Roger
In 1992 a sculpture park was proposed to add to the Arts Community's works in Broken Hill.
The concept gained supporters and with financial help from the Broken Hill Council and The Australia Council for the Arts, a group of artists gave their energies to create the works in 1993. The local community helped with catering and provisioning to sustain the artists for the duration of the project.
The stone was sourced from a quarry nearby and the site for the works was selected. The stone was hard to work but the miners found hardened tools for the artists. The town's involvement in the project created a rich community spirit amongst the sculptors who were an international group.
"The Symposium is a necklace for a maiden - the maiden being the incredibly beautiful desert landscape around the mountain." These are the words of Dr Ahmad Al Ahmad, a Bedouin who is currently Professor of Fine Arts in Damascus.
The subject of his sculpture Habitat is described as follows
~around here I feel that this has been a home or habitat for thousands of years ~the landscape protects with warmth and kindness as happens within a family ~all things are together ~in many respects the sculpture is like a map of the surrounding hills but it is more to represent the spirit of the place.
This work is one of twelve sculptures displayed on a hill top in the desert plains landscape: spectacular at sun set as we saw them.
Acknowledgement: N McGarry, Sculpture Symposium Secretary & leaflet author
Beverley
Broken Hill has been a mining town since 1883 when a boundary rider named Charles Raft discovered what he thought were deposits of tin in the area. His ‘tin’ turned out to be mostly silver and lead and formed part of an ore body which was the largest and richest in the world. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was launched in 1885 by seven businessmen.
Even at the time when Charles Sturt first passed through this area, he noted the poor quality of the water. This has always been Broken Hill’s greatest problem, as the average annual rainfall is a mere 20-25mm. Even this comes irregularly and is subject to high rates of evaporation in the summer months.
In the early days of the town, householder relied on the collection of rainwater in drums or tanks if, and when, it rained. Some water was drawn from soakages in the sandy soil and sold to householders for threepence per four gallon bucket. Water was even carried by train from Government dams at Silverton and Mingary.
Larger reservoirs were eventually constructed which allowed the pumping of water from the Darling River via pumping stations at Stephen’s Creek, Menindee and Kinalung. Water first flowed through this pipeline in 1952 to satisfy the needs of the growing town and its thirsty mining industry.
While this was seen as a permanent solution to the water needs of Broken Hill, it is now obvious that the Darling River itself is in dire need of replenishing. While much is heard these days about the plight of the Murray, the Darling is having its own crisis. Water into this river comes from an area of plentiful rain, but it is the distribution of this resource which needs urgent and sympathetic action. Vast amounts of water are held back for agricultural projects up-river, much of it subject to a huge degree of evaporation. Until there is a fairer allocation of this vital resource, towns such as Broken Hill will continue to struggle for something which should be available to all areas, to be used judiciously and wisely.
Laurel
In 1883 a boundary rider from Mt. Gipps Sheep Station, Charles Rasp, found the rocky outcrop of ore which he named Broken Hill.
Early transport was by bullock wagon initially, followed by horse and dray once rough tracks had evolved. Because of lack of water, camels were introduced during the later 1880's. Full construction and sealing of roads from Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne were only finished a few decades ago. Now these roads give cars, buses and heavy transport trucks safe and fast connections from Broken Hill to the nation's road system.
The Silverton Tramway Company, formed in 1886 operated the first rail link, a 3 foot 6 inch gauge line between Broken Hill and Cockburn on the SA border via Silverton. This Company, the oldest private rail company in Australia, still operates shunting services for the mining companies.
