Location, location

A short film by Matthew Bird has captured a number local iconic locations around the Wimmera and Mallee.
'Parallaxis' is an abstract 16-minute psychological sci-fi film, with 2 'future characters' (played by Ashleigh McLellan and Lilian Steiner) who move across the landscape pushing & controlling large cylindrical instruments that survey & map the terrain.

Bosisto's Eucalyptus Distillery ruins

The terrain in question is recognisable as the site of Bosisto's eucalyptus distillery at Antwerp, the wind farm at Murra Warra, the Stick Shed at Murtoa, and Lake Tyrrell at Sea Lake.

Passageway, Stick Shed

The film follows two augmented humans as they "investigate their possible archaic genealogy in a Wimmera past. Arriving temporarily and somewhat unexpectedly in the now, the inquisitive duo put their surveillance face-halos to work: observing, recording, archiving ephemeral moments and navigational discoveries as they speed through the landscape. Their biomechanically engineered apparatus are cross-fed into the telemetry of the full-body gyrocompass each visitor operates. Systems in systems, wheels within wheels, spin-axis atop spin-axis, each revolution another attempt to locate and momentarily fix a collective bearing in space and time".

Stick Shed by drone

Some great video of the Stick Shed by the ABC Western Victoria crew.
 

(Video from ABC Western Victoria's Facebook page)

The Murtoa Stick Shed is a National Heritage listed building (Australia's 101st), constructed in the 1940’s to store grain. It is now in high demand by tourists who want to see this iconic building.
Originally it only re-opened for the Murtoa Big Weekend in October each year, then once a month, now it is open 6 days per week!
Tourists are coupling the Stick Shed with the Silo Art Trail.
Opening times are: Tuesday-Saturday 10am to 12:30pm and Sunday 10am to 2pm.

Such was life

This month the State Library’s “Our story : Such was life” is ‘The Mallee’

In Victoria’s north-west lies the Mallee; a dry, hot region featuring sand dunes, salt bushes, shrubs and a ‘strange dwarf gum tree, Eucalyptus Dumosa, usually called Mallee…The tough land and climate certainly made an impression on Dr. Neumayer, a surveyor who recounted his experiences in 1864, ‘I can readily imagine why most people speak of this part of the country with a certain dread for there is actually no grass and no water to be found’…Over the years the land has endured its share of rural disasters, namely plagues (rabbits, mice, grass hoppers), drought and dust storms. Today its 100,000 occupants mainly reside in major towns like Mildura, Swan Hill and Kerang, but the Mallee is also dotted with smaller towns with delicious names such as Patchewollock, Cowangie, Boinka, Underbool, Piangil, Walpeup and Manangatang…In 1995 the State Library received a collection of photographs from the Rural Water Corporation (State Rivers & Water Supply Commission) which span the late 19th century to 1980. The thousands of images document Victoria’s water use and include many from the Mallee and Wimmera, which feature in this post.

Unfortunately some of the records have little or no information attached, they were grouped together under titles like:  [Wimmera - Mallee District] [picture], or [Wimmera region] [picture] with Accession no(s) RWP/1855; RWP/1870; RWP/1884; RWP/1883;RWP/1906; RWP/1862; RWP/1873; RWP/1926; RWP/1895; RWP/1932; RWP/1881; RWP/1878; RWP/1871; RWP/1872; RWP/1896; RWP/1923; RWP/1860

And Summary Descriptions: Shows sand drift on a Mallee farm, crops on Mr. Black's property, sheep at drinking storage at Dumosa, crops near Murtoa, ploughing at Murtoa, Miss Lodwick in her father's vegetable garden at Timberoo, interior of wheat storage shed in Murtoa, abandoned homestead at Galah, horses drinking from bore-water trough, Consolidated State School at Murrayville, bowling green at Ouyen, sand and crops at Patchewollock.

For some, it is easy to positively identify - for example the 'ploughing at Murtoa' can only be the 'RWP 1870' as the Stick Shed is visible in the background.

Ploughing at Murtoa (RWP 1870)

Likewise 'interior of wheat storage shed in Murtoa' is 'RWP 1884' a great shot of inside the Stick Shed.

Interior of wheat storage shed in Murtoa (RWP 1884)

 

Sand drift on a Mallee farm (RWP 1906)

It gets trickier with descriptions like 'abandoned homestead at Galah'. This is possibly 'RWP 1883' if you consider the building to look abandoned or derelict. Galah was a siding on the way to Walpeup.

Possibly abandoned homestead at Galah, it is RWP 1883

Another photograph which could be 'crops near Murtoa' or 'crops on Mr. Black's property' is 'RWP 1855'.  Mr Black's property was at Timberoo - north of Patchewollck and south east of Walpeup, and south west of Ouyen. Looking at the health of the crop and the vegetation in the background, it looks more like the Wimmera, than a really good year in the Mallee.

