Author: simplyoz

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BLUE TRAIL 8:     “The Lovers’ Walk”, Medlow Bath

Between 1902 and 1904, retail tycoon Mark Foy was preparing for a resort opening which history marks as the inception of the Hydro Majestic. Foy had inherited from the previous owners, of part of his new holding, a skilled Scottish landscape gardener called Murdo McLennan. According to Jim Smith’s lectures (local history of the Blue Mountains, Katoomba TAFE, 1990) Foy gave detailed instructions for the improvement of the walking track network in the new resort’s extensive grounds.

Costumes of any era will do when two adventurous spirits are ready for the opportunities of the Lovers’ Walk. Interpretive bushwalkers Sandra Jaroslav and Jenny Miller dress in costumes borrowed from the Blackheath Rhodo Review, with a parasol from Glenbrook Players.             [Photo © John Turner]

In the far extremities of the 1904 holding (which has since contracted) was the track known as the Lovers’ Walk. Its specification was that a gentleman and a lady in evening dress must be able to walk along it arm in arm without the lady’s ankle-length garment being soiled. In 2015 the route of the Lovers’ Walk is very overgrown but it is still possible to locate and revisit it.

Banksia ericifolia flowers on the Lovers Walk
[photo © Don Morison]

The ambience of this location remains highly romantic (at least to someone who appreciates the Blue Mountains bush). It is on the border of open forest and heath vegetation communities.

There are multiple species of Banksia with B. ericafolia and B. marginata particularly prominent. Acacia and Leptospermum species abound.

In the new incarnation of the Hydro Majestic, there is an understandable focus on the heritage buildings and the hospitality. But reflection in the quieter extremes of Mark Foy’s original extensive domain remains inspiring.

 

As in Mark Foy’s day, this walk has beautiful scenery ready for those who love each other.

 

© Don Morison

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BLUE TRAIL 7: Blast Furnace Park and Lake Pillans, Lithgow

Lithgow Blast Furnace operated from 1886 to 1928, producing the first iron and steel cast in Australia. Its ruins dominate one of the most interesting sites on the urban sections of the proposed Blue Trail. The interpretive and tourist safety infrastructure is currently being upgraded. Soon it should be possible to walk around, observing and photographing what remains of innovatory machinery and machinery housing that characterised that period of Australian industrial development.

Industrial ruins in Blast Furnace Park         [photo: Christine Davies]
Working conditions in the early 20th century were hot, unsafe and difficult. Industrial action led to a major confrontation at the Blast Furnace on 29 August 1911, which became known as the Lithgow Riot. Pictured below is the remains of works boss Charles Hoskins’ prized Renault car, wrecked by striking workers who resented him.
Charles Hoskins’ ruined Renault         [photo: Lithgow District Historical Society]

A nearby Uniting Church bears Hoskins’ name, while the small urban wetland next to the Blast Furnace is named after Robert Pillans, one of the union leaders and the first Labor Mayor of Lithgow.

Lake Pillans Wetlands       [photo: Christine Davies]
In winter 2013, more than a dozen flame robins were observed congregating in the Blast Furnace ruins. Flame Robins typically inhabit some of NSW highest locations but in the winter gather in lower and more open areas.This site sets off the uniqueness and scenic grandeur of the Lithgow Valley.

© Don Morison

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BLUE TRAIL 6: Pulpit Rock, Blackheath

Pulpit Rock is prominent in many of the most dramatic perspectives on the cliff wall landscape of the valleys of the upper Grose River and Govetts Creek. It is easily reached by the Clifftop Track from Govetts Leap or the steps from the unsealed circuit off Hat Hill Road.

Pulpit Rock
[photo: Christine Davies]
The diversity of ecosystems visible from Pulpit Rock is inspiring. You can look around you at the clifftop heathland, upslope at the Eucalypt forests towards Hat Hill, spy hanging swamps nestling near Horseshoe Falls, point binoculars at the diverse wet cliff-face foliage around Braeside Creek Falls (Bridal Veil) or stare downwards from the lookout railing at the bright green rainforest crowns in the valley. Bellbird tones waft up towards you as you do. There is a particularly informative collection of National Park interpretive signs around Pulpit Rock, describing both the general ecosystems and some of the more unusual heath plants in the area.

One of the things scenery lovers most value about this valley is the changing parade of colours on the Banks Wall and Burramoko Head varieties of Narrabeen sandstone during the course of the day. In neutral light, the places where sandstone has broken away most recently (that may be hundreds of years ago) look white or yellow, the areas less lately exposed look orange and those altered longest ago look grey. But daily variations or cloud cover change the intensity, particularly when the late afternoon sun shines directly on the yellows or oranges just before the soft blackness of the afternoon shadows sweeps up from the valley floor.

© Don Morison

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BLUE TRAIL 5: Pagodas above the upper Wolgan, Western Newnes Plateau

Along “Fire Trail No 5”, via Sunnyside Ridge Road, is a beautiful landscape caught in the tug-of-war between motorised recreation and conservation.

Like many parts of the Gardens of Stone area, it has a series of majestically shaped and intricately varied pagodas, the profiles of their protuberances and “gargoyles” standing out against the sky. Plants special to this region include the yellow Pagoda Daisies (Leucochrysum graminifolium).

Pagoda Daisies (Leucochrysum graminifolium)
[Photo:Neil McGlashan]
There are just a very few plants which are so specialised that they live only on the rocky crags (known as “Pagodas”) in the far western edge of the Blue Mountains.

A visit during June 2015 was greeted with a chorus of male lyrebirds assembled at various points around the slopes, each vying with the others and choosing a different sound to imitate than his competitors.

Open forest with stands of several Eucalypt species rolls down to a twisting pagoda-lined waterway, flanked with ferny overhangs.

Profile of an intriguing protuberance near the end of Firetrail No. 5 [Photo: Christine Davies}
Unfortunately, four-wheel drive vehicles have carved far too wide a route through this wonderland. A gate meant to restrict access to vehicles has been breached. An article in the Bush Club’s books on the Gardens of Stone* suggested things were much the same in 2007. [“The Gardens of Stone National Park and Beyond”, Michael Keats and Brian Fox, Book 6]

This remains a site that proves the Gardens of Stone are worth protecting.

 

© Don Morison