Planting More Trees with Campbell and Joel

Slowly the trees and shrubs, partially financed by the FRRR, are being planted.

Campbell and Joel planting 2 more trees Trident Maples in
the cemetery in 35 degree heat

It would have been nice to get all these trees planted in winter. But that wasn't possible because the grant didn't come in time and when had opportunity to do the planting. The main problem with securing a grant where a bit more physical presence/work is required, is that there has to be time to do the work. It takes longer than what we imagine, because trying to have everyone in one place and all with a space available at the time can be a logistical nightmare.

The planting, not only maintaining them and watching the plants grow, is a huge pleasure and especially so when we plant the larger shrubs and trees. Because this makes an instant viewable difference to an area. The board of trustees of the Cassilis cemetery have decided to plant trees that are colourful because, the area is beautiful and serene in it's own right. It has room for a little or a lot of colour that will make it even more desirable to sit and enjoy, and this is just the start.

Unpredictable and unreliable rainfall makes the task challenging, but that will make it all the more wonderful when we see the fruits from the sweat of our brow deliver a result that will give all residents and visitors pleasure

The planting of these trees in both the cemetery and the recreation reserve has been a family affair where possible, but has had to be done at times, when people were available.

There are two more Trident Maples to be planted in the cemetery area and then the established tree planting will be complete for this year.

Tree Planting Continues in the Cassilis Historic Cemetery.

The Crimson Century trees that have now been planted in the cemetery were selected not for their normal coloured leaves that go some way to matching the cast iron grave surrounds also seen in the image. But because they have such a beautiful foliage transformation in the autumn. They become different trees almost.

Looking forward to seeing them in autumn

The ground where they are planted is hard, mostly clay and very compacted and therefore these trees will require extra watering depending on the rainfall the cemetery gets each year from this point on. We're hoping that in time, these trees will, like the other trees already in the cemetery long planted, and probably cared for when young and then neglected, will also become heritage trees.

The interesting thing about the cemetery is that people came to find gold or to engage in commerce with those who found gold and in many cases the trade off was leaving something valuable in the cemetery. Was it worth it? One would hardly think so. Especially seeing the families of most of these miners and merchants left the Cassilis township when the gold ran out, and in many cases, the area completely. One might easily imagine that Cassilis was not to their liking, not congenial to what they wanted from life.

Like most gold mining areas, it would have been wonderful to see Cassilis prior to gold being found and coveted. What we see today is hardly a shadow of what it would have been when the gold was still in the ground.

Planting in the Cemetery

Planting of trees started again today, this time in the cemetery.

Two Crimson Century trees have been planted as can be seen

So it begins.

The trees, other plants and tree guards etc., for the cemetery is partly funded with a grant supplied by Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal [FRRR] More trees will be planted as the weeks progress. It's not a good time to plant trees, as the weather warms and the soil dries out and hardens, but we have to do this when we are able, and when money, in this case the grant is available.

This project is to replace trees that have been lost, removed or need to be in situ so people can sit in shade as they visit and enjoy the gentle and enriching ambience of the cemetery and recreation reserve. Though in the case of the Cassilis recreation reserve it has been funded by the Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee of Management and the people who have sponsored a tree.

The deciduous nature of the cemetery trees will deliver shade in the summer, present colour in autumn and then during the winter months will allow the sun to penetrate and brighten the area when the trees have lost their leaves. There is the added benefit of these growing trees to sequester carbon from the air around them.

Proposed shelter site.....

This is the site of the proposed shelter site on the recreation reserve, and it's ready to roll. It requires approval from the planning department of the East Gippsland Shire and then, like everything else, when we get that we can get onto the next step.

Nice job done by Brian Keating

We had to send out letters to people with the project number detailing what was intended on the site so they could object if they desired to do so. We had to give them 14 days notice, but gave then 21 days to place any objections with the East Gippsland Shire. We don't want anyone coming in later and saying that we are causing “material detriment” to their way of life or any other thing that is proposed for the area. We've heard nothing one way or the other, and now we are again at the waiting stage. Time is slipping away.

We won't have this up before Christmas, but hope that it might still go up before Easter. We would have at least liked to have all the paperwork approved before Christmas, but it would seem that's not going to happen either.

