History of Timbs Track

[guyburns]

As part of the AV Journeys To Pedder, there is a 10-minute section on Ernie Bond, Gordonvale and the access routes. I'm scripting it at the moment, and the story goes something like this:

1. From the 1930s through to 1952 when he left Gordonvale, Ernie, with his packhorse, Ginge, would pick up supplies from Fitzgerald via the Florentine Road and the Adamsfield Track. I assume Fitzgerald was the rail terminus. Yes?

2. There was public access to the Florentine Rd back then. Why was that changed? When? (see next point)

3. With the construction of the Gordon River Rd, and the public being locked out of the Florentine Rd sometime in the 1970s, someone cut Timbs Track. Who? When?
When I went to Wylds Craig in the early 1980s, I was told I needed a key, which I picked up at Wayatinah (I was coming from the north).

4. At some point the Florentine Rd was opened to the public, allowing the Richea Creek track to come into being. When?

5. The Richea Track led to the abandonment of the southern part of the Rasselas track and the Flying Fox at Gordon Bend.

Comments on the above most appreciated.

Anyone who has photos of Ernie, his fruit stall at Austins Ferry, Gordonvale, the flying fox, the two bridges, or the cording south of the Gordon, and would like them included as part of a tribute to Ernie, please gmail me at gdburns. I have about 60 photos from the 1940s through to quite recent, but am always on the lookout.

[MrWalker]

As part of the AV Journeys To Pedder, there is a 10-minute section on Ernie Bond, Gordonvale and the access routes. I scripting it at the moment, and the story goes something like this:

1. From the 1930s through to 1952 when he left Gordonvale, Ernie, with his packhorse, Ginge, would pick up supplies from Fitzgerald via the Florentine Road and the Adamsfield Track. I assume Fitzgerald was the rail terminus. Yes?

2. There was public access to the Florentine Rd back then. Why was that changed? When? (see next point)

3. With the construction of the Gordon River Rd, and the public being locked out of the Florentine Rd sometime in the 1970s, someone cut Timbs Track. Who? When?
When I went to Wylds Craig in the early 1980s, I was told I needed a key, which I picked up at Wayatinah (I was coming from the north).

4. At some point the Florentine Rd was opened to the public, allowing the Richea Creek track to come into being. When?

5. The Richea Track led to the abandonment of the southern part of the Rasselas track and the Flying Fox at Gordon Bend.

Comments on the above most appreciated.

Anyone who has photos of Ernie, his fruit stall at Austins Ferry, Gordonvale, the flying fox, the two bridges, or the cording south of the Gordon, and would like them included as part of a tribute to Ernie, please gmail me at gdburns. I have about 60 photos from the 1940s through to quite recent, but am always on the lookout.

How important is it to find out this information? Is it just idle curiosity, or is it worth putting in some time and effort to find out?

Some related information is in the book by the late Peter MacFie : 'The Newsprint' A social and Forestry History of Maydena. An experimental logging town in Tyenna Valley, Tasmania, 1920-2020.
The book is on sale at good Tasmanian bookshops, or on line, by searching for Peter MacFie Historian, or you can find it in the State Library.

However, it does not actually have specific details about Timbs Track. My wife was editor of the above book and also transcribed many of the interviews Peter MacFie did with the oldtimers in the area. He did interview Mr Timbs, but my wife did not transcribe that interview and the information was not included in the book. However, it would be available in the State Library Archives, but is not catalogued, so would require a lot of searching through many boxes of Peter MacFie's records.

We can tell you that tracks were almost always named in relation to where they went, but Mr Timbs (possibly Arthur Timbs?) was an old track worker who thought this track would only be temporary, so named it after himself. We can tell you a bit more based on my wife's discussion with Peter MacFie after our family had walked along the track, but more detailed information will require some diligent searching.

[guyburns]

Thanks for the info. I'll try to find out about the Timbs fellow through the MacFie files, and I've placed a hold on the book in the library. Looking forward to reading it, and finding out about Kallista, for instance.

This isn't just idle curiosity, I've been planning and working on this Pedder show between other similar projects, since 2013. About 50 contributors telling their story about Pedder (20 of which will appear in the 3hr show); 1500 slides, negatives and prints of Lake Pedder scanned at high quality; more than a dozen walking trips and canoe trips into the Pedder area, climbing most of the mountains and locating the exact spot original photos were taken from; several trips into Adamsfield and Gordonvale, locating, clearing and noting GPS co-ordinates of the original tracks.

I'm aiming at Journeys To Pedder being the definitive AV about Pedder and its place at the heart of the South West, and I want the story to be as close to factual as possible. Hence my request for comments.

[MrWalker]

My wife may be able to supply a few notes, but that will be based on a conversation about 10 years ago, with Peter MacFie, about 20 years after he had interviewed Mr Timbs, which was again quite a while after Timbs track was cut. However, your chances of finding the actual tape or transcript of the interview are not good. But if you can find the right box, it will include interviews with others about the area in the same period.

The book about Maydena concentrates on timber, since the town was built to supply paper for newsprint, whereas Timbs track was to connect to the Osmiridium mines near Adamsfield, so not quite relevant enough for the book, although a fascinating story.