Thursday 2nd August
Across
the road from our caravan park is the site of the Unicorn Brewery.1878 saw the first beer brewed in Burra at this brewery,
called Unicorn Ale. It supplied three types of ale, pale, dark and XXX. It was
typical of most country towns to have their own brewery. By the time the Burra
brewery closed in 1902, it was supplying beer to many northern towns including
Broken Hill, and owned the seven hotels then open in Burra, five of which are
still open today and preserved close to their original décor. Unfortunately,
the structure above the ground was mostly dismantled but luckily the cellars
and assorted other structures are still preserved intact.
Paxton Square cottages were built by the
South Australian Mining Association in an attempt to encourage miners to leave
their dugouts (more on those soon) in the Burra Creek.
The cottages were named
after William Paxton, a director of the mining company. They are available for
visitor accommodation today.
The miners provided their own housing by
digging into the soft clay banks of the Burra Creek. They were favoured by the miners, being rent
free and close to water. About 1800 people in a total population of 4,400 lived
in the nearly 600 of these dugouts.
Because the creek flooded three times during
1851, the inhabitants were driven out from their homes and were deserted.
During
the afternoon we had a guide explain the history behind the museum which had
previously been a grocery shop with a 2 bedroom cottage attached at the rear.
There were some local handcrafts displayed on a shelf and these two little
gollywogs told me they needed a home, so we are now the pseudo parents to
Sambo and Joyce. They have a special
place in the van and will travel many miles in the future with us as our “Burra
mascots”.
I was told they had been knitted by an 86 year old lady, so they become even more special to me. I know I’ll have to fight off my granddaughter Elspeth to share cuddles with them, as she is also a fan of these cute little gollies.
A trip to the Uniting Church Op Shop was on the agenda, as we often find treasures for the van or the odd novel to read or CD to play in the truck. Today we were quite overwhelmed at this one as it would put many department stores to shame. The racks of clothing had all been ironed, they were not cramped or crowded and the shelves of linen makes me feel inadequate in the way I keep my linen cupboard at home - they were almost regimental.