The (f)route Breakfast - October

Early arrivals catching up.

The (f)route Breakfast Gathering

The Cassilis recreation reserve was the venue for the (f)route breakfast on the Saturday morning when the weather was a bit sulky and grey.

Tom was there early, putting up a bit of a shelter to prevent the food that was going to be brought by those attending, from getting wet. He suggested that by putting up the shelter there was a good chance the rain would stay away and it seemed he was right in his reckoning.

As it turns out in such situations, the table over which the shelter had been erected was more or less abandoned and the rain remained in abeyance.

Quite a few people arrived at the event in a slow stream and renewed their acquaintance from the night before, when there was a formal event organised and well attended at the Swifts Creek art gallery.

More I cannot add because we were called away early, but if someone would like to add something, please let me know.

(If you'd like to see a larger picture just click on it.)

Two Photos of the (f)route Breakfast from Annie

Enjoying the Company

    Some thoughts from Dierdre

The idea of the fruit breakfasts is one of community involvement, of

inclusiveness and of generosity, of getting together for a really pleasant

experience sharing a meal built around fruit which we might have grown or

sourced locally. It was so good to have had all the delicious contributions

of muffins and stewed and bottled fruit, thanks for those apricots Lindy Kyte.

To have people travelling from Bairnsdale, Val and Stuart McCann , Peter and

Marg Gardner and Andrea and Gary from Nowa Nowa was particularly heartening.

Catching up

*******

Deirdre has captured the spirit, in writing about the (f)route theme, of what the community far and wide are trying to accomplish here at the Cassilis recreation reserve and cemetery. With the sponsored trees and other improvements we hope to achieve, a connection much as Chaco demonstrated with her textile sculpture. A community linked with, to and of the area, the trees, the simple act of watering and watching them grow in ground that connect our individual land holdings no matter how distant. 

A community grateful for the shade, colour and beauty of each tree, appreciating each family that has sponsored them as a gift to the whole community and visitors to it. Showing our differences as individuals creates a community working together strengthening ties that connect us, creating and caring for something that will be a benefit and hopefully a source of pride to our children and grand children and generations yet unknown.

It's exciting to watch the trees silently grow and eventually join as a forest canopy protecting the land during the hot summers and welcoming the people who will pick the fruit, sit, shaded and enjoy the scenery and feel a comfort and contentment in summer.

Also open up so the weak, watery autumn and winter sun can warm the earth beneath them and see them naked, alive, ready to clothe themselves in finery when the ground has warmed enough and needs no more warmth to be congenial. Trees for all seasons, a community for all seasons.

Textile Sculpture

Chaco Kato, an artist from Melbourne [look here http://www.chacokato.com/] created a textile sculpture at the Cassilis cemetery that was visited by local people and some from further afield at a breakfast in a celebration of fruit and connections. Many local people from Swifts Creek and Cassilis attended the sculpture during the time it was on display. Some of those returned several times even after attending the breakfast and brought their friends and family.

Gathering of people who appreciate art
and the curious

The sculpture, the way I understood it, as explained by Chaco, was to highlight connection between those who had gone before and those here now, and the old apple tree, estimated to be 100 years since being planted, projected the sculpture from it to connect with some of the other trees in the cemetery.


The apple tree being part of the (f)route theme which was an idea to tie the community and other communities together if possible, in a tangible way. Fruit being grown, eaten and enjoyed in some way by just about everyone.

There were many individual interpretations which is as it should be when any art is displayed. These mixed reviews demonstrate that the sculpture was “good” art. Art should never be a compromise to please everyone or even the majority, but rather something that takes people out of their comfort zone and has most people talking about it, otherwise it fails somewhat. Art like wine is to be tested, tried and each individual investigate the impact it has on them.

A good morning was had by all.

So all in all the textile sculpture was a success and enjoyed by everyone, those who didn't take to it because they could discuss it, the ones who liked it to enjoy and even defend it. The indifferent wondering for just a moment what it was all about before moving on. Probably not even realising that it delivered an experience that broadened them by making them think and make a judgement. It's all good.

So it was, an opportunity for people to get together and enjoy the morning, some fine fruit and discuss something that brought them all together for various reasons in a beautiful spot in it's own right. We live and learn all the time.

