Part One of a 2-part series
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LOCAL towns and villages no longer had streams of continual cars and trucks passing through on the Hume Highway when, in August 1992, the Mittagong bypass opened to traffic.
A bypass of Berrima had opened in 1987 and both were sections of the F5 South Western Freeway, progressively built to provide a dual-carriageway highway between Sydney and Melbourne that now bypasses all towns. The Hume Highway and earlier roads had a significant impact on the shape and growth of the Wingecarribee district.
In summary, the first European settlers arrived in the Southern Highlands once the first South Road, a rough track from Sydney, opened in 1820 through the centre of the district. The focus of settlement changed to the western side when a new line of road was built in the 1830s and Berrima established as the regional centre.
This new line was a section of the southern road progressively built from Sydney to Albury and proclaimed the Great Southern Road in 1858. It was one of three main roads in NSW and linked to the Victorian road to Melbourne.
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With the introduction of motor vehicles in the early 1900s the Southern Road entered a new era and in 1928 the entire stretch to Melbourne was renamed the Hume Highway in honour of Hamilton Hume who had explored the route in 1824. After the 1992 bypass opened, an interest grew in the heritage significance of the old highway. It was realised that the shire was fortunate in having major sections of old road still in existence and some still in use as local roads.
TO highlight this heritage, in April 2003 Tourism Southern Highlands and the Berrima District Historical Society jointly hosted a 'Heritage Weekend in Mittagong' as part of that year's National Trust Heritage Festival.
A photographic exhibition depicting the evolution of roads and bridges in the district was mounted by Leonie Knapman at the Historical Society's premises. One prominent feature was a large oil painting by Ulf Kaiser depicting Black Bob's Creek Bridge, built a short distance south of Berrima in 1835 for the Great Southern Road. It was rebuilt in 1896 and carried Hume Highway traffic until replaced in 1971.
This historic bridge is still in existence - its significance will be outlined in the next article. In 2001 the old bridge inspired Kaiser to create his painting and this was used on the front cover of 'The Great South Road' a self-guided tour brochure released that year by the NSW Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA).
This brochure was the first to promote the local district's heritage and it encouraged drivers to commence at Black Bob's Creek, proceed to Marulan and Goulburn to inspect various historic sites, and then return via Tallong to Bong Bong at Moss Vale.
Following on the success of this tour brochure, another was created by the RTA in 2003 that featured heritage drives around the Southern Highlands. This commenced at Picton, continued to Bargo, followed the Old South Road over the Mittagong Range to Bong Bong and on to Sutton Forest and Berrima. From there it proceeded to Mittagong and then through Colo Vale and other former railway villages back to Picton. This second tour brochure was launched in the Mittagong Playhouse as part of the already mentioned 2003 Mittagong Heritage Weekend. Guests in attendance included NSW National Trust President, Hon Justice Barry O'Keefe, Wingecarribee Shire Mayor Phil Yeo and Ken McNally of the RTA at Goulburn.
Also present was Ulf Kaiser whose original artwork featured in both brochures and who had created the artwork for all brochures and posters issued by the RTA over the previous 7 years. On display was a collection of his original paintings and he donated his Black Bob's Creek Bridge painting to the Berrima District Historical Society. It has hung in pride of place in the Society's upstairs meeting room at Mittagong ever since.
ANYONE interested in downloading the 2001 and 2003 self-guided tour brochures mentioned may do so from the Environment/Heritage section of the NSW Roads & Maritime Services website at www.rms.nsw.gov.au/tourguides. A more recent publication 'The Old Hume Highway: history begins with a road' published in 2013 by Roads & Maritime Services provides a self-guided tour of routes, towns and turnoffs along the old highway. Historical notes are provided by the Royal Australian Historical Society and historical societies from Liverpool to Albury, including a comprehensive coverage of Wingecarribee Shire sections.
As not everyone can undertake a tour along the old Highway, more of its local history will be provided in future articles.
To be continued
This article compiled by Phillip Morton is sourced from the archives of the Berrima District Historical & Family Society. Phone 4872 2169 . Bowral Road, Mittagong, bdhsarchives@gmail.com . berrimadistricthistoricalsociety.org.au
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