Flower beds for bees and some farm history

While we are on the waiting list for a local bee swarm I have planted some flower beds to give them plenty of food over the summer. There are lots of flowers now in the early spring with the wattles and fruit trees but there is much less for the bees to feed on over the summer and autumn months.

I will need to keep the beds well watered until the seeds germinate and they get established so these 2 beds are enough to manage for now. Once theses are growing strongly then I will plant some more.

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The progress association meeting last week was a good chance to meet more locals. There was a big turnout ranging from people who have lived in Golspie their whole lives to others who have just recently arrived. Most people are sheep and cattle farmers but there are some like me who are retired and planting trees and keeping small animals like chickens and ducks. The community has been awarded a grant to restore the community hall on the condition that most of the work is done by volunteers. They are planning future working groups to repair parts of the hall so that will be a good chance to get to know people more.

Meeting these neighbours made me think more about the history of our farm.

Of course before discussing the coloniser history of this place I should acknowledge its much more ancient history and pay respects to the Burra Burra people of the Gundungurra nation on whose land we live on today. Burra burra creek which our tiny creek feeds into is named after this clan.

There is a local history booklet called “Pioneers of the area around Golspie”.

Some neighbours referred to this book. when discussing where they lived related to our place. We are at “Q” on the map and “5” is the community hall. The reference to East Springs in the book says :

“Samuel Cumberland married Mary Morgan and they made their home at East Springs later known as Brooklands. The two names given to this place refer to the fresh water that runs from a spring down to the house. Samuel had come as a sailor working on a boat from England. He left the boat in Melbourne with a friend and went to the goldfields. Samuel and Mary had seven children together at East Springs. Sadly the eldest son Edward went out west shearing in 1898 and returned home sick with Diptheria. Both Edward and his mother Mary died that summer of the disease. Samuel junior and his wife Myra stayed at East Springs until 1903 when they sold to George Maynard.”

The Brooklands name remains on the front door and a photo of Samuel junior and Myra. At that time horses were used for transport so it would have been a hard life out here. Crookwell or Taralga would be a day’s travel one way and then a further day to Goulburn. With a four day round trip people would have had to be very self reliant to survive.

These 2 local houses are close by and were probably built by the same builder around 1860 since the styles are so similar. The timber section of our house would have been built first to live in while the brick and stone cottage was constructed.