Rover Scout Chalet, Alpine Huts 1994-5 sheet 17 2
Victorian Alpine Huts survey, for Parks Victoria 1994-5.
Head Quarters Scout Commissioner, WF Waters, wrote to the Lands Department on behalf of the Rover Scouts, applying for a hut site in 1940{ T 101196 letter 29.2.40}. He noted that he had been inspired to write by RW Wilkinson who had met with the Minister and Under Secretary for Lands on the subject `some time prior to his death'. The site was to be on the north bank of the Middle Creek, about 600m north east from Cope Hut but south of the SEC survey hut{ ibid.}. The hut was to be two storey, 41'x16' (12.5x4.9m), with two main rooms on the ground level and one on the upper. The ground level outer room was to have a stove, running water and sanitary facilities and be available for refuge while the inner room was to be locked. The hut was intended as a centre for skiing and hiking among the Rover Scouts (aged 16-25). The money to build it had been raised by scouts from across the State and from South Australia. Many of these scouts were then serving in the Second War and Waters was `..particularly keen to have a hut of this type erected so that when the grim days of war have passed they will be able to return and enjoy their outdoor Rovering amid the delightful surroundings of the Bogong High Plains'{ ibid.}. He noted that this was also part of a Hut Service Section program initiated by Galbraith (Forests Commission) where disused forestry huts had been turned over to the scouts for their use{ ibid.}. Many of these had been burnt in the 1939 fires and there was now a shortage of remote accommodation. The materials were packed to the site by the Fitzgeralds from Shannonvale along the same track they had established to supply the SEC cottage. The chalet was claimed to have been completed Autumn 1939 and used that winter{ `Voice of the Mountains' #8, 1983-4: 25}. However this date does not align with other official sources. A photograph of the apparently still to be completed hut taken Christmas 1940 shows a completely different structure to that of today{ L Bilney, Xmas 1940, copy held at chalet}. It was gabled, one and two-storey, clad with weatherboards (horizontal), had many vertical format windows (some casement timber-framed), and a corrugated iron roof. The main chimney (masonry?) was at one end (north?) and may coincide with today's fireplace which divides the kitchen/dining room in the basement. At the southern end was a skillion room, clad with corrugated iron (refuge?) and attached to the single-storey gabled section. Snow gums then grew close to the chalet. The chalet's construction in 1940 followed a boom in walking on the High Plains made easier by the new access tracks created by the SEC to supply the SEC Hotham Heights cottage. The Rover Scouts were among the largest of the walking groups which used the High Plains. The original chalet was also the base of important scientific research in years to come{ Gillbank: 224}. The sometimes controversial work of Maisie Fawcett on the Bogong High Plains during the 1940s when she stayed at the Rover Scout Chalet or with the Trimbles at the adjacent SEC survey cottage{ ibid.}. During this time she assisted the recently formed Soil Conservation Board whose activities directly impacted on high plains grazing and caused many negative reactions from graziers both to Fawcett and the SCB. The requirements of the SEC's Kiewa Scheme catchment was another facet of the problem which made this part of the High Plains strategically important for policy formulation on erosion and high country grazing. Hence the creation in 1944-5 of Fawcett's much publicised 19 acre fenced experimental plot on the edge of the Rocky Valley catchment{ ibid.}. She was assisted by three young graduates referred to her by Professor Turner, Gwen Wykes, Honor Hebbard, and Jean Mathieson: their names are recorded along with that of Maisie Fawcett in the Rover Scout Chalet log book. Many researchers and student groups have stayed there since{ Gillbank: 225 also footnotes to typescript version log book 1.1945, 1.1946}. The building used by these groups in the important 1940-50s era has been changed or rebuilt since. This hut was described in 1983 as a large building with electric power, running water, a kitchen, bunkroom and other spaces, used by the Rover Scouts as a base for their alpine activities. It was kept locked and there was a ski tow nearby, with NPS policy stating that it was to be provided with a lease and part of the hut made available for refuge..
