The weather was at last mild, and a good, long walk was very much in order. We did drive around the town for a short while to check out the second town caravan park on the banks of the Goulburn River and, more importantly, to visit the local hardware store in search of a good fridge thermometer.
Liz was still less than happy with the performance of our van cooling box, and had already ditched some soft cheeses and processed meats as a precautionary measure when the interior temperature had climbed on one occasion in Junee to 15 degrees. I'll have more to say about this problem and the solution later.
For now it was time to roam the streets of Seymour, a town of some 6,500 souls (with an additional 1,200 housed at the nearby army base at Puckapunyal) and an interesting history.
Seymour is located adjacent to the junction of the Hume and Goulburn Valley Highway. The Hume Highway crossed the Goulburn River and diverted all Melbourne-Sydney bound traffic though the township for over 100 years until a freeway bypass was opened routing all non-local and interstate traffic around the township in 1982.
This aerial from Google Earth shows the large highway junction north of the town where the M31, The Hume, snakes its way west of Seymour as it heads south to Melbourne, whilst the Goulburn Valley Highway travels right through the town from north to south. At the point where it turns sharply to the left or right, depending on the direction travel, we have Emily Street. Our caravan park was about 200 metres west of that junction.
This shot also shows the location and size of the army base at 'Pucka' and the twisting course of the substantial Goulburn River (Victoria's longest) which embraces much of the town as it flows north from its headwaters in the Victorian Alps to the point where it joins the River Murray near Echuca.
The district was first explored by Hume and Hovell who camped by the banks of the Goulburn in 1824 before crossing the river as they headed further north. Seymour was originally known as The New Crossing Place after it became the spot where the mail service between Sydney and Melbourne crossed the Goulburn (and shortened the run by 10 miles...a distance which was obviously significant in those days!).
In 1843 the small settlement which had grown up around the river crossing was formally 'christened' Seymour by the explorer Major Thomas Mitchell in honour of Edward Seymour, the 11th Duke of Somerset. As a passing point of interest, the good Lord Seymour was a distant relative of that most famous of the Seymours, Jane, the third wife of Henry the 8th.
The fledgling settlement got a real boost when, in 1872, the Victorian railways came to town and Seymour became the gateway junction for several lines, links which stretched north to Shepparton, Albury and on to Sydney. The significant locomotive depot and major freight marshalling yards have long gone, but the magnificent station still stands as a reminder of those heady days.
Seymour of today services the surrounding equine, cattle, sheep and wine industries as well as the nearby military base. Retail, light engineering, agricultural support, medical and education services all contribute to the local economy and the town remains 'the gateway to the heart of Victoria'.
What is generally less known is the fact that this town hosts an annual 'Alterntive Farming Expo' which has grown into one of the most successful of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and draws many thousand of visitors from around the country and overseas each February, something which helped us understand the scale and infrastructure of the showgrounds near our park, but more of that shortly.
I'll deal with the significant military history of the area in a later blog. For now, let's take a quick tour of the town.
We began our roam in Emily Street, where this stand alone 'burger bar' opposite our park boasted the 'best in town'. Great....it was closed for the holiday period so its brag remains unchallenged by us!
This local eatery was located on one side of Manners Street, the road which ran off Emily Street down to
the New Crossing Place Lions park,
one of several pretty little parks on the banks of the Goulburn which are to be found here in Seymour.
On the opposite corner, the Royal Hotel, my place of refuge and refreshment on the day our our arrival, is one of Seymour's more interesting buildings.
The original hotel rose here in 1839, and between then and the late 1890's three more additions have resulted in the building which we see here today.
This building was nothing if not versatile in function. Unsurprisingly, given its location near the river crossing point, it served as a staging post for the Cobb and Co. coaches, and some of the original stables can be found at the side of the pub.
The district was first explored by Hume and Hovell who camped by the banks of the Goulburn in 1824 before crossing the river as they headed further north. Seymour was originally known as The New Crossing Place after it became the spot where the mail service between Sydney and Melbourne crossed the Goulburn (and shortened the run by 10 miles...a distance which was obviously significant in those days!).
In 1843 the small settlement which had grown up around the river crossing was formally 'christened' Seymour by the explorer Major Thomas Mitchell in honour of Edward Seymour, the 11th Duke of Somerset. As a passing point of interest, the good Lord Seymour was a distant relative of that most famous of the Seymours, Jane, the third wife of Henry the 8th.
The fledgling settlement got a real boost when, in 1872, the Victorian railways came to town and Seymour became the gateway junction for several lines, links which stretched north to Shepparton, Albury and on to Sydney. The significant locomotive depot and major freight marshalling yards have long gone, but the magnificent station still stands as a reminder of those heady days.
Seymour of today services the surrounding equine, cattle, sheep and wine industries as well as the nearby military base. Retail, light engineering, agricultural support, medical and education services all contribute to the local economy and the town remains 'the gateway to the heart of Victoria'.
