Monday, August 8, 2016

A Gate less Golden


In my recent travels I passed through a locality called Golden Gate, once a prosperous mining community approximately 10 kms West of Croydon.

The only sign that a township existed here can be seen on the southern side of the highway marked by a number of metre high steel posts and a sign saying no camping. In the background is a small mound of earth which was the railway station. Travelers here should be careful as there is a single strand of wire strung between a number of the trees at caravan height.





The railway station that once handled a lot of passenger traffic along with the freight that was needed to support a growing community now lies dormant except for the passing of the tourist train from Normanton on Wednesday and from Croydon on a Thursday.



A short walk to the Northern side of the highway and through a fence onto a cattle station I found some more stark reminders of a prosperous past. These boilers were once used to generate the energy needed to raise the ore from deep under ground and be processed to extract the fine golden metal. 


This area is fenced separately from the rest of the property because of the dangers these old diggings present to anyone who passes by, including the cattle. If you fell into this pit you would almost certainly die. It took a couple of seconds before the sound of splashing water was heard when I threw a stone into the pit.

The reader may like to visit another post about Golden Gate School.



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