A nice night for it!

With winter approaching far too fast for my liking, I am making the most of any good weather which comes along. So, with that in mind, I hit the river late on a sunny afternoon for a short paddle between Breakwater and Prince's Bridge with a stop along the way for a picnic dinner with the family.

James Harrison and Barwon Bridges, looking east

The end result was a swag of scenic sunset shots (conveniently enough I was paddling west) and a swag of dark, often blurry, shots after sunset as I attempted to come to terms with the finer points of aperture size and shutter speed on my fairly simple "point and shoot" camera.

The McIntyre bridge, looking west

Sunset over Highton

Still looking west

As the light levels dropped, the cockies and corellas which had been screeching in the trees and wheeling overhead while we were eating dinner, dispersed and now, the usual array of birds was replaced by "bats". By bats, I actually mean Grey-headed Flying-foxes which I looked at in a previous post.


As night falls and the full moon rises

Fortunately I am used to the noise these guys make (they often frequent the large Silky oak tree in my backyard), otherwise, the sound of their squeaks and squawks along what were by now very quiet and dark banks, could have been rather disturbing. As it was, the occasional splash as something unseen broke the water's surface seemed far more prominent than during daylight.


In town it is never really dark

By the time darkness (such as it was on a clear night with a full moon) descended, there were no pedestrians on the riverbank and no-one on the water either - except me and the occasional waterbird who I think was as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

Everything looks different at night

As well as everything looking and sounding different in darkness, it smelled different as well. What little breeze there had been on dusk disappeared completely. The surface of the river was like glass and the moisture level in the atmosphere increased noticeably, giving everything that fresh, cool smell.

Breakwater Bridge under the full moon

Finally, after a very different paddle, I made it back to Breakwater in time to hear a train tooting its way towards Geelong from Marshall Station. Time then, as I waited for a pick up, for one last shot...

The 20:39 train from Waurn Ponds crosses the Barwon

What's in a name?

As European settlement spread along the Barwon River, through Wathaurong territory, the new arrivals needed names to identify their surroundings and the new structures they were building. Sometimes - as in the case of the Barwon River - they used derivatives of local Wathaurong names such as Barre Warre N Yallock or  Jillong (Geelong). Connewarre is derived from the Wathaurong Koo N Warre meaning mud oyster.

The edge of Reedy Lake

These names were descriptive. Sometimes descriptive names were given in English too; Reedy Lake is indeed reedy, Salt Swamp is salty, a breakwater was constructed at Breakwater and the Barwon Bridge on Moorabool Street in Geelong was so named I presume, as it was the first bridge built across the river, however it was also known as Kardinia Bridge. Kardinia is an indigenous word meaning sunrise.
Often, the colonists named their places and structures for important colonial or European figures. As I have mentioned, the current bridge across the river on Shannon Avenue is the Princes Bridge - named for Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria and shortened from the original Prince Albert Bridge. Queen's Park and its bridge were named for Queen Victoria herself.
It seems that there was some dispute even at the time these structures were being built, over the adoption of names. There were those who favoured the "Old Country", preferring to use familiar names which reminded them of home and the people there, then there were those who preferred the use of traditional aboriginal names such as Balyang for the bridge at Shannon Avenue or other names of local significance such as Levien's Bridge for the Bridge at Queen's Park. (B.G. Levien was an early settler who operated a punt on the site.) This article published in the Geelong Advertiser on 12th December, 2011 gives a great description of the passions which were ignited amongst the locals when it came to the battle over naming rights, with the Addy leading the charge against the monarchists. 150 years later and history clearly shows who was the winner of that particular battle!