Broken Hill was connected to the South Australian Railway System in 1888, when a line from Terowie to Cockbum was constructed. Train Time Tables were listed in Central Standard Time and to this day Broken Hill and Silverton remain on this time, even though they are part of NSW. Belatedly, NSW Rail built a Standard Gauge Line from Parkes to Broken Hill in 1927, but by that time all the ore concentrates from the mines were being sent into SA to Port Pirie for lead/silver smelting and shipment of zinc concentrates for treatment to Risdon in Tasmania. Then the Silver City Comet took passengers from Sydney to Broken Hill. Finally, in 1970 as part of the National Rail Standardisation Project, the Broken Hill to Port Pirie line was rebuilt as a 4 foot 8½ inch standard gauge railway, heralding the introduction of the famous Indian Pacific Train. This train is rated as one of the great trains of the world.
It is interesting that water had to be transported from the Darling River to Broken Hill in rail tank cars, pulled by steam engines, until a pipeline was completed in 1932.
[Editor's Note: During the recent drought, consideration was given to recommissioning some of these tanker cars.]
An airport built just outside the city has enabled air links to be set up between Broken
Hill and the major seaboard cities. This airport has also provided a base for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, South Eastern Section. The RFDS, founded by Rev. Dr. John Flynn, has just commemorated the 75th Anniversary of its first flight from Cloncurry in 1928. The dream of its creator was to provide what he termed, "a Mantle of Safety" for all Australians. The Broken Hill Base covers Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and far north-east parts of South Australia.
Alf
A constant water supply was always a problem for Broken Hill, with an extremely irregular rainfall, together with a very high evaporation rate in midsummer. In the early days households relied on the collection of rainwater in drums or tanks and from soakages sunk in the sandy soil.
Lack of government action led to a private company building Stephens Creek Reservoir in 1892, but its capacity was never sufficient for the town's needs and the water was not very pure.
Severe droughts finally forced the government to act, and a larger reservoir was completed at Umberumberka, near Silverton, in 1915. In 1916 the Government took over control of the Stephens Creek Reservoir.
Due to the increase in mining activity and the consequent population growth, a more permanent water supply became essential.
A water storage scheme at Menindee, completed in the 1960s, provides Menindee and Broken Hill with a regular water supply from the River Darling. The Darling flows into Lake Wetherell and eight other freshwater lakes. This scheme can store more than 3 times the volume of Sydney Harbour.
The future of Broken Hill's water supply needs careful negotiation between the Federal government and the governments of New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia to ensure the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Elizabeth
(A) Conservation.
During the early days of mining, huge amounts of wood were required to supply the large volume of shoring materials in the tunnels underground. As a consequence, the areas around Broken Hill were denuded of vast quantities of timber, and this had the effect of lowering the rainfall, resulting in huge dust storms. Nowadays this problem has almost been eliminated. Civic pride has seen lawns and trees around the city spring up, even though water is not plentiful
(B) The next 50 years.
Now that the mines have reduced output to a large degree, the locals have come up with some great ideas about keeping the town going. Tourism has emerged as an important aspect of the town. There are local tour operators offering excellent tours to encompass not only the local history, but outlying activities such as (1) Tandou Farm & Menindee Lakes (2) White Cliffs. (3)Darling River (4) Sturt’s Meadows Station (5)Sculpture Symposium (6) Silverton (7) Kinchega National Park.
All of these tours enable the locals to educate visitors to the ongoing problems of the area, not least being the unfair allocation of water to some areas, long before it can make it’s way to B.H.
The Indian Pacific train has regular schedules and is pleasant way to see the countryside to and from Adelaide or Sydney. There are regular flights and buses, and of course a sealed road all the way to Adelaide or Sydney.
The motels and hotels offer excellent accommodation for tourists, and there appears to be no shortage of rooms and restaurants available.
Doug
Situated 24 kilometers out west from Broken Hill on the Mundi-Mundi plains; the 'Ghost Town' of Silverton is today enjoying a new lease of life, boosted by eager visitors interested in the areas early mining history. Numerous art galleries cater to those who may wish to take home an artistic memento reflecting the arid character of the district. Perhaps of a more recent interest are the numerous films that have been set with-in this area. Mad Max 2, Priscilla and Razorback are only three films that graphically illustrate the harshness of the area as a backdrop. The local pub has featured in all these films, each time with a different façade and name. These name boards can be viewed in the B.B.Q. area of Silverton pub.
