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Archive | Bushwalking history

Know your Clubs – YMCA Hobnails

Hobnail Canyon is a short, pleasant canyon located just off the Bell Road past Mt Tomah.  Now hobnails are a kind of boot cleat popular in the pre-WWII era.  They were nailed onto the leather sole of boots to minimise slipping.  Did the first bushwalkers through the canyon wear boots or were they from YMCA Hobnails Bushwalking Club?

From 1952 to 1970 the Hobnails were a club of young men 17 – 21 years of age with a strong reputation.  This club was just one of a strong group of bushwalking clubs in the YMCA during 1950s / 1960s where boys could progress into bushwalking as they grew older.

Young Pioneers included boys 12 – 14 years of age.  These boys could then progress to the Venturers (not Scouts) as they grew to 17 years old.  When my younger brother joined the Venturers in 1969, they were down to just three members and were officially folded up a few years later.  From 18 years of age young men and women (note) could join the YMCA Ramblers.

The YMCA Ramblers were the longest lived of these clubs.  Formed in November 1938 by Harry Black and three others it lost two members in WWII.  At their AGM of 1978 the Ramblers left the YMCA but had a final BBQ at Neilson Park on 23 November 2003.

The Ramblers always had a tense relationship with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).  Not every member had a tent, so they were often shared including ‘co-tenting’.

‘Old’ Hobnails were meant to progress to the Ramblers except that they mostly didn’t instead going to the Kameruka Bushwalking Club (KBC).   From 1946 to 1988 the KBC were renowned for doing tough and exploratory bushwalks.

So, what did hobnails look like?  Dunlop Volleys sandshoes were all the go for the Hobnails bushwalkers.  I can remember an ex-Hobnail telling me that he could not recognise a hobnail (boot cleat) when he was shown one.

You can find club badges for the Hobnails, Ramblers and KBC among many others at the Bushwalking NSW website club badges page.

Keith Maxwell – Honorary Historian BNSW.

 

Newcastle Ramblers 60th Anniversary

Formed in 1961 as Newcastle YMCA Ramblers Bushwalking Club, the Club later became just Newcastle Ramblers. The club was due to celebrate its 60th birthday last year, but COVID caused several postponements. The celebration is now scheduled for Saturday 15 October and will be held at Rathmines Hall on Lake Macquarie.

The day will begin early with activities in the area for those interested (walks, kayaking and cycling) before a welcome and morning tea. Several members will then give short talks on the early days of the club and up to today. The talks will be followed by a catered lunch and more social time. For those interested there may be a barbecue in the park beside the lake afterwards.

Former members or anyone interested is welcome to attend. Even if you cannot come we would still like to hear from you.

Please contact Bob Clifton by email – robert.clifton@outlook.com.au or by phone on 0417 624 091 by 15 September.

Wilsons Prom 1996

 

The Bush Club

Hidden Sydney – Balmain, Monday 18 July 2022, Col Prentice and Trevor McAlister

A total of 25 Bush Club participants discovered Hidden Sydney while walking from Circular Quay to Circular Quay via Balmain and the ferry. Participants benefited from the combined expertise of two experienced leaders/historians while walking around this most interesting of Sydney’s suburbs. Col Prentice lead the morning session and Trevor McAlister lead after lunch.

Our walk was mostly on pavement and explored places in Balmain that we probably hadn’t been to before while alerting us to traces of history that still remain visible today. There was a brief commentary and plenty of opportunity to stroll and reflect on Sydney’s past.

Highlights of the walk included a widows’ walk, a tram drivers’ dunny, a policeman’s out-house, a house of a former NSW Premier (he sired 17 children and married at 80; can you guess who?), a cross harbour tunnel built in 1924, a place celebrated for the first game of Rugby League played, a spectacularly fine day, a sea voyage, a bus ride and a happy, outgoing and generous group of people. All this and more could have been yours if you had taken the opportunity to join us. And remember, twelve panes of glass equals one Georgian cottage and regular exercise equals longevity. We all look forward to seeing you next time!

Our August Club: The Bush Club

The Bush Club started on 19th September 1939, mainly as a result of the initiative of Marie Byles and Paddy Pallin. Marie was concerned that the rather rigorous tests to obtain entry to bush walking clubs existing at the time excluded genuine lovers of the bush who were unwilling or unable to pack walk and camp out overnight. Marie believed that the essential qualifications for members should be a genuine love of the bush, a desire to protect it and a willingness to extend the hand of friendship to other bushwalkers.

