Saddleworth Museum: Ron explores the collection in the Mid North region of South Australia
The ruins on the banks of Tothill Creek tell a story. Each ruin is proof in stone that people tried to make a go of it here. Each abandoned fireplace is proof that families found comfort here.
Geoff Rowett, Tothill Creek Historian: "You imagine that the pioneers would have almost come straight off the boat, allocated a piece of land and came up to where they wanted to settle. Perhaps they had a tent and then they built a structure like this or something for protection and then moved onto a more substantial dwelling after that."
The dugouts at Tothill Creek about twenty kilometres from Saddleworth in the State's mid-north confirm that while we may leave physical reminders of our presence - unless our stories are recorded and kept, entire communities can disappear - virtually without trace.
By 1880 this was a substantial community. But where did all the school children go and their parents for that matter? Did Tothill Creek die when the railway line passed it by or were the acreages allocated to the various families here under the Closer Settlement Act simply too small to sustain them? And why did a town like Saddleworth survive and Tothill Creek disappear?
Many of the towns on the Barrier Highway owe their very existence to the bullockies and the teams they drove all the way from Burra to Port Adelaide. A bullock team laden with copper could only cover about seven miles a day - and where they stopped invariably a pub would be established and with a pub came a town.
Take a wander through the Saddleworth and District Historical Society Museum and you soon realise this town and many others nearby refuse to be forgotten. In what was once the old emporium the locals have collected a stunning array of memorabilia - some of it paying tribute to communities that have long since disappeared.
The organ and altar rail from the old Panchapoo Church at Steelton date back to the 1860s. That town like so many others died as farmers struggled to make a go of it on their small holdings.
Nell Bellman, Saddleworth Museum: "There were lots of Methodists there but they couldn't make a living on the small eighty acre blocks and so they moved out of the area and the Lutherans gradually came in and the Carlsruhe church further to the north became the larger centre there. So this little church gradually just slipped away."
Many of the exhibits found here would have been used in long-forgotten farming communities like the one at Tothill Creek. The volunteers have stumbled across some amazing treasures like the Rotafrig - with it's revolving shelves for easy access and a dishwasher for a shearing property further north which seems a little too hands on for modern tastes.
It's all housed under an ever-expanding museum, with re-roofing, re-wiring and new farm machinery sheds paid for by this fortnightly event - the historical society's regular barbecue next to the town butcher shop. The space is donated and so too is the time of the volunteers. And it's all done in the name of history.
The Saddleworth Museum is on the northern outskirts of town as you head out on the Barrier Highway to Riverton. It's open Sundays and Public Holidays or by appointment. Just contact 8847 4264. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Saddleworth and District Historical Society Museum
Barrier Highway
Open Sundays and Public Holidays
Also by appointment
Contact 8847 4264Published 16th August 2009
