Swifts Creek, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Swifts Creek is a rural community located between Omeo
and Ensay
on the Great Alpine Road
in East Gippsland
, Victoria
, Australia
, 379 kilometres (236 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne
. Swifts Creek is at an altitude
of 300 m above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes
of the mid 1800s. At the 2006 census
, Swifts Creek and the surrounding area had a population of 281.
name for the site of Swifts Creek was Bun Jirrah Gingee Munjie, which translates as 'big kangaroo
s go to that place'. True to this name, mobs of large Eastern Grey Kangaroo
s still frequent the town, especially at night when they are often seen feeding by the roadside, and on the local football ground and primary school oval.
The town of Swifts Creek is located at the confluence of Swifts Creek and the Tambo River
. The creek was reputedly named after an otherwise unknown gold prospector named Swift who worked the creek panning for alluvial
gold
in the 1850s. The townsite itself was originally known as "Swifts Creek Junction", as it was at the road junction alongside Swifts Creek. Swift's Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1867 and closed in 1879. Swift's Creek Junction Post Office opened on 1 May 1874 and was renamed Swift's Creek in 1926.
It is often argued that the name should be Swift's Creek, with a possessive apostrophe
, as the creek was named after Swift. In correct English usage this would be accurate; however under the Victorian Government's Geographic Place Names Act 1998 apostrophes are omitted in all place names. This is to avoid confusion and debate on just this issue, and therefore no place names in Victoria are officially spelt with the possessive apostrophe.
In the 1870s McLarty's Junction Hotel was established, and a small town with stores, service facilities, and a butter
factory slowly grew up around the site.
The butter factory was constructed in 1907 and eventually produced 50 tonnes per annum, with the majority being sent for sale in Melbourne. Due to unreliable seasons, the factory eventually closed down in 1946. The building is no longer in existence, however Factory Lane just past the creek at the northern end of town marks its former location.
A flour mill
was also planned, but was instead installed in the nearby town of Ensay
in 1913. These factories were constructed as a result of local demand for flour
, milk
, butter
and cream
. The cost of transporting goods was high as wagons from the nearest large town of Bairnsdale
took a week in good weather to travel the distance (now approximately an hour by car). Around this time, Ian Ezard built the Swifts Creek sawmill
, which provided the stable economy the town needed to move on from its gold mining beginnings. In contrast, the surrounding towns of Cassilis
and Tongio West collapsed, as the area lost its potential for gold mining.
The primary industries today are timber and farming of sheep and cattle. Run by Dormit Industries, the sawmill
specialises in making wood pallets out of low grade local Mountain Ash
timber. It uses an advanced system designed in France which aims at utilising the entire log, and thus making the process economical. Besides this, the major employers in town are now the local branch of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the government primary and secondary schools. There are also a number of small retail outlets and services, including a hotel, general store, gallery, bookshop, cafe, bakery and post office.
The district is also increasing in popularity as a tourist destination. The town offers limited tourist accommodation, including flats associated with the hotel, a caravan park, and cottage style accommodation approximately five kilometres from town heading towards Cassilis
.
Swifts Creek P-12 School was formed from the merger of Swifts Creek Secondary College and Swifts Creek Primary School in 2010. The Tambo Campus is the Omeo region's only Secondary College
, while the Flagstaff Campus is the town's Primary School. The town also has a separate Kindergarten
. The school, in particular the Tambo Campus, caters to students from the surrounding towns of Ensay
, Cassilis
, Omeo
, and Benambra
, as well as Swifts Creek itself. Despite this the school is very small, with a total enrolment of around 130 students in 2011 making it amongst the smallest in the state.
Residents who wish to undertake tertiary education must either do so via distance education
, or move away from the town. Students who finish Year 12 at the school usually move to nearby Bairnsdale
which has limited tertiary education facilities mainly in the TAFE sector, or to Melbourne to attend university. Swifts Creek itself offers very limited further education opportunities via a TAFE Outreach service.
Swifts Creek follows the Australian tradition of a love of sport
. The town's sporting facilities include a recreation reserve consisting of a football
/cricket
oval, netball
courts, four tennis court
s, a lawn bowls
green, changing rooms, and club rooms.
The town also has a half-Olympic-length six-lane outdoor swimming pool located beside the school, and publicly accessible squash
courts located within the grounds of the P-12 school's Tambo Campus. Around two kilometres north of town is the privately owned Tambo Valley Racecourse, where an annual Country Racing Victoria
sanctioned picnic horse racing
carnival is held on Easter
Sunday each year, including the Swifts Creek Cup.
The town's public golf course
, the Tambo Valley Golf Club, is located about thirteen kilometres north of town in the locality of Bindi.
Despite its small population, Swifts Creek boasts a number of successful sporting clubs. The Swifts Creek Demons Australian Rules Football
team has been in existence for over 100 years. They currently compete in the Omeo & District Football League
(ODFL), and have won 25 premierships including several in recent years. The team wears a blue jumper with a red vee, the traditional strip of the Melbourne Football Club AFL
team. The affiliated Swifts Creek Netball
Club also has a long and successful history, and wears a blue top with red skirt. Both football and netball clubs also have junior teams.