Paddy had similar motivation in joining with Marie to form the club. He hoped the club would comprise walkers of moderate ability who would not be forced to indulge in camping if they had no wish to do so. Paddy was also strongly of the view that if people became bushwalkers they would also become lovers of the bush and would join the ranks of the conservationists seeking its protection. These thoughts remain the main aim of the Bush Club.

Today The Bush Club organises fun activities in the outdoors. From easy strolls to the adrenaline tough walks; from lakes to mountains; and from the city to the magical bush. The Club believes that getting outdoors and enjoying the wonderful bush around us is a great boost for the body and soul.

Joining The Bush Club is a great way to meet new people and make great friends. Club members are a diverse and friendly bunch who share experiences, learn new things and help each other along the way.

 

Happy 90th Birthday Bushwalking NSW and Blue Gum Forest!

On 21 July it will be 90 years since the Federation of Bushwalking Clubs (now Bushwalking NSW) held its inaugural meeting. Soon after, on 2 September, we’ll see the 90th anniversary of the reservation of the iconic Blue Gum Forest, in the Grose Valley, following a campaign by bushwalkers.

The two events are not unrelated. The success of the collective action by the walkers had encouraged them to form the umbrella group which would assist Myles Dunphy and others in their campaigns to create national parks. Blue Gum Forest was the kernel of today’s Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, and is the cradle of the modern conservation movement in NSW. You can read more about this in Andy Macqueen’s book “Back from the Brink: Blue Gum Forest and the Grose Wilderness”, which is available at Blue Mountains bookshops and here.

Celebratory campout

The saving of Blue Gum Forest will be celebrated on the weekend of 3-4 September 2022 by a campout in the Grose Valley, at The Meadow (near Acacia Flat). Attendance will be limited to members of clubs affiliated with Bushwalking NSW, and their families.

The agenda will include a ceremony at the forest on Saturday afternoon and a communal campfire in the evening. On Sunday morning some interpretive ambles will be on offer, the topics including birds, plants and geology.

The activity is being organised by volunteers, with the support of NPWS. Participants will have to make their own way in and out of the valley. Numbers will be capped at 80. Registration is essential and will be on a first-in-first-served basis. All participants:

  • Must be a member of a bushwalking club, or accompany such a person as a member of their family.
  • Will preferably be in a party organised under the rules of that club.
  • Must be experienced and self-reliant overnight walkers, or in the care of such a person. The access tracks are steep and involve 600 metres of vertical descent/ascent.
  • Are expected to car-pool, to limit traffic congestion at the track-heads.
  • Be packed up and making their way out of the valley by noon on Sunday.

Further details, including advice concerning track conditions (and closures if any) will be sent to registrants prior to the weekend.

For all enquiries please email Monica Nugent at monica.nugent@environment.nsw.gov.au

Every person, including family members, must be registered. REGISTER HERE.

‘Acknowledgement of Country’ by Bushwalking Clubs

‘Acknowledgement of country’ by bushwalking clubs

Bushwalking NSW have recently been asked an interesting question from one of our affiliated clubs: “_Just wondering if any of the bushwalking clubs are doing `acknowledgement of country’ on their walks. We would like to include this in our programmed walks and would be interested to hear if other clubs are carrying this out._” So … are any clubs acknowledging Country before they step into that country?

You will notice that at the top of the BNSW newsletter we now have a statement of acknowledgement: “_Bushwalking NSW acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and acknowledges and respects their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge their custodianship of the Country in which we engage our bushwalking and related activities”._

Since all bushwalking clubs rely on Country as a core resource for our outdoor activities, it would seem appropriate for clubs to include a similar statement on their websites. It is now customary to acknowledge Country at the start of meetings and the same could also be done at the start of walks and other activities.

Clubs may wish to acknowledge the local indigenous people of their specific region or area. You can find an authorised map of language groups here. Note that some areas may come under the influence of two or more language groups. Also please be aware of the stated restrictions on reproducing the map.

You may wish to adapt BNSW’s words for your own use:

<_Your Bushwalking Club name> acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of <Your Indigenous Nation> Country, and acknowledges and respects their connections to land, sea _[optional; not relevant if you are inland club_] and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge their custodianship of the Country in which we engage our bushwalking and related activities.

Thank you for considering this important issue.

Bill Boyd, President, Bushwalking NSW

WERE YOU THERE at SPLENDOUR ROCK

You or your club may be able to help in a fabulous project.  Michael Keats and Keith Maxwell are researching Dawn Services at Splendour Rock on ANZAC Day.  There are few details for many years as to whether a Dawn Service occurred at all.  We are calling on clubs to fill in the gaps, if possible.

