Saturday, 4 May 2013

Dead Cow Gulch


Way back in the '70s, I hiked through the New England Tablelands of NSW with a bunch of friends. It is a very beautiful area of Australian bush, but the stand-out memory is the rotting cow carcass. By instantly renaming the area to 'Dead Cow Gulch' we created for ourselves a short-hand nomenclature to last down the ages. Which brings me to Flat Rock Gully which from 1940 to 1985 was a municipal tip [or dump].


On the map, the area is split in two by Flat Rock Drive [we are nothing if not original!], with the left being Flat Rock Gully, and the right being Bicentennial Reserve, the location of Walter Burly Griffin's incinerator. The ash and debris from the incinerator was disposed of in the council tip. From 1998 to 2003 the tip was 'remodelled' into public reserve with walking and cycling tracks. This culvert goes under Flat Rock Drive and connects the reafforested reserve to the playing fields of Bicentennial Park.

We will take a wander through Flat Rock Gulch in my next post.


8 comments:

BlossomFlowerGirl said...

It is truly amazing seeing the old Aboriginal paintings. Love the name "Dead Cow Gulch".

diane b said...

I'm enjoying finding about about Castlecrag. I like to see dump sites turned into recreational areas. I'm always amazed at how many "Half Mile Creeks " one crosses on a road trip anywhere in Oz.

Allan Lloyd said...

One question, Julie: Is the art by authentic indigenous artists? The running figure in the picture second-row-right looks like a cartoon version of a local jogger.

Julie said...

I think names were for utility, rather than homage at one stage, Sandra and Diane.

Julie said...

FM - that is a tricky question. I will research and come back to you. I cannot imagine locals allowing the council to get away with 'pretend' indigenous art, but it does look as though it is not authentic. I shall try to find out.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I remember having an visitor to our flat in Crows Nest (when we lived there) and him saying you know when I was a kid the local tip was over the road from here. Hard to believe as it is today but I do know that modern buildings had to put down very deep peers because the land was not stable.

Our flats were from the 1930s what a lovely "view" they must have had when new.

Julie said...

Yes, a tip, however useful, is not attractive to either eye or nose. ANd they are sooooo expensive nowadays.

Jim said...

Terrific artwork.