405. Ironmine-Lal Lal State Forest 10.2km

 U3A Hike No 405



    TRAMWAY


Hike Report by Don Moss

On a beautiful Ballarat autumn day, 12 of us left Buninyong to drive via Lal Lal to branch on to the Ironmine road. A wonderful circuit walk on old tracks and derelict tramway trails, through a reserved area known as the Lal Lal Bungal State forest and Heritage Area. 

 

The surroundings were classic Australian bush of Eucalypts, with relatively little undergrowth because the underlying soil was often rocky and full of minerals. We started on Chalkmine road, somewhat an exaggeration, more like a rocky track. 

 

Geology.  

Chalk mine more accurately refers to Kaolin, a white rocky substance which is little known as an important component of porcelain and a valuable earth source in the Ballarat and Bendigo regions.  

Later we turned on to Ironmine road, and bits of heavy iron rock were identified, so mining in this region was not primarily for gold, but the scars of mines remain along the way. 

 

History. 

While the walk on this sunny day provided great pleasure (and some puffing up various hills), it also took us past some fascinating history.  

Near the start we came across the marked grave of Mary Anne Patterson, a 6-year-old girl who died about 1863 of “pneumonia”. While her death was blamed on the inability to reach medical help because of the flooded Moorabool River, she was likely doomed because antibiotics were not discovered until the mid-20th century. Her grave is well marked, and we added some tribute rocks, and one walker was seen placing some wildflowers as a lovely gesture.  

 

After a stop for morning tea, we headed over more hills to reach the historic Lal Lal Mine and Furnace. This was built in 1874 and the 15m high stack has been largely restored, being charcoal fired in its day, to process the iron stone into iron ingots. These were then transferred on horse-drawn drays along the tramways to reach the nearby railway. Sadly, it proved uneconomic, but the evidence of this industrialization has been preserved. 

 

Nearby we had excellent views of the Bungal Dam, potentially holding over 60,000 million litres of water in the Lal Lal reservoir. 

 

World Record 

While this was a terrific walk lead by Andrew, through lovely bush full of fascinating history, it must be noted that for a world first, Andrew missed a track turn, hence leading us through unmarked bush past pink heath, to regain the planned route. Indeed, a rare event. 


Photos by Andrew Parker


























LINKS


INTERACTIVE MAP


TRAMWAY MAP


DOWNLOAD GPX FILE


START POINT


THIS HIKE IN 2020 (three groups due to covid restrictions)






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