354. Monster Meeting Site Walk 8.8km

 U3A Hike No 354


Hike Report By Kath Cape

After meeting at Kirks Reservoir, we carpooled for the pretty drive to the Castlemaine Diggings
National Historic Park, epicentre of the Mount Alexander goldrush, north of Chewton, on a windless
sunny morning. 

The (just short of) 10km walk started from the Garfield Wheel car park.
First stop was to admire the still impressive stone support remains of the historic Garfield Water Wheel,
used between 1887 and 1903 to power the stamp battery for the Garfield Company Mine.

Climbing the steps beside the site we set off uphill to join the Garfield Track to a barrier and junction with Dead Cat Mine Track. Turning right onto the track we followed the signs for the Monster Meeting
Site. 

The site soon came into view below us but before we got there, we stopped to admire the
impressive remains of a Cornish chimney against the hillside, which was built to service a steam
boiler. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the hive of activity that would have been all around the area
during the height of the goldrush.

We then walked onto the site of the Monster Meeting, marked by a flagpole and information board,
where 15,000 gold diggers met in December 1851 to protest the Government’s ‘unjust and
exorbitant mining licence fee. Sound familiar??

After a pleasant stop for morning tea, we headed back to join the Forest Creek Trail (No 7 walk).
After crossing Chinamans Point Road, we continued on the Forest Creek Trail until we came to an
embankment and a ruined bridge, where we left the walk. Andrew told me to look out for unicorns,
which seemed very improbable, but lo and behold ahead, one very large, if somewhat immobile,
specimen was spotted with a rainbow horn to boot!

From there we followed Chapel Street through to a car park from where we could have detoured to
Welsh Village, another key site in the Castlemaine NHP. However, it was only the medium Monster
Walk so we headed south west to an area with several large and well fenced off old slate mines (which
some of us couldn’t resist throwing stones into) to the bottom of a gully where we could see the
remains of a horse-puddler and the footings for a flume across the creek.

From there we turned left to walk along a water race to another fenced mine shaft and, having
navigated our way a bit haphazardly around the shaft we continued on the water race back to just
short of the Garfield Wheel, where we enjoyed our lunch.

Thanks Gordon for your expert guidance on this interesting walk.

Photos by Andrew Parker







































                                    See the Garfield wheel come back to life!

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