lewis Printing, Sydney. 585pp
Thanks for Brian Fox for this reference.
Further helpful information regarding Miss Wiles was supplied by Nancy Donald.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
Blue Mountains City Library 2009

The White Cross at Mt York

THE WHITE CROSS AT MOUNT YORK

For many years one of the Blue Mountains’ most distinctive landmarks was a large white cross on the cliff-edge at Mount York which could be glimpsed from the highway between Little Hartley and Victoria Pass. Although now removed, the cross has been a continuing source of speculation and enquiry since its erection early in the 20th century. It stood facing west, just off the Mount York road, some distance before the obelisk which marks the western descent of the explorers, Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813.

The cross was formed of a large upright and transverse steel girder bolted together, and was erected about 1911 by Henry Marcus Clark (1859-1913) who founded the business known as Marcus Clark & Co. Ltd. From a modest start in the Sydney suburb of Newtown in 1883, Marcus Clark & Co rose to become one of the city's largest department stores with a network of branches in towns and suburbs across Australia.

The cross commemorated the death, on April 1st 1899 of his son Byron Henry Clark at the site of their Mount York home known as "Drachenfels", which stood near the cliff edge facing Victoria Pass. The house and its extensive outbuildings, coach-house and orchard were lost in a bushfire in 1902.

On the day of the tragedy, Mr. Clark was in Sydney, while his second wife Georgina and several friends were staying at "Drachenfels". Two of the Clark children, Hazel, aged 14 and Roland, 10, and a couple of companions decided to visit a small cave on the cliff face about 15 metres below the top and some distance along a ledge.

The children were experienced in scrambling around the local rocks and cliffs and the descent presented no difficulties. However, on this occasion, just as they had almost reached the cave, it was noticed that their younger brother, Byron, aged 6, was following. He had already descended from the top of the cliff and was just commencing the traverse, when one of the girls, realising the danger, called to him to go back.

The words had hardly left her mouth when the ledge of rock on which he was standing broke and he fell about 50 metres to the foot of the cliff, striking a ledge about half way down in the course of his fall. Two of the girls and young Roland Clark climbed back to the top of the cliff and informed Georgina, who set off with her companions by a round-about route to the base of the cliff.

In the meantime, Hazel and Roland climbed down to the base of the cliff, where they found young Byron lying badly injured but scarcely marked amongst the fern and bracken. The women decided to carry him to the top but Byron died during the ascent. The family never again lived in "Drachenfels", which they placed in the care of Sam Wilson, a storekeeper at Mount Victoria, who made occasional visits to the property until the buildings were destroyed by bushfire. Byron is buried at Waverley Cemetery in the family plot.

The property has changed hands a number of times in recent years and the cross was removed from the cliff edge by the owners around 1989 to discourage sightseers. The site known as the Marcus Clark Cross received Blue Mountains City Council heritage listing in 1991. It is believed the White Cross remains on the site.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2012 Blue Mountains City Library


References:
* P.W. Spriggs, ‘Blue Mountains cross recalls tragedy´ Daily Telegraph, September 7,1964
* Local Studies research & clippings files.

Links:
* http://www.sydneyarchives.info/biographies?start=25
* http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clark-sir-reginald-marcus-5667

Coal and Shale Mining Near Katoomba

Introduction

As early as 1841 Rev. W B Clarke noted the presence of coal in the Blue Mountains and in 1866 made the first systematic description of the deposits of oil shale in the Hartley area, where its existence had been known from as early as 1824.

Early exploitation of resources

Seams containing both coal and shale outcrops were noticed by the early settlers in the valley walls of the Blue Mountains and in the 1860s the imminent construction of the western railway encouraged considerable local exploration. The most extensive and successful oil shale operations took place in the Hartley region where, prior to the rail connection, bullock teams carted shale to the railhead at Mount Victoria. With the building of the Lithgow Zig Zag rail line and the consequent extension of the railway to the west, the growth of the Hartley-Lithgow region into a large industrial center founded on the local coal and shale deposits was assured. While the Grose Valley near Mount Victoria also attracted some freelance small-scale exploration from the mid 1860s, it was the Katoomba area that was next to profit from the exploitation of the Blue Mountains’ coal and shale resources.

In the 1860's Campbell Mitchell discovered three seams of kerosene shale on the Megalong Valley side of the Narrow Neck Peninsula. With Thomas Sutcliffe Mort he acquired 640 acres here (Portions 14 and 15, Parish of Megalong, County of Cook) and established the Glen Shale Mine. To ascertain whether the shale deposits extended into the adjoining Jamison Valley, he then explored the eastern side of Narrow Neck, including the area of the Ruined Castle Ridge. His investigations revealed profitable seams but the difficulties of transporting it over the rugged terrain to the Western Railway appeared too daunting.

In the 1870's, John Britty North purchased a substantial quantity of land, much of which later formed a large part of the developing town of Katoomba. Included in his purchase was most of the land along the cliff front from Echo Point to Narrow Neck and across to the Ruined Castle. North also rented the substantial home ‘Essendon’ (or ‘Essendene’), owned by the Henderson family and built near the present junction of the highway and Cliff Drive. The building, with a large tower was later used as a school and guesthouse, until destroyed by fire in 1929. He later built his own home, ‘Lassie Brae’, in Katoomba Street, which was eventually demolished as the commercial centre of Katoomba developed.

