Waterfall Gully
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Waterfall Gully is a small district of Adelaide , the capital of the Australian state of South Australia . It is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges about nine kilometers east of downtown Adelaide. For the most part, the district comprises a long gully with First Creek in the center and Waterfall Gully Road along the bay. At one end of the erosion channel is the waterfall that gave the area its name. It belongs to the Burnside City administrative area and is bordered to the north by the Burnside district, to the northeast by Greenhill , to the southeast by Cleland Conservation Park , to the southwest by Leawood Gardens and to the northwest by Mount Osmond .
Waterfall Gully has a long history and has been a popular tourist attraction since Adelaide's first settlers discovered the area in the 19th century . The place has developed a lot in recent years due to some residents and increasing visits from tourists.
history
Aboriginal culture
In Australian Aboriginal mythology , Waterfall Gully and the surrounding Mount Lofty Ranges belong to the story of the ancestor Nganno . As he wandered through the lands of the Kaurna Aboriginal tribe , Nganno was injured in a battle and lay down to die, creating the Mount Lofty Ranges. The present name of the Greater Mount Lofty Parklands, Yurrebilla , is the name of the Kaurna for the twin hills Mount Lofty and Mount Bonython, which are said to be Nganno's ears.
James Milne Young, an early settler of the neighboring village of Beaumont , described the Kaurna: “In every bay and every gully you can see their Wurlies (simple Aboriginal houses made of branches and grass) and their fires at night ... often 500 tents up to 600 in different locations ... some behind the Botanical Gardens on the banks of the river; some on the mountains; some at the Waterfall Gully. "
Aboriginal people lived mainly on the River Torrens and the streams that flowed into it, including First Creek from Waterfall Gully. These were also the most valuable areas for new European settlers. They displaced the indigenous population, which also diminished from exposure to European diseases to which they had no natural immunity .
European settlement
Europeans discovered Waterfall Gully shortly after Adelaide was founded. The first Europeans to see First Creek Waterfall were likely Brigham Hutchison and William Burt. The two men found him in April 1837 while looking for a route to the summit of Mount Lofty. They pointed out that the "abundance of plants and undergrowth at the edge of the stream, which is in many places above our heads" was a major obstacle to their ascent. The area around the waterfall was declared a nature reserve in 1884 .
The area became a tourist attraction for the early settlers of South Australia. During this time, however, the population of the neighboring community of Burnside grew and required a new water supply. First Creek, which runs down the Waterfall Gully and then flows into the River Torrens near what is now the Botanical Gardens, was seen as the perfect solution to the water shortage. The Hydraulic Engineers Department of Adelaide Colony built a weir between 1881 and 1882 . It held around two million liters and was connected to Burnside by a pipeline. With the establishment of farms and orchards higher up in the catchment area, the water quality deteriorated. At that time, however, Adelaide was being served by newer reservoirs in other areas such as Happy Valley.
Some small mines dug at the end of the 19th century to extract silver and lead caught the interest of the Cornish settlers . The mines were of poor quality, especially when compared to the neighboring Wheal Watkins mine in Glen Osmond . The mid-19th century Victoria gold rush drew miners and young men from all over Australia and sparked the final rush to the mines of Waterfall Gully, where work stopped shortly afterwards.
With the establishment of the new boundaries, some parts of Waterfall Gully were transferred from the Crafers Township (now Adelaide Hills) to the City of Burnside in 1876. At the beginning of the 20th century the area was mostly known for agricultural use, but houses were built in the gully in the middle of the century. In 1939, several bushfires threatened Waterfall Gully. Further bushfires in the early 1940s wreaked havoc as the efforts of World War II consumed supplies and personnel from the fire department.
In 1945 the government of South Australia bought much of what is now the Cleland Conservation Park through the efforts of Professor Sir John Burton Cleland. Most of the land, including the gully, was united in 1963 to create the park, which extends east up the gully to the summit of Mount Lofty and north to Greenhill Road.
On the night of November 7, 2005, a devastating flood inundated several areas in Adelaide. Waterfall Gully was one of the hardest hit suburbs: Bob Stevenson, the State Emergency Service (SES) officer on duty, commented, “There's an area called Waterfall Gully Road, in the foothills of the mountains, where one of the streams plunges and pretty much a lot of houses are affected there ... there were about 40 houses on this street alone. ”Properties were flooded, two bridges almost collapse and 100 meters of the road were washed away. Burnside community workers, Country Fire Service (CFS), and SES repaired the first damage that night while infrastructure rebuilding began in late November. Most of the street was inaccessible and access to the suburb was only allowed to residents and helpers for the rest of the month.
Waterfall Gully is an average of 234 meters above sea level and has an area of 6.08 km². The most striking geographic features are the gully and waterfall. 300 meters from the start of Waterfall Gully Road is Langman Reserve, a large park created in a former quarry in the late 1960s and dedicated to the former Burnside Mayor W. Langman. The northeast side of the erosion channel is essentially part of Cleland Conservation Park, and many hiking trails lead into the park. Most of the land in the southwest is owned by the Burnside Parish. There are also many hiking trails here.
The European colonization caused significant changes in the native flora. The settlers felled numerous eucalyptus trees ( Manna Gum and Eucalyptus globulus ) in order to use the land for agriculture. The large proportion of non-native vegetation in the gully is mainly the result of the sudden end of agriculture. Olive trees and other imported species were able to grow without being disturbed by farm animals that had previously kept the hills relatively bare. The Burnside community has initiated programs to reintroduce and protect native vegetation, but little progress has been made in removing alien plants such as olives, bamboo and blackberries . The introduction of European plants did not affect native wildlife. Many unique Australian animals such as kangaroos , koalas and kusus can be seen on the trails.
