J.A.C Russell Park Playground, Main Street, Gembrook
A lovely park next to Gembrook Puffing Billy Railway Station with some huge shady trees, grassy area, unshaded tables, shelter with two tables and BBQs, rotunda, information panels and toilets.
As you would expect, the playground has a train theme. There is a line of play equipment with a train at the front with disk steps leading up to the engine, two open carriages separated by a balance beam, monkey rungs, abacus, hanging disk traverse, chain bridge, fireman's pole, disk ladder, arched walkway, curved slide, climbing walls and steps.
The information boards are:
Original landowners
The Gembrook area is located within the territory of the Wurundjeri Tribe, one of the five subdivisions that form the Woiwurrung or Kulin Nation. The Woiwurrung region begins at the junction of the Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers and extends along the Yarra River to Mount Baw Baw and along the Dandenong Ranges.
Each tribe occupied a recognised area, spoke their own language, called themselves by a specific name and had a chief. The Wurundjeri Tribe always followed the Yarra River and their travels followed the seasonal bush.
Gem-brook
In the 1850s the first miners arrived, setting up temporary camps in the creeks and gullies to the north of present township and searching for gold and gemstones.
Times were hard and the miners were isolated, travelling for many days from Berwick and Pakenham through dense bush in search of their fortunes.
Only small amounts of gold and a few gemstones were found but the main legacy of those times was the name of the town - three prospectors found gemstones to the south and hit on a name for their prospect.
The arrival of the first settlers followed the 1869 Land Act and the end of the gold rush. The so-called pack tracks guided them to the area and communications slowly developed.
The sound of saws and axes echoed through the hills and valleys as timber was felled to build homes and clear the land for farming.
Small settlements began at North Gembrook and the first school was held in a log hut on one settler's property with a part-time teacher.
By 1875 another property became the district's service centre, providing supplies, a post office and coach stop, and a gold service for the few miners still struggling to make a living.
These early settlers' farms became the social centres for the district. They had a dance hall, and a paddock was turned into a sports ground despite the tree stumps and sloping land.
Dairying and mixed farming was the mainstay of settlers, some raising beef cattle, growing potatoes and milling timber to add to their income. Horse and bullocks were used to clear the heavily timbered and steep terrain.
The township
Just south of the present town a unique structure was built in 1873 to house exotic animals and birds. The Gembrook Acclimatisation Reserve fenced off about 260 ha and stretched from the present Gembrook Park to Mt Eirene.
The slab fence was around two metres high and gave sanctuary to deer, pheasants and other imported game. The park went out of use before 1900 after fire destroyed the fence and much of the bushland.
Gembrook's town site was taken up in 1874 and in 1877 land on its northern edge was donated for the multi-denominational Union Church. A school was conducted from the church until it was moved to Dyson's Hall in Main Road in 1906. In 1915 the school moved to a one-room building on its present site.
The Ranges Hotel began operating around the the turn of the century and in 1900 the narrow gauge railway "Puffing Billy" arrived with the rail line stopping opposite the hotel.
Alongside the station Walkers general store appeared in 1901 and operated from the site until 1993.
These establishments formed the nucleus of the town and by the early 1920s Gembrook had a variety of stores including a coffee palace and blacksmith. There were churches, a sawmill and a memorial hall for World War I veterans.
Railway shows the way
Abundant timber supplies encouraged the rail link to Gembrook as timber was in great demand due to Melbourne's growth. The railway ended the district's isolation and brought new opportunities.
Trips to the city took hours instead of days, farmers could reach the markets quicker to sell their produce, and supplies could be obtained more cheaply and in better condition. The railway also boosted the economy, encouraging new industries - tourism and timber - and providing alternative employment to farming.
These opportunities attracted more settlers and in 1920 a land sale on the east end of town was promoted as suitable for weekenders. Land next to the Ranges Hotel on Main Road was also subdivided.
Tourist haven
Between 1900 and World War II the train brought many visitors from the city seeking relief from summer temperatures. Upon their arrival tourists would be welcomed by brass band playing in the hotel grounds.
At first, travellers stayed at the hotel but the tourist culture expanded with weekenders, guesthouses and cabins constructed and some residents opening up their homes in the peak season to holidaymakers.
Tall Timbers
By the late 1800s the increasing demand for timber resulted in the establishment of several sawmills. The first mills were powered by steam engines fuelled by wood and were on the William Wallace Creek, east of Gembrook.
Timber was taken by horse or bullock wagons to Nar Nar Goon, were it was loaded onto the Gippsland railway.
At first the heavily timbered country was very accessible but, as land was gradually cleared, the mills were forced back into the forests.
Local milling expanded to the Bessie Creek area, then to the Shepherd, Tomahawk and McCrae creeks.
Thousands of tonnes were also brought in from forests as far away as Beenak to the north-east.
Bullock teams churned through muddy tracks hauling their loads and traction engines were used to move palings but their drawbacks were the need for water and the fire hazard from stray sparks in dry and hot weather.