Mining

It was mining that opened up the area and sustained the Cassilis township for some years. The quest for wealth, as gold, though a rare metal and useful in some processes, but not really as beneficial and therefore in truth not as valuable as iron ore, mainly underpins wealth. Has pushed people into places that would otherwise have been left much as nature made them.

Apart from being a destructive and rapine industry as all mining is, it was difficult in the Cassilis area because of droughts. Periods of water shortages had miners leave the area as the mines closed down due to lack of water, which is actually more precious than gold as well. Then restart again when the rains came and replenished that which was required to process the ore and become the steam that drove the mechanisms required for crushing, drilling and other tasks.

[quote Keith Streames 1979]

The second phase of mining activity on the Long Gully gold fields was one of great excitement and lead to the formation of the two major gold mining and treatment companies in the region.

In the 1880's, alluvial mining was predominant through Long Gully along Grays Creek, with upward of 100 miners sluicing. By 1885 however, water shortages reduced the population to less than 40, and by 1890 alluvial mining in Long Gully was insignificant.

In 1885, Forsyth's "Lone Hand" mine opened in Long Gully. This is considered the beginning of the important quartz mining phase in the Cassilis area. It lead to the rich finds on Markey's Line and elsewhere, and the development of increasingly comprehensive mills and treatment works in the region.

By September 1887, forty claims had been registered on Bald Hill Creek and at Long Gully where the township of Cassilis was established.

[end quote Keith Streames 1979]

Mining cleared the land without thought for erosion. There were no environmental safeguards, only tearing the gold from the bowels of the earth was thought about, discussed and enacted. The owners of the mining companies, who lived in the cities became wealthier and the miners and ancillary workers and suppliers thought they could make a great deal of money, but this wasn't realised by most of those who lived in the area where the mine tunnels led to the gold bearing ore. It was a hard time. Hope kept people in the area, and kept people cutting down the trees on the hills round the mine.

This timber from the forest on the hills fuelled the boilers and shored up the tunnels underground, keeping the miners safe in most cases. The hills were bared and at the mercy of the elements, ravaged without any consideration for the future well being of the area or the effects upon other areas further downstream.

Trees a crowd

Sunday was great..especially the scones, tea cakes and coffee.
Here is our team having Smoko after all the hole digging and tree planting at the Cassilis Recreation Reserve and Historic Cemetery.

More to come.

Cassilis Cemetery

The Cassilis Cemetery would have been a snapshot of the history of the town, which no longer exists, other than by a name on the map. Like so many towns that grew like mushrooms out of the ground fertilised by the gold found in an area. Cassilis appeared. Not as a township at first, but with hope people named it. Mining was often intermittent, because there was little water. Certainly no permanent water, exacerbated by an unpredictable and unreliable rainfall. There was nothing glamorous about the mining boom in the area, and this was further dulled by the dangerous work and harsh living conditions that those early miners and other workers endured to collect a wage.

The Cassilis historic cemetery is on the other side of the parking area of the Cassilis recreation reserve. This is fortunate, because it gives the visitor to the small amphitheatre like cleft between the hills more to look at and enjoy. Both these public facilities are a feature of the area. The trust of the former and committee of the latter are working together ensuring that the both these become more relevant for the visitors from outside the region and small communities that surround them.

Members of the Cassilis Cemetery Trust taking
delivery of the new mower.

The current trust members have managed to secure some funding that will save them costs for maintenance of the cemetery and allow them to perform other tasks.

Many forebears of local families are buried in the cemetery and probably enjoyed days upon the reserve where they could share a day with their families and in some small way include those who had perished from the many causes of death which occur in a mining community of bygone days.

The recent memorials show that there are still many people who would like to visit and remember there loved ones in the peace and quiet of the hills, in the company of residual memories of others in the ambiance of the small picturesque valley. It is a quiet place and maintained and encouraged to be so.

Some aspects of the Cassilis Historic Cemetery

The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal has bestowed a grant upon the Cassilis cemetery. The grant is for the purpose of replacing trees which have died of extreme old age and been removed for reasons of safety and aesthetics and to plant trees that will produce shade and demonstrate the diversity of the community who interred the tangible remains of their loved ones into this ground.

