WE REMAIN MOORED UNEXPECTEDLY - PORT PIRIE - PART 2 (THE TOWN AND AN ENFORCED REST) (29 APRIL - 2 MAY 2019)

Those of you who are regular readers may have been wondering about the recent 'break in transmission'. There are two reasons for this, the first being that for the past six weeks or so we have been constantly on the move as I recently explained in my last update.

The second was maddening. I had planned to spend each morning during our recent sojourn of a week at Forrest Beach (where we had already done all the 'tourist stuff' a couple of years ago) catching up as much as possible. 

Great plan....only one problem.....virtually no internet! After three attempts at different times of the day and in different locations, when on each occasion one photo took five minutes to upload (I am not joking) I understandably gave up....and sensibly went to the pub with an old Helicopter Rescue crew mate of mine from Adelaide instead!

But now that we have arrived and settled into our site at Kurrimine Beach, I shall be hard at it until we are up to date. So let's get back to where we left off, in Port Pirie.

I did telegraph in my last of this town that the fine sunny weather we enjoyed on our arrival did not last, but at least we had the opportunity for a quick stroll around the centre of town before we had to get our heads down.

Many of the travel guides refer to the fact that one of the attractions of Pirie are the numerous grand and gracious old buildings to be found in Ellen Street and elsewhere, some of which are quite unusual. Indeed I remembered this from my previous working visits, and was keen to see if my memory had served me well in the many intervening years. It had!

As this image shows, Port Pirie's 'waterfront' lies along a long curved creek surrounded by mangrove flats. 

The red arrow denotes our campsite with the stretch of sand which forms the town beach immediately to the left. I have shown the position of the large dock silos with the blue arrow, whilst the yellow circle is more or less the area around which we walked. The large smelter works can be seen just to the right of the Port Pirie emblem, and it is at that end of Ellen Street that the majority of Pirie's historic buildings are clustered.

We parked the Cruiser at the northern end of Ellen Street from where we set off on foot (as usual....it's the only way to see a town properly).

Immediately opposite, the junction of Ellen and David Streets is dominated by the imposing bulk of the International Hotel but that is not the only large building in this part of town (apart from the smelter that is). 

There can be little doubt that the most impressive of all the structures to be found in this section of Pirie is the old railway station. 







Looking at this shot, along the row of buildings which line the edge of curved Ellen Street, one would expect that the railway line is, or was, behind the grand station facade but this is not so. Where the flowers bloom and the palms now thrust their tasselled tops skywards, trains once hissed steam and belched smoke as they edged their way down the middle of the street, 

as this shot (courtesy of 'lionel noble') shows.

This railway played a very important part in the development of Port Pirie but this was not the beginning of the local story, as is noted in Wikipedia.

"The town was originally called Samuel's Creek after the discovery of Muddy Creek by Samuel Germein [his name lives on in nearby Port Germein]. In 1846, Port Pirie Creek was named by Governor Robe after the John Pirie, the first vessel to navigate the creek when transporting sheep from Bowman's Run near Crystal Brook. In 1848, Matthew Smith and Emanuel Solomon bought 85 acres (34 ha) and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie. Little development occurred on site and by the late 1860s there were only three woolsheds on the riverfront."

But whilst the movement of wool may have been initially slow, the value of the port was not lost on the powers that be and by 1880 over 2.7 million bushels of wheat were being exported from Port Pirie and by now the town boasted seven pubs (a real measure of economic and social standing!) The massive waterfront grain silos today stand testament to the importance of this trade.



In 1888 things really changed. The rail link between Port Pirie and the booming mining town of Broken Hill was completed and the following year saw the construction of the first lead smelter in the town followed by a second in 1892. The smelting and export of the Broken Hill ore brought a complete change to the town's economy and by 1934 the Port Pirie smelter was the largest of its type in the world.

Now operated by Nyrstar (after a series of previous owners including well known names such as BHP, Pasminco and Zinifex), this facility, which also produces refined silver, zinc, copper and gold, remains the world's largest lead smelter.

