Surrey Hills

Living on the buttongrass plain – a history of Bulgobac

I grew up in a sawmill town on the edge of the buttongrass plain
Beside a railway track in the town of Bulgobac
Where the locos stop for water from the water tank
It also fed the sawmill and the town of Bulgobac

Gravel roads were twenty miles away and people very few
With mountains all around us with panoramic views
At night we sat at the table to a meal of wallaby stew
And mother read the bible at night by the kerosene light its true

Drivers wait from the loco as it headed south to Boco
On the way north they passed our shack in the town of Bulgobac
I was part of a big family with no power to our home
The times are gone but memories live on living on the buttongrass plain

Mother cooked from a wood fired oven Anzac biscuits she baked by the dozen
Life was tough but we never complained living on the buttongrass plain

I still recall the good old days and how we lived back then
In the sawmill town called Bulgobac growing up on a buttongrass plain
I’ll never forget with no regrets of life way back then
The times are gone but memories live on living on the buttongrass plain
 
The times are gone but memories live on growing up on a buttongrass plain

Mott Ryan “Buttongrass plains” from his CD “The Boy from the Buttongrass Plains”

Introduction

Bulgobac is a small siding on the Emu Bay Railway at the 55 Mile.… Read more

Fishing at the Pulp Dam: some memories and notes from Bob French’s fishing diaries

Bob French has been fishing every year at Talbots Lagoon for nearly 60 years. Although he has a shack at the Great Lake, Talbots has always been his favourite fishing place. Fortunately, Bob has kept records and diaries to document his experiences. He is recognised through the North West Fly Fishers Club as a measurer and collator of statistics on fish caught at Talbots.… Read more

Morris “Mort” Bloom – my career with AFH

This month is a guest blog from Morris “Mort” Bloom.

Some of my most memorable days in the bush were marking road lines with Mort. My role was to source timber mostly from private property for the logging contractors under my supervision. Some were easily accessible across grass paddocks in the summer.… Read more

Last Light Lindridge

While finalising a previous blog with Ian Ravenwood on the evolution of aerial operations on Surrey Hills, I was reminded of the tragic plane crash on Daisy Nolan Hill, near Hampshire, in 1983, which killed the sole occupier, pilot John Lindridge.

I researched what I could about John and quickly discovered he had a remarkable flying career, first as a pilot with a flying medical service in outback South Australia in the 1960s, then part of critical freight and transport in the Bass Strait to more flying in Tasmania.… Read more

Airtruks to Squirrels – the evolution of aerial operations on Surrey Hills

Surrey Hills has a long history of aerial operations such as spraying, fertilising, controlled burns and fire fighting. These grew as the plantation estate expanded.

An airstrip was built at Basils Road in the 1980s to improve the efficiency of aerial work on Surrey Hills and adjoining land, but by the late 1980s, fixed-wing aircraft were largely replaced by helicopters.… Read more

Insect pests and fungal pathogens of eucalypt plantations

As mentioned in my blog on Dick de Boer, the main reason for my employment by Associated Forest Holdings (AFH) in 1975 was forest insect pests. 

By the 1970s, the company was starting to become concerned about the ability of its forest estate, and particularly the freehold property of Surrey Hills, to provide an on-going supply of short fibre for fine paper production by the Burnie pulp and paper mill.… Read more

Re-enacting Muddy Creek picnic and sports day

In Chapter 10 of my book, Fires, Farms and Forests, I outlined a fantastic summer picnic and sporting carnival held on Surrey Hills from 1922 until 1930. A picturesque location immediately adjacent to the Emu Bay Railway (EBR) line, just outside Guildford Junction, was the chosen site and it became known as the Muddy Creek sports ground.… Read more

My AFH Experience

This month’s guest blog is by Leigh Titmus, who worked at Surrey Hills between 1978 and 1986.

Leigh grew up as a kid in Devonport through the 1950s and 60s. His father built one of the earliest shacks at Sisters Beach, so almost every weekend, the family would head off there, and they would drive past the Burnie Pulp and Paper mill very often.… Read more

Black rabbits at Parrawe

Over the years, rabbits have generated considerable interest in Tasmania. No wonder, for such a small state, it was estimated there were 40 million of them running around in 1953 just prior to the introduction of myxomatosis and large-scale poisoning using 1080. According to Richard Hilder, wild rabbits were first seen on the north-west coast near Forth in 1878. … Read more