Ritchie's Hut, Howqua- Alpine huts 1994, sheet 04 0093
Victorian Alpine Huts survey, for Parks Victoria April, May 1994.
Geoffrey Ritchie and his wife Antoinette (nee Aitken) moved from the Pt Fairy area to the Delatite Station near Mansfield in 1902, as one of five partners{ Stoney: 55; Carroll}. Ritchie and Arthur Phillips purchased the Wonnangatta property in 1914, employing James Barclay as the manager and still holding a share of the Delatite property{ ibid.}. They fattened cattle at Wonnangatta and drove them to market via the Howqua Valley. The Barclay murder of 1918 and a fall in cattle prices in the 1920s, forced them to sell{ ibid. ; Cabena: 169 notes Geoffrey Ritchie as holding Grazing Run F2 1914-1919 see Fig.3.5}. Geoffrey's son Robert, aided by Fred Fry, built this hut as a `fishing hut' at the Fourteen Mile Creek's junction with the Howqua River{ ibid.}. RG Ritchie wrote to the Forests Commission in August 1947 seeking permission to build a hut at the 14 Mile Creek junction with the Howqua, half way between the 8 Mile and Bindaree huts{ DCNR File 67/4511 9/2201}. Ritchie undertook to lock the hut and leave the key with the local forest officers for use in carrying out their duties. The hut was to be built of slabs and the chimney and fireplace of stone and or iron and the roof clad with corrugated iron. `My reason for building the hut is for the purpose of fishing'. Local forester, JC Wescott, recommended granting the permit given that Ritchie was a shire councillor, and a `very responsible and respected person in the district'. He and his friends in Mansfield desired a hut to live in during their fishing trips and as the hut was half way between existing huts on the patrol track along the Howqua it would also be useful to the Commission. The site was `fairly open' meaning that few trees would be felled in the process. Ritchie had provided a rough plan of the hut, showing a room 22 by 14 feet with a 2'6" by 6 feet fireplace recess at one end a table in the centre (5'x2'6") and 4 bunks at the other end, each 6'6" by 2'9". The two window openings shown would be shuttered. Approval was granted in October, allowing a quarter acre site beside the patrol track but noting that the occupancy could be revoked at any time, that all fire precautions were to be observed and that the key was to be left with the officer. Another fishing hut was built nearby some ten years later for D&J or Roy Bostock on the opposite side of the river at the Six Mile Creek junction, c1958{ HO2609}. Others followed. The hut was pictured in 1985, much as it is now but for the verandah which has been replaced since in a similar form{ Siseman (1985): 104}. There was also a 44 gallon drum positioned over the west end of the verandah, presumably holding water pumped from the river. The hut was refurbished in 1988 by unemployed youth from Wallangarra, under the supervision of founder, Ian Stapleton, who noted in 1993 that the hut had been looked after since by the public. Stapleton was keen to formalise his group's involvement with the ongoing maintenance of the hut, suggesting two work parties per year to take out rubbish{ DCNR file 09/93/78 no reply on file to Stapleton's letter}. DCNR ranger, David Hurley commented that Stapleton's work on the hut had been very good but that although the North East Trail Riding Club and Chris Stoney's riding groups had removed rubbish, it was still a problem. Mansfield DCNR Shane O'Brien noted in 1994 that the hut was regularly used by walkers, horsemen, fishermen and Timbertop students. It was in excellent condition. In the same year, the hut's owner, Robert Ritchie annotated his payment of rent arrears as follows: `..always wished to maintain link with the hut which is part of my past. I helped my father and Fred Fry build it in happier times..'. This hut was used in the recent (c1996) Working Dog television documentary: `Meanwhile Rob (Sitch) and Tom (Gleisner) were busy completing a six part comedy-travel series "A River Somewhere", shot on film in various locations around the world. Numerous overseas sales followed including a first for the team-a sale to the BBC. '
Ritchie's Hut, Howqua- Alpine huts 1994, sheet 04 0093
Victorian Alpine Huts survey, for Parks Victoria April, May 1994.
Geoffrey Ritchie and his wife Antoinette (nee Aitken) moved from the Pt Fairy area to the Delatite Station near Mansfield in 1902, as one of five partners{ Stoney: 55; Carroll}. Ritchie and Arthur Phillips purchased the Wonnangatta property in 1914, employing James Barclay as the manager and still holding a share of the Delatite property{ ibid.}. They fattened cattle at Wonnangatta and drove them to market via the Howqua Valley. The Barclay murder of 1918 and a fall in cattle prices in the 1920s, forced them to sell{ ibid. ; Cabena: 169 notes Geoffrey Ritchie as holding Grazing Run F2 1914-1919 see Fig.3.5}. Geoffrey's son Robert, aided by Fred Fry, built this hut as a `fishing hut' at the Fourteen Mile Creek's junction with the Howqua River{ ibid.}. RG Ritchie wrote to the Forests Commission in August 1947 seeking permission to build a hut at the 14 Mile Creek junction with the Howqua, half way between the 8 Mile and Bindaree huts{ DCNR File 67/4511 9/2201}. Ritchie undertook to lock the hut and leave the key with the local forest officers for use in carrying out their duties. The hut was to be built of slabs and the chimney and fireplace of stone and or iron and the roof clad with corrugated iron. `My reason for building the hut is for the purpose of fishing'. Local forester, JC Wescott, recommended granting the permit given that Ritchie was a shire councillor, and a `very responsible and respected person in the district'. He and his friends in Mansfield desired a hut to live in during their fishing trips and as the hut was half way between existing huts on the patrol track along the Howqua it would also be useful to the Commission. The site was `fairly open' meaning that few trees would be felled in the process. Ritchie had provided a rough plan of the hut, showing a room 22 by 14 feet with a 2'6" by 6 feet fireplace recess at one end a table in the centre (5'x2'6") and 4 bunks at the other end, each 6'6" by 2'9". The two window openings shown would be shuttered. Approval was granted in October, allowing a quarter acre site beside the patrol track but noting that the occupancy could be revoked at any time, that all fire precautions were to be observed and that the key was to be left with the officer. Another fishing hut was built nearby some ten years later for D&J or Roy Bostock on the opposite side of the river at the Six Mile Creek junction, c1958{ HO2609}. Others followed. The hut was pictured in 1985, much as it is now but for the verandah which has been replaced since in a similar form{ Siseman (1985): 104}. There was also a 44 gallon drum positioned over the west end of the verandah, presumably holding water pumped from the river. The hut was refurbished in 1988 by unemployed youth from Wallangarra, under the supervision of founder, Ian Stapleton, who noted in 1993 that the hut had been looked after since by the public. Stapleton was keen to formalise his group's involvement with the ongoing maintenance of the hut, suggesting two work parties per year to take out rubbish{ DCNR file 09/93/78 no reply on file to Stapleton's letter}. DCNR ranger, David Hurley commented that Stapleton's work on the hut had been very good but that although the North East Trail Riding Club and Chris Stoney's riding groups had removed rubbish, it was still a problem. Mansfield DCNR Shane O'Brien noted in 1994 that the hut was regularly used by walkers, horsemen, fishermen and Timbertop students. It was in excellent condition. In the same year, the hut's owner, Robert Ritchie annotated his payment of rent arrears as follows: `..always wished to maintain link with the hut which is part of my past. I helped my father and Fred Fry build it in happier times..'. This hut was used in the recent (c1996) Working Dog television documentary: `Meanwhile Rob (Sitch) and Tom (Gleisner) were busy completing a six part comedy-travel series "A River Somewhere", shot on film in various locations around the world. Numerous overseas sales followed including a first for the team-a sale to the BBC. '