For many readers, this column's recent exclusive peek around Ginninderra Falls brought back a flood of memories of when the natural attraction was one of Canberra's most popular, prior to its closure to the public in 2003.
"I definitely remember it as Ginninderra FALLS," muses Leanne Chaffer, of Conder, who in 1990 "slipped on wet rocks and broke my nose and had to wander back up with a concussion." Oh dear.
"It was my first year in Canberra having taken a graduate role at the old department of administrative services," Leanne recalls. "I remember it as clear as day which is weird, given I almost had to be dragged back up the hill."
While most memories were from fun-filled (or accident-prone) summer dips in the series of waterholes beneath the main falls, Karina Smith recalls hiking down to the lower falls in mid-winter.
"The sides of the pool were iced over after a minus 8-degree night," she recalls. Brrr.
Like current owner John Hyles - who placed the Ginninderra Falls property on the market last month after owning it for 40 years - the landmark property is as much about the wildlife as the dramatic landscape for Darrell Dorrington.
"Where the Ginninderra Creek meets the Murrumbidgee River is one of the few places I have seen a platypus in the wild," Darrell explains.
Meanwhile, Bill Crowle remembers his days as a casual ranger at the falls in 1980-81, just after Rob Caldwell and friend Greg Hayes opened it as a tourist park in 1979, having carved out 4.5 kilometres of tracks and more than 750 steps by hand.
It was a plumb job for Bill, who initially "collected the entrance fees, and handed out a small brochure about the wildlife and walks".
When Rob eventually hired another ranger, Bill got to explore more. "I'd drive down the Cusacks Crossing track, to just upstream of where the Ginninderra Creek's confluence with the Murrumbidgee River and hire out the Canadian canoes to visitors."
"During the warm weather, I sold cold drinks from the beach or a canoe and on colder days I had a fire going from which I would boil the billy and sell cups of tea," Bill recalls.
Bill kept a diary his entire working life, including while at the falls. His entry from July 26, 1981, states "had fire going all day, fairly busy till 5.20. Cold, windy and some rain." On other dates, he scrawled entries about more significant events such as the "Iron Man event on 14th Mar 1981". Does anyone else remember this event? Was this in the Grant Kenny era?
Now long-retired, Bill - who worked most of his career as a forester - is still enamoured by Ginninderra Creek, which flows near his home in Ngunnawal and where he often takes photos during flood events and colourful sunset, posting on social media with the hashtag #Livingthedreampaddock.
But Bill isn't the only ranger to cut his teeth at the falls. Phil Hore recalls riding his bike from Fraser to the falls every day for work experience. "The drive in was a long dusty track," Phil recalls. "It was during the Los Angeles Olympics, as I recall us watching the TV at the ticket station as Canberra legend Rob de Castella was running the marathon. We helped with some fences but mostly manned the ticket station."
Several other former employees reminisced about working at the falls, including rigging-up a daredevil zip line across the tip of the falls. Heck, forget tumbling over Niagara Falls in a barrel; what an adrenalin rush that would have been. Of course, it was private use only, not for the public as it was deemed (just a bit!) risky.
Meanwhile, Leigh Brown remembers the falls long before it was a tourist park. "Back then it was Parkwood Farm where old Thomas Southwell, who first settled back in the mid-1800s and then his descendants, my uncles, brothers Clyde Bruce and Cleon Kilby, farmed."
"As a child, I visited the falls with my mother and can remember her saying how her brothers once had to rescue a calf that had been stranded on a ledge halfway down the falls and wasn't sure how it got there." Heck!
From trickle to torrent
While the upper (main) falls are the property's main selling point, for many readers the lower falls, reached via a good number of those 750 steps, are equally as photogenic.
"That was by far and away my favourite spot for a picnic under the casuarinas," John Standen, of Kambah, recalls. "It was teeming with water dragons and the gentle wash of tumbling water over the rocks was most therapeutic."
The water was also tumbling gently over the lower falls in December 2022 when Charlie Hyles and his friends were enjoying a swim in the morning sunshine.
But within a few minutes, that trickle unexpectedly turned into a torrent.
"We were up under the waterfall when suddenly it started to get a bit difficult to get close and then some small rocks and sticks started flowing over ... then suddenly it was a wall of water that pushed everyone away from the falls."
The sudden rush of water, caused by an isolated storm over the creek's upper catchment, washed their rafts downstream.
"We had to swim out and get them ... it was all a bit of a palaver," exclaims Charlie who, like his dad, will no doubt miss having the falls as his backyard.
Rowing tragedy
This column's recent focus on Lake Burley Griffin's 60th birthday prompted John Hyslop, of Torrens, to recall travelling from Sydney to row with the Mosman Rowing Club in the lake's first rowing regatta in April 1964. It was an important meet, as many of the races were trials to decide the crews that would be nominated to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympics.
"Luckily the lake filled just in time," John recalls. "We started in East Basin, rowed under Kings Avenue Bridge and finished at Regatta Point (of course!)."
Later that year, while training for a marathon rowing regatta, a squall caused a tub craft paired by Bruce Shields and Col Panton to capsize near Kings Avenue Bridge. Stuart, Col's nine-year-old son, who couldn't swim and wasn't wearing a life jacket, was coxswain.
Bus driver Bill Beadman was driving over the bridge. He stopped and valiantly jumped in the water, but was only able to rescue Bruce Shields. Colin and his son both drowned.
In History of the Black Mountain Rowing Club (2011), Vince McMahon highlights "a bizarre epilogue to this event reported by The Canberra Times, when just two months later, on 5 February 1965, Bill Beadman was driving his bus in the city when he witnessed a smash between two cars. He stopped his bus and ran around to help him, only to find that again it was Bruce Shields. Ironically, there had been an announcement that very morning that Beadman was to be awarded the British Empire Medal for gallantry for his rescue of Bruce Shields, although he did not know that at the time. What are the chances?!
The cancelled marathon was run in subsequent years, and it is now known as the Col Panton Memorial Marathon. Meanwhile, one of the ACT Rowing Association's boats is, fittingly, called the Beadman.
WHERE IN CANBERRA?
Rating: Medium
Clue: Choo choo
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email received after 10am, Saturday, November 2, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Roger Shelton, of Spence, who was the first to correctly identify last week's photo as the water level gauge at Scrivener Dam viewing area.
Tours of the dam wall proved to be one of the most popular activities during Lake Burley Griffin's recent 60th anniversary celebrations. One of the more peculiar sights inside the dam wall, spotted by several attendees, was this "deadman alarm". Perhaps it should read, "In case of emergency, push dam button," muses Daniel Owen.
National Capital Authority dam director David Wright reveals it's actually a bit of a misnomer. "Given the mass of concrete, mobile phones won't work in the gallery of the dam," he explains. "So it is to alert emergency services in the event of an emergency."
Beaut Bubblers
The bubbler on the corner of Paterson and Baker streets in Ainslie isn't the only vintage drinking fountain in suburban Canberra. Christine Butterfield reports, "there's a line of old bubblers on an open area beside Dickson College".
Meanwhile, Joss Haiblen reports, "there is also one at the corner of Doonkuna and Coranderrk streets in Reid", which, according to Penleigh Boyd, "is opposite the heritage-listed old bus shelter at what was once presumably the other Doonkuna Street bus stop for east-bound buses that once ran here. This bubbler appears to be a more modern design (Tylors brand not Danks) and is no longer working. Even so, it is wonderful to have these old relics around." Indeed. But wouldn't it be even better if you could drink from it on a hot day? Perhaps that's the first job of the new minister for city services?
- CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
