A newly constructed replica mine head, or poppet head, is now one of the main attractions at Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins Outdoor Mining Museum. Photo: Snowy Valleys Council.
When gold was discovered at Adelong, the race to reach deeper into the rich veins took a mechanical turn and now visitors to the town’s historic goldfields can see how that panned out.
Yes, pans definitely were among the implements of choice for those miners who arrived in the small Snowy Valleys town populating alluvial diggings before William “Gold Dust” Williams in 1857 found reef gold lurking beneath Mount Charcoal.
That find would lead to a rush that would last some 57 years, crisscrossing Adelong Creek and the hillsides, yielding some 25 tonnes of reef and alluvial gold, worth more than $300 million by today’s standards.
Adelong’s population during the boom times was around 5000, with many prospectors coming and going in search of the elusive ore that lay above and hundreds of feet under the ground.
Now visitors can see for themselves how life for miners was back then, even more so with the addition of a large looming replica of a mine head, commonly known as a poppet head, to the local attractions.
Historically a poppet head structure formed the framework over the top of a mining shaft as a support for a winding mechanism that allowed miners to access the mine below and retrieve the gold-bearing ore.
Sitting loud and large at the entrance to the Adelong Falls reserve, the newly constructed six-metre feature acts as a bookend to the popular Adelong Falls Walk, which links the town to the state heritage-listed industrial site, Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins Outdoor Mining Museum – a remarkably well-preserved collection of stone ruins, remnants of 18th-century ore-crushing mills.
The poppet head is now one of two significant industrial sculptures honouring Adelong’s gold mining history, the other being a full-size 10-plate stamper battery replica donated and built by Geoff Moss of Adelong Engineering. The replica is in the village carpark at the start of the falls walk.
What began as a generous donation of two impressive windlass or winding wheels by an Adelong landowner with a keen interest in gold mining history, the late Bob Hughes, provided the impetus and opportunity to construct the poppet head.
Mr Hughes’ father worked in mines in Kiandra as well as the Gibraltar complex, downstream from the Adelong Falls, and the donated winding wheels were last used at one of the mine heads at the Gibraltar operation.
Thanks largely to the efforts and vision of the Adelong Falls Committee and the Adelong Alive Museum, a grant from the NSW Heritage Community Grants Program and $15,000 in funding and support from Snowy Valleys Council, a replica poppet head is now a reality.
However, the project would not have been made possible without the construction mastery of two local firms.
Using the historic wheels, the steel mine head, commonly known as a poppet head, was crafted by Craig Anderson of Shutte & Kennard Engineers in Wagga Wagga and constructed by Scandinavian Forestry & Engineering in Tumut.
Both firms have been credited as significant contributors to the Adelong Falls Reserve infrastructure in recent years.
A dewatering pump, another donation by Mr Hughes, is also on display at the site.
The Adelong Alive Museum is located at 86 Tumut Street, Adelong.
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