Brrrrurra

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We are wetter, colder but definitely wiser after our week in Burra. The town is a time capsule: late 1800s and early 1900s blue stone buildings dominate the town and surrounds and the streets are lined with old eucalyptus trees. There has also been little change to many of the shop fronts in the last 60-80 years.
So how did we spend our week? The Burra heritage route took up some mornings and afternoons. There is a lot of history here; the mines, early commerce, smelting works and local agriculture. The Burra mine itself, originally an underground mine, was changed to open out cut in late 1870s, then re-opened briefly in the late 1900s. There is little left of the extensive stone buildings of the mine and the smelter; most ofthe stone has made its way into local houses. There was a good display of the Burra mine at the the Bon Accord Mine display. It is an example of on of the other mines in the area. Following the success of the Burra, a number of other companies sank shafts in the area but none found the high grade ore that made Burra so profitable for the investors or for South Australia.
The Town Hall had a wonderful display of historical photos and a very helpful volunteer. We found a photo of the Centennial Band on the wall with Percy Herbert, Grandfather's (Malcolm) cousin, playing the tuba. He joined the light horse in WWI and saw action in Gallipoli. Another cousin from Burra, Willie Herbert, also saw action in France. All told four Herbert cousins went to WWI, only Hiliary died in France, the other three returning. We also spent some time at the local library and located the place in Burra where William and Hannah lived for their time in Burra. The 4 room timber home is no longer. A stone cottage has replaced it, probably built in the late 1800s. I found records that Hannah lived there until at least 1884 and some time afterwards moved to Bridge Street. Mum and I drove out to the site of the house and met the current owner.
We drove across to the Clare Valley on a wet Wednesday morning. The countryside all around these valleys is so lush and green. We stopped in the township of Clare then the Seven Hills Winery. This is the first Jesuit church in South Australia. The Jesuits were German and came with early German settlers to the Clare after the 1848 revolutions in Europe. There are very old grape vines here, including crouchen which are no longer grown in France, and a beautiful and rather austere Gothic style church. The winery produces a large range of table wines, fortified wines and sacramental wines. Mum and I sampled a few and left with some "goodies". I bought some wine and Mum settled for a couple of bottles of a nice chardonnay and fruit cake.
Thursday found us heading across the regions extensive wheat and cannola fields, through Jamestown (where Charles herbert was apprenticed as a baker), to Port Pirie. The day was fine and it was lovely to be back near the water. We walked around the main street, Ellen Street. Whether Charles' two storey double fronted stone building "known as Herbert's building" still stands is difficult to say. A lot of buildings look like they have been demolished in the main street. We completed our day by driving back to Burra though Gulnare. It was here that Ellen Herbert lived on her parent's, Peter and Margaret Mathews, farm. Ellen and Charles named their house in Arlington Street, Rockdale, "Gulnare". It is a small centre surrounded by extensive paddocks of wheat and cannola. The main town feature is the huge grain silos.
Friday was a good day to check we had everything ticked off our "Burra list". We drove 20min down the road to look at Martindale Hall. It's an elegant Georgian mansion in the middle of a glorious park surrounded by wheat and sheep paddocks. It was used in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock. The house has most of the original furniture (it was left intact to Adelaide University by the last owner). It operates as a BnB but you can visit during the day.
The afternoon was the last change to get in some antique shopping: you didn't imagine I wouldn't find some! The nicest of the local antique stores in Burra served food coffee and scones so we celebrated the last day in Burra in style.
We had lots of fun, learn't a bit, go some shopping in (Mum bought jeans) and travelled around some lovely countryside.

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Photos

Blythe Cottage
We stayed in this lovely two bedroom cottage near the Burra River

Martindale Hall
This lovely Georgian home is near the Clare Valley in the midst of large what fields and sheep paddocks.