Tullah, the nothern bit
Jan. 25th, 2014 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithThis is Tullah. One part old mining town, two parts former Hydro village. From the north, it's the first town you encounter after a long time of nothing (no towns, no houses, no mobile signal). From the south, it's the last town before a long stretch of nothing.
The potted history on the archived Online Access Centre web site says...
Tullah was established as a small mining settlement in 1900 following the discovery of silver lead ore in 1897 by Josiah Innes and party. Original access was by foot and packhorse until the Mt Farrell Tramway was completed in March 1909. In 1924 the Wee Georgie Wood steam railway linked the town to the Emu Bay railway and this continued until 1964 when the Murchison Highway was completed.
The Hydro Electric Commission commenced construction of the Pieman River Power Development in 1973. At the peak of construction the population of Tullah reached 2500. Construction was completed in 1985 but Tullah remained the construction base for the King River and Anthony Power Developments until their completion in 1994.
The two parts of the township are, as you'll see, quite separate in both atmosphere and location, so I'll give each one its own post. That way I can use more photos and gets posts for one lot of work.
This first one is the former mining township, established about 1900. The Mt Farrell mine provided galena, a major source of lead and also silver.
The population of Tullah is about 200-250. The Bureau of Statistics puts it at 195 and, what doesn't show up as well in their table, a quarter of that populaton (44) are in the 55-64 age range. The population is 56% male. With 55% of households being married couples with no children (national average is 37%). The biggest area of employment is accommodation, with mining coming in second. Median rent is half the national average and mortgage payments are even less. Which might explain the large number of fully owned private homes (53% compared to national average of 33%). Not a "typical town" by any measure.
The local pub.
Murals opposite the pub.
Most of the town is on the highway
(That's an interesting front path.)
There are a couple of side streets though.
The service station and local shop.
Playground next door to the service station is rather old-style.
At the northern end of the town are two things of interest to visitors.
The "Wee Georgie Wood" Steam Railway is only open a couple of weekends a month (and not this one) but there's a collection of old railway equipment outside.
Across the road is a heritage display with information about former mining activities in the area, with some old mining equipment.
Also a snake. Which you can't see there because it probably took off when I squealed (You're allowed to squeal when you nearly jump onto a snake) but I wouldn't be surprised if it lives down that hole. It looked like a lived in hole.
At the southern end of the township, the highway contines on to the turn off to Tullah village.
The potted history on the archived Online Access Centre web site says...
Tullah was established as a small mining settlement in 1900 following the discovery of silver lead ore in 1897 by Josiah Innes and party. Original access was by foot and packhorse until the Mt Farrell Tramway was completed in March 1909. In 1924 the Wee Georgie Wood steam railway linked the town to the Emu Bay railway and this continued until 1964 when the Murchison Highway was completed.
The Hydro Electric Commission commenced construction of the Pieman River Power Development in 1973. At the peak of construction the population of Tullah reached 2500. Construction was completed in 1985 but Tullah remained the construction base for the King River and Anthony Power Developments until their completion in 1994.
The two parts of the township are, as you'll see, quite separate in both atmosphere and location, so I'll give each one its own post. That way I can use more photos and gets posts for one lot of work.
This first one is the former mining township, established about 1900. The Mt Farrell mine provided galena, a major source of lead and also silver.
The population of Tullah is about 200-250. The Bureau of Statistics puts it at 195 and, what doesn't show up as well in their table, a quarter of that populaton (44) are in the 55-64 age range. The population is 56% male. With 55% of households being married couples with no children (national average is 37%). The biggest area of employment is accommodation, with mining coming in second. Median rent is half the national average and mortgage payments are even less. Which might explain the large number of fully owned private homes (53% compared to national average of 33%). Not a "typical town" by any measure.
The local pub.
Murals opposite the pub.
Most of the town is on the highway
(That's an interesting front path.)
There are a couple of side streets though.
The service station and local shop.
Playground next door to the service station is rather old-style.
At the northern end of the town are two things of interest to visitors.
The "Wee Georgie Wood" Steam Railway is only open a couple of weekends a month (and not this one) but there's a collection of old railway equipment outside.
Across the road is a heritage display with information about former mining activities in the area, with some old mining equipment.
Also a snake. Which you can't see there because it probably took off when I squealed (You're allowed to squeal when you nearly jump onto a snake) but I wouldn't be surprised if it lives down that hole. It looked like a lived in hole.
At the southern end of the township, the highway contines on to the turn off to Tullah village.