Captain Sturt passed through the barrier ranges on his expedition of 1844-45 and named a distant outcrop Broken Hill, as it reminded him of a similar hill back in his native Wales. Following Sturt came the early pioneers of the 1870's, amongst whom were squatters, fossickers and more importunately Cornish miners who moved into the area following the decline of the copper mines at Burra and Kapunda in S.A.
Persistent searching brought the discovery of rich lodes of silver/lead ore close to the surface. Settlements grew up over night, and just as quickly disappeared as the ore bodies petered out. Some the more long-lived and prosperous mines were those at Thackaringa, Umberumberka, Purnamoota and the Pinnacles. Others ventures came and went without trace.
Silverton was to become the longest surviving centre and was surveyed in 1883 and proclaimed as a town in 1885. Soon assuming an air of permanence as a commercial centre serving the needs of the Barrier Ranges pastoral and mining communities. Centrally located and near to a source of dependable water, limited though it was. The population reached 500 in the first 3 months and climbed to an unheard of 1800. All over, there were estimated to be some 4000 people within the immediate district serviced by Silverton. The town prospered, having 3 breweries, 10 pubs, a police station, courthouse, goal, schools churches, hospital and municipal chambers.
Water was to become the major consideration. Demands upon it's supply were to become critical a the population of both people and their animals grew. Dust blew everywhere and there was no water to spare for simply dampening down the streets, let alone for washing. Barely enough for drinking, men were employed solely to cart water. Local water from seeps dug in the creeks and from wells, such as those dug to provide water for the breweries was sold for 6 pence a gallon. Better quality water sold for a shilling a gallon, but it had had to be carted by bullock wagon from the government dam situated down at Mingary in the S.A.colony.
Typhoid and Cholera took its toll of those who chanced to drink contaminated water. For a few brief years Silverton enjoyed a pre-eminent position in the area, even having it's own railway, (the Silverton Tramway Company) linked to the S.A. railways down at the border at Cockburn, and later connected to Broken Hill.
A rich deposit of silver/lead ore had also been found at the Broken Hill outcrop on Mt Gipps Station. Other rich deposits were found around the 'Hill' and as these rich deposits were opened up, so Silverton began its slow decline as the community made the move to the more prosperous mines. Today there are few buildings to be seen in Silverton, building materials being in short supply. The people simply placed their buildings on jinkers and moved them across the flat plains, paralleling the Barrier Range foothills to Broken Hill, using teams of donkeys, camels and bullocks to drag them. The slowly emptying town of Silverton, once featured 12 streets of commercial buildings and homes.
Talking to the Silverton publican about water, I learnt that there are some 60 people working in Silverton today, most of whom live in nearby Broken Hill. Of those that actually live in the town all are dependant upon rainwater for washing and gardening, and bottled water for drinking.
The nearby Umberumberka Dam pipeline also provides water to Silverton, but locals say it is dreadful. They prefer the pipeline water when the pipeline is back flushed with treated water from Broken Hill, other times they just drink beer.
Our time spent in Silverton was most enjoyable. We climbed over the town common fence, still featuring the original 1881 wooden strainer posts, and climbed up to Jason's lookout where we sat on the hill amongst the spinefix drinking the best of wines and watching the sunset before retiring back to the pub for our B.B.Q. tea, courtesy of Jason, and more fine wine. Later we stopped along the darkened road halfway back to the "Hill" and climbed out of the bus to view the heavenly constellations above. Well fortified with wine as we were, we were able to clearly visualize the Scorpion and Pegasus, as described to us by Roger, though I believe he lost a few of the finer points in his interpretation like one of Pegasus's wings - a small over-sight I'm sure.
John P