A book is well advanced that will contain a wealth of information about Splendour Rock but we would like to confirm details for the years below.  You could help make this publication an even better book.

Splendour Rock was dedicated on ANZAC Day in 1948.  Contributions from various club magazines and individual club members have resulted in some truly great recollections which will be included in the text. There are significant gaps in the record, such as an incomplete set of logbooks in the State Library of NSW, and anyone who can help fill these years would be most welcome to send us their stories or recollections or field notes. Years for which we seek stories are –

1949 1953 1957 1970 1977 1981 1987 2020
1950 1954 1963 1974 1978 1982 1990  
1951 1955 1964 1975 1979 1984 1991  
1952 1956 1968 1969 1980 1985 1992  

 

Please contribute your records or memories to Michael Keats at mjmkeats@easy.com.au

Keith Maxwell.

The Bush Club – Marie Byles Commemorative Walks

 Marie Byles Commemorative Walks , The Bush Club, Walks Report by Astrid van Blerk & Kevin Yeats, Images by Astrid van Blerk and Ian Evans

The Bush Club is one of the major walking clubs in Sydney, which offers its currently over 850 members a huge variety of activities such as day and pack walks, cycles, and multi-day trips to explore areas further away. It is often referred to as “the friendly club” – its culture is supportive and inclusive, walks range from relatively easy to challenging and adventurous so everyone can find something that suits them individually, and there is a special focus on encouraging new leaders which allows interested members to try out new skills and share their favourite walks with others. Whenever you meet a Bush Club group on the track you will notice that the atmosphere is happy, open and relaxed – we sure have mastered the art of having fun outdoors! Another telltale sign that the club is healthy and thriving is how much resilience and optimism it showed in these challenging times of the pandemic. For example, during the 2019/20 financial year despite the Covid shutdown which prevented group walking for several weeks, the club managed to complete an astonishing 446 activities – predominantly weekday day walks with an average number of 9.5 paricipants each. What a wonderful way to keep moving and breathing fresh air, and to maintain one’s sanity and social contacts at the same time…!

One of the many interesting collaborative projects that the club offered to its members recently was created to commemorate its co-founder Marie Byles, who together with Paddy Pallin brought the club into existence in 1939.
Marie Byles (1900 – 1979) was the first woman to practice law in NSW, a mountaineer, explorer and avid bushwalker, a committed conservationist, feminist, author and an original member of the Buddhist Society in NSW. As a teenager at her parent’s holiday retreat at Palm Beach, she would look through her telescope across Broken Bay to the bushland on the Central Coast. She would later campaign successfully to place the former coal reserve on the Bouddi Peninsula under public ownership and in 1935 Bouddi Natural (later National) Park was formed, with Marie being elected a trustee of the board that managed the park. By 1938, she had built the house she called ‘Ahimsa’ (nonviolence), on her 3½ acre bushland property at Cheltenham, which she later bequeathed to the National Trust.

To honour Marie Byles’ achievements and contributions to the club, a series of 7 walks, ‘From Buddha to Bouddi’, were held, starting on Marie’s birthday (8th April), from ‘Ahimsa’, Cheltenham and finishing at Marie Byles Lookout in Bouddi. The walks passed through 5 National Parks, numerous council parks and reserves, as well as beaches and important wetlands, and all were suitable for public transport. Walks ranged from an ‘octogenarian friendly’ grade 2 to a more demanding grade 4, as follows:

1. Cheltenham to Lindfield via ‘Ahimsa’, GNW along Lane Cove River to Fullers Bridge, Little Blue Gum Creek, Primula Oval, Paddy Pallin Reserve, Lindfield (19km grade 3).
2. Lindfield to Seaforth Oval via Seven Little Australians Park, Two Creeks Track, Flat Rock Beach, Magazine Track, Natural Bridge, The Bluff and Bantry Bay (21km grade 4 – actual walk reversed for transport convenience).
3. Seaforth Oval to Manly via Manly Dam Reserve, Burnt Bridge Creek, Clontarf Beach, Harbour Walk to Manly (19km grade 3).
4. Manly to Collaroy via Queenscliff with side trip to the wormhole, Freshwater, Curl Curl, Dee Why, Long Reef (11km grade 2)
5. Collaroy to Avalon via Warriewood, Mona Vale, Newport, Crown of Newport Reserve, Bilgola and Avalon Beaches (17km grade 3).
6. Avalon to Palm Beach via Angophora Reserve, Clareville Beach, Bangalley, Whale Beach, Palm Beach and Barrenjoey Head (20km grade 3).
7. Palm Beach to Wagstaffe by ferry, then circuit walk in Bouddi NP visiting Hardy Bay, Allen Strom Lookout, Rocky Point trail, Mt Bouddi, Maitland Bay, Marie Byles Lookout and Pretty Beach (19km grade 3).

