Blackbird hut, Howqua Track, Alpine Huts Survey 1994 0651
Mansfield First Constable TW Kirby applied for a permissive occupancy on this site in the late 1950s as a fishing shack, close to the Blackbird Creek. He was successful in January 1959{ DCNR file H.026559}. Confusion followed when Ray G Kelly applied for the same site. He stated that he had built the hut there and used it over time to serve his cattle lease: he objected to Kirby using the hut but had no qualms about FCV officers using it for their operations. Archie Cameron, Ray Kelly and Jack Davon grazed the Bluff lease in the 1950s and early 1960s. The hut measured 15x15 feet and was valued at £50. Kelly was successful but as soon as he had taken the permissive occupancy from Kirby, he transferred it to a Box Hill motor engineer, Thomas NW Loaring. Events had followed the prevailing trend of successful Melbourne businessmen or local graziers taking up fishing huts in the Howqua area during the late 1940s early 1950s. Nevertheless, Loaring appears to have been well-known locally { Stoney: 64}. Kelly reputedly came from Glenmaggie to work at Wonnangatta station and then to the Mansfield area where he worked for the Lands Department on the Howqua, salting St. John’s Wort, and trapping dogs and rabbits, presumably to supplement his income as a cattleman. Local cattleman, Jack Ware helped him build the hut { Stoney}. Improvements followed such as the addition of a carport and clothesline, planting of rhododendrons and a maple near the creek and fencing the area- all by 1965 { DCNR file}. Ten years later (1976) the description of the hut was: 15x14 feet with a lean-to verandah, timber frame, ripple iron clad, dirt floor and iron roof. It was `very well constructed and vandal proof'. The carport or shed measured 20x8 feet and had an iron roof{ DCNR file. GL Evans report 1976}. Loaring died in 1975 and the Department recommended cancellation of the lease with removal of the hut, shed and fences, but Loaring's widow applied to continue the lease, achieving transfer in 1977 but only for her lifetime. She died two years later and then her son wished to take up the hut: it was cancelled 1980. The Department arranged for purchase of the improvements for vermin and noxious weeds officer use in 1980. This followed a 1976 department report that the Howqua Valley was infested with many weeds including blackberry, bramble, tutsan, sweet briar, St Johns wort and was extremely popular for Melbourne people: there had been criticism of the lack of weed control. For one thousand dollars, the hut could be given a concrete floor, an 800 gallon water tank, for showers and general water supply could be added, LP gas could be installed for a refrigerator and stove and the shed could be converted into a store and shower wash room{ DCNR file Evans report 1976}. The hut was partially burnt after a kerosene fridge caught fire but has been repaired and refitted in the last 10 years { Purcell, 2004}.
Blackbird hut, Howqua Track, Alpine Huts Survey 1994 0651
Mansfield First Constable TW Kirby applied for a permissive occupancy on this site in the late 1950s as a fishing shack, close to the Blackbird Creek. He was successful in January 1959{ DCNR file H.026559}. Confusion followed when Ray G Kelly applied for the same site. He stated that he had built the hut there and used it over time to serve his cattle lease: he objected to Kirby using the hut but had no qualms about FCV officers using it for their operations. Archie Cameron, Ray Kelly and Jack Davon grazed the Bluff lease in the 1950s and early 1960s. The hut measured 15x15 feet and was valued at £50. Kelly was successful but as soon as he had taken the permissive occupancy from Kirby, he transferred it to a Box Hill motor engineer, Thomas NW Loaring. Events had followed the prevailing trend of successful Melbourne businessmen or local graziers taking up fishing huts in the Howqua area during the late 1940s early 1950s. Nevertheless, Loaring appears to have been well-known locally { Stoney: 64}. Kelly reputedly came from Glenmaggie to work at Wonnangatta station and then to the Mansfield area where he worked for the Lands Department on the Howqua, salting St. John’s Wort, and trapping dogs and rabbits, presumably to supplement his income as a cattleman. Local cattleman, Jack Ware helped him build the hut { Stoney}. Improvements followed such as the addition of a carport and clothesline, planting of rhododendrons and a maple near the creek and fencing the area- all by 1965 { DCNR file}. Ten years later (1976) the description of the hut was: 15x14 feet with a lean-to verandah, timber frame, ripple iron clad, dirt floor and iron roof. It was `very well constructed and vandal proof'. The carport or shed measured 20x8 feet and had an iron roof{ DCNR file. GL Evans report 1976}. Loaring died in 1975 and the Department recommended cancellation of the lease with removal of the hut, shed and fences, but Loaring's widow applied to continue the lease, achieving transfer in 1977 but only for her lifetime. She died two years later and then her son wished to take up the hut: it was cancelled 1980. The Department arranged for purchase of the improvements for vermin and noxious weeds officer use in 1980. This followed a 1976 department report that the Howqua Valley was infested with many weeds including blackberry, bramble, tutsan, sweet briar, St Johns wort and was extremely popular for Melbourne people: there had been criticism of the lack of weed control. For one thousand dollars, the hut could be given a concrete floor, an 800 gallon water tank, for showers and general water supply could be added, LP gas could be installed for a refrigerator and stove and the shed could be converted into a store and shower wash room{ DCNR file Evans report 1976}. The hut was partially burnt after a kerosene fridge caught fire but has been repaired and refitted in the last 10 years { Purcell, 2004}.