Canning Stock Route

[Shaun Canning]

Hi All, 

Recently, I've been mulling over an issue which has some personal connection to my family, but also is an issue I think would be of concern to the wider heritage / archaeology community as well. 

The Canning Stock Route needs no introduction to most.

The fifty off wells strung out over almost 2,000 kms dug by Alfred Canning's party back in 1906 were a feat of major endurance, engineering expertise and sheer bush craft in there day, and many of the wells, plus countless stories, myths and legends still exist in the landscape. 

Over the years, many well intentioned parties have 'reconstructed' several of the wells without any 'professional' input into the process. Recently, TrackCare WA took a small mechanical excavator onto the stock route and used it to 'restore' a well by digging it out and then replacing the timbers with 'modwood' (i.e. recycled plastic sleepers). 

I fully appreciate the track users desire to 'spruce up the joint' but surely this type of unplanned / uncontrolled / unprofessional restoration shouldn't be allowed to proceed unchecked on one of the country's most important historical landscapes?

Maybe I'm too close and conflicted, but it doesn't seem that adequate protection is being afforded to these iconic structures?

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager – Victoria & Principal Heritage Advisor

Australian Cultural Heritage Management (Victoria) P/L

| 108 Powlett Street, Kilmore, VIC, 3764 | t (03) 5734 3100| f (03) 5781 0860 |m0400 204 536|

| 446 South Road, MARLESTON, SA, 5033|t (08) 8340 9566  | f (08) 8340 9577 |

| Level 7, 524 Hay Street, PERTH, WA, 6000|t (08) 6211 5300  | f (08) 9221 5961|

| e shaun....@achm.com.au |

| www.achm.com.au |

 

Find me at LinkedIn

[Steve Corsini]

A lot of people in 4wd clubs are trying to do the right thing but It certainly doesn’t sound like it’s been done to professional conservation standards

(ICOMOS and Burra Charter, if I recall them correctly from 1992?)

 

I doubt appealing to the government will help unless you can show cash flow benefits, but 4wd clubs are trying to do the right thing, they need help.

A lot of the Track runs through Martu Country

Peter Veth at UWA has a long history in the region – he might have a view  ?

 

sjc

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OzArch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ozarch+un...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to oza...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ozarch.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Shaun Canning]

That's my point entirely Steve.

Well meaning as they are, the repairs and restorations are destroying the fabric of the various pieces of infrastructure.

They are quite basic structures, but they still warrant professional input and supervision to  ensure appropriate and sympathetic treatment.

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

[Iain Stuart]

I think the point is well made – most of these people are motivated by love for the past and the memories it invokes but are also people who want to “do” things and are impatient with things like the “Burra Charter” process.

 

ICOMOS has a section on cultural routes – in Australia this is bundled with the Cultural Landscapes section to become one National Scientific Committee (which keen readers of OzArch will recall recently met at Port Fairy) and it would be interesting to see how they would deal with an issue like this.

 

Cheers

 

Dr Iain Stuart

 

JCIS Consultants

P.O. Box 2397

Burwood North

NSW 2134

Australia

 

(02) 97010191

Ia...@jcis.net.au

 

[Shaun Canning]

Good point Iain.

The ICOMOS nationals are probably the best avenue for something like this.....

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

--

[den...@tpg.com.au]

There are examples of communities taking over the responsibility for maintaining and caring for such public [?] assets.

The Koscziusko Huts Association and NPWS in NSW developed joint management of huts in the Koscziusko with custodial groups like cross-country skiers.  Other govt departments manage cabins, fishing spots etc the same way.  Applying a process of managed change, the group may supply labour on their annual Big Drive, while the govt provides materials, and they work through a long-term works and maintenance plan that is also a conservation document.  A pro and con is that particular groups begin to feed they 'own' specific assets.