Baum's Weir in Flood

The area a little upstream of Baum's Weir was known to the Wathaurong people as Boonea Yallock meaning a place to catch eels. Whilst I know that the weir was built to supply water through the channel which runs to the paper and flour mills downstream of Buckley's Falls, I have not been able to discover who the weir was named for. And of course, the falls themselves were named for the escaped convict William Buckley who lived in the area with the Wathaurong people for many years.
 Likewise, Pollocksford and the bridge now located there, were named for an early squatter in the district.
This tradition of naming structures and places after people of significance or using Wathaurong names, continues today. But who were these people? The McIntyre Bridge is named for John M McIntyre, Engineer-in-chief of the Geelong Water Works. The Yollinko Aboriginal Park and Yollinko Wetlands directly across the river take their name from the Wathaurong word meaning yesterday.
This site was of particular significance both to the indigenous population who harvested plants and hunted in the area and to the European settlers who took their water from a pump on the west bank of the river between Yollinko Park and Prince's Bridge.
As the walking trails were developed along the river's edge through Geelong, a number of other names were adopted. Beginning near Yollinko Park is the Stan Lewis Walk. It extends along the west bank of the river as far as Queen's Park. So, who was Stan Lewis? Stan was the superintendent of maintenance - I presume for either Barwon Water or its precursor, the Geelong Water Works.
On the opposite side of the river, downstream of Queen's Park is the Rotary Walk, which recognises the contribution of the Geelong West Rotary Club to the development of recreational facilities for the community along this part of the river. Upstream of Queen's Park and on the same side of the river is the Zillah Crawcour Park. This space recognises the contribution made to the City of Newtown from 1957 to 1977 by Priscilla Crawcour who held a seat on the council and was also elected as mayor during this period. Upon her death in March, 1977, she was serving her third term in the office. Zillah recognised the importance of women in government through her role on the Victorian Branch of the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) which was established in 1963, following on from a similar earlier organisation.
Heading back downstream, we come to Landy Field - the major athletics venue for the region. The facility is named for John Landy who was the most prominent Australian athlete of his day. Born in Melbourne, Landy was educated at Geelong Grammar after which, he joined the Geelong Guild Athletic Club, of which he became a life member in 1958. It was here in 1949 that his running career really took off. In 1954, Landy was the second man in the world behind his toughest rival Roger Bannister, to run a sub-four minute mile which he did in world record time. Landy Competed at both the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, taking the Olympic Oath on behalf of the athletes at the latter games.
In addition to his running, Landy held a number of positions, including his appointment as Governor of Victoria on 1st January, 2001. He held the post until 7th April, 2006. Fittingly, he is a keen naturalist and served on the Land Conservation Council of Victoria during the 1970s. No doubt he approved of moves which were afoot to develop public open spaces along the banks of the Barwon River.
The development of the trail which now links Baum's Weir to the Breakwater, was in no small part due to the efforts of one man - Wal Whiteside, whose name is remembered in the "Wal Whiteside Walk" which stretches down towards Breakwater from Landy Field.
Wal Whiteside (or Wally Whiteside as I always heard the name as a child) was chairman of the Geelong and District Water Board from 1971, being re-elected in 1979 and 1983, having previously worked for the Board as a senior engineering assistant, prior to being elected as a commissioner on the Board in 1959 with one Len Sprague (more of whom later). Whiteside and Sprague were part of a new wave of up and coming  commissioners whose enthusiasm and skill drove the development of many of the projects established during the 1960s and beyond, which secured the water supply for the Geelong region. The largest and most far-reaching of these projects was surely the construction of the West Barwon Dam which was completed in 1965 after more than 14 years of planning and construction at a cost of 2.5 million pounds. The dam today provides the majority of Geelong's water and was the largest project undertaken by the board to that point in time. Another important project was the overhaul of the Black Rock water treatment plant which occurred in 1988.

End of the Wal Whiteside Walk at Breakwater

They were also at the heart of controversial issues such as the decision as to whether Geelong's
As time passed, the public became more interested in the recreational opportunities provided by the river and also the various water storage facilities. This was reflected in the introduction of public amenities at West Barwon Dam and various other sites. In recognition of his contribution to the Board over many years, the picnic facilities at West Barwon Dam were named the Len Sprague Reserve.
Along the length of the river in Geelong, significant effort was produced to buy back land which would be used as a public facility. It was this initiative which resulted in the walking trail which today extends from Baum's Weir and Buckley's Falls to Breakwater, including the reclaimed and re-vegetated section of industrial wasteland which now bears his name.

Building Bridges

Bridges are useful things, but we do tend to take them for granted. You can cross over them, jump from them, be pushed from them, fall from them and even - as I discovered - throw murdered bodies off them. When they are not there, life becomes significantly more difficult.
During the recent floods, the bridge over the Barwon at Breakwater was, as usual, out of action forcing a significant amount of traffic to use other crossings. Imagine the inconvenience then, when the only real bridge over the river - the Barwon Bridge on Moorabool Street - was swept away in the major floods of May, 1852. It had only been built in 1848.