But, as all who live in South Australia would be well aware, this operation has come at a heavy cost to the health of the town residents, particularly the children, with lead levels in the atmosphere far higher than the recognised safe standards for many years. It is only quite recently that a new 'safe' smelting plant has been built to replace the old monster which has been polluting this town for decades.

At this point let me take you down a short historical by-road about which little is known. Many of the first smelter workers were Russians, and by the outbreak of WW1 over 500 (mostly Ossetians) called Port Pirie home. In fact at that time the town had its own Russian library and a Russian language school.

The demands for labour in the smelter and on the waterfront were such that by the early 1920's over sixty boarding houses had sprouted up in Pirie to accommodate this work force. In 1953 the town was declared the State's first provincial city and it remains South Australia's second largest port with a current population of over 15,000. The Nyrstar smelter is still the world's largest of its type.

But briefly back to the Ellen Street railway line....this is a shot of the last steam train to haul carriages through the centre of town











but it was not the end of the service. Large diesel locomotives continued to bring passengers to the grand station until its closure in July 1967 (thanks to 'pinterest' for this photo).

So today this grand old building stands as the centre piece of this part of Port Pirie, flanked by the old customs house on one side 

and this imposing building on the other, the Port Pirie post office.












Completing this group of civic buildings is the original town Court House, on the far side of the Post Office.






This area was without doubt the hub of the early town, a fact reflected in the age of many of the buildings on the other side of this end of Ellen Street.











Of these, one is a standout, tucked in between the original English, Scottish and Australian Bank building and a retail premises. 








Now used as a B&B, this 1864 building, which originally housed the Sampsons' butcher shop, has the most wonderful facade. The inclusion of the word 'shipping' in the sign indicates that this lot provided viands for more than just the locals, 

but it was the framed animal heads which really grabbed my attention. What a marvellously innovative and decorative piece of advertising this was.






At the end of a short lane opposite, between Ellen Street and the grain docks, 







this well maintained building has a tale to tell. Barrier Chambers initially housed the offices of the Barrier Wharf Company before it was bought by the Department of Marine and Harbours in 1920 for use as the harbour Master's Office and various stevedoring businesses. Believe it or not it was marked for demolition until in 1984 the National Trust moved in to save it. Well done!

Abutting Barrier Chambers and facing out onto Ellen Street, this small leafy park

houses a memorial which was to be expected in a town with such an affinity with, and dependence on, seafaring,

a modest tribute to those who have been lost on the ocean (or should that read under it...at the risk of a small irreverance!).

A row of international flags in the median strip heralds the presence of the municipal chambers












whilst the opposite corner is dominated by the second large Port Pirie pub we came across















where its name is beautifully presented in a stained glass window above the main entrance.








Another feature of this main street hostelry was its front deck from which punters can take in the bustle of Ellen Street whilst swinging in the breeze in these hotel chairs with a difference. It did occur to me that alighting from one of these moving seats could well present a serious challenge late into a good session!

Beyond this point the buildings of Ellen Street did little to attract our attention so we made our way into the street directly  behind it, one which is now considered to be part of the epicentre of the town CBD.

Here in Florence Street we did come across a number of buildings of interest, some of which certainly fitted the description of 'unusual'. 'Carn Brae' which rose here in 1904 and is now heritage listed, is a stone mansion which now offers B&B guests the opportunity to stay in stylish comfort for quite modest prices.  

As we wandered further south along Florence Street, 

it soon became apparent that this could be considered Port Pirie's 'street of churches' (not that I can now remember which denomination this one represented).

There was no doubting this as the home of worship of those of the Greek Orthodox faith,

and one of the halls opposite indicated that the Greeks have made their mark in Port Pirie.

Unions and workers' organizations understandably played an important role in the life of many in Port Pirie's industrial history, a fact reflected in the size and rather grand style of the old Amalgamated Workers Association Hall in Florence Street.