One challenge for us heritage people is whether we are comfortable allowing travellers [albeit city folk in 4wds] to make ad hoc changes to structures that were always going to have ad hoc changes made to them by travellers, or do we intervene and say those travellers arent authentic enough.  Perhaps if they each were accompanied by cattle?

Denis

----- Original Message -----

From:

oza...@googlegroups.com

To:

"<oza...@googlegroups.com>" <oza...@googlegroups.com>

Cc:

"as...@flinders.edu.au" <as...@flinders.edu.au>

Sent:

Tue, 21 Jul 2015 18:41:47 +0000

Subject:

Re: {OzArch} Canning Stock Route

[Judy Powell]

Hi all
I can well understand the concern.
But surely it's the same concern that some people have when rock art is retouched.
The old conundrum about 'professional' vs community. But the reality is that without community concern, professionals (well, apart from those working for the mining industry :) ) would be out of a job.
One practical solution might be to write something for one of the 4WD magazines? In other words, get people onside rather than offside.

[Eleanor Crosby]

Perhaps you might try the Westprint Friday Five - always full of outback 4WD info.  Email  in...@westprint.com.au
I'm sure they would be willing to assist

Eleanor
(Also 2nd hand books, and the Friday funnies)

On 22/07/2015 12:39 AM, Steve Corsini wrote:

[Shaun Canning]

Hi Denise,

 

The Kosciusko huts is a great example of community efforts done well, with structure and planning.

 

This would be an equally valid methodology to apply on the Canning, however the sheers distances (circa 1,800 kms) and remoteness involved makes it (on the face of it) a pretty daunting task to apply consistent and ‘controllable’ management from north to south.

 

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

 

[John Pickard]

Hi all,

 

I’ve been following this thread with interest due to my interest in old fences and their retention / replace / restore / and all the other re.. words.

 

Reading the posts caused me to nod in agreement with everything said by each contributor. But there’s another way of looking at this. Consider the well re-lined with plastic slabs. Definitely NOT original, but if the CSR were operational today, that’s exactly what would be used. Best available technology replacing older.

 

So, perhaps instead of berating the genuinely ignorant (in the true sense of not knowing), how about we accept what has been done was done with best intentions, AND it has added another layer to the palimpsest of wells on the CSR? Taking this positive approach may work quite well (rather damp pun) with the 4WD clubs. After all, ask yourself if you’d rather do a job with expert guidance rather than best guess? I’ll bet that any help offered would be welcomed with opened arms and the odd slab or three around a campfire at the well being re... whatever.

 

At least it’s worth a try. After all, a trip up the bone-shaking, kidney-killing, boob-bruising, mind-numbing, and suspension-killing (and that’s at 12 psi and 40 km/h) corrugations of the CSR with good friends and the odd beer or two is fun.

Cheers, John

John Pickard
john.p...@bigpond.com

| e mailto:h...@achm.com.au |

[Shaun Canning]

Once again, I agree with you John. 

Your suggestions are where I've got to over the last little while in regard to bringing everyone into the tent (so to speak) and working collaboratively with the folks who have been prepared to put the sweat into these resto's over the journey.

They certainly don't deserve to be berated for anything.

Likewise with the materials. 

Given Alfred Canning's very pragmatic approach and single-minded determination, he certainly would have employed the most appropriate technology available to get the job done. 

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

[tessa corkill]

Nobody has yet pointed out that most (?all) of the wells originated as waterholes used by Aboriginal people. Some might say that Canning's party 'reconstructed' those waterholes, as others are 'reconstructing' them today.

Many websites have info on this, but a page of one in particular -
http://www.canningstockrouteproject.com/artists-and-artworks/helicopter-joey-tjungurrayi/  -

is of personal interest (concerning the the helicopter that took "Helicopter Joey" to hospital).

All the best

Tessa Corkill

[Shaun Canning]

Not all Tessa.

Many bores were sunk in large dune swales adjacent to stands of desert oak where there was no surface water, as Alfred knew water would be found at depth under the trees.