RWP 1855

From another catalogue record comes this graphic photograph, likely to be - 'wind erosion and sand drift at Patchewollock' and the gentleman, one of the commissioners - McClelland, Greenwood, Stafford, McNab, Fitzgerald, Hall, Rogerson, Welch, Godkin or East. It was taken during Royal Commission on Water Supply in 1936.

RWP 589

Top award for the Stick Shed

Local icon - the Murtoa Stick Shed - is being placed on the National Heritage List next to natural places such as the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef; other built heritage places - the Sydney Opera House, Port Arthur Historic Site, and Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, and alongside our other local listing – the Grampians.

Australia's national heritage comprises exceptional natural and cultural places that contribute to Australia's national identity and encompasses those places that reveal the richness of Australia's extraordinarily diverse natural heritage.

This is Australia’s highest heritage honour, The Stick Shed, becomes just the 101st place of Australian cultural significance to be National Heritage listed.
 

The Stick Shed (The Marmalake No. 1 Grain Store) was born out of desperation and inspiration. Initially a temporary emergency building, it was erected during 1941 when the war prevented exporting the wheat harvest overseas. The Australian Wheat Board was left with a valuable resource a huge stockpile of grain, but insufficient, adequate storage for it.

Work started in September 1941 on a building designed to hold over 3 million bushels (92,500 tonnes) of wheat. The design was based on the same angle a pile of wheat forms naturally. Nearly 600 unmilled hardwood poles were used to hold up the roof.

The wartime restrictions meant that only raw, local and recycled materials were available, labour and machinery were scarce. Builders had to rely on ingenuity to overcome problems and shortages, they adopted common bush techniques to brace the poles.

What the builders erected was an adequate storage facility which has outlived its intended lifespan, but they also unintentionally created a serene cathedral-like interior amongst its forest of poles.  

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said National Heritage listing meant the grain store was recognised as a significant part of Australia’s history and ensured it would be protected and celebrated for future generations. 
The Stick Shed is open this weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, as part of Muroa's Big Weekend - don't miss Australia's 101st National Heritage Site.

The Wimmera's Stick Shed

The first of the 'Wimmera stories' on the Culture Victoria site - the Murtoa Stick Shed: enduring ingenuity.

In 1941, the outbreak of the Second World War and a worldwide glut of wheat necessitated the construction of large bulk grain stores in various parts of regional Victoria. The “Murtoa Stick Shed” was commissioned by the Grain Elevators Board, and Green Bros contractors undertook construction of what was officially known as Marmalake/Murtoa Grain Store No.1. An elevator at one end took wheat up to then ridge level where it was distributed by conveyor along the length of the shed,creating a huge single mound of grain.

A shortage of steel meant that the shed was built largely from timber readily available at the time, most notably some 560 (56 rows of 10) bush-cut mountain ash poles erected straight into the ground. Some of the poles were 19-20 metres high. Concrete panels were then poured around the poles. The roof and walls of the Murtoa Stick are made of corrugated iron painted ferric red. Much of the building was done with little mechanical aid, and most of the workforce was away fighting overseas.

Constructing the Stick Shed

The “Murtoa Stick Shed” demonstrates Australian ingenuity during a time of hardship, it was constructed over a period of only four or five months, commencing in September 1941.

The side conveyor

Bulk deliveries of grain were distributed through the Stick Shed via a system of mechanical elevators and conveyors, including a central conveyor running high along the centre of the shed.

Elevators transported wheat from delivery hoppers up to ridge level where it was distributed by conveyor along the length of the shed, creating a huge single mound of grain. Braced internal timber bulkheads on either side of the shed took the lateral thrust of the wheat, and a conveyor at ground level outside the south bulkhead took wheat back to the elevator for transport elsewhere. The roof angle was sloped to reflect the same angle a pile of wheat forms naturally.

The shed is 280m long (the length of five Olympic swimming pools), 60m wide and 19m high at the ridge, and had capacity to store 95,000 tonnes (or 3.4 million bushels) of grain.

Deliveries of bulk wheat commenced in January 1942, and by June of that year the grain store was at full capacity.

The Marmalake/Murtoa Grain Store is the earliest and only remaining of three large sheds of an unusually grand scale of the Australian rural vernacular corrugated-iron tradition built in Victoria during the early 1940s.

Use of the No.1 shed and the larger No.2 shed, erected in 1942/43, continued for many years. (Original plans also included a No.3 Shed at Murtoa, but this was never completed.) The No.2 shed was demolished in 1975. The No. 1 shed was also becoming increasingly expensive to maintain, and its use was phased out by 1989.

 

The 560 unmilled tree trunks supporting the roofing timbers and iron of the Stick Shed might be viewed as a peculiar, symmetrically arranged “interior forest”. With its vast, gabled interior and long rows of poles the interior space has been likened to the nave of a cathedral.

When the Stick Shed ceased to be used for grain storage after 1989, plans were made for its demolition. However an Interim Preservation Order was served by Historic Buildings Council (HBC) in December 1989 and by December 1990 the shed had been added to the Historic Buildings Register. Debate continued over subsequent years, with frequent calls for the demolition of the building from some sources and persistent arguments for its preservation from others.

