A visit to Mayday Hills Asylum at Beechworth, Victoria

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I had a recent visit to Beechworth and to the Mayday Hills Asylum during a holiday and was able to take some photos and connect up with an historian connected with the local Burke Museum. The Asylum started its life in the mid 1800’s and the architecture shows this clearly compared with Willow Court’s Barracks building. The locals are very pleased that the recent sale of the property went to two local business men and access to the historic site and magnificent gardens is open and encouraged to locals and visitors alike.

A lot of buildings on the site have been reused while the original buildings sit in disrepair. A local group run ghost tours through the buildings and one historic tour on a Saturday. It is clear that any money made isn’t being returned into the site. From photos posted on their website only small groups of 6 to 10 maintain the interest during the evening tour and about the same for the single weekly historic tour.

The gardens are beautifully designed by Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller who also designed the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and was the Victorian appointed Botanist. There is a structured, self-guided tour just of the gardens which is worth the effort even in the rain when I visited.

The Nurses quarters have been re-purposed to accommodation and conference space and one of the larger buildings near the entrance has become the new Municipal Administration Office.

There is a book about the history of Mayday Hills Asylum which was written by the last CEO of the site and is now out of print. “The Lion of Beechworth” by Doug Craig will be reprinted soon as the author has given the rights over to the Burke Museum and the Board of the Museum are planning to keep the history alive through a second edition.

Click the picture to go to the gallery of photos. Click here for more information on Mayday Hills

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New book being written.

I read about an ex patient who is starting the journey of recording the stories of those fellow patients who saw life from a different angle than those who cared for them. Dannii Lane was one such patient who spent some time at Royal Derwent Hospital and  she has called for personal stories from fellow patients. Meanwhile the history post the ‘Troubled Asylum” book is also being composed by an ex-staff member who has been researching the life of the institution over the last few years. No dates have been expressed by either writers, however Dannii expects that this project will take 3-4 years.

This was the call for the stories in the latest Flourish Autumn Newsletter:

After much thought I have decided to write a book about the former Royal Derwent (Psychiatric) Hospital, including when it was known as Lachlan Park, so I’m looking to write about the period 1950 – 2000.
Importantly, I would like the book to be from the perspective of patients who were there during the period in question. It will be their story about their experiences, both good and bad.
To that end, should anyone wish to share their stories and experiences as a patient at the Royal Derwent, in-cluding Willow Court and Millbrook Rise, I would love to hear from you.
The format is not yet decided, but I’m considering the inclusion of photographs, drawings, and poetry, with people’s experiences in the form of short stories. Like any project of this nature, it takes longer to do the re-search than to write up, so I am expecting a timeframe of 3-4 years. It would be nice to see the book published on or just before the 20th anniversary of the closure of the Royal Derwent……I believe it is time for another view to be revealed, and who better to tell the story than the patients themselves.

If you would like to share your story, anonymously if you prefer, my contact details are:

Dannii Lane
Email: antigone_adelphos@yahoo.com.au
Mobile: 0407 943 87
Dannii Lane

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ANZAC DAY

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Today we honor the people who served in all Australian Military conflicts and peace keeping missions. We pay special attention to those people who came back home and needed the services of the Hospital.  We thank the previous hospital staff, some who fought, served, nursed and looked after the injuries of the wounded. We also recognise those that returned and joined the staff at the Hospital. Lest We Forget.

Lance Corporal M Krause 631833

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A sweet story to lead off into Easter

Guess who is very talented? Nadia Lobb who is a volunteer on the Friends of Willow Court Committee brought along a sweet treat to last night’s meeting.

No ordinary slice, each one was hand painted with an image of Willow Court’s Barracks Building and just as a bonus they taste yummy! There isn’t any doubt about the passion and talent that is in the Committee.

Happy Easter everyone, stay safe and thank you for your support for Willow Court. I wish I could give you all one of these.

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Willow Court Fence

mms_img-1648682558_20150324T113237-991 mms_img-906583095_20150324T113238-003The start of the Willow Court Front Fence panels are being assembled outside the Barracks. This is an interesting design with lots of metal and bent top and bottom rails, there are also some metal spikes to go on top. This is going to be interesting to see the finished product and it is best to see it in it’s entirety as this will make a statement when anyone arrives at the site.

