Australia So Much to See
Silverton, New South Wales - a mining ghost town?
This memorial wall was completed in 2009. The stone came from three different but significant Silverton buildings
* De
Baun's Silverton Hotel. John De Baun established the first Hotel in Silverton in 1884. This two storey Hotel burnt down
in 1921. The present Silverton Hotel is built adjacent to the ruins.
* The "Half House"; the home of one Silverton's early
Church of England ministers (photo at right). Homes were sometimes built with a blunt end, looking like a home cut in half. This enabled easy additions when expansion could be afforded.
* The home of a typical Silverton family, in which ten children
were raised.
The wall and sculptures were made by Allen McLennon, with the sculptures made from old mining tools.
The footpaths represent
the rails of the Silverton Tramway Company.
The wire fence represents the pastoral industry, which pre-dated mining.
The
plaque recognises the people who have contributed to Silverton through their everyday lives and by serving their country, and also
recognises those who will follow us.
Heading out from Silverton along Wilangee Road north for six kilometres to the sign Scenic Lookout as you cross the range to view
the vast flat Mundi Mundi Plains (above and to left).
This was a venue for the movie Mad Max 2. The movie The Craig was
also filmed in the area, and although hotel scenes were filmed in the Silverton Hotel, it was called Mundi Mundi Hotel in the movie.
Below left, looking west across the Mundi Mundi Plains and below right looking north to the Mundi Mundi Range in the Barrier Ranges.
THIS WALL STANDS AS A TRIBUTE
TO THE MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
WHO MOULDED SILVERTON INTO
WHAT IT WAS, WHAT IT US AND WHAT IT WILL
BE
TO THE MEMORY OF THE
MEN AND WOMEN OF SILVERTON
WHO FOUGHT FOR THEIR COUNTRY AND GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN ALL CAMPAIGNS SINCE THE GREAT WAR
OF
1914-1918
Umberumberka Dam, ten kilometres north of Silverton, covers an area of around 145 hectares when full with a maximum depth of ten metres,
giving it a capacity of 6,935 megalitres. Steam driven pumps were used until 1960, when diesel driven pumps were installed.
In 1892 a private water company, the Broken Hill Water Supply Company Limited was formed to build a new water supply
from the Stephens Creek Reservoir but by 1901 even this was running out of water. To solve this problem a new dam was built at Umberumberka
Creek and construction began in June 1903 but was not completed until 1914 due to flood damage during the construction stage. FromWikipedia
The Umberumberka Dam was constructed just downstream of the junction of Umberumberka Creek and Star Creek.
The
pipeline was originally constructed of wooden stave construction. Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. See similar still in
use in Tasmania.
Lack of maintenance resulted in considerable silting up of the dam, and subsequent to
our visit, by early 2018 it was left quite dry (below right).