To exploit the coal seams, which outcropped at the base of the cliffs near the Orphan Rock, North registered a company under the title of Katoomba Coal Mine, in 1870. Once the coal mine was under way, North began an examination of the Ruined Castle area in the Jamison Valley in the early 1880's and, locating two substantial outcrops of kerosene shale, formed another company known as the Katoomba Coal and Shale Co. Ltd. in 1885.

In 1882 a loading depot, known as North's Siding was opened on the Western Railway on the Sydney side of what is now ShelI Corner on the western edge of Katoomba. There developed a whole system of interconnected tramways linking this depot with the various coal and shale mines, which opened up in the Megalong and Jamison Valleys to the south.

With the opening of the Ruined Castle mines, North imported engineers from Germany to construct an elevated tramway known as the Flying Fox from the company's engine bank - now the site of the Scenic Railway - across the Jamison Valley to the Ruined Castle ridge. A fault in construction resulted in a short working life when, after carrying only 500 tons of shale, it collapsed into the valley below where the wreckage still remains. Considerable money had been invested in this project and the disaster spelled the end of the company. Shale mining at the Ruined Castle ceased and while the coalmine continued for a time, the company soon went into liquidation.

In 1890 the Glen Shale Mine in the Megalong Valley was purchased by The Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company, which operated a shale oil industry at Joadja near Mittagong. The following year this company leased the shale mines at the Ruined Castle formerly operated by the Katoomba Coal and Shale Co. Ltd., together with that company's tramway system linking its coalmines near Orphan Rock with North's Siding.

The new company concentrated its effort on the Glen Shale Mine. As well as bringing a large quantity of machinery and transport equipment to Katoomba from their operations at Joadja, they tunnelled through the coalmine at the base of Engine Bank and then through the Narrow Neck to link the Megalong Valley operations with those in the Jamison Valley. A single-track horse tramway was laid out beneath the eastern ramparts of the Narrow Neck Peninsula linking the Ruined Castle mines with the double-tracked skipway before entering the Narrow Neck Daylight Tunnel.

From 1895, the shale mining activities at the Ruined Castle and Glen Shale Mines gradually decreased. The seams were becoming exhausted and the returns from sales were reduced. By 1903, the shale industry at Katoomba ceased to exist. Most of the equipment was transferred to the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company's operation at Torbane. The lease at West Katoomba expired in 1906.

Miners' Settlements During This Period

1. Settlement in the Engine Bank/Katoomba Falls Area.

Several streets of weatherboard cottages extended from the Engine Bank to the intersection of the road now known as Golf Links Road, (the location of this raod is currently unknown). A hotel, The Centennial, later known as The Falls House, was destroyed by fire in 1973. A small store also existed but has long since disappeared. When the mine closed the miners’ cottages were bought by Paddy Mullaney who rebuilt them at the lower end of Leichhardt, Clissold and Vale Streets, Katoomba where many still stand.

2. Nellie's Glen Settlement.

At the foot of Nellie's Glen existed a sizeable mining settlement with a large hotel, butcher's shop, bakery and public hall but this settlement did not survive the end of the shale industry in 1903. In 1904 the hotel was moved in sections by bullock team and re-erected in Lurline Street where it became a guesthouse known as ‘Maldwin’.

3. The Ruined Castle Settlement.

The settlement here was predominantly made up of quarters for single men. The building materials used consisted of bush timber, bark, kerosene tins and whatever was at hand. This settlement also faded away with the end of the shale works.

Later Mining Operations at Katoomba

In 1925 there occurred a revival of North's long abandoned coalmine below the cliffs at South Katoomba. A local syndicate formed the Katoomba Colliery Ltd. and resumed mining activities on a lease of 160 acres. The old workings supplied a substantial quantity of coal, which was sold on the local market, principally to the Katoomba Electric Power House and in smaller amounts to the hotels, guesthouses and local residents.

During the Depression however, capital costs increased and the local market was reduced. Despite its decreasing viability, the mine continued to operate until the Second World War. However as the company progressed toward liquidation, one aspect of its operation had a parallel rise in fortune, and helped to augment the mine's declining income. The rehabilitation work carried out on the coal haulage system up the cliff face opposite Orphan Rock integrated into the booming Katoomba tourist industry of the 1920's and 1930's. The "Mountain Devil" of the early 1930's became eventually the "Scenic Railway" of today.

The exploitation of the coal and kerosene shale deposits in the Jamison and Megalong Valleys brought the Katoomba region to wider public notice than its earlier use as a stone quarry and began to establish it as a population centre. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Katoomba was known principally as a coal-mining town. However the influence of the mining operations upon Katoomba's early development coincided with another vastly different trend, which began to make itself felt at about the same time: the development of the Blue Mountains as a tourist and recreational destination and recognition as a valuable natural and wilderness area, culminating in its recognition as a World Heritage Area in December 2000.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
(c)2009 Blue Mountains City Library

Reference
Blue Mountains Heritage Study 1982, Croft & Associates in association with Meredith Walker for Blue Mountains City Council