Name: Blackall Woolscour
City: Blackall, QLD Australia
Describe your experience:
In its heyday, one pound of wool fetched one pound
and 50 men worked the Blackall Woolscour shearing, washing, sorting,
baling and carting wool. It was hot, hard, sweaty work with riches
so rewarding that two 12 hour shifts worked around the clock.
Today, the massive Blackall Woolscour is the only steam-driven woolscour remaining of the 52 which operated in full swing across the country.
Now part of the Queensland Heritage Trails Network, the Blackall Woolscour has been lovingly restored so visitors can see and hear genuine early 20th century steam driven machinery in all its noisy action!
Colourful local characters, including Bob Harvey and Beaver Dendle, lead guided tours to explain each stage of wool processing, with a liberal sprinkle of yarns along the way!
Blackall is also where the first artesian bore was sunk and local shearer, John Robert Howe, better known as Jack 'Jackie' Howe, blade shore 321 sheep in seven hours and forty minutes, a record that still stands.
Mechanical wool scouring required hot, soft water and Blackall's bore water was found to be perfect for the job. At its peak, almost three million litres of bore water flowed each day, of which 910,000 litres were used in the scour. The free flowing waters of a bore sunk in 1906 still flow at the woolscour, and at the local Aquatic Centre where you can soak in the waters.
At the woolscour, visitors can try hand shears as used by Jack Howe, test their skills at wool classing and stand well back from the Hargan saw, known as the widow maker, a dangerous tool used to cut the one and a half tonnes of wood needed each day to fire up the boilers.
Heritage Significance
With five large sheep stations operating in the district by the 1880s, Blackall developed as a major centre for the wool industry in Queensland. When it opened in 1908, its woolscour was recognised as the most modern and efficient in the state.
Costing 12,000 pounds to build, the complex included the main shed, yards, shearers' quarters and steam-driven equipment imported from England. Its timber frame is completely nail free, and the entire frame, which is made of hoop pine, is all tenon and morticed.
The woolscour's most productive years were its first decade, when two shifts of 12 men per day helped produce more than 150 bales per week. It has now been carefully restored to its original state with all mechanical woolscouring equipment in operating condition.
Attractions & Facilities
The Orientation Centre, complete with introductory displays, where visitors meet with guides incorporates:
- Main woolscour shed
- Blacksmith shop and workshop
- Shearing shed, sheep yards, artesian bore and shearer's quarters
- Theatrette showing 'The Golden Age of Wool' audio-visual
The Blackall Woolscour is located on a side road 4km outside of Blackall. Follow the Queensland Heritage Trails Network signs to the complex. Open daily from 8am to 4pm for guided tours.
For more information:
Blackall Woolscour
Tel +61 7 4657 6042
Blackall Information Centre
Tel +61 7 4657 4637
- By Sue Fuller
If you know of a great destination we're missing,
review it for us!!
|
|