The fabrication of this fence, the new gates and the ramps for access to Bronte have held up the finishing date by some months. The remaining grounds will then be landscaped and hopefully the front of the Barracks greened up (again) and the site will be ready to hand over to the Derwent Valley Council.

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Willow Court For Sale or Lease

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The Derwent Valley Council are about to discuss and ratify an expression of interest for the sale or lease of the Willow Court Heritage Precinct.

On Thursday the 26th of February I attended a public workshop with the Derwent Valley Council. This workshop didn’t have an agenda, but I assumed rightly so that it was about the future of Willow Court. From the public gallery where I sat the Councillors were to my right, Cr. Damian Bester who has been a long-time supporter of Willow Court and was elected after a few years of non-action at the site and after a public meeting he stood for Council, next to him was Cr. Lathey who at one stage voiced that he was on the Council in 2000 when the site was disposed of by the State Government. Alongside Barry Lathey are two of the newly elected Councillor’s, Frank Pearce and Paul Belcher. In the middle was the Mayor, Martyn Evans and to my left were the remaining Councillors Ben Shaw, Julie Triffett and James Graham.

We waited for any members of the public to come in and ask any questions of their elected Leaders during an open section of the Council meeting, but no-one took that opportunity. Later a representative, from the Friends of Frascatti sat in the back row behind me, next to the only other interested group representative, Aiden Sullivan from the Paranormal Investigation Unit.

The Mayor opened the session up with thoughts of the Councillors, one after the other they expressed their collective view of the future of Willow Court. There had clearly been much thought that had gone into what was being presented. We all listened as Barry Lathey started with his history from 2000, the “transaction good and bad” and we had “used up all the money for the site” and his disappointment of where we are at now. Damian Bester was “frustrated by the delay” with the now estimated new handover time of April\May 2015. Paul Belcher called it an “absolute eye sore” but it was Frank Peace who started to alert the Friends Committees to the Council’s direction when he stated that it would be opened up for “international expressions of interest”. This became a clear and a repeated theme as each Councillor expressed where they were at. It was the Council’s general opinion that all State and Federal funding resources had been totally exhausted and that the Port Arthur Authority are not interested in taking on the site.

Cr. James Graham had the idea of raising the collective rates by 8% and the Mayor quickly calculated the return, while a good idea it would be a brave Council that lifts the rates during a time of hardship and high unemployment, it would be what Sir Humphrey Applebee (Yes Prime Minister BBC Television) would call a “courageous decision”. It has shown that this Council had exhausted all ideas and funding options except for a generous donor who would have big pockets. At least $10 million dollars is needed to finish the conservation work to the desired standard as described in the conservation plan. The donor would then be able to run the site as a fully conserved tourist attraction.

The Mayor then opened up the floor to comments from the interested parties and there were a number of questions and responses. The APIU want a full plan to operate the site and this will be ready in 5 month, the Friends of Willow Court also will have a plan nearing completion soon to also operate the site. The Councillors all agreed that this was an unsafe site and that only a small number of rooms have had work and the remaining site is in a poor condition.

We all left subdued and somewhat reluctant to except the future plans that the DVC had expressed but not before asking what time frame this would take? The response would be at least 12 month to present the option before the council meeting in March and get together a proposal\synopsis funding document and advertise internationally. One more question was asked and that was, what happens if there isn’t any worthwhile replies? The Council then would offer the site back to the State Government.

I have had time to mull over the conversations and the position that was put to us and I now present my own response: I have visited the Port Arthur site and the Cascades Female Factory in preparation for the Friends of Willow Court to display the Willow Court site. I have been put through Thematic training so we present a professional tour and experience as good as any other site in Tasmania. Personally I have visited world heritage sites around the world and taken tours at as many as I could to gain a bigger international picture of where Willow Court sits in an international market. I have attended meetings of the Council’s own Committee, charged with the responsibility to create, run and market events at Willow Court. I am disappointed that an expression of interest is even being considered and disappointed that all I saw from the Derwent Valley Council was a joint “throwing up of arms” in frustration.