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

[Shaun Canning]

For anyone interested, this is the most comprehensive historical work on the CSR available.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/187326328?selectedversion=NBD52223154

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

[Shaun Canning]

I completely agree Judy.

As it happens, I do know a very well respected journo / editor of one of the 4x4 journals, so maybe I'll talk to him about just such an article......

Regards,

 

Dr Shaun Canning

General Manager & Principal Heritage Advisor

0400 204 536             shaun....@achm.com.au

 

Australian Cultural Heritage Management

Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney

1300 724 913                             www.achm.com.au

 

Find me at LinkedIn

--

[john...@ozemail.com.au]

 

Hello,

 

Similarly, such roads as the one from Bourke to Tibooburra and beyond (if there is actually any 'beyond' beyond there) actually follow springs that no doubt were also Aboriginal waterholes I'd guess.

However some of these places do get so modified that when I went to some I said "where are the springs" and had some most unremarkable patches (maybe very slightly damp but not even that sometimes) pointed out to me.

However that there were artesian springs at some places that now have very little surface evidence left of anything can sometimes still be discerned if there are pebbles of Late Devonian type quartzite laying around .. as there is little way such could yet there other than that once the place was a mud spring (now completely eroded away).

Knowing of my long interest in springs a friend recently gave be a bottle of "Indigenous" spring water,  so labelled (he only gave me the plastic bottle, he had first consumed the water).

Actually most bottled "Spring" water in Australia ought to be re-labelled the "BIGGEST LIE YET ALLOWED BY THE GOVERNMENT".

The Government has allowed, or generated, some classic porkies in its time .. like "No radioactive waste will go Kemps Creek" when they were actually getting ready to take all the Hunters Hill radioactive waste there (since however cancelled because "radioactive" is a bad word to have around Badgerrys Creek with the airport finally approved) but in sheer scale "Pure Natural Spring Water" exceeds all.   For very little, if any, of said water has ever been anywhere within cooee of any spring.

Another bit of spring interest for me recently is that I got sent a photo of a ground-edge axe that I was told was found with some bones and Aboriginal artefacts besides a hot spring near Narrabri.

"Hot spring near Narrabri"?    This was news to me.

Cheers,

 

 

JohnB

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From:

oza...@googlegroups.com

To:

"Ozarch" <oza...@googlegroups.com>

Cc:

Sent:

Wed, 22 Jul 2015 23:40:35 +1000

[Deborah Brian]

Hi All,

 

Late to this, but it seems to be a growing – and disturbing – trend… I recently responded to a discussion on twitter regarding a call for “grey nomads” to travel the Kimberley “restoring” historical graves – they were hoping to get someone with an engraving machine out there to spruce up the gravestones…

 

I suggested (after I picked myself up off the floor) that anyone promoting such an enterprise should consider engaging enthusiastic tourists in a one or two day workshop on appropriately recording heritage places such as these. I figured that if they were better informed, they might be able to resist the temptation to “tidy things up” and be content to take GPS readings, measurements and photographs to record the places and their condition.

 

My bluff was called and one tourism company immediately contacted me to say they would be very interested in providing such an experience, using an information and educational workshop led by a suitable heritage professional to springboard a heritage tourism experience. So, the inevitable question:  who of you in the west might be interested/available to conduct such workshops and would be willing to have your details passed along?

 

It’s easy enough to be cynical about those with a non-professional interest in heritage, but these interests are also opportunities to inform and educate, perhaps… Anyway, if you already run an outreach program like this, or you may be interested in testing the waters, please let me know?

 

Best wishes to all,
Deb Brian, Brisbane

 

From: oza...@googlegroups.com [mailto:oza...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Shaun Canning
Sent: Tuesday, 21 July 2015 8:32 PM
To: as...@flinders.edu.au; oza...@googlegroups.com
Subject: {OzArch} Canning Stock Route

 

Hi All, 

--