By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
An historical relic from the 1800s remains standing in Barrys Reef, and it\u2019s not a building or a piece of art.<\/p>\n
The monkey puzzle tree, also known as the bunya pine, is indigenous to north Australia, but one was planted near Thurgoods Lane North in Barrys Reef in the 19th century.<\/p>\n
Blackwood Historical Society member Ray Castellin said the tree \u2013 which looks \u201ccompletely out of place\u201d amongst the other species of tree around it \u2013 was used as a historical reference point, such is its age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis road had six pubs along it, mines, houses everywhere\u2026the tree is our reference point to where everything was really, because it was there back then,\u201d Mr Castellin told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you touch it, you\u2019ll figure out why it\u2019s called a monkey puzzle tree…it\u2019s prickly, it\u2019d be quite a puzzle for a monkey to climb. Barrys Reef was at its prime in the 1870s, so I\u2019d say this tree dates back to then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Castellin believes the seed for the tree was brought over from England by John Mounter, who allegedly owned a nearby house and mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the story anyway, you\u2019re never going to fully know. Blackwood has a few hidden too\u2026but this one is a beauty, it\u2019s on its own in its own clearing, not hidden by anything. You can see it from the road if you look straight at it, otherwise you\u2019d never know it was here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarrys Reef was bigger than Blackwood tenfold back in the day, when all the mines were here. Blackwood was mad for gold out of the Lerderderg for three or four years, but Barrys Reef was more shafts and tunnels, the deep gold. So, the gold rush lasted a lot longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barrys Reef sits just three kilometres north of Blackwood on the Blackwood\/Trentham Road in the Moorabool Shire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis An historical relic from the 1800s remains standing in Barrys Reef, and it\u2019s not a building or a piece of art. The monkey puzzle tree, also known as the bunya pine, is indigenous to north Australia, but one was planted near Thurgoods Lane North in Barrys Reef in the 19th century. Blackwood […]<\/p>\n