DON'T GO CHANGING!

WOULD YOU LET THIS MAN(IAC)...

Don't be fooled by the size of this man's hammer!

...ANYWHERE NEAR A HISTORICALLY- SIGNIFICANT, NEWLY-RESTORED, VINTAGE VEHICLE??? 

Model of Blitz donated by member of public

 WELL SOMEONE DID

AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED!!

On Saturday, 10th May 2014, the inside of Northey’s store was JUMPING. The volume was up and it was ear-splitting.  

Firstly the percussive snap of cleaning rags and the atomised whoosh of associated solvents. Then, over this cacophony of busy-bee housekeeping, the clamour of Happy Campers, as they raucously enquired as to the whereabouts of LARGE gold nuggets.

Underneath this industrious hum, suddenly could be heard,  the unmistakable deep, throaty growl of a, digitally-unenhanced, motor attempting to put all of its combustible processes, to the goodly aim, of turning over a large motor! 

THE BLITZ WAS GETTING READY TO 

ROAR!!!!

Grabbing my Camera, then, subtly and elegantly, clearing the shop  of customers (GET THE #$*&^%@ OUT OF HERE!!!!!) and slapping a “BACK IN 10 MINUTES” sign on the door (Ha! Don’t tell Jim and Gaye)! 

I ran up the Hill, to the Old Fire Shed,  to see what was going on! 

THIS IS WHAT I FOUND! 

WORKER BEES ATTENDING THEIR QUEEN!

Note maniac in Driver's Seat. Note too, skewed angle of the windshield wiper. Dead-give away to unhinged state of driver! Note also Robert Anderson in jeans.
LOOK OUT GUYS!!

The restoration of the Hill End Blitz has a long and dramatic history. Its progress has bought tears to many an eye. I know, because I have skived off work (don’t tell Gaye) to catch it on film.

I found Robert Anderson, not so long ago, sobbing into to a pile of oil-stained rags after he had installed the headlights. “The Blitz has eyes!” he managed to splutter through gut wrenching sobs. 

Hill End's answer to Dr Fred Hollows...? A composed Robert Anderson after restoring sight to the Blitz.

Of course there are many ghosts who attend this project. They extend, back in time, to a very different Hill End. Many of them have attained legendary status, and the vehicle’s restoration is a labour of love in that it breathes life back into those now gone.
The analogy between the Restoration and the creation of a Human-being is no accident.
The Heart; the Engine
The Belly; the water tank
The Nervous System: the Electrics
The kidneys: The water pump

I was there to witness the testing of the clutch and the brake. The mechanisms that control the direction and speed of motion. 
The Hormone System as it were. 

Motor running, Trevor Sherry, prepares to engage the clutch for the first time.
Note the delicacy of the hand as it prepares to gently execute this manoeuvre.
This is a man with complete trust in his gear-box
 

If the clutch and brake are the Hormone System of the Vehicle, then The Blitz could be said to be  having its second adolescence.  

AND like teenagers everywhere, it wasn't about  to behave. 

Note change of hand position and tightness in facial expression.
Here is a man slightly suspicious of his gear-box!

Note two hands and facial congestion.
Here is a man who has discovered the true cheating nature of his gear-box and is about to lose his rag! 

MURDER MOST FOUL!!!

Note broken gear-stick!
Trevor and Digger caught red handed

His defence? 

IT WAS OLD!!

Meanwhile the Blitz gets a sense of Identity TENDER NO 1.

Warwick Taylor and Digger drill and rivet the name plate into place.
Watch the Duco guys!

 

These blokes were having so much fun. 

It was a real Mens' Shed (thanks guys for allowing my forays).

There had been talk of the old Fire Shed being adapted to such a degree there would be no room for the completed Blitz!

This possibility had, figuratively, gutted some members in the Community. People who had sustained morale through very difficult times were distraught at the idea of this displacement.   

However, on this  Saturday, Lew Bezzina, Historic Heritage Project Coordinator, with NPWS, swung by the Fire Shed to tell the restoration team that, changes had been made that now allowed the tanker to retain a room in its Spiritual Home.

The energy in the shed was positively buoyant. Such is the restorative power of this long-term project.

There is a longer story to be told. This, for you, is just a taste. 

A special mention to absent friends… Dave Pender and, a much loved ghost Welsh Phil.

All words and images by Karin Mainwaring.
 

NOT A POST FOR THE SQUEAMISH!!! PART ONE

After a year's silence 

THE TAMBAROORA TIMES

regains its voice! 

On the 29th April 2014, after a tip-off from an observant tourist, The Tambaroora Times,  went down to investigate a report of raw sewerage, leaking into a creek, adjacent to a bridge on the Bald-Hill Mine Walk. 

My informant, told me he worked for a municipal water company. In his opinion, the leak had been active for a sometime. How could this be? Hill End had just enjoyed its busiest season. School-holidays, Easter and Anzac Day had all happened together. The sun had shone. No rain. The village was crawling with people. How could someone not have noticed until now?