The Mayor told the gathered people how  Associate Professor Heather Burke had opened his eyes to the potential of the site in the subject of archaeology as Flinders University plan on using the site for the next 10-20 years. During the visits, supported by the Derwent Valley Council to study and see Port Arthur and the Cascades Female Factory I have a full realisation that Willow Court has an outstanding Tourist potential. Port Arthur lacks a building that has been preserved to the standard that Willow Court has and the Cascades Female Factory has an open yard which doesn’t even have any building structure contained within it’s boundary walls and yet both of these wonderful places have a wonderful thematic interpretation that, like Heather Burke’s comment should open the eyes of the Councillors to the real opportunity. If one was to become a cynic this early into the four year election cycle you could be forgiven for believing that to get re-elected the Councillors will need to get rid of the “elephant in the room”, that being Willow Court and yet I also understand their frustration of Governments that choose not to keep Australia’s heritage assets, physically and socially, in the condition they deserve.

At a recent meeting with the Friends of Willow Court the Mayor and Friends of Willow Court Council Representative Frank Peace met with the Committee and explained the proposal. During this time one of the Committee asked what ethical/social basis would be maintained as a community standard for any owner or lease holder. The answer was this was completely open. One could assume that there may not be any standard to comply with at all and any social memory or important architecture design may not be maintained . Another question was about the sitting tenant, being the “nearly ready to move in, Community House”. What provision had the council made for having a sitting tenant? Again there appear to be no answer to this.

My belief is that the Community needs to stand up and state it’s beliefs and purposed intentions and expectations of the Heritage site and task the Derwent Valley Council with that agenda as they have already done so in the past. The expression of interest process is believed to take another 12 months, which could mean that the site sits idle for another 12 months waiting for future vandalism. This is still a “Troubled Asylum”. The only thing we know is that there won’t be a KFC in the Barracks! Click here to read the DVC’s March Agenda Item.

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A glimpse inside K2

I was honored to have a tour around K2 Ward last week and see what it was like. This is an interest state when there is someone to look after the place and the Masonic Lodge have done a great job. You can still tell from the well kept interior that this once was part of a grand old building. The remain K1 and the central tower were demolished in the early 1960s. The replacement, which is built onto the side of what remains of K2 is of no architectural significance. It is occupied by the New Norfolk Lions Club. K2 was filled with lathes and other machinery when it was purchased by the Masonic Lodge. The first picture below was taken in 1964 when the tower was being demolished, the second is the wonderful gardens around the building taken from the Patchwork Cafe. The building has been offered for a Willow Court display for heritage week which is being arranged for May 2015. The internal building has been kept is wonderful condition by the Masonic Lodge people who have spent in excess of $100 thousand dollars. The Lodge will also consider an “open day” for members of the public to have a look through this wonderful building, for some, this is a rare opportunity. The Heritage week display will be done in partnership with The New Norfolk RSL, Masonic Lodge and the Friends of Willow Court. The theme if the display will be “Conflict and Compassion” and will look at the interweaving of the institution and war and it’s personal consequences. We will have more news as this display and another event starts to take shape.

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Who is looking after this grass?

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Remember this lush green grass and the place starting to look great? Well have a look now.

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We need a working bee on the site to mow and water the grass, spray the weeds, trim the tree before it’s to late!

Lets not loose what progress has happened on the site.

In other news the site has a newish opening date, again it is a couple of months later than the last time given. Why you may ask. The was some painting onsite today and the pre-fabricated ramps and gates are still being completed before delivery and installation.

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Updated Artifacts catalogue

The Archaeology Students from Flinders University have been busy updating and expanding the artifact list from the remaining artifacts. Some cross referencing is occurring with older catalogues and hopefully we will have a definitive list. The students are going through the recorded data and will present the work back as a finished catalogue as part of their assessment requirements in approximately a months time. Here are some of the pictures of the students laboriously sorting through and recording each item last week. One of the earlier lists was called the 1996 Inventory of Historical Items and there are some remaining items on that list that are recorded in the 2014 list. It is hoped that the artifacts can be used to tell the story and the history and serve as a tactile reminder of our past. Item are still being donated back to the hospital which will be included and recorded. Many items are still out in the community and each time this is discussed we are seeing more memorabilia appearing. Some of this was purchased at the large garage sales when Willow Court closed and there are many stories of items being taken in the last days and months of the institution’s life. I was believed that there were two oil painting of some considerable size and value that once were the property of the hospital. It is hoped that some of that held in private hands will somehow make its way back to Willow Court and will be managed by the Derwent Valley Council.

 

 

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