The project financed by the grant has already attracted other suppliers who have donated trees, shrubs and plants that will enhance the natural focus of the cemetery as being a tranquil place for those who wish to use the cemetery as a place where they can contemplate and enjoy the memories of time and events shared with their loved ones. It is becoming a place where peace can be found, and tranquility embraced.

As stated above, the Cassilis Cemetery board of trustees have received a grant from the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal organisation to replace trees lost and to complement and enhance the Cassilis Cemetery. The funds are provided in collaboration with the R. E. Ross Trust.

The Board of Trustees is grateful for the assistance from these organisations. The cemetery is more a place of tranquillity, restful contemplation and celebration of life, for all members of the local communities and visitors alike. It's a place where any who visit can enjoy the simple pleasure of being alive and consider a history and those who were part of it, to get a better understanding of the impacts that are being made today.

The cemetery is an area used by people from all walks of life and socioeconomic environments who have a interest in history, genealogy and the plain curious who would like to glance over or delve deeper into the areas past.

The grant assists the board of trustees not only to maintain the history which is left and viewable, but also that which is imaginable and no less real. It also allows features that were lost to be replaced and new purpose to be generated.

So it begins.

Many in the local communities and visitors see the Cassilis cemetery as a venue. Not merely to visit the departed, but much as the original residents did; to be in a place with meaning for the living. A place where past is in tandem with the present and death in tandem with life. This appears to be the way it was from stories told. An example of which is Chinese families bringing food to the departed to sustain them on their journey.

Hence the recreation reserve is cheek by jowl with the cemetery. All members of the past and present, with varied interests and employment, meeting together in a common environment that shows an interest in life and living, side by side with an acceptance of mortality. The latter required to enrich the life experience.

The current board of trustees has been pleased to allow the cemetery to host the textile sculpture of Chaco Kato in recent times and be a place holder for other such events.

This seems to be in keeping with the definitions of action and purpose of the cemetery as decreed by those who requested it's creation in the first instance. Using the location as a portal through which those whom they love, departed to reach what they aspire to attain. It seems to be a sacred trust of purpose. To ensure those interred are not left alone and apart from the living. But rather part of the celebrations and in view of people moving ever on through life. The living knowing the comfort of being in the spiritual presence of the departed, who have a connection to this place.

Two as one. 

Places to experience the magic.

Wider community cooperation along with tireless dedication by the Cassilis residents, committee and trust of both Cassilis Recreation Reserve and Historic Cemetery respectively, has blossomed into new creative energy to further improve the amenities and beautification of the area.

Testing out one of the new seats
installed at the Cassilis Cemetery

These already picturesque and historic public places set amongst ancient and beautiful trees within this pioneering landscape is having a makeover, designed to bring further delights to the community and visitors alike.

Consultation between the Cassilis Cemetery Trust, Recreation Reserve Committee and local authorities, such as the D.S.E , DOH & CS, Crown Land Management and the Shire of East Gippsland is producing an exciting and creative agenda that will enhance this valuable East Gippsland asset.

President of the Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee Ms Alison Smith said, “the project is going extremely well, especially the tree planting sponsored by locals which will add beauty, colour and shelter at the reserve. Each semi-mature tree will have the sponsors personal dedication and tree type inscribed on a plaque and attached to each. We already have some inscriptions of wise words and poetry displayed for all to see.”

The committee and trust of these public areas has been inspired and productive with their fund raising efforts and working with local authorities, private enterprise and the arts community of East Gippsland.

If a bit more money is raised by Christmas the recreation reserve could have a shelter, to be shared with the cemetery, on the site to display interpretive information, and can and no doubt will also be used for events such as Art & Music, in an arboretum like setting.

Alison quipped, “As I am the youngest member of the committee my fellow members are perfectly happy to let me dig the holes for the tree planting. However, if anyone wishes to participate and perhaps sponsor a tree we still have some available and they can help plant it.”

For further information call Howard on 03 5159 4328

Or Email: Charlie ariestao[at]skymesh.com.au

By Howard Reddish

Edna Gale Remembered.

Edna Gale, well known and widely respected Swifts Creek and Cassilis identity, who passed away in 2004 aged 92 years of age. Has been honoured with a commemorative plaque prominently placed at the Cassilis Recreation Reserve, which along with other community projects she wholeheartedly supported.

