Beech Forest Walking Tour & Oral History Series Audio

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Beech Forest Walking Tour & Oral History Series Audio

on February 12, 2025

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We gratefully acknowledge the Local History Grants Program and Public Record Office Victoria, supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund.

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The Pioneer of Beech Forest

John William Gardner, was tantalised by the allure of fertile farming land in dense ferny soil south of Colac. Born in Smythesdale near Ballarat in 1861, John Gardner was working the Tasmanian gold diggings in 1885 when his father Caleb wrote of the opportunity to select land at Beech Forest. He quickly travelled back to Victoria and commenced clearing land, beginning a connection with the district that would last for the rest of his life. The family’s origins were in Oxfordshire, yet in 1852 Caleb Gardner arrived in Melbourne aboard the Castle Tulloch and immediately headed to the Ballarat goldfields. In fact, the entire crew of the migrant ship abandoned their posts in search of gold and it was four months before the shipping company could re-man the ship and set sail on the return journey. By 1884, Caleb was granted land at Barramunga and he soon welcomed his son’s arrival in the Otways. Gardner pitched his tent and set up camp on a spot he called Ditchley Park and was...

Cliff Young - an Otways legend

Born Albert Ernest Clifford Young in 1922, a resident and potato farmer of Beech Forest, 'Cliffy' as he is fondly known, was famous for winning the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon foot race in 1983 at the age of 61. Young was known for wearing his gumboots while in training at his potato farm and when rounding up sheep and cattle. His running style, which expends less energy became known as the The Cliff Young Shuffle and was later adopted by marathon runners who would go on to win subsequent Sydney to Melbourne marathons. His win captured the hearts of many around the nation, impressed by his resilience and strength in enduring the physical aspects of the race but also by his humble and gentle manner. Young recalls the end of the race in his book, Cliffy's Book "Those last 17 kilometres just seemed so far. ... "Just a few more yards," I said to myself through all the noise of fire engine sirens, fireworks, and the cheer...

Katabanut Yarkeen - Coastal Forest Dreaming

While researching the history of the First Nation people in this area for our soon to be launched Beech Forest Historic Walking and Driving Tour, it became apparent that we had to go beyond the anecdotal chat about how it is too cold and wet in this part of the Otways for indigenous people, there is no history here, that history belongs to the coast, the shorelines, after all we know about the middens there. An afternoon spent with Richard Collopy traditional owner and custodian of Gadubanud Country, revealed so much more and was incredibly informative and a privilege as he shared his and his ancestors stories and knowledge of the history of this region. The significance of the place names was particularly enlightening about where Gadubunud and Gulidjan language and customs can be viewed in place names across the Otways; From Colac sands and murnong lands in the early days we struggled too Elliminite the name of the one born on the gentle slopes in the setting sun Every plac...

Sawmilling in the Otways

Sawmilling in the Otways formed a significant part of the history of this land. So how did it come about? What impact did this have on the subsequent formation of the Great Otway National Park? Tree seesaw Minchinton brothers In the West Otway region the forests from Kawarren to the Beech Forest – Lavers Hill areas were divided up into farming blocks, giving land holders the option to remove the trees on their land if they so chose. Farm failure due to harsh conditions such as rain and bushfires, was widespread, so much so that hundreds of farm blocks were not cleared of any timber. This opened the way for sawmillers to move in and harvest the trees rather than have the farmer ringbark and burn the trees to create pasture lands. Astute farmers offered timber rights to sawmillers as a way of clearing their land. Timber harvesting was on a small scale until the railway from Colac to Beech Forest was opened in 1902. The railway enabled heavy loads of timber product to be co...

Preserving our collection

When you are entrusted with historic artefacts by generous donors, you have a responsibility to ensure that the very best of care is taken with preserving the items so they can be shared for many years to come. The Otway Districts Historical Society is based in the township of Beech Forest, "on the ridge" as it is known. This biodiverse area is a temperate rainforest region and along with its natural beauty & high rainfall, the environment presents some challenges. There are many aspects of preservation of historic artefacts including handling, display and storage. When thinking about how to best preserve our collection from the elements, at the forefront of our minds was the humidity & potential mould and mildew that can be very damaging to the collection and to the health of our volunteers and visitors. Best practice for controlling the space is having the temperature set at 20 degrees celsius and the humidity levels of 45-55%. The temperature we w...

The troubled existence of the Beech Forest Butter Factory

Beech Forest Butter Factory 1905 An architectural beauty and an imposing presence in the main street of Beech Forest amongst a number of smaller shops, the Beech Forest Butter Factory opened for business in 1902 after Beech Forest locals, Cokerill, Bowen, Harrison, Shepherd and Young lobbied to raise the necessary capital. The factory was located in the main street opposite the railway station with Mr Athorn as the first manager. By 1905 the production had increased with the Olangaloah area, east of the Beech Forest township, alone providing 26 cans of cream three times a week to the factory, from 22 farms grazing 600 cows. The factory's existence was however a troubled one and various problems caused by cream shortages and equipment deficiencies to lack of shareholder support resulted in it closing in 1906. It did however reopen shortly after under new management. At its peak the factory processed about 200,000 lbs of butter un...

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This work by Otway Districts Historical Society is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.