This walks series was a great success overall, and there are already calls to repeat the whole lot again next year. A special thanks goes to our wonderful thoughtful and innovative leaders who each led a section, in order: Jenny Donoghoe, Fiona Sonntag, John Hungerford, Bob Taffel, Astrid van Blerk, Joy Bell and Carole Beales-Evans. Also, to quote Carole, thanks to the amazing walkers who made it so special!

To find out more about the Bush Club, please see here. Membership is open to those over 18. To be part of The Bush Club, sign up as a prospective member. Our leaders will help you select activities which will suit you and your fitness. After completing three membership qualifying walks, you can apply to become a full member. We are always looking forward to welcome new members – see you on the track!

REMEMBRANCE at Splendour Rock 2021

At 6am on 25 April (ANZAC Day 2021) there will be a short ceremony of remembrance at Splendour Rock to recognise the thirteen fallen bushwalkers from WWII.  This will return the pattern of remembrance from at least 1992.  Every year since then (and perhaps even 1990 but there is insufficient evidence) on ANZAC Day there has been a Dawn Service of remembrance at Splendour Rock.  Naturally, due to the pandemic, there was no dawn service in 2020.

Bushwalkers who have previously been to Splendour Rock for ANZAC Day will know that Mt Dingo is a dry campsite that can be subject to high winds.  However, when the weather is right overnight camping on Mt Dingo can be an unforgettable experience.  Splendour Rock is in the Wild Dog Mountains whose nearest access is the Dunphy Carpark at the end of the Megalong Valley Road from Blackheath.

It is now an NP&WS requirement that you must REGISTER your intention to camp overnight in a National Park of NSW.  Please be COVID safe in your camping.  More information can be found here – camping 

The memorial plaque at Splendour Rock was installed in February 1948 by a combined group of Sydney Bush Walkers (SBW) and Coast & Mountain Walkers (CMW).  The plaque was dedicated on the following ANZAC Day.  Both clubs each lost four (4) members while the YMCA Ramblers Bushwalking Club lost two (2) members.  Three other bushwalking clubs each lost one member being the Campfire Club, Rucksack Club plus the Trampers Club.  Background details for all of these fallen service personnel can be found on the Bushwalking NSW (BNSW) website – here.

The Jack Mundey Spirit Lives On

Peter Stevens, a past President of the Wolli Creek Preservation Society, has been
honoured by Canterbury-Bankstown Council with its inaugural Jack Mundey Environment
and Heritage Award.

 

“This is recognition of Peter’s long-term commitment to the completion of the Wolli
Creek Regional Park, established and grown as the result of community pressure, led by
the Society, over several decades.’ said Gina Svolos, the present President of the Society.

“The Park is now nearing completion and Peter has renewed his commitment by
organising to protect the Wolli Creek Valley bushland and the Regional Park from the
proposed location of an industrial plant within the Park boundaries. The proposal would
have negative effects on both the natural environment and a heritage-listed structure,
the two things cited in the Award, and for which Jack Mundey as an initiator of Green
Bans is rightly famous.”

“There is a better alternative nearby: a vacant, government-owned, non-bushland site,
outside the Park boundaries that we want Sydney Water to use.” Ms Svolos emphasised.
Mr Stevens reports that, working with the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the
Society’s petition to the Minister for Water, Melinda Payne, passed 3,000 signatures on
February 10 and is still growing.

“That is a thousand signatures a week since its launch,” Mr Stevens said, “and over 100
of these are from interstate and many more from regional NSW and urban areas remote
from the Wolli Creek Valley. Which goes to show that while people may leave the Valley,
the Valley does not leave their memory or their concern.”

See here to sign the petition.