Near Waterfall Gully, two kilometers away, is Chambers Gully, which served as a landfill but has been restored as a park through volunteer work over the past decade. It contains some ancient ruins, hiking trails, and springs, and is home to numerous native species. The successful change to the park is reflected in the return of several species of frogs .
traffic
Cars are the preferred mode of transport in the suburbs. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics , 90% of residents drive to work. Waterfall Gully is connected to Greenhill Road, Adelaide's main thoroughfare, via Waterfall Terrace and Glynburn Road. The traffic density is relatively low compared to the northern and southern suburbs and significantly better than in other cities. The center of Adelaide can be reached in 15 minutes by car
Because of the area's remoteness, very few people (1.2%) walk to work and no bike, in contrast to the Adelaide Metropolitan Area and the city of Burnside as a whole. Because of the poor connections, only 4% take the bus to work. The fastest connection for Waterfally Gully is the Adelaide Metro bus 142, which runs from North Terrace to Glynburn Road, which is a few hundred yards from the start of Waterfall Gully Road.
The Waterfall Gully Road is very winding and quite narrow in some places. This has raised concerns about the safety of pedestrians as the road is used by tourists, bushwalkers and cyclists. That's why the Burnside community has set up walking and hiking trails in different sections.
Attractions
The main attraction of Waterfall Gully is First Falls. It's at the southeast end of the road in Cleland Conservation Park. The weir at the bottom of the falls was built in the late 19th century and was part of Adelaide's early water supply.
The development in this area has advanced since the establishment of a restaurant. The architects Albert Selmar Conrad and his brother from South Australia, who were of German descent, built the Waterfall Gully Restaurant in 1911/1912. Before the First World War , people still spoke of the building's “German character”, but now they only describe its “Alpine” style. It was expanded in 1914 and converted into a restaurant in the late 1950s. It was later closed, but reopened in the late 1990s and recently renovated.
Other trails wind around the hills around Waterfall Gully that branch off from Chambers Gully, Woolshed Gully, or the area around First Creek. Destinations include Crafers, Eagle on the Hill, Mount Lofty, Mount Osmond, and the Cleland Wildlife Park in Cleland Conservation Park. The trails have been completely renewed in the past ten years and some older and more dangerous routes have been sealed because of the difficult terrain. Many have views of Adelaide and the gully itself, and one of them connects to the 1,200 mile Heysen Trail.
Earlier excavations explain the silver and lead mines that operated here in the 19th century. Many still exist and some are still accessible. The mines, built mainly by workers from Cornwall, are about 1.7 meters high and one meter wide. They haven't been as successful as Wheal Watkins' richer mines, but they're still interesting to those who find them. The mines are very isolated and relatively unknown.
Greenhill Springs on Waterfall Gully Road has provided spring water to the local Adelaide population since 1952 . A therapeutic effect is ascribed to the water; in the past it was used to treat patients in hospitals. The springs have been family-owned from the start.
politics
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Waterfall Gully can be described as a socially conservative and economically liberal suburb. Many of the wealthy residents have benefited from the coalition government's economic policies. They are mainly of British descent and show above-average religiosity. That fits well with the demographics of a typical Liberal voter. As a result, the Liberals achieved very good results in the last two elections with around 65%. Progressive parties like the Labor or the Democrats received most of the remaining votes.
Waterfall Gully belongs to the state electoral district of Bragg, which the Liberal Vickie Chapman has chaired since 2002. In federal politics, the suburb is assigned to the Stuart district and has been represented by Christopher Pyne since 1993. The results shown above are from the nearest polling station at St David's Church Hall on Glynburn Road (Burnside).
Web links
- Cycle2Max's homepage about Waterfall Gully
- Greenhill Springs
- Burnside town profile with ABS statistics
- Burnside City History
- Cleland National Park
- The Greater Mount Lofty Parklands (Yurrebilla)
swell
- ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Waterfall Gully ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ^ History of the City of Burnside, courtesy of the Burnside Historical Society Archivlink ( Memento of April 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Waterfall and Weir Information Sign (located near the First Falls weir), courtesy of National Parks and Wildlife SA
- ↑ History of the Burnside CFS, courtesy of Julie Lovett archive link ( August 15, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Welcome to Waterfall Gully Information Sign (located near the First Falls carpark), courtesy of National Parks and Wildlife SA
- ↑ Flash flooding hits Adelaide ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Dumped: 74mm of rain in 24 hours , courtesy News Corporation
- ↑ Media Release: Hundreds of Homes hit by Floods, courtesy SA Country Fire Service
- ^ Plaque dedicated to former Mayor of Burnside (located atop the Langman Reserve lookout), courtesy Burnside Council
- ^ Native vegetation, courtesy Burnside Council archive link ( Memento from January 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ City of Burnside Walking Trails, courtesy Burnside Council archive link ( Memento from July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Waterfall Gully Restaurant Information Sign (located near the Waterfall Gully Restaurant), courtesy of National Parks and Wildlife SA
- ^ State Election 2002 - Polling Booth Results (Burnside, Bragg), courtesy State Electoral Commission Archivlink ( Memento from May 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Federal Election 2004 - Polling Booth Results (Burnside, Sturt), courtesy Australian Electoral Commission