Rover Scout Chalet, Alpine Huts 1994-5 sheet 17 2
Victorian Alpine Huts survey, for Parks Victoria 1994-5.
Head Quarters Scout Commissioner, WF Waters, wrote to the Lands Department on behalf of the Rover Scouts, applying for a hut site in 1940{ T 101196 letter 29.2.40}. He noted that he had been inspired to write by RW Wilkinson who had met with the Minister and Under Secretary for Lands on the subject `some time prior to his death'. The site was to be on the north bank of the Middle Creek, about 600m north east from Cope Hut but south of the SEC survey hut{ ibid.}. The hut was to be two storey, 41'x16' (12.5x4.9m), with two main rooms on the ground level and one on the upper. The ground level outer room was to have a stove, running water and sanitary facilities and be available for refuge while the inner room was to be locked. The hut was intended as a centre for skiing and hiking among the Rover Scouts (aged 16-25). The money to build it had been raised by scouts from across the State and from South Australia. Many of these scouts were then serving in the Second War and Waters was `..particularly keen to have a hut of this type erected so that when the grim days of war have passed they will be able to return and enjoy their outdoor Rovering amid the delightful surroundings of the Bogong High Plains'{ ibid.}. He noted that this was also part of a Hut Service Section program initiated by Galbraith (Forests Commission) where disused forestry huts had been turned over to the scouts for their use{ ibid.}. Many of these had been burnt in the 1939 fires and there was now a shortage of remote accommodation. The materials were packed to the site by the Fitzgeralds from Shannonvale along the same track they had established to supply the SEC cottage. The chalet was claimed to have been completed Autumn 1939 and used that winter{ `Voice of the Mountains' #8, 1983-4: 25}. However this date does not align with other official sources. A photograph of the apparently still to be completed hut taken Christmas 1940 shows a completely different structure to that of today{ L Bilney, Xmas 1940, copy held at chalet}. It was gabled, one and two-storey, clad with weatherboards (horizontal), had many vertical format windows (some casement timber-framed), and a corrugated iron roof. The main chimney (masonry?) was at one end (north?) and may coincide with today's fireplace which divides the kitchen/dining room in the basement. At the southern end was a skillion room, clad with corrugated iron (refuge?) and attached to the single-storey gabled section. Snow gums then grew close to the chalet. The chalet's construction in 1940 followed a boom in walking on the High Plains made easier by the new access tracks created by the SEC to supply the SEC Hotham Heights cottage. The Rover Scouts were among the largest of the walking groups which used the High Plains. The original chalet was also the base of important scientific research in years to come{ Gillbank: 224}. The sometimes controversial work of Maisie Fawcett on the Bogong High Plains during the 1940s when she stayed at the Rover Scout Chalet or with the Trimbles at the adjacent SEC survey cottage{ ibid.}. During this time she assisted the recently formed Soil Conservation Board whose activities directly impacted on high plains grazing and caused many negative reactions from graziers both to Fawcett and the SCB. The requirements of the SEC's Kiewa Scheme catchment was another facet of the problem which made this part of the High Plains strategically important for policy formulation on erosion and high country grazing. Hence the creation in 1944-5 of Fawcett's much publicised 19 acre fenced experimental plot on the edge of the Rocky Valley catchment{ ibid.}. She was assisted by three young graduates referred to her by Professor Turner, Gwen Wykes, Honor Hebbard, and Jean Mathieson: their names are recorded along with that of Maisie Fawcett in the Rover Scout Chalet log book. Many researchers and student groups have stayed there since{ Gillbank: 225 also footnotes to typescript version log book 1.1945, 1.1946}. The building used by these groups in the important 1940-50s era has been changed or rebuilt since. This hut was described in 1983 as a large building with electric power, running water, a kitchen, bunkroom and other spaces, used by the Rover Scouts as a base for their alpine activities. It was kept locked and there was a ski tow nearby, with NPS policy stating that it was to be provided with a lease and part of the hut made available for refuge..