The Swifts Creek Tennis Club has competed in the Omeo District Tennis Association (ODTA) since the association's inception in 1955, and has won 28 premierships in that time, by far the most successful club in the competition. The lawn bowling club competes in local competition, the cricket club takes part in regional competitions in irregular seasons, and the golf club is involved in regular tournaments.
Local schools also strongly support the development of youth sport, and regularly compete above their weight in interschool competition in swimming, athletics, and a wide variety of team sports.
Local legend holds that the diving blocks currently in use at the Swifts Creek Pool were those used in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games
. Considerable weight is added to this story by careful comparison between these blocks and historical photos from the Olympics, such as this distant photo of a race showing the blocks front on, and especially this close-up photo of block four at a similar angle to that shown here (both historical photos are from the National Library of Australia
collection).
It can be seen from the photos that the blocks in Swifts Creek are identical in size and structure to those used at the Melbourne Olympics, and would only have had to be repainted to account for the different colouration and style of the block numbers. Furthermore, the legend states that one of the missing blocks was given to Australian swimming icon Dawn Fraser
as a souvenir of her success at the Games (there were eight blocks for the Olympics, but only six survive in Swifts Creek now). If this legend is correct, then Swifts Creek has an important piece of Australian sporting history in everyday use, but largely unknown to most of the population.
Omeo, Victoria
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2006 census, Omeo had a population of 452. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'...
and Ensay
Ensay, Victoria
Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ensay is north of the major town of Bairnsdale and east of the state capital Melbourne...
on the Great Alpine Road
Great Alpine Road
The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps...
in East Gippsland
East Gippsland
East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114....
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 379 kilometres (236 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Swifts Creek is at an altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
of 300 m above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
of the mid 1800s. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Swifts Creek and the surrounding area had a population of 281.
History
The AboriginalIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
name for the site of Swifts Creek was Bun Jirrah Gingee Munjie, which translates as 'big kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s go to that place'. True to this name, mobs of large Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Forester Kangaroo...
s still frequent the town, especially at night when they are often seen feeding by the roadside, and on the local football ground and primary school oval.
Tambo River (Victoria)
The Tambo River is a river in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia with a total length in excess of 170 km. It is the longest river in the Tambo and Nicholson Basin, extending from the steep forested southern slopes of the Australian Alps through forest and farmland to the Gippsland...
. The creek was reputedly named after an otherwise unknown gold prospector named Swift who worked the creek panning for alluvial
Placer deposit
In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name is from the Spanish word placer, meaning "alluvial sand". Placer mining is an important source of gold, and was the main technique used in the early...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
in the 1850s. The townsite itself was originally known as "Swifts Creek Junction", as it was at the road junction alongside Swifts Creek. Swift's Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1867 and closed in 1879. Swift's Creek Junction Post Office opened on 1 May 1874 and was renamed Swift's Creek in 1926.
It is often argued that the name should be Swift's Creek, with a possessive apostrophe
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
, as the creek was named after Swift. In correct English usage this would be accurate; however under the Victorian Government's Geographic Place Names Act 1998 apostrophes are omitted in all place names. This is to avoid confusion and debate on just this issue, and therefore no place names in Victoria are officially spelt with the possessive apostrophe.
In the 1870s McLarty's Junction Hotel was established, and a small town with stores, service facilities, and a butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
factory slowly grew up around the site.
The butter factory was constructed in 1907 and eventually produced 50 tonnes per annum, with the majority being sent for sale in Melbourne. Due to unreliable seasons, the factory eventually closed down in 1946. The building is no longer in existence, however Factory Lane just past the creek at the northern end of town marks its former location.
A flour mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
was also planned, but was instead installed in the nearby town of Ensay
Ensay, Victoria
Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ensay is north of the major town of Bairnsdale and east of the state capital Melbourne...
in 1913. These factories were constructed as a result of local demand for flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
and cream
Cream
Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
. The cost of transporting goods was high as wagons from the nearest large town of Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale, Victoria
Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....
took a week in good weather to travel the distance (now approximately an hour by car). Around this time, Ian Ezard built the Swifts Creek sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, which provided the stable economy the town needed to move on from its gold mining beginnings. In contrast, the surrounding towns of Cassilis
Cassilis, Victoria
Cassilis is a ghost town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It was named after a district and castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. In the late 19th century, at the peak of the gold boom, it was a thriving mining centre and home to more than 500 people.-History:...
and Tongio West collapsed, as the area lost its potential for gold mining.
Industry
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
specialises in making wood pallets out of low grade local Mountain Ash
Eucalyptus regnans
Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria...
timber. It uses an advanced system designed in France which aims at utilising the entire log, and thus making the process economical. Besides this, the major employers in town are now the local branch of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the government primary and secondary schools. There are also a number of small retail outlets and services, including a hotel, general store, gallery, bookshop, cafe, bakery and post office.
