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Bushwalkers help in cold case

By on 1 November, 2018 in Bushwalking history, Bushwalking safety

Teenager, Trudie Adams went missing in 1978 while hitch hiking home in the Northern Beaches area.  Bush Search and Rescue NSW (BSAR) took part in the subsequent NSW Police investigation of this disappearance.

On Tuesday evening 30 October ABC TV aired a program on missing person, Trudie Adams.  At that time none of our members wore any style of uniform, even the Committee.  So Bushwalkers Search and Rescue (full name then was the ‘Search and Rescue Section of the NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs’ now BSAR) was often just mentioned as among the ‘volunteers’.  The TV program aired a lot of archival news footage but nothing of BSAR members.  The NSW Police uniform was very different to now.

BSAR rescheduled a training weekend for the search.  Walkers went home each night.  Sunday morning had a particularly fierce frost.  The area was very different to now.  An oval (now gone) at the junction of Mona Vale Road and the Forest Way was the search command base.  Mona Vale Road was just one lane each way except for a long slip lane from the Forest Way towards Mona Vale.

Long stretches either side of Mona Vale were searched.  Among the ‘finds’ was a pile of Playboy magazines.  We could only guess why they were dumped; upcoming marriage?  A dank pool of water was bubbling.  This was from something dead but a pig not a person.  Equally, the Police were interested in a mound from a small grave but it was that of a dog.  Other tracks in the immediate area were also searched.  On Sunday, one searcher noticed a garbage bag under a tree.  The Police got very excited when it turned out to be a sawn off shot gun!  It was promptly collected by the relevant Police Squad.

Later, the family of Trudie Adams sent a hand written thank you note to BSAR.

The past is always another country, especially 1978.  BSAR still had their basic first generation field radio – AM HF.  There are two more TV programs to come about this unsolved disappearance.  Pre program promotion suggests that a murky time of Police corruption may be investigated in the next two weeks.

Bushwalkers Search and Rescue

By on 29 June, 2018 in Bushwalking history, Bushwalking safety

It is time to explore past history of Bushwalkers Search and Rescue via the web.  Search and rescue in NSW has evolved considerably since Bushwalkers Search and Rescue was established in 1936 as the S & R Section of the NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs (now Bushwalking NSW).  In the early days radio communication did not exist and helicopters only came into common use during the 1970s.  The files also provide a snap shot of bushwalking history as equipment and knowledge improved so new areas were explored. Newspaper items are featured.

 

NSW Police and Bushwalkers S&R Search Managers at John Keys search 1977

Highlights in this past history include the first search in 1936; major searches for missing school girls during 1960s; the amazing rescue of Dennis Rittson from Kalang Falls in 1970; 1982, three killed in a sudden flash flood of Claustral Canyon; 1993, the search for crew of a plane crash in the Kanangra Boyd area; numerous reports of Barrington Tops searches over many years for a Cessna lost in 1981 plus much much more.

Unfortunately while there are a number of deaths there are far more successful outcomes.

Bushwalkers S & R has also changed as s & r methods have improved so it is now part of NSW SES as Bush Search and Rescue NSW.

Start exploring at the link below.  (Be amazed!)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cSOMp9zsdYCFG7qbtHrrSQ2-i36U64Pz?ogsrc=32

Splendour Rock 2018 – 70 years

By on 4 May, 2018 in Bushwalking history

Bushwalking NSW President, Alex Allchin, reading the program

This year there was a strong crowd of mid-week walkers present on ANZAC Day to remember the dedication of the Splendour Rock plaque 70 years ago in 1948. Background notes were read out about installing the plaque before the usual simple but of course moving ceremony. The service is roughly timed to have a spectacular climax with sunrise and cloud this year gave us a special sunrise over Kings Tableland.

The author and Bushwalking NSW President (in hat) Alex Allchin both assisted in this ceremony which opened to a welcome to country and concluded with the National Anthem. A bugler played ‘The Last Post’.

