STAWELL now has a unique and indelible account of its mining history, following the launch of 'The Gold Mines of Stawell - A Pictorial History' by Greg Cameron.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
About 80 people including representatives from Stawell Gold Mines and Northern Grampians Shire Mayor, Cr Kevin Erwin attended the launch in Stawell.
Mr Cameron told the gathering he first floated the idea with then president of the Stawell Historical Society, Gary Withers in October 2010.
"I looked at the previously published books on Stawell, and while these were excellent books on the general history of the town, there were no books especially devoted to gold mining," he said.
"So I decided to publish a book on the subject," he said.
Mr Cameron said other mining towns had books devoted to the subject and in some cases they even had illustrated books on their towns.
"When considering all the gold mining activities that have taken place in the Stawell district over the last 161 years, I felt that Stawell should have its own book to illustrate these mining activities."
Mr Cameron said initially he didn't think he had the education to complete a project as big as producing a book, but Mr Withers instilled him, the confidence to do it.
"I thought it would be fantastic if I could accomplish this, so I decided yes I can do this - with some help from Historical Society members," he said.
"One problem that I faced was that if I had stuck to the original concept the pages would have all been in black and white.
"This is now considered boring by the younger teenagers of today. So to try and get the younger generation interested it was decided that there would have to be colour photos in the way of art works, plus some colour photos from SGM."
Mr Cameron enlisted the help of Stawell artist Ian Holwell who has recreated various images through paintings to try and appeal to potential readers of all ages.
The Gold Mines of Stawell - A Pictorial History details a history of gold mining in the Stawell and Deep Lead areas from its beginnings in 1853 to 1939.
It also has a chapter on historic underground workings found by SGM. The book has 266 pages, 327 photos (many of which have never been seen before), art works and maps.
Mr Cameron said he spent countless hours mapping the location of mines.
"The goldfields maps available were not a very good indication of all the mining works and had missing information and inaccuracies," he said.
"This meant starting from scratch, walking around the bush in hot and cold conditions, plotting mine positions down onto paper.
"While I was doing this mapping exercise I found mines and goldfields that I did not know existed."
Mr Cameron said as a result of the extensive research the book can lay claim to being the most comprehensive map on the Stawell and Deep Lead goldfields.
"Had someone said to me 10 years ago - would you write a book? I would have said no way in the world would I write a book," he said.
"Yet here I am 10 years later, with a book researched and written by myself. Just goes to show what a bit of support and encouragement can do."
Mr Cameron thanked many people including Messrs Withers and Holwell, as well as SGM, Jim Melbourne, Stawell Historical Society, June Radford, Rob Stewart, Peter and Gary Walker and Philip Phelan.
Copies of the book are on sale at $30 per book from the Stawell Historical Society (Pleasant Creek Court House), 46 Longfield Street, Stawell.
The Stawell Historical Society is open Tuesdays to Thursdays between 10am - 5pm. Alternatively you can phone Greg Cameron on 5358 3034 at nights or weekends.