Ringwood Lake Park (Ringwood)

The 8.5 hectare Ringwood Lake Park is used for various recreational activities.

Features at the park include a lake and bridge, sound shell, mining history display, playground with accessible equipment, picnic shelters and barbecues, heritage walking trail, bushland and creek and a fern gully walk.

Ringwood Lake Playground Review

Mining History Display

Antimony
Mining of antimony commenced in Ringwood shortly after its discovery in 1869. Antimony was a sought after mineral in its time. It was used for making pewter; in the manufacture of vulcanised rubber; as pigment in paint; for the manufacture of medicines and in the printing industry. Today it is little-used and little known.

Various mines operated generally south of Whitehorse Road, Ringwood and north of Mt Dandenong Road, Ringwood East. Most notable was Boardman's Mine in Mines Road, now the site of Maroondah City Council offices.

Mining took place during the 1870s into the 1880s, and was discontinued after 1892. Elsewhere in the district, brick works and tile works operated during the 1880s, producing bricks and terracotta roof tiles for an expanding Melbourne. These operations were brought to an abrupt end by the recession of the 1890s.

Poppet Head
A poppet head was constructed over the top of a mine shaft and was used to transport miners and the ore up and down the shaft. The poppet head had cables running from a steam-powered engine over the top of the 2 gin wheels connecting to a cage and this could descend to over 300 feet (100 metres) in depth.

Located at the eastern end of the park, near the main car park, a poppet head which was a replica of the one used at the Ringwood Antimony mine was erected here in 1987 but was destroyed by fire in 2005 and demolished.

Replica Mineshaft
There is a plaque illustrating a cross section of the vertical mine shaft and horizontal drives - tunnels - is of the Broadman' s mine that operated on the current City Offices site at Braeside Avenue. After the mine closed in 1896 two further attempts were made to re-open the mine in 1920-21 and also 1934 but as no payable ore was located the shaft was sealed in 1936.

Pottery and Brick Industry
The local surface clays were used to manufacture bricks and tiles commercially during the 1870-1890 period. The mines and kilns of five or six works flourished in the area opposite the mines, stretching from the Bedford Road railway crossing to the Maroondah Hospital. During the First World War, insulators, for electricity poles, were scarce and these were produced locally in Ringwood East using the local fine clay, called kaolin.

Miner's Cottage
A miner's cottage built around 1873 stood at 367 Maroondah Highway until demolition in February 1975. Records show it to be one of the many miner's huts built adjacent to the main antimony bearing area - now bounded by Milnes Road Maroondah Highway and Mt Dandenong Road.

A replica in log-cabin style of a miner's cottage known as the Museum was built in the Park in 1987. This was a replacement for an earlier weatherboard replica which had been burnt down. Unfortunately this was destroyed by an arsonist in 2009 and was not rebuilt. A commemorative plaque now stands at the former site.

Peace Garden

The garden is a symbol of International Peace. May all who pass by this place pause and meditate on peace - the ultimate ideal of the human state and reflect on the unity of all men, women and children as One People.

This Rotary Peace Garden is a joint project funded by the Australian Government Anzac Centenary Grants Program and the Rotary Club of Ringwood Inc.

The Lone Pine - Pinus halepensis
On 6 August 1915, the 1st Australian Infantry Division launched a major offensive on Plateau 400 at Gallipoli, Turkey. The ridges were once clothed with Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis) however the pines had long been cut down to cover and line trenches, leaving one solitary pine. Hence it became known as Lone Pine Ridge. 1rIthe three days of fighting, the Anzacs lost 2,000 men and the Turks suffered losses which were estimated at 7,000.

Lance Corporal Benjamin Charles Smith of the 3rd Battalion sent back several cones to his mother Mrs Jane McMullen in Inverell NSW in remembrance of his brother Mark who died in fighting on 6 August 1915. Thirteen years later, some of the seeds were sown. Two seedlings grew with one being presented to the town of Inverell. The Duke of Gloucester planted the second tree at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 24 October 1934.

Sgt Keith McDowell of the 24th Battalion brought back a pine cone and gave it to his aunt, Mrs Emma Gray of Warrnambool, Victoria. From his pinecone, four seedlings were grown and planted at several War Memorials in Victoria.

The Lone Pine you see in this garden has been propagated from the tree at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

In 1990, two trees were taken back to Gallipoli by war veterans who attended the memorial service that marked the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Lone Pine Ridge.

World War I - Armistice
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 (an agreement between opposing armies to suspend hostilities in order to discuss peace terms; truce) was the Armistice that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allied forces of the British Empire and France along with Belgium and their opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had eliminated Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Known also as the Armistice of Compiegne from the place where it was signed, it came into force at 11am Paris time on 11 November 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat of Germany, although not formally a surrender.

The actual terms, largely written by the Allied Supreme Commander, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, included the cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of German forces behind the Rhine, Allied occupation of the Rhineland and bridgeheads further east, the preservation of infrastructure, the surrender of aircraft warships and military material, the release of Allied prisoners of war and interned civilians, and eventual reparations. There was no agreement to the release of German prisoners and no relaxation of the naval blockade of Germany. Although the Armistice ended the fighting, it needed to be prolonged three times until Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on 28 June 1919 and took effect on 10 January 1920.

A plaque in the Peace Park commemorates the Centenary of the Armistice on 11 November 2015 and the hope that it brought, that being peace in the world.

Review:

The highlight of Ringwood Lake Park is the great playground on the northern side. There are some smooth asphalt paths (with one steep, short hill) for bike riding around the lake which is small but there isn't a lot to explore for the kids. There are walking/bike connections to Mullum Mullum Creek Trail, Bedford Park and the Heathmont Rail Trail. We crossed the train tracks and went out to Bedford Park where there was an area with two shaded tables and some seats but it wasn't a very interesting area. There is a water feature in the middle of the lake and what was left of the Miners Cottage wasn't very significant. There are water taps near the playground and BBQs and tables. On the north side are a range of cafes/fast-food places.

Photos:

Location

291 Whitehorse Road, Ringwood 3134 Map