May 2024 – St Arnaud, Vic

At the beginning of the gold rush the gold found was alluvial and the work would have been back breaking. Panning, sluicing and digging with picks and shovels in country that was naturally dry and searingly hot in the summer. As alluvial gold became harder to find the work became more specialised and shafts were sunk like the Lord Nelson Mine at St Arnaud. The Central Deborah Mine in the heart of the city of Bendigo is a good example. Around this time my family took up their selection* and turned to agriculture, and who would blame them after generations of coal mining in Wales. A cousin put a foot in both camps, taking up a selection at Carapooee and a share in the Bealiba Gold Battery.

To explain the underground mining in more depth (yeah, I couldn’t resist), this historical plaque of the Lord Nelson Mine gives us an idea of the size and the depth of 783 metres.

*Selection, the government offered parcels of land to settlers on the proviso that they made substantial annual improvements to it.

St Arnaud was a fascinating town to visit and sketch, I’d have to say that my favourite was the old barn that had been built straddling the brick-lined creek.