Hobart Rivulet, Part I
Aug. 3rd, 2012 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
For your reference, Google Maps, which, depending on the zoom, should show all of today's post or you have to pan right.

To start with, Cascade Brewery, which takes its water from the rivulet, is the oldest (or oldest continuing ooperating?) brewery in Australia and was established in 1824, except it wasn't. 1824 was when Degraves got his land grant and built a sawmill. Then he got gaoled for debt and, the story goes, it was while he was imprisoned that he got the idea to build a brewery.
Over to the ADB for the next bit of the story:
In 1832 Degraves laid down a brewery on his property. It soon flourished, and when a second sawmill, flour-mill, and bakehouses were added he employed more than fifty hands. On the mainland his beer brewed from cool mountain water was considered superior to other beers and sold well; with his sawn timber, flour, bread and biscuits, he was said to earn nearly £100,000 a year. However, he had much trouble over the water which passed through the brewery into his reservoir and thence to the town rivulet. Soon after 1833 its flow decreased in volume and citizens complained that he was exceeding his water concessions. The government retaliated by building a dam above his reservoir, but this gave only temporary improvement, and the town water supply remained a contentious subject.
The squabbling over water and various schemes to deal with the problem went on, but if you want to read, you can go to the page.
The building in the my photo is the usual image you see of the brewery (the 1927 date is when that building was constructed, in case you wondered) so I thought I'd find one a bit different (if the link works). Apparently they had to bring beer down from Boags to maintain a supply (!).

Moving downstream to Cascade Gardens (to the big red A, or just right of it)....

Boulder trap

or duck sun trap.

Debris rack. As you can imagine, having a waterway under the city, especially one that doubles as a stormwater outlet, creates a potential flooding (more on the later) which is aggravated by the waterway getting blocked so lots of traps along the way to try and keep the route clear.
When I was up here, I didn't intend to follow the rivulet back into the city, so there is a bit of jump to the next spot, which is where I did decide to follow it down.

This map on a council sign (click for a slight bigger version) shows the route up to the CBD. Ignore the "You are here" bit. We're not. We're on the right hand edge, in Cascade Gardens.

And now down in the Degraves St (guess who that is named after), looking back the way we came. The rivulet runs behind the cottages on the right

*points to the trees* and the Female Factory on the the left (previous photo) which used to be a distillery. Guess where it got its water from.


The bridge at the end of the street, back onto the main road. There are a lot of these little bridges.

Under the bridge.

Down the road a bit more, and looking back.

And in the other direction. There is a walkway here that follows the rivulet through to the next street/bridge.
Here it just looks like a little suburban creek, and rather shallow too. Photo isn't good enough to pick any of the plants there. Although the trees are usually (introduced) willows.

Same section from the other end :) That's so I can tell where I am.

This is the next bridge (and you can see the earlier one on the right there), which leads back to Cascade Rd/South Hobart. Despite all the trees and open areas, this is the heart of the city, as you can see on Google. There are just a lot of reserves (inc. the Mt Wellington reserve) and areas not suitable for building.

Under the bridge. The "built" sections are all covered in grafitti. Allowed/encouraged, I think, to provide a legal outlet.


The linear park runs alongside the rivulet back to the city (about 3 km I think). Here it is little more than a path, but there are some interesting bits along here. So that's a good place to stop for now.

Squatting dogs not allowed
Dogs on leads allowed
Sticking your hand into flames allowed.

To start with, Cascade Brewery, which takes its water from the rivulet, is the oldest (or oldest continuing ooperating?) brewery in Australia and was established in 1824, except it wasn't. 1824 was when Degraves got his land grant and built a sawmill. Then he got gaoled for debt and, the story goes, it was while he was imprisoned that he got the idea to build a brewery.
Over to the ADB for the next bit of the story:
In 1832 Degraves laid down a brewery on his property. It soon flourished, and when a second sawmill, flour-mill, and bakehouses were added he employed more than fifty hands. On the mainland his beer brewed from cool mountain water was considered superior to other beers and sold well; with his sawn timber, flour, bread and biscuits, he was said to earn nearly £100,000 a year. However, he had much trouble over the water which passed through the brewery into his reservoir and thence to the town rivulet. Soon after 1833 its flow decreased in volume and citizens complained that he was exceeding his water concessions. The government retaliated by building a dam above his reservoir, but this gave only temporary improvement, and the town water supply remained a contentious subject.
The squabbling over water and various schemes to deal with the problem went on, but if you want to read, you can go to the page.
The building in the my photo is the usual image you see of the brewery (the 1927 date is when that building was constructed, in case you wondered) so I thought I'd find one a bit different (if the link works). Apparently they had to bring beer down from Boags to maintain a supply (!).

Moving downstream to Cascade Gardens (to the big red A, or just right of it)....

Boulder trap

or duck sun trap.

Debris rack. As you can imagine, having a waterway under the city, especially one that doubles as a stormwater outlet, creates a potential flooding (more on the later) which is aggravated by the waterway getting blocked so lots of traps along the way to try and keep the route clear.
When I was up here, I didn't intend to follow the rivulet back into the city, so there is a bit of jump to the next spot, which is where I did decide to follow it down.

This map on a council sign (click for a slight bigger version) shows the route up to the CBD. Ignore the "You are here" bit. We're not. We're on the right hand edge, in Cascade Gardens.

And now down in the Degraves St (guess who that is named after), looking back the way we came. The rivulet runs behind the cottages on the right

*points to the trees* and the Female Factory on the the left (previous photo) which used to be a distillery. Guess where it got its water from.


The bridge at the end of the street, back onto the main road. There are a lot of these little bridges.

Under the bridge.

Down the road a bit more, and looking back.

And in the other direction. There is a walkway here that follows the rivulet through to the next street/bridge.
Here it just looks like a little suburban creek, and rather shallow too. Photo isn't good enough to pick any of the plants there. Although the trees are usually (introduced) willows.

Same section from the other end :) That's so I can tell where I am.

This is the next bridge (and you can see the earlier one on the right there), which leads back to Cascade Rd/South Hobart. Despite all the trees and open areas, this is the heart of the city, as you can see on Google. There are just a lot of reserves (inc. the Mt Wellington reserve) and areas not suitable for building.

Under the bridge. The "built" sections are all covered in grafitti. Allowed/encouraged, I think, to provide a legal outlet.


The linear park runs alongside the rivulet back to the city (about 3 km I think). Here it is little more than a path, but there are some interesting bits along here. So that's a good place to stop for now.

Squatting dogs not allowed
Dogs on leads allowed
Sticking your hand into flames allowed.