Splendour Rock is an outstanding vantage point with around a 220 degree sweep of view that goes well into the distance. It is also hard to tire of the “Wild Dogs” access walk with its mix of forest and rock pass / ups and downs. Overnight near Splendour Rock a little tent village pops up. There is a certain magic in an ANZAC Day visit to Splendour Rock. 2019 could be a good year to sense the magic of this place. Put the date in your diary now.

Keith Maxwell.

Splendour Rock 2018 sunrise

Splendour Rock 70 anniversary

By on 18 March, 2018 in Bushwalking history, Events

Wednesday 25 April 2018

This will be a special day as it will be 70 years since the bushwalkers who had survived WWII gathered to remember their lost walking mates.  They dedicated a permanent memorial to them with the outstanding sentence “THEIR SPLENDOUR SHALL NEVER FADE”

A simple ceremony will be held in the half-light before sunrise over Kings Table Land and a cloud covered Lake Burragorang.  There is a special atmosphere in the overnight (dry; no water) camp of the 24th on Mt Dingo.

All bushwalkers should visit Splendour Rock at least once since it holds so many bushwalking memories.  The vista more than lives up to its ‘splendour’ name as you see a vast sweep of bushwalking country.  In 1948 the bushwalkers could still remember friends who had pioneered ways to visit so much of this country in overnight trips.

GETTING THERE

Splendour Rock is on the far end Mt Dingo in the Megalong Valley.  It is hard to tire of walking the Wild Dogs with its mix of place names and bushwalking challenges over and around Mt Mouin, Mt Warrigal, Merrimerrigal before finally Mt Dingo.

Bushwalking NSW will be supporting this anniversary.  In 1958 they started a new visitors’ logbook with a special title page.

The BNSW website has more information on these men from a range of clubs (some of which are no more).  See www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au

Now is the time to start planning your 2018 ANZAC Day trip to this place of so much special importance to bushwalking.

 

Bushwalker Magazine archives

By on 25 September, 2017 in Bushwalking history

The Bushwalker magazine has changed a lot over the years. Before the advent of desktop publishing the magazine was a photocopy of a simple typed document, perhaps with a sketch or two. Keith Maxwell has been scanning old Bushwalker magazines from the 1970s onwards. They have now been uploaded to our website and offer a fascinating glimpse into the past.

When this ad featured in the December 1977 Bushwalker, the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs of NSW comprised 33 clubs. See how Paddy Pallin’s ads and bushwalking clothing fashions have changed in the last 40 years, in this illustration of a well-dressed bushwalker.

Or check out the inaugural Wilderness Visitor’s Code of Behaviour from February 1978.which was prepared by Dr Sandra Bardwell, after the Australian Wilderness Conference the previous year. It was created, “To encourage the preservation of the physical and intangible qualities of wilderness areas and their enjoyment by travellers on foot, ski, or in hand or sail-powered boats.”, because “In wilderness man is a visitor who neither remains nor leaves any trace of his presence.”

We would love to add more archival newsletters to the website. If you have copies of any issues of the Bushwalker that are missing from our website please contact Kirsten admin@bushwalkingnsw.org.au

Find out more about our history at http://www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au/bushwalker-archives/

Splendour Rock – The Bushwalkers Who Fought For Australia

By on 9 August, 2017 in Bushwalking history

Splendour Rock in the Wild Dog Mountains is a bushwalkers’ war memorial in the spirit of bushwalking. Though not a difficult walk, even the least challenging path typically demands more than half a day and route finding.  On approach, accessing the last rock and plaque requires a confident leap over a short deep slot.

The bushwalkers of 1946 chose this spot well; Splendour Rock can also be a cross roads. The vast view extends from Kings Tableland (east) to Kanangra Walls and the High Gangerangs (west) and southwards towards Lake Burragorang / Blue Breaks. The dedication in 1948 must have been extra special as some bushwalkers, along with some of the fallen, had opened up the country in view to bushwalking prior to WWII.