Construction of the new bridge at Breakwater

It was not until the end of the year that the government organised a punt to carry those wishing to cross the river from one side to the other. This situation continued for another year until two more punts were rigged to form a floating pontoon, which then had to suffice until a two-lane iron bridge was built in 1859. One imagines that private vessels were also used to cross the river and that some private operators charging a fee may not have been so unhappy with the loss of the bridge as the general community.
The current bridge - widened in the 1960s and again last year to meet requirements for the International World Cycling Championships held in Geelong - was built in 1926 to allow trams to cross.
As a quick search of Wikipedia will tell you, that in addition to the Barwon Bridge there are a number of bridges crossing the Barwon along its lower reaches. There is the controversially rebuilt Barwon Heads bridge at the mouth of the Barwon, joining Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. In addition to the Barwon Bridge, Geelong has the ovoid sewer aqueduct, the Breakwater Bridge and the rail bridge which crosses both the river and the road bridge at this point, the James Harrison Bridge, the McIntyre Bridge, the Queen's Park Bridge and even the little foot bridge which crosses the Barwon at Fyansford. Then there is the soon to be completed replacement for the Breakwater Bridge which will re-align Breakwater road and flood-proof the river crossing at that point.

John M McIntyre Bridge

Whilst not always the most aesthetically attractive examples, several of these Bridges are significant from an architectural perspective. The John M McIntyre Bridge was built in 1968 to carry sewerage across the river to Black Rock. It is a "post-tensioned, prestressed stayed girder"which at the time of its construction was an Australian first.
John M McIntyre after whom the bridge was named was the Engineer-in-chief of the Geelong Waterworks (precursor to Barwon Water) and was involved in the the construction of the West Barwon Dam and reservoirs at Bostock and Lal Lal and extension works at the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir. The bridge which bears his name also provides pedestrian access across the river and - if memory serves me correctly - makes a handy reference point on the rowing course. Word has it that once your boat reaches the "Sh*!t Bridge" you row hell for the finish line.

Queen's Park Bridge

At one time, the ovoid sewer aqueduct served the same purpose. It is an architecturally important structure, built over three years between 1913 and 1916 which I think I have discussed in a previous post. Its 14 reinforced concrete cantilever spans however, are in a crumbling state despite the structure being listed on the Victorian National Estate Register and access to and thoroughfare under the aqueduct is prohibited. The pipe was decommissioned in 1993 and its eventual fate still hangs in the balance.
The Queen's Park Bridge is another historically significant bridge across the Barwon. The present single-lane steel structure dates to 1930. The site was initially serviced by a punt and was used as a cattle crossing with a wooden bridge built for the purpose in 1861. This was twice washed away in floods, first in 1870 and again in 1909. Purely functional are the new twin bridges which cross the river to the west of town. They were built in 2009 as part of the Geelong Ring Road which allows coastal traffic to avoid the congestion of local roads through the city.
Likewise, the James Harrison Bridge which crosses the river just upstream from the original Barwon Bridge, is designed purely for road traffic. Although this does not stop it being taken over for an hour or two on the third Sunday in November by the several hundred runners who have for the past two years completed the "Run Geelong" fun run event.

Pollocksford Bridge

Then of course, there is the Princes Bridge which appears to be the favoured point from which to dump the bodies of murder victims as I have noted previously. The present bridge is the third structure to stand near this site. The previous two, located a little further downstream, were named for Queen Victoria's husband Albert, the Prince Consort. The initial timber structure was built the year after Albert's death, in 1861. A second bridge with the same name was erected in 1889 to replace the first which was in a poor state of repair. This in turn was extensively repaired in 1959 and then replaced with the present bridge in 1965.
Once out of Geelong,  the bridges become more widely spaced. Heading further upstream, the first is the Merrawarp Road Bridge and then the Pollocksford Bridge - a five span bluestone bridge built in 1859. The next crossing point is on the Inverleigh-Winchelsea Road just out side of Inverleigh, near the confluence of the Leigh and Barwon Rivers.

Winchelsea Bridge

Possibly the most picturesque bridge across the Barwon is the bluestone Barwon River Bridge, built in 1867 to replace two previous timber structures. This bridge was replicated in later years with a prestressed concrete structure being built slightly downstream of the first.
Other bridge crossings I have yet to investigate include the Winchelsea-Deans Marsh Road which appears to cross a shallow stretch of the river at a natural ford, Kildean Lane and Conn's Lane. Another road bridge lies just outside of Birregurra on the Birregurra-Deans Marsh Road, then one on the Colac-Murroon Road and Dewing's Bridge Road. All appear to be modern concrete structures of little aesthetic interest.
At this point I become somewhat confused, but know of at least one more bridge just past Barwon Downs and another on the outskirts of the township of Forrest, below the West Barwon Dam. Then finally, at the base of the dam is a little foot bridge designed for pedestrian access.
In general it would seem that most of the bridges over the Barwon have been built for function rather than appearance, however several have long histories which tie in with the story of Geelong and the farming communities through which the river flows.