Pat Oram, Christine and Howard Reddish

Edna, nominated by local Councillor Jack Richardson for citizen of the year recognition while she lived, has always been in the thoughts of and posthumously recognised by members of her local community.

Edna's dearest friend and companion of almost 70 years, Pat Oram was present at the unveiling at the beautiful historic Cassilis Recreation Reserve.

As well as poetry Edna painted and was a dedicated connoisseur of Pat’s wonderful home brew yet had time enough to be an activist for the disenfranchised. Edna wrote many letters and was a stalwart of and a champion for the local community. She was a scrutiniser and attempted enforcer of promises made by those who craved and secured public office at all levels of government by the generosity of public vote.

At a casual gathering of recent times a notable ex-politician was asked if he remembered Edna Gale … he replied “How could one forget her?”

According to Howard Reddish, a personal friend and spokesperson for the Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee of Management said, “We admired her wit but feared her wrath, she was a solid advocate from and for this community and we loved her dearly. 

She lived a long wonderful and creative life; although at times she was a pain in the “arts” for those foolish enough to deal lightly with her causes expecting impunity,” Howard said.

Pat Oram who knew Edna best had the honour of unveiling the plaque.

By Howard Reddish

Cassilis Recreation Reserve

Looking out from the gate at the Cassilis Recreation Reserve

This is the five acres 3 roods and sixteen perches which is the Cassilis Recreation Reserve. Also known as the Jernkee Recreation Reserve and the Jirnkee Cassilis Recreation Reserve.

It was recommended that this area: [quote] "in the position defined by the technical description herewith be temporarily reserved in the parish of Jirnkee as a site for Public Recreation, also excepted from occupation for residence or business under any miners right or business licence." [end quote] Dated 1896

Obviously there were even then, in the late 1800's some far sighted visionaries and we reap the reward of their consideration.

The recreation reserve is visited by people from all over the world as well as local residents. The adjacent cemetery draws the visitor, and the ambiance of the place soothes all who enter this small wrinkle between the hills that frame Cassilis.



The trees being planted at the reserve, supplied by Hidden Valley Trees in Harrietville, are for summer shade and autumn colour. This is a project that has brought all the community together to give an area already beautiful more depth and diversity.

People of and from the local community planting trees.

Please click on the tree legend below to see it more clearly. The colour coding is along the lines of what the autumn colours of the trees will be.

Update: August 2012

The first tree to blossom is, much as expected the Manchurian Pear. Other ornamental pears are starting to show bud swell.

More trees have been planted and a new legend will have to replace the old one above to show their location and type. Photographs of the trees will follow, so watch this space.

The new plantings consist of walnut, pear and trees. It is the intention of the committee that the trees in the  Cassilis Recreation Reserve will, as well as supply shade and shelter, also give the visitor an opportunity to pick fruit and nuts. This will create interest, along with the birds and wildlife, who will also share the area and the produce, and by so doing, create even greater and more diverse interest for the the visitor to that area.

Spring 2012

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

It's spring. The ornamental pears planted by the tree sponsors and the Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee of Management are showing their finery, their interpretation of the season, the quickening. The red maples are starting to fire up as are the trident maples. The staggered flowering of the various trees means there will be blossom heralding the spring for a longer period of time.

If the autumn leaves are similarly staggered we will be well pleased, because the seasons are not just a day or a week, they are an evolution of many factors moving into each other.

Like all living things, trees will help us to see what's going on, and show seasonal conditions far more accurately than a calendar.

A Brief History of Cassilis

The words from the document above.

The Omeo Region was the gathering place of Pioneers and Explorers; it was the birthplace of Gippsland.

The Township of Cassilis is midway between Swifts Creek and Omeo along the Cassilis Road, a Great Alpine Road diversion loop and scenic gold fields drive.

This road crosses the Great Dividing Range at one of its lowest point and is a direct route from the Southern Ocean catchments through to the Murray in the North.

Local Aborigines roamed the high plains hunting and gathering, giving descriptive and evocative names to local places.

Omeo is definitely an Aboriginal name as is Bun Jirrah Gingee Munjie the name once used for Swifts Creek meaning, “Big kangaroos go to that place”

Recent archaeological discoveries suggest they could have inhabited this area for 20,000 or more years. Artefacts suggest continual occupation using tools made from local stone and other materials found only in this region being interrupted only by European exploration and occupation.

