Lachlan and I rode out from Lawnton along Anzac Avenue to the Redcliffe peninsular this morning. We followed it around to Woody point, over the old Hornibrook Bridge, and back via Deagon, Bracken Ridge and Strathpine home.
All up about 53km in 2 and a half hours.
Between 5am and 7am the sun isn’t too much of a hassle, plus we had light rainfall for some of the way which kept the temperature pleasant.
We had to get up pretty early to get back before breakfast!
Courtenay Spry was one of the first owners of freehold land in this area, along with Tom Petrie, Stephen Lawn and others.In 1862 he purchased large tracts of land, and sold some of it a short time later to make a handsome profit.
But this amusing little excerpt from the Brisbane Courier in 1882, reveals a nasty side to Mr Courtenay Hele Fowell Spry Esquire. It appears that one of his sons had an impressive butcher bird that was able to sing quite remarkable tunes. The bird went missing, and Spry suspected the daughter of the local pastoralist, Job Minchinton. He sued Minchinton in the Brisbane Police Court for the loss of the bird, but Minchinton testified that he never had a butcher bird, or any bird except a parrot.
Spry lost the suit, but not being one to let his inferiors off the hook, then decided that Minchinton didn’t tell the truth in court. So he had him charged with perjury, and had his sons to testify against him. Courtenay’s son, Reynell, testified that on 27 May 1882 he saw a butcher bird on Minchinton’s verandah and knew it was the stolen bird because of the tune it was whistling. Mr Bruce, the defense lawyer cross examined him:
Bruce: “If you remember the tune the bird was whistling, can you whistle it?”
Reynell: “No.”
Bruce: “Who was the composer of the tune?”
Reynell: “The butcher bird was the composer”
Bruce: “How can you be so certain about the date?”
Reynell: “I don’t know”
Bruce: “Well if you’re so good with dates, can you tell me what month the winter holidays were in, this year?”
Reynell: “No”
Bruce: “How about your birthday? Can you tell me what month your birthday is in?”
Reynell: “No”.
Because of Spry’s power and influence, the judge didn’t accept the defence claim that the case should be thrown out. He wanted to give the appearance of actually considering this weighty case. But after a few minutes deliberation, he announced that he had decided to dismiss the case, and discharged Minchinton.
If you’re interested in much ado about nothing, click on the images at the left to read it yourself.
When the North Pine Dam was built in 1976, many old historic properties and roads were submerged.
Access to the area surrounding the dam is severely limited, but we thought we’d go on a short exploratory hike to see what we could find.
You can see some of the individual photos here.
This is the only remaing parcel of virgin rainforest in the Pine Rivers district. It’s never been cleared, and apart from a few noxious weeds like Lantana and Umbrella Trees, it’s pretty much the same as it was before Europeans arrived 200 years ago.
Ironically it’s in the middle of a gravel quarry. The ground around it has been excavated to such an extent that it’s almost an island.
Before Europan settlement, all the land around our neighborhood along the river looked like this. I half expected early 19th century elder, Dalaipi, to peer out at me from behind the trees.
Environmental reports suggest that the salinity of the soil is increasing due to the surrounding excavation, so its lifetime is limited.
I just wanted to capture a glimpse of pre-colonial Australia before it disappears.
And to touch it.
Here’s an excerpt from the Australian Heritage Database about Bell’s Scrub:
Bell’s Scrub is one of the very few remaining patches of lowland rainforest in the Pine Rivers Shire and one of few in the wider area of south-east Queensland. However, the site is small and not in good condition. Bell’s Scrub represents the southern limit of distribution of brown pearwood (AMOPHOSPERMUM ANTILOGUM), and the crown of gold tree (BARKLYA SYRINGIFOLIA). The fig trees on the site are utilized by brown (MACROPYGIA AMBOINENSIS) and topknot (LOPHOLAIMUS ANTARCTICUS) pigeons.
Sweeney Reserve is a beautiful park in Petrie where we’ve often gone to have a BBQ or picnic, or just to laze around and relax. It’s full of large trees, swings and plenty of space. I often ride through there on my bike most mornings.
I was amazed when I found this old photo from 1896 at the State Library of Queensland web site. It was contributed to the State Library by Leith Barter on behalf of the Moreton Bay Regional Council along with about 150 other historical images.
In the centre of the old photo, you can see the North Pine Hotel, sitting on ground that is now part of the carpark at Woolworths Petrie. To the left and behind the hotel is the building which originally housed Tom Petrie’s hostelry and accommodation house. You can read more about the old photo here.
Today, the business centre of Petrie is close to the roundabout at the intersection of Anzac Avenue and Dayboro Road. But in the 1890’s the town centre was further south, approximately where the Woolworths carpark is now. In the early days, the main road north from Brisbane came through what is now Sweeney Reserve and up what is now Old Dayboro Road.
Out of curiosity, I had a quick look around the vacant lot near the Woolies carpark where the Hotel would have stood. There’s nothing there today. No marker, no ruins. Nothing. The pub was actually moved North East to where the current Petrie pub is today. But after that it was completely lost in a fire. There’s a replica of it today at “Old Petrie Town” on Dayboro Road.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, hundreds of small "Provisional Schools" sprung up around Queensland.
Kids needed to be educated, and schools needed to be within walking distance.
The deal was that if a community could guarantee at least 12 children, and a suitable building, the government would supply books, and a salary for a teacher.
One of these schools, set up in 1894 was the "Short Cut Provisional School" built at what is now Joyner near the present site of the North Pine Dam.
The school was used until 1915.
Many of these schools were rationalized in the early twentieth century as transport became more reliable and children were able to get to larger schools in the area.
I discovered this pedestrian crossing of the South Pine River with Harrison last week end.
It’s at the southern end of Leitches Road, Brendale, and lets you cross the South Pine River by foot (or cycle) into Albany Creek.
I had no one to share it with this morning except for a few horses and a couple of skittish cows.
Absolutely beautiful, and a pleasant contrast from the horrible traffic on South Pine Road.
There’s no sign of it, except for the commemorative marker, but the first school in Strathpine was built on this spot in 1911 and remained in use until 1988.
The pupils were eventually moved to new buildings on the other side of Gympie Road.
The building was lost to fire in 1993.
