By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
A local historian and author has shared her findings on a \u201clost\u201d Avenue of Honour in Barrys Reef, which was established over a century ago, after reading the story in the Moorabool News (Jan 10).<\/p>\n
Margot Hitchcock will mark 50 years of membership at the Blackwood & District Historical Society this year, and says she\u2019s eager to see the \u2018Soldiers Avenue\u2019 at Barrys Reef restored.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve written books on the history of Blackwood, so I\u2019m passionate about the history of Barrys Reef. The late Allan Hall, who was President of the Historical Society, took me up to Barrys Reef one day and showed me where the Avenue of Honour trees were,\u201d Ms Hitchcock told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the research I did on the Barrys Reef elms, a teacher, Eleanor Taylor, planted them with the help of students and parents on Arbour Day in 1919. There was only two that survived. But the trees that are there now must have been planted some other time, because according to the research only two elm trees survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hitchcock was sent a photo of the original trees planted in the Soldiers Avenue by a person related to the Goodge family, who lived in Barrys Reef at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photo had all these trees that were planted, and had wooden surrounds around them protecting them. In the photo she sent me, not all the trees were there, but there were nearly 20 there. I don\u2019t know when that photo was taken, but I think they were the original trees planted. It\u2019s quite an old photo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put plaques on them with soldiers\u2019 names on them, and the timber from the plaques was obtained from the Sultan Mine, which was the biggest mine in Barrys Reef, where some of the men who went to war would\u2019ve worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hitchcock has written a book of more than 700 pages, which hasn\u2019t yet been published, and has a chapter on the soldiers of Barrys Reef.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got on to the Canberra National Archives, and I think I\u2019ve researched all of them except for six who I\u2019ve been unable to find anything about. I\u2019ve written a chapter in my book about it, and found some photos in the Canberra Archives too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For more information on Ms Hitchcock\u2019s historical work, visit the \u2018Blackwood History and Pioneers, Victoria\u2019 Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis A local historian and author has shared her findings on a \u201clost\u201d Avenue of Honour in Barrys Reef, which was established over a century ago, after reading the story in the Moorabool News (Jan 10). Margot Hitchcock will mark 50 years of membership at the Blackwood & District Historical Society this year, […]<\/p>\n