In addition to its 'unusual' buildings, some of the Port Pirie's major intersections could be said to be unusually decorated, as this roundabout at the intersection of Florence and Norman Streets amply demonstrates. 

The next intersection south on Florence Street, which is really the heart of the Port Pirie CBD, is dominated by the large and rather graceless building which once housed the BH Community Club but now stands empty.  But it was not so much this, but the building we could see further along Alexander Street that grabbed my interest. 

This odd looking two storey edifice with its quaint upper floor window shutters can tell a real local tale. Its original owner, Thomas Bowden was one of those larger than life characters with which Australian history is dotted.

Of Cornish origin, Thomas began his working life building tugs, trawlers, fishing craft and private yachts in his native England with his brother. In addition to their shipbuilding activities, the redoubtable Bowden brothers were involved in an attempt to salvage treasure from a Spanish galleon which had been wrecked on the wild Cornish coast. Despite the fact that rough seas forced an abandonment of the project, the recovery of some Spanish doubloons did prove that this had been a treasure ship.

Thomas clearly had a thirst for adventure. He left Cornwall and spent a year in America before arriving in South Australia in 1883. After spending about 18 months at Port Adelaide he moved north to Port Pirie where he developed extensive timber yards around the Alexander Street area. 

But his interest in ships did not wane and T Bowden esquire played a major role in developing a system for the safe stowage of ore in ships which had hitherto been plagued by problems. None of the vessels fitted with his 'trunkways' system came to grief. 

In addition to all this enterprise, Thomas Bowden acquired considerable land holdings on both Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas where he oversaw the management of a number of successful farming operations. One wonders how he found time for much else, but Thomas is remembered for the work he put into the 'advancement of Port Pirie' before he finally died at age 78. What a character!

Back on Florence Street this old building, which looked for all the world like a church to us, was in fact operating now as a cafe

but the best by way of a commercial conversion of a hallowed hall was yet to come. I could not believe my eyes as I realised that this impressive stone church building with its associated hall at the rear was now, of all things, a 'Barnacle Bills' outlet. Loaves and fishes taken to another level altogether??

I mentioned earlier that this was the centre of Port Pirie's CBD (where we found the aptly named Central Hotel)

so we were not surprised as we walked east back to Ellen Street that we passed the local Woollies building, but even here the new and the old stood side by side.

I must sadly report that in the short time we had here in Pirie I did not manage to establish the provenance of this fine old building (yet another eating house conversion)....I've included it for what it is worth as another example of the grand buildings to be found here.

Well, dear readers, by now we had decided it was high time to make our way back to the Cruiser and repair back to our current home. I had managed thus far under some sufferance as the onset of the lurgy, which was soon to lay me low for some days, began to make its presence seriously felt.

We did tarry briefly en route to take a quick look at the small boat marina

and one last look along the harbour channel, over a couple of the local fishing fleet vessels, to the unmistakable but now defunct smelter chimney which dominates most views of Port Pirie.

  

The skies were beginning to darken. They matched my mood. Within a few hours the clouds were gathering strength











and the waters of the estuary were being ruffled by the increasing north-westerly winds as the fading light etched the ravines and gullies of the South Flinders Ranges face with dark shadows.











In it came, with gusto. A huge roll cloud swept across the smelter

and boiled its way across the angry sky towards the ranges in the east. By now the wind had reached gale force and we were more than happy that we were safely tucked up inside.








I had had the forethought to haul in all our canvas and our chairs were safely stowed in the back of the Cruiser. With our external floor well nailed down we were shipshape, and that was just as well. The next few hours were spent rocking and rolling as the wind tried to rip the van off its wheels before the worst of the storm front passed and a steady rain set in.

We had planned to be leaving the following morning to make our way east, but that did just not happen. With the dawn came the realisation that I was now too unwell to drive safely. The bug had latched on overnight with a real vengeance and we decided to extend our stay here in Port Pirie by two more days, sit out the weather and stay tucked up indoors. 

Needless to say I was more than peeved that our schedule was already upended only four days out of Adelaide. How I wish I could report that this was to be the last of it!