In true bushwalker style the plaque is simple, but with fabulous wording.

There is great camaraderie as neither wealth or pr estige makes it any easier to get there.  All attendees have to share the limited rock platforms for the simple secular service.  The fallen bushwalkers are listed by name and club before a piper and trumpeter (with the ‘Last Post’) help to focus thoughts and feelings.  Typically, a glorious sunrise slowly lights the sky.

Breakfast almost seems hum drum before breaking camp and the walk out.

In 2018, Bushwalking NSW would like to make the remembrance a little more special for the 70th anniversary of the plaques dedication.  I trust that you can join us on ANZAC Day 2018.

Guest author: Keith Maxwell

The History and Future of Kedumba Hut

By on 28 July, 2017 in Bushwalking history, Conservation

Over 150 years ago, the Kedumba Valley in Blue Mountains National Park was first settled.

In 1832, Thomas Maxwell, an Irish convict, arrived in Sydney and married fellow convict, Elizabeth Osborne, soon after. The couple gave birth to twin boys, one of whom was named William James Maxwell. Born on April 27th 1832, William Maxwell later moved out to the Burragorang area (in modern times home to Warragamba Dam) where he met and married Mary Thompson in 1855. In the 1860s, Maxwell worked as a stockman and ran his own cattle farm to earn a living.

Whether Maxwell first applied for a land grant in Kedumba Valley in 1859 or 1889 is not entirely clear, but the family left a particularly lasting legacy in the form of Kedumba Hut. Three generations of the Maxwell family lived in Kedumba Valley until 1992. During these years, the family constructed five different timber slab huts, as well as other utility buildings. Of the huts, only one is still standing today, and this ‘Kedumba Hut’ has become a place of historical significance.

Built in 1925, Kedumba Hut is an outstanding example of Australian pastoral life removed from larger settlements. According to National Parks & Wildlife Services (NPWS), the hut is an “excellent example of vernacular bush craft” with “timber detailing… of exceptionally high technical… and archaeological potential.” The site is also a prime research target to learn more about vernacular buildings from the 1890s to the 1920s in New South Wales. Very few buildings of its type and age have survived, giving it significance as a “rare and endangered species.”

Kedumba Hut with Mt Solitary behind.  Photo: NPWS

In 2001, a report into the heritage value of the hut was commissioned. The results suggested that Kedumba Hut had considerable state, and possibly even national, significance. The report also detailed that the hut needed urgent stabilisation work or it was at risk of collapsing further. Maintenance to stall the hut’s fall into disrepair was completed in 2004. Over a decade later, a second report was commissioned, this time to determine if the hut could be re-used and better preserved. In order to achieve both ends, the report suggested that the best strategy was to fully restore the site to the condition and function it had in 1925.

With the above in mind, NPWS has put together a plan to restore and refurbish Kedumba Hut to ensure it remains for generations to come. Working with a number of partners, NPWS plans to raise $350,000 for restoration as well as ongoing maintenance. Upon completion, the site will be heritage listed and its preservation guaranteed. Keduma Hut will also be made available as free overnight accommodation for bushwalking groups that can be booked on request. NPWS propose to ensure the hut is weather-tight and hold simple camp-style beds. Water, gas and electricity will not be provided.

Kedumba Hut.  Photo: NPWS

Once the hut has been restored, it could be the perfect opportunity for bushwalkers to take a rest, enjoy the beauty of Kedumba Valley and reflect on what life might have been like for the Maxwell family over 150 years ago.

You can visit Kedumba Hut in the Blue Mountains National Park on the 19km Kedumba Valley Loop track.

Sources

Jack, Ian. ‘Of the hut I builded’: the Maxwells’ slab structures in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Australian Historical Archaeology 27, 2009. Pp 55-66.

Blue Mountains Community. “Maxwell’s Slab Hut” Kedumba Valley: Restoration & Re-use overview. 2016.

Thanks to guest writer: Andrew Barker