THIS IS WHAT I FOUND.

Approach to bridge with pipework

THAT IS...

NOTHING

But  then,  a whiff of something.  And, given the dry period Hill End had experienced, the luxuriant growth, snaking down the creek, began to look suspicious too. 

Looking down the creek toward The Village Camp ground and Bald Hill Mine.

DIGGING DEEPER

The pipework looked fine, but it was obscured by thick, long grass. A near-by rock was used to push the grass to one side. 

THIS IS WHAT WAS UNDER THE GRASS

SHIT!!

The man had mentioned some algal growth. What did that mean? 
A few slimy fingers of vibrant green swirling in a small pool of cloudy water. Something creepy but contained?

What I found was a slow-moving stream of contaminated sludge, seeping, underneath a lush channel of vegetation, along the creek.

Not easy to see at first. But, stepping onto it, one's feet sunk into black-water.
 Pools of sludge became apparent.

Contaminated water along a back channel.

The seepage flowed down a rock channel, filling three sizeable rock pools. 

In rain, it would be a waterfall. Under the present circumstances it was a sludge-seep. 

But a very effective one.

Sludge seeps, along the water-course, down a tree root, into the first open pool of contaminated water below.

The second, and largest, pool of contaminated open water. 

The third pool, downstream of the big pool, on the left of the green which snakes on and beyond  the Bald Hill Mine.  

The creek narrowed after that, turned back on itself, and continued down toward the Bald Hill Mine (and beyond). The lushness of the vegetation, snaking through an otherwise arid landscape showed how far the contamination had travelled.

OMG! ARE WE ALL GOING TO DIE???

The NPWS manages (and indeed installed, many years ago)  the water and sewerage in Hill End. I  tracked down Lew Bezzina (Historic heritage Coordinator) in Bathurst.  Lew immediately logged the incident with the Environmental Protection Agency. 

A clean-up operation began that night and  went on through most of the night. 

32 HOURS LATER (AND WITH 18MM OF RAIN)

IT LOOKED LIKED THIS

The old PVC pipe has been replaced with a more robust (and perhaps more standard)  fitting. 

The entire area has been pumped, scoured and flushed. Disinfectant was used around the bridge area to ensure decontamination.  Contaminated soil has also been removed and relocated to the Settling Ponds. 

The Sump-pump worked overtime. The contaminated liquid was pumped to the Settling Ponds. A liquid waste contractor was also on site, as back-up, to transfer waste if required. 

Staff worked through the night to ensure a thorough clean-up. 

The pumped out largest pool.

Lew Bezzina from NPWS and Matthew Corradin from the Environmental Protection Agency have both been forthcoming in my dealings with them.

The EPA (and NPWS) say their first priority was a thorough clean-up down to 60 metres.  
With the huge amount of work that has been done (and the rain...in the vicinity of 45mm as of 5th May 2014) this could be adjudged to have  been achieved.  

The EPA arrived on site the next morning and water samples were taken. 
(NPWS may also have taken their own samples prior to this)

An investigation now begins.. 

WILL WE GET ANSWERS????

OR....

Both Departments, NPWS, and the EPA, are bound by legislative requirements.  It must be said, however, that these requirements, may and do, differ from those laid down by the Department of Water.  

For example, it appears  that neither NPWS or the EPA require inspection logs of the sewerage lines to be kept. 
There is also the question of qualifications. Matthew Corradin, when asked as to whether NPWS staff were certified said he "assumed" so.
This question will, of course, be asked and answered in the investigation.  

Transparency is one of the  basic  tenets of governance. 
Both Lew and Matthew Corradin have been open and forthcoming. Both have given me information as to how I can gain information about the outcomes of the investigation.  

According to NPWS the area was checked a month ago when inspections were made on the bridge(s) in regards to Capital Works. 

According to Matthew Corradin from the EPA "These things do happen".  And they do. I did ask Matthew Corradin how the pipe might have been broken..

THE KANGAROOR DID IT!

NPWS have recently tendered for an independent review of the water and sewerage system. 

The Tambaroora Times hopes to provide updates as to how the follow-up is proceeding. There are a number of questions to be asked and answered.

Credit  to Parks on the clean-up. It was long dirty job completed in heavy rain.  

A follow-up post will ensue.

NO STONE WILL REMAIN UNTURNED!!!

WATCH THIS SPACE...

Disclaimer... The Editor of The Tambaroora Times worked as a field-officer for NPWS. 

She is a certified Water and Sewerage Operator. It's a nerdy qualification for a playwright.
But there it is.

Coming soon. 

NPWS gives go ahead for Hill End Arts' Council's 

Disability Access work, 

at the Catholic Church, 

to go ahead.

WELL DONE

Images and words by Karin Mainwaring.