Netting over the ferric red roof

Ultimately, the Heritage Council of Victoria undertook a large-scale program of work to stabilise and repair the Stick Shed, including the repair of damaged poles and installation of galvanised wire “netting” to cover the entire roof area. Work is being undertaken to provide permanent public access to the Shed, separated from the activity of the surrounding grain receival complex. Application has also been made to have the Stick Shed added to the Commonwealth Heritage Register.
See the complete story with photos and video at the Culture Victoria site.

Stick Shed open

The big drawcard of the Wimmera's Heritage Festival will be the Murtoa Stick Shed.
Based on the enthusiasm generated when it opened last year during the Big Weekend, there should be a crowd lined up at the site on Saturday 5th May from 10am to 4pm. No bookings are required, and it will only cost you $5 to enter.
So come armed with your camera to capture that magnificent cathedral like atmosphere.
Check out my other Stick Shed and  Heritage Festival posts for more information.

Stick Shed was Big

The Stick Shed opening during Murtoa's Big Weekend was a huge success with more than 1,250 people taking the opportunity to go inside. Unfortunately if you couldn't visit on the 2nd October, you need to wait till next year, as the site is again closed to the public - mark it in your diaries! 

The Stick Shed exterior

The roof and walls of the Stick Shed are made of corrugated iron painted ferric red, the floor is a concrete slab, and a three metre wooden bulkhead runs along either side. The roof angle reflects ‘the natural angle of repose’ of stacked bulk grain.

Big Weekend

Murtoa's Big Weekend is coming up on 1st & 2nd October.

The highlight will undoubtedly be the iconic Stick Shed.

The unique structure has been stabilised and is now deemed safe to allow the public access to the interior again.

The entire shed will be open on Sunday, and members of the public will be free to wander amongst the full extent of the vast area of bush-cut mountain ash poles.

Technically the weekend kicks off with the 127th Murtoa Show, the Art Exhibition and the Gala Opening of the Weekend on the Friday.

Other attractions of the Big Weekend include the Monster Street Market, and the Saturday night "film" movies.
On Sunday its the running of the Murtoa Cup, the Writers Breakfast, and Poets by the Pier, and of course the opening of the Stick Shed from 10am to 4pm.
On both days there are the Dunmunkle Sumpoiler's vintage rally at the Inland Freezing Works, and the Water Tower Museum & Concordia College which is showing the "Shearing of the rams" DVD.

Stick Shed photographs

A number of photographs (89 in fact) of the Murtoa Stick Shed taken by Heritage Victoria in 2009 are now available for viewing on Flickr.

The Marmalake/Murtoa Grain Store, originally the No.1 Murtoa Shed, is located within the Murtoa Grain Terminal, adjacent to the grain elevator tower and railway line.

The shed is 280m long, 60m wide and 19m high at the ridge, with a capacity of 3.4 million bushels. The hipped corrugated iron roof of the shed is supported on approximately 600 unmilled hardwood poles set in a concrete slab floor and braced with iron tie rods. These poles are the reason for use of the term "stick shed". With its vast gabled interior and long rows of poles the space has been likened to the nave of a cathedral. (Hence possibly Heritage Victoria's most widely recognised photograph of the cathedral-like expanse of the interior of the shed, below)

An elevator at one end took wheat from railway trucks to ridge level where it was distributed by conveyor (there are a couple of conveyor shots in the set) along the length of the shed, creating a huge single mound of grain. Braced internal timber bulkheads on either side took the lateral thrust of the wheat, and conveyors at ground level outside the bulkheads took wheat back to the elevator for transport elsewhere.
Wheat had been handled and stored in jute bags from the beginning of the Victorian wheat industry in the mid nineteenth century, but in the 20th century, storage and transport of loose grain in bulk was gaining popularity. In 1935 the Victorian Grain Elevators Board (GEB) planned a network of 160 concrete silos in country locations, connected by rail to the shipping terminal at Geelong. However, with the outbreak of the Second World War, and a worldwide glut of wheat, Australia had a massive surplus which it was unable to export. In 1941 the GEB proposed large temporary horizontal bulk storage sheds, and Murtoa was chosen as a suitable site for the first emergency storage.

Not as well known, this photograph of the building of the Stick Shed

The main contractor, Green Bros, commenced work on the No.1 Murtoa Shed in September 1941, deliveries of bulk wheat began in January 1942, and the store was full by June. Use of the No.1 shed and the larger No.2 shed, erected in 1942/43, continued for many years. The No.2 shed was demolished in 1975. The No. 1 store was also becoming increasingly expensive to maintain, and its use was phased out from 1989.
The Marmalake/Murtoa Grain Store is the earliest and only remaining of three large sheds of an unusually grand scale of the Australian rural vernacular corrugated-iron tradition built in Victoria during the early 1940s.
link to Heritage Victoria'a set of Stick Shed photos on Flickr for more information & photos check out Leigh Hammerton's Stick Shed site , and blog posts on the Stick Shed.