Berringa Mines and Heritage Area - 8.6 Kms

 
U3A Hike No. 138

Hike Report by Anne Ottrey

20 hikers met at Sebastopol to head off to our walk at the Berringa mines and heritage area. As 29 degrees was predicted for the day, the walk was reduced from 13km to around 10km. 

Between 1898 and 1911, the historic mines at Berringa produced a minimum of 293,000 ounces of gold from four main operating mines. Mining re-commenced from 1937 to 1952 and again during the 1970’s and 1980’s as small scale gold mining operations. Ballarat Gold Mines still holds an exploration lease on the four main mines in Berringa. The area was first called Kangaroo, then Moonlight and finally Berringa, thought to come from an aboriginal word for rainbow or sunset.

We started off by exploring some of the old mining areas, but it was soon evident that these had been mined again in the more recent periods. We passed the relatively new dam for the Kangaroo mine plus also an older, now dry, dam. We did a fair bit of scrambling down into gullies to find mining ruins, walking through bracken, blackberries, and thistles and passing patches of pink belladonna lillies, remnants of past lives.

We found two good hills to climb, the second one rewarding us with a great outlook and equally great mining ruins to sit on and enjoy morning tea. Gordon provided historic notes to explain what we were seeing: The 'Birthday Tunnel Mine'

We next explored the former township of Berringa, passing the mine manager’s house for the Williams Fancy mine, and St Aidan’s church. This was built by the Church of England, but is now used as an ecumenical church. There are not many buildings left of the old township. Continuing on down the road, we called into the Berringa historical precinct, which has a number of circular in – ground tanks or wells, the site of an old boarding house (at its height, Berringa had 5 of these!), and many old fruit trees and briar roses.

A little more bush bashing took us into the ruins of the Birthday Mine, scattered along a gully. The ruins here rival the ones of the Jubilee Mine which we visited a fortnight ago, but they lack developed paths and interpretive signs. Once again Gordon was our reference for information about the ruins.

The day finished with lunch at the Berringa recreation reserve, where we had the luxury of a shady lunch shed and toilets. Thanks Andrew and Gordon for this very interesting mining heritage walk.

An interactive map can be accessed via Links after the photos

Photos by Mark B


















Berringa Miner in Winding Cage

Miners at Berringa 1900. Believed to be Birthday Tunnel Mine
 


























Comments

  1. Marianne Kennedy20 February 2021 at 16:31

    A nice report and photos. A great record another very interesting hike.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Berringa Mines and Heritage Walk - 9 Kms

Image
 U3A Hike No 279 Hike Report by Lyn The day was overcast and hazy as our group set out from the Berringa Recreation Reserve and started walking back towards Ballarat. Soon we stopped and marvelled in awe as Andrew waved a $50 note in the air, then a $5 note apparently picked up from amongst the roadside litter. However we were not fooled and Andrew returned the notes to his pocket and we continued on.  Our first mine we came across was the Birthday Tunnel mine set high up the steep sided gully. Since our last visit in February 2021, the mining relics consisting of brickwork and a rusting boiler were still evident but a new addition in the form of a modern looking living transportable container was within close proximity. Not wanting to hang around for too long we then descended the steep sided gully concentrating on our foot placement as it would have been very easy to slip on the downward leaning grasses, although we took time out to look at the impressive mullock heap.  With expert n
Read more

287. Frith Gully - Mt Misery Loop. Enfield State Park

Image
 U3A Hike No 287 Hike Report by Colin Fraser Eight hikers assembled outside the Marty Busch Reserve in Sebastopol for an 11.5 km hike on the Frith Gully-Mt Misery Loop in the Enfield State Park. We travelled in two vehicles to the start of the walk at Bald Hill on Incolls Road, Enfield. The walk was graded as moderate, and described as continuously hilly. We walking paths and rough bush roads through isolated parts of the park. There were deep gullies with lush vegetation, high ridges with open scrub, and areas that still bear the scars of extensive surface mining in the 19th century. We followed Misery Creek Road south then the Misery Creek and Forest Park walking tracks to Surface Point Picnic Ground, where we had smoko. Before arriving at Surface Point we were accompanied overhead by the raucous alarm calls of a group of cockatoos warning of our intrusion into their forest. Coincidently this occurred just near Mt Cockatoo!! We shared the picnic table with a man who was camping there
Read more

305. Fisherman's Bend - Port Melbourne Walk 11.3km

Image
 U3A Hike No 305 Aerial Photo Showing Former Airfield Hike Report By Sharon Moss. On a blustery but fortunately dry morning , 19 intrepid travelers made their way to Southern Cross Station to begin their suburban hike through Fisherman’s Bend - Port Melbourne. We set off at a brisk pace with Andrew capably leading us & Gordon as whip. We had a lovely walk along the banks of the Yarra River, passing impressive boats moored at the marina with one bearing the name Costa Lot ! Andrew pointed out pylons that are decorative rather than functional, as they sit adjacent to the Bolte bridge but are not part of the structure . Passing under the bridge, we then joined busy Lorimer St , where conversation slowed somewhat as noise overtook. We were all alert watching out for bikes , scooters, joggers & traffic ! We passed several landmarks of interest . The  art deco building previously GMH , with one part of the building now occupied by a Ballarat company J King  Homes . Andrew shared inte
Read more