Warrandyte

On Monday 12 May we went to Warrandyte a suburb some 30 kms NE of 505.  We followed the route suggested by Sheila (the bossy voice of Google Maps).

A first point of interest was noticing a Pam-the-bird work on a very high chimney which I think is in Collingwood where one turns off Hoddle St on to the M3.  I am unsure how the guys got up there!

The image was taken - by Frances - as we came back, during a traffic light stop at the end of the M3 looking straight into the sun.

There were a few reasons for visiting Warrandyte :

• There was some interesting architecture described in an on-line brochure Frances had found;
• It links in to the art trail about the Heidelberg school; and
• There is interesting geology along the Yarra.

Manningham Council get a bonus point for having a good amount of free parking available.  

After slotting in to one of the spots we almost immediately came to a helpful sign about the art trail.  It shows locations where some of the paintings were done across the wider area, with the titles of the works in each local area.  They had further signs at the indicated spots reproducing the work.

The main guidance we had was a brochure published by Manningham Council which we had on Frances' iPad.  There are two parts to this: very good text and a map.  I will get my comments about the map out of the way first.  Here it is:

There are two appalling errors on the map.

1. note the added text box '13'.  This is the location of the War Memorial which while included in the text was not shown on the map.  We went wasted a lot of time looking for it near sites 10-12.
2. the route shown on the map was complete garbage.  
1. it is not possible to get down a steep bank to the riverside walk where shown.  One actual way on to the walking track is shown in purple.
2. on reading the text later the red line is not the route described in the text.  That is the far more sensible route shown by yellow arrows.

Manningham Council will be getting an email serve of 💩💩💩as a result of this as I got completely frustrated trying to find the War Memorial and crossing the very busy road where indicated on the useless 🤬 map.

The text was good.  This sets the scene:

On Friday 13 <note date> January 1939 <note year>, a large and fast moving fire swept through Warrandyte. The fire came from the distant side of the Yarra River, sweeping down and across the narrow valley before roaring up this hillside to where you stand today; 168 homes were lost, including some built by Alexa Goyder.

Coinciding with the start of WW2 later in the year it became difficult to find building materials and much of the historical interest is in the way people used what they could get together to rebuild.  From the brochure

Alexa Goyder and Myrtle Houston found a niche for their unique talents during this era. Today, they are remembered for contributing to the ‘Warrandyte style’ during a time when few women were engaged in building work and materials were in short supply.

By way of example, the arrowed brickwork looks to be reuse of old bricks from elsewhere. 

On the upper side of Brackenberry Street the houses all seemed modern and quite flash.  It was unclear if these blocks were burnt in the fire.

I liked these bats hung by someone's gate.

Stylish utilities area.

The first example of use of rubble in rebuilding.

This is 152 Brackenberry, which got an extensive and interesting write-up:

Further along the road on your right is a delightful adobe mudbrick house built in 1960 with an enviable view. Neither Alexa nor Myrtle built this home, but we feature it because of its early use of adobe, a form of mudbrick that is strengthened with straw or other fibrous material. This ancient building method was frowned upon by the local authorities and the home very nearly did not get building approval. 

Today, it remains as one of only a few adobe homes in the greater Melbourne area. Note the quaint use of wooden shingles across the upper part of the walls, and bluestone for the foundation.

More rubble in the wall.  I suspect it would be deja vue all over again if another fire comes.

This is more rubble, in a house next door to Alexa's house.

This is the War Memorial when we finally located it.

Despite me needing a phone call to Beyond Blue after our struggles with the map, we headed off to the Pound Bend area and found the tunnel through the Neck.  This very close to forming an oxbow in the Yarra.

The aim of this tunnel was to divert the river so that the riverbed could be mined for alluvial gold.  That didn't happen nor did various other dodgy schemes.  Here is my snap of the tunnel - without getting my feet wet.

An interesting sign: the photo would have been better if I had actually included the bit to the right  with the Pound marked!   See reference to Beyond Blue above.

Overall an interesting area.  Pity about the map.