THE HOLDFAST BAY FEDERATION TRAIL

An Ultramodern Heritage Tour Winding its way from the Tjilbruke Monument to The Old Gum Tree at Glenelg, there is a new trail that links these two powerful symbols on our suburban coast. The Federation Trail along Holdfast Bay tells some of our oldest stories in the newest possible way, and we began at the southern end outside Kingston Historic House, the oldest building in Brighton. It was once the popular Marino Inn before becoming the home of Col. Light's offsider, the Deputy Surveyor General, who became an influential architect and politician, but…

"George Kingston was a brash Irishman; tactless, quick-tempered and boorish, with few friends".

That titbit, and two minutes more "audio" is yours for the listening by simply driving up to a marker pole and tuning your car radio to FM92. You'll hear, for instance, how Kingston House became the home of his son Charles Cameron Kingston - Premier of South Australia, a great Federationist and pioneering Cabinet Minister a century ago in the first Australian Parliament. Below the house there is another high-tech market pole that looks up the coastal cliff to the impressive John Dowie tribute in giant natural stones to an important aboriginal-dreaming story…

"Tjilbruke Spring is a permanent freshwater spring located in the sand just above the sea's high water mark".

The Kaurna people's legendary law-giver paused on this part of the beachline, weeping for his dead nephew whom he carried with him. The spring still trickling today - represent his tears of mourning.

A short drive or longer walk away, another twenty-first century market brings details of an early adornment to Brighton's sandy shore. The new jetty with its semaphore-flagpole style communication tower is on the new federation trail, and what happened to the old one is on your FM car radio.

At the inland end of Jetty Road, more history is revealed….

"Established in 1854, St Jude's Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable people"

Sir Douglas Mawson, the famous Antarctic explorer and geologist, is one of them. His memorial is a simple granite slab. Another is "The Grand Old Lady of Australia"….the face on the five dollar note, Catherine Helen Spence. She was the embryonic nation's first political candidate, standing unsuccessfully for the 1897 Federation Convention. And there was much more to the woman whose statue stands in Light Square….

"A novelist, literary critic, social and political commentator, she was both widely read and respected. She promoted the causes of education, welfare or orphaned and destitute children and female suffrage".

With the help of district maps on the marker poles, the Federation Trail brought us to Townsend House in Hove. It's an impressive two-storey and two-tone-brick Gothic structure that was built more than 120 years ago as a centrepiece of support for blind and deaf children. The FM92 signal tells us that the recreational oval was once the institution's veggie farm….

"In 1836, when Europeans first settled at Holdfast Bay, a series of sand dunes, three or four deep and some 6,000 years old ran along the coast"

Another marker pole - sunk in the sand - reminds us that we're looking at a precious remnant of the way it was. The story here and all along the trail is told using the very latest combination of new technology…..an MP3 player constantly feeds into a micro-radio transmitter that takes its power from a solar panel atop the pole, which features a brief description and map panel. The combo is an Australian first.

The wizardry is put to advantage in helping us understand heritage jewels like Paringa Hall, an elaborate city seat of a pastoral empire which is now part of Sacred Heart College. The trail then winds past a number of heritage houses in Glenelg, with the sixteen markers that broadcast to your FM radio spread over a twenty-five kilometre round-trip. It's a big day's walking tour, a comfortable bike ride, or you can do it by car in a couple of hours and have time for a coffee at the Bay.

There is also a set of modest homes at the northern end of the route, but railway cottages in Glenelg? As the audio-tour tells us….

"the first train service from Adelaide to Glenelg ran in 1873 along the same route as the present Glenelg tram. A second railway company, the Holdfast Bay Railway Company was formed in 1880"

That second organisation built them by the railway that's still evident as a linear park through the inner suburbs towards the city. The new Federation Trail has as one bookend, the most historic site in the Holdfast Bay Council area. 28th December, 1836 marked the formal Proclamation of government in South Australia under Governor John Hindmarsh. About two hundred colonists celebrated in the heat at The Old Gum Tree.

"A Toast!! The King!!"

The St. Jude's players theatre group were in full flight as they recorded the "soundtrack" to our tour. Thanks to twenty-first-century technology, we are transported to our nineteenth century beginnings on Holdfast Bay's new Federation Trail.

Details:
Brochures and Information: Bay Discovery Centre, First Floor, Glenelg Town Hall, Moseley Square, Glenelg SA. 5045. PO Box 734, Glenelg, SA 5045

Inquiries:
Ph: 8179-9500
Fax: 8294-0901
Email: baydiscovery@holdfast.sa.gov.au
www.baydiscovery.com.au

City of Holdfast Bay
24 Jetty Road
Brighton

PO Box 19
Brighton SA 5048
Ph: 08-8229-9999
Fax: 08-8298-4561
www.holdfast.sa.gov.au