Grazing of the Alpine pastures was well established long before McMillan‘s journey through Gippsland and there is enough evidence to suggest that Gold was discovered at least 10 years before it was officially announced in 1851.

Alluvial gold attracted thousands to the “diggings” including a large contingent of Chinese and Europeans but it was here on the Cassilis road in 1858 where Gippslands first reef gold was discovered.

The Name Cassilis did not exist until 1861 when John Kennedy a descendant of the “Earls of Cassilis” Ayrshire Scotland purchased the northwest corner of one of Gippslands earliest grazing stations, Tongio Station. Kennedy badly wanted the site because it resembled the landscape of the country of his forebears, also the home of poet Robbie Burns who describes Cassilis beautifully in his epic poem “Halloween”.

“Upon that night when fairies light,

On Cassilis Doonans dance”.

Kennedy was familiar with the of legends of Cassilis (pronounced Cass-ills in Scotland) It‘s mischievous fairies and a Gypsy’s tragic love affair with a Kennedy girl, celebrated today in the song “The Gypsy Rover” However, it was the “pleasant rocky hills” known to him as the Doonans of Scotland and the uncanny similarity that urged Kennedy to adopt Cassilis as his Home away from Home.

The White Iris is an emblem of the Clan Kennedy and grows prolifically throughout the Cassilis Valley to this day, a legacy left to us by John Kennedy.

From humble beginnings the Cassilis Township slowly developed, the mining of gold began to grow and with it the prospect of prosperity and security.

People came from all over the world for anew life, but on May 16, 1870, for the parents of Louisa Richard, tragedy

struck and Louisa, aged 4 months became the first interment at the now historically listed Cassilis Cemetery.

Cassilis Victoria

The Cassilis area of Victoria has an interesting history and there are many stories, not only of old times but the things that are happening today.

Most of the material on this blog has been supplied by and is available at Mount Markey Winery.

Added by Howard:

It was John Kennedy in 1871 that gave Cassilis it's name.
Working on Tongio Station in Swifts Creek the gentle rolling hills of the drier north west section reminded John of his Homeland an Ayrshire Scotland. He bought the land and named it Cassilis Station after the place of his birth. Gold was discovered long before the official 1851 Goldrush and John must have had dealings with the diggers early in the development of Cassilis but his main occupation was the grazing of sheep. A short distance from John Kennedy's residence Gippsland's first reef of gold was discovered which lead to the development of several small communities. Johns homeland on the west coast of Scotland lies below the river doon or (downs)or rolling hills. Roughly translated the "Doonans" are 5 pleasant rocky hills and the landscape of our small East Gippsland Town looks very similar. Experience the beauty yourself when visiting the Omeo Region and you must pay a visit to our delightful pioneer Cemetery and Recreation Reserve and walk in the footsteps of our founding fathers. Records are available from the Mt Markey Winery but be careful of the Cider and Meade.

Cassilis Scotland

Cassilis Victoria Australia

Grasp from the Past

Being aware that history is very subjective and now it has become possible for everyone to record something of their lives and this is also history.

We look back and wonder what actually happened and how people lived and reacted, in our case in the mining camps and towns that sprang up with the discovery of gold in around Cassilis. Mushroom societies and sub cultures popping up, each probably unique and different in terms of morals and written and unwritten laws even within a short distance from one another.

There are records of the big picture events in Cassilis, but they are sparse and don't include reference to the daily lives of miners and their families, nor the everyday worries, and traumatic trials and tribulations that besieged them. Neither are they more or less accurate, one more than the other.

All history is tilted by the historian and that has to be taken into account by the reader. Even studying the scribe who penned the words doesn't allow for an accurate picture of the slant of what they put down. What it does generally, is allow us to be sceptical of some aspects and possibly note where their interpretations take over from what they, or their sources actually saw or heard of the event or occurrence.

Through our own experiences we can place weight on their grief, happiness, daily drudgery. By physical evidence we can see some of their leanings and prejudices. Or are we only overlaying our own on theirs.

Hopefully some of the things recorded here will be of value to someone in the future by creating a more complete picture of Cassilis of this period.

Some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassilis,_Victoria