The district is also increasing in popularity as a tourist destination. The town offers limited tourist accommodation, including flats associated with the hotel, a caravan park, and cottage style accommodation approximately five kilometres from town heading towards Cassilis
Cassilis, Victoria
Cassilis is a ghost town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It was named after a district and castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. In the late 19th century, at the peak of the gold boom, it was a thriving mining centre and home to more than 500 people.-History:...
.
Education
Secondary college
Secondary college is the common name for government secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. The term arose through the mergers of high schools and technical schools in the late 1980s and mid-1990s, where most government secondary schools were renamed "secondary college"...
, while the Flagstaff Campus is the town's Primary School. The town also has a separate Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
. The school, in particular the Tambo Campus, caters to students from the surrounding towns of Ensay
Ensay, Victoria
Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ensay is north of the major town of Bairnsdale and east of the state capital Melbourne...
, Cassilis
Cassilis, Victoria
Cassilis is a ghost town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It was named after a district and castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. In the late 19th century, at the peak of the gold boom, it was a thriving mining centre and home to more than 500 people.-History:...
, Omeo
Omeo, Victoria
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2006 census, Omeo had a population of 452. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'...
, and Benambra
Benambra, Victoria
Benambra is a small town located 28 kilometres north-east of Omeo and 430 kilometres east of the state capital Melbourne, in the Australian Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Other nearby towns include Swifts Creek, Ensay, and the major town of Bairnsdale...
, as well as Swifts Creek itself. Despite this the school is very small, with a total enrolment of around 130 students in 2011 making it amongst the smallest in the state.
Residents who wish to undertake tertiary education must either do so via distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
, or move away from the town. Students who finish Year 12 at the school usually move to nearby Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale, Victoria
Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....
which has limited tertiary education facilities mainly in the TAFE sector, or to Melbourne to attend university. Swifts Creek itself offers very limited further education opportunities via a TAFE Outreach service.
Facilities
Sport in Australia
Australia has a long sporting history dating back to the mid 1800s. By the 1920s, a number of sports were being played by both men and women, including cricket, badminton, judo, swimming, tennis, netball, lacrosse, golf, hockey and various codes of football....
. The town's sporting facilities include a recreation reserve consisting of a football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
/cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
oval, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
courts, four tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s, a lawn bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
green, changing rooms, and club rooms.
The town also has a half-Olympic-length six-lane outdoor swimming pool located beside the school, and publicly accessible squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
courts located within the grounds of the P-12 school's Tambo Campus. Around two kilometres north of town is the privately owned Tambo Valley Racecourse, where an annual Country Racing Victoria
Racing Victoria Limited
Racing Victoria Limited, as the governing Principal Racing Authority, has responsibilities to develop, encourage, promote and manage the conduct of Thoroughbred horseracing in the State of Victoria, Australia...
sanctioned picnic horse racing
Picnic horse racing
Picnic horse racing, or more usually picnic races or more colloquially "the picnics" refer to amateur Thoroughbred horse racing meetings, predominantly in Australia. The meetings are organized by amateur clubs, the jockeys are amateur riders, or sometimes former professional jockeys...
carnival is held on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Sunday each year, including the Swifts Creek Cup.
The town's public golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, the Tambo Valley Golf Club, is located about thirteen kilometres north of town in the locality of Bindi.
Clubs
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
team has been in existence for over 100 years. They currently compete in the Omeo & District Football League
Omeo & District Football League
The Omeo and District Football League is an Australian Rules Football League based out of the Tambo Valley region of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The ODFL has existed in some form since 1893, and operates under the auspices of the Victorian Country Football League...
(ODFL), and have won 25 premierships including several in recent years. The team wears a blue jumper with a red vee, the traditional strip of the Melbourne Football Club AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
team. The affiliated Swifts Creek Netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
Club also has a long and successful history, and wears a blue top with red skirt. Both football and netball clubs also have junior teams.
The Swifts Creek Tennis Club has competed in the Omeo District Tennis Association (ODTA) since the association's inception in 1955, and has won 28 premierships in that time, by far the most successful club in the competition. The lawn bowling club competes in local competition, the cricket club takes part in regional competitions in irregular seasons, and the golf club is involved in regular tournaments.
Local schools also strongly support the development of youth sport, and regularly compete above their weight in interschool competition in swimming, athletics, and a wide variety of team sports.
Legendary diving blocks
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
. Considerable weight is added to this story by careful comparison between these blocks and historical photos from the Olympics, such as this distant photo of a race showing the blocks front on, and especially this close-up photo of block four at a similar angle to that shown here (both historical photos are from the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
collection).
It can be seen from the photos that the blocks in Swifts Creek are identical in size and structure to those used at the Melbourne Olympics, and would only have had to be repainted to account for the different colouration and style of the block numbers. Furthermore, the legend states that one of the missing blocks was given to Australian swimming icon Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser AO, MBE is an Australian champion swimmer. She is one of only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event three times – in her case the 100 meters freestyle....
as a souvenir of her success at the Games (there were eight blocks for the Olympics, but only six survive in Swifts Creek now). If this legend is correct, then Swifts Creek has an important piece of Australian sporting history in everyday use, but largely unknown to most of the population.
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