The all-weather answer was the construction of wooden and, eventually, iron rails that snaked around hillsides and spanned gullies bringing logs from the forest to the mills and then to the Gembrook railhead. The number of operating mills increased to about 60 in the 1920s.
Most mill workers camped at the mill during the week in rough timber huts provided by the owners and those with families returned home at weekends - usually by foot or horse - and in later years on mill tramlines.
Bushfires bring disaster
While the township of Gembrook was spared many times, the surrounding area suffered devastation of fires in the 1890s and again in 1913, when parts of Gembrook Park were affected.
The 1926 fires caused deaths at mill sites and destroyed houses, tramlines and mills around the town after starting at Tomahawk Creek and burning towards Garfield.
In 1939, while the fires again did not reach the town centre, they caused havoc at mills and resulted in significant changes to milling practices.
It became compulsory for the forest-based mills that had survived the fires to install a dugout to provide workers with a fire refuge. New mills were not allowed in the forest and others were moved from fire-prone forest into town. While good timber became scarce, many mills operated until the 1960s but few continued.
The reduction in sawmilling, combined with better roads and road transport, and a landslide that blocked the rail line, resulted in the Gembrook rail link being closed in 1954.
The Gembrook Fire Brigade was founded about 1940 and was on duty 24 hours a day for 14 days when the February 1983 Ash Wednesday fires surrounded Gembrook.
Again the fires did not damage the town, but outlying areas were burned when the fire reached Pakenham Road after burning south of the town and devastating nearby Cockatoo.
The district's timber resources also resulted in a new venture during World War 2 when Kurth Kiln was opened to the north of town. The kiln had the capacity to produce over three tonnes of charcoal every 24 hours.
Cars fitted with gas producers would convert the charcoal to a gas as a substitute for petrol during rationing.
The historic kiln site is in a 3500 hectare park and open daily. It tells a story of Australian pioneering history and inventiveness and is the only charcoal kiln of its type known still to exist. The park provides tranquil and shady surroundings for picnics and camping.
Farming at the forefront
Up to the 1920s, farmers tried a variety of crops and produce including fruit, nuts and grapes for winemaking but many failed as a result of cartage difficulties or low prices.
However, potato farming continued as the red basalt soils were outstanding for this crop.
Farming was an arduous occupation. The men would plough the steep slopes steering the mighty strength of draught horses. Hand planting was strenuous work as was harvesting with a five-prong potato fork.
Farming was a family affair. The women and children would sit under the big pine trees, cutting the seed potatoes by hand before they were planted. The thick canopy of the trees had provided a makeshift storehouse over winter for the seed potatoes.
Late in the 1920s the first Italian migrants arrived seeking affordable and productive land to farm.
Heavy flooding in swampland around Pakenham in the 1930s encouraged more Italian families to move to Gembrook, and by the late 1940s Italian migrants were well established as potato growers. Into the 21st century their families continued to be the major potato farmers in the district.
The area's rich volcanic sails also attracted other nationalities, including Dutch and German migrants who farmed a range of crops such as fodder, and grazed cattle.
Following World War 2 a soldier settlement initiative was introduced with seven farms established in this area under the scheme.
The first tractors appeared in the 1950s, which aided ploughing and planting, but picking potatoes was still a manual activity until the first harvesters were introduced in the late 1960s.
Potato packing also became an important source of employment in the town.
While potato growing has reduced in recent years, many farmers continue to plough and harvest from the rich red soils, and the patchwork of ploughed fields on hills and valleys continues to delight visitors and residents.
Community Life
Since its early beginnings as an Acclimatisation Reserve, Gembrook Park has played an important role in the town.
It's towering timbers and lush undergrowth are reminders of how the area looked before it was cleared. The park was a place for community picnics early in the 1900s, tennis courts were built in the 1930s and a swimning pool was built off Cockatoo Creek at the south end in the 1950s.
Today, the park is popular with walkers and is a picnic spot, particularly in warm weather, when the huge gums provide shade.
County life has a ways been closely with sporting and community activities, and many times the collective effort of residents has built local amenities, such as the swimming pool in Cockatoo Creek and tennis courts in Gembrook Park.
In the 1960s residents worked tirelessly to create the sportsground on the western edge of town which provides football, cricket and netball facilities. Further community efforts ensured the building of the community centre in 1981 and later the Gembrook Leisure Park in 2001.
Gembrook has a proud history of men and women who have helped defend their country.
The cenotaph opposite Gembrook Park has plaques from both world wars, Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam and is situated near the Avenue of Honour on Redwood Road.
Many reasons have brought people to Gembrook over the decades but country life was the major attraction.
Gembrook's sub-branch of the RSL was started in 1945 and continues to grow in numbers.
Late in the 1800s and early 1900s city dwellers regarded Gembrook one of Victoria's prime health resorts choosing to build weekenders or staying in guest houses to enjoy the cool and lush environment in summertime.
The fertile land attracted farmers before and after the world wars and more people came to the area between the 1950s and 1970s seeking affordable and larger properties and also providing the labour force for potato farming.
Photos:
Location
4 Station Street, Gembrook 3783 Map