Contact: Gina Svolos President 0431 308 303
Media Contact: Peter Stevens 0412 596 874

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Currockbilly Mountain – Logbook 50th anniversary celebration

By Phil Meade, Sutherland Bushwalking Club

Fifty years ago, on 14 November 1970, nine members of Sydney Bush Ramblers (renamed Sutherland Bushwalking Club in 1977) placed a visitors’ logbook on the top of the 1132m Currockbilly Mountain, in the south west Budawang Ranges (east of Braidwood).  The logbook, still remarkably intact in its metal container, had been rediscovered earlier in 2020 after the devastating bushfires, by David Poland from the Canberra Bushwalking Club.

David, having seen the name Sydney Bush Ramblers in the first logbook entry, contacted Shaune Walsh, our president and invited the club to join a small COVID-safe group to celebrate this 50-year anniversary.  The plan was for four from SBC (Shaune, Ken Newman, Tony Larkin and Phil Meade) to meet on Saturday morning 14 November 2020 with a group from the Canberra Bushwalking Club for addresses later that day by David and Shaune to commemorate the anniversary at the top of Currockbilly Mountain.

David Poland also circulated to Shaune, the notes sent to Canberra Bushwalking Club members, providing details of the proposed walk. These notes included the following:

What to expect.

This is an “R” or ROUGH walk. Whilst not long in distance (8 km return) please don’t be fooled. This walk does involve a 400 m elevation climb and descent. In parts it is very steep. Most of it is off track, ie there is no path or animal track to follow at all. It takes me 2.5 hrs to walk the 4 km up and another 2 hrs to walk down plus an hour to explore on the summit. So, for some people this will be a long day. Whilst the scrub is light, as most of it was burnt in the 2019/2020 fires, there is a lot of loose rock underfoot. You will need to be sure footed. You will need to expect to get sooty and black from the burnt sharp sticks and legs so wear old tough clothes. There is no water.”

After an overnight stay in Braidwood, with the above in mind we set off from the cars past Mongarlowe at 9.00am, with a short rest mid-way, reaching a point very close to the top in 2.5 hours after the 400m ascent.  We then diverged a short distance south to an overgrown stone mound trig. Here David carefully opened a small metal container left at the trig, inside of which were details of people having visited there dating from the 1960s including the famous Colin Watson OAM.  The records were very fragile and a decision was made that David should deliver the container, including contents, to the National Museum in Canberra. Something suitable will be put there in its place.

At midday David made a short address providing some background to the walk.  An invited botanist also explained some of the key features of the area, including a nearby temperate forest, which he said was unique to the area.

Shaune’s address followed and included:

  • SBC’s history – originally “Sydney Bush Ramblers” but following confusion with the name, it was changed to Sutherland Bushwalking Club;
  • 1970 was the Bicentennial year (of Captain Cook’s voyage along the east coast of now Australia) and the year we became a formal club. Don Rice our founding club president organised the commemorative placement of containers and visitor log books on Pigeon House, Talaterang and Currockbilly;
  • The containers were made in the workshop at the Atomic Energy Commission – unofficially of course! – club members included employees of AEC (now ANSTO) at Lucas Heights
  • On 14th November 1970 they made a 2-day hike and they arrived at the trig first (this was also the point visited by us and referred to above), then placed the metal container and logbook in a clearing nearby and stayed for an hour.
  • Our club did multi-day hikes through this spot again in 1973, 1991 and 1993 and the names of a few current members are in the logbook.

Shaune, in closing, thanked David Poland and his club for organising the celebration.

After the ceremonies, we looked through the logbook and noted the following names (in the order in the log), from 14 November 1970: J Stevens “I carried the cement!!!”, L Watters, R Stewart, Don Rice, Don Mercer, Ewan M Lawson, Neil W Barclay, Laurie Braithwaite and Ross McKenney. The logbook entry records their intended route: “Sawmill – Currockbilly – The Sugarloaf – Yadboro Creek -Wog Wog – Cockpit Swamp”.

Some 300m north of the area, where the logbook has been placed, there’s a lookout.  It’s well worth visiting as it provides spectacular views to the north and east, including views to Bibbenluke Mountain, Mt Owen, The Castle and Pigeon House.

We left Currockbilly Mountain retracing our route taken earlier that day (yes – it was rough and steep) to where Shaune had left his car; we returned to Sydney that night.

I very much appreciate and I know I also echo the sentiments of Ken and Tony, the time and effort Shaune put into organising the club’s participation in the day and we appreciate the opportunity to take part in this historic event.

Currockbilly Mountain Visitors Logbook 1970

Shaune 50th anniversary logbook celebration talk

Currockbilly Trig logbook from 1964 with David Poland

Tony, Ken, Shaune, Phil – SBC and David Poland – CBC with 1970 Currockbilly Logbook