What is generally less known is the fact that this town hosts an annual 'Alterntive Farming Expo' which has grown into one of the most successful of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and draws many thousand of visitors from around the country and overseas each February, something which helped us understand the scale and infrastructure of the showgrounds near our park, but more of that shortly.
I'll deal with the significant military history of the area in a later blog. For now, let's take a quick tour of the town.
We began our roam in Emily Street, where this stand alone 'burger bar' opposite our park boasted the 'best in town'. Great....it was closed for the holiday period so its brag remains unchallenged by us!
This local eatery was located on one side of Manners Street, the road which ran off Emily Street down to
the New Crossing Place Lions park,
one of several pretty little parks on the banks of the Goulburn which are to be found here in Seymour.
On the opposite corner, the Royal Hotel, my place of refuge and refreshment on the day our our arrival, is one of Seymour's more interesting buildings.
The original hotel rose here in 1839, and between then and the late 1890's three more additions have resulted in the building which we see here today.
This building was nothing if not versatile in function. Unsurprisingly, given its location near the river crossing point, it served as a staging post for the Cobb and Co. coaches, and some of the original stables can be found at the side of the pub.
In addition to providing succour for man and beast abroad, as one of the first major town buildings,The Royal has been variously used as the local courthouse, post office, fire station, morgue, police lock up and market venue.
Apart from all this, this Seymour hotel has a much more modern claim to fame. It was the subject of the 1941 painting 'Moody's Pub' (named after one of its longest serving owners, Eliza Moody). This painting by the famed Australian artist Russell Drysdale has been described as "one of the most celebrated paintings and amongst the most frequently reproduced images of 20th Century Australian art".
Courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria I have included both the painting and its description:
"Based on the Royal Hotel on the Hume
Highway at Seymour, the painting evokes Drysdale’s particular sense of
humour in its observation of events from everyday life. A group of
laconic country men are shown standing with hands on hips or dangling at
their sides. As one of Drysdale’s earliest paintings of a street in an
outback town, and the first painting by the artist acquired by the
National Gallery of Victoria, Moody’s pub rapidly achieved iconic status."
I must admit that comparing the pub and the painting (and the decided lack of obvious similarity), I would not have had the faintest idea that they were one and the same building, and having had a drink at the bar and wandered around the establishment, I would have to comment that I remain surprised that more is not made of this connection (which I came across by sheer accident!).
A little further along Emily Street this group of three buildings included the old Bank of Victoria (circa 1872)
and the facade of the local laundromat which is all that now remains of Perron's Assembly Hall, once the centre of entertainment and cultural life in Seymour from about 1872.
And if there was any doubt about the fact that Seymour lies in the heart of a horse district, this laundromat sign soon dispels that notion!
Some hundred metres or so further north-east along Emily Street, just beyond the junction of Tallarook Street (which we shall visit shortly), we were greeted with the sight of the old town courthouse and, if you look closely, the cabin and blades of the raised Iroquois helicopter which marks the beginning of the Vietnam Memorial.
The old Seymour Courthouse, with its imposing facade,
and interesting design, now serves to house the local Visitor Information Centre and an art gallery.
And it was here that we came across the first of several quirky Seymour street statues,
with the accompanying plaque which usefully told us what this was all about.
In what seemed a fitting location behind the old Court House, we found this old lock-up building,
and another snippet of Seymour's history story.
On the opposite side of what was now the Goulburn Valley Highway, stood another of the town's old pubs, this time the grandly named Prince of Wales Hotel,
and just beyond that the original town Post Office,
where the clock has long ceased to run,
and the sign slung across the front entrance makes it very clear that this is now someone's home.
At least there was no bar to being able to read the small wall plaque which provided us with an insight into the building's origins and history.
At this point we turned and retraced our steps to veer left into Tallarook Street, undoubtedly Seymour's loveliest boulevard lined as it is with huge shade trees. This street is actually part of the Goulburn Valley Highway as it passes through Seymour. We travelled along it a couple of years ago when visiting the Victorian high country for autumn and it left a lasting impression.
At the junction with Edward Street the old town free library building (c 1875) now serves as the home of the Seymour Historical Society, the group responsible for all the oval shaped blue plaques we found dotted hither and yon on the buildings of any historical significance.
Directly opposite stood a building which could not have been more different, the surprisingly large Seymour Police Station
with the current Court House right next door, a home of local justice with far less 'presence' that its rambling red brick predecessor we had just visited.
A small nook in the front yard of 'HQ' was home to the second of Steve Wolfe's metal statues, fittingly enough one of an old time copper complete with his bobby's helmet.
The Seymour Club was less inviting than imposing, but I'm afraid that's all I can tell you about it. Our schedule did not include a visit.
And the same would have to be said about the bowls club opposite,
an impressively large complex located on the edge of the equally large and well maintained Seymour sports grounds which we would visit later.
And now for a blot on the beautiful landscape of Tallarook Street which came in the form of this local redneck's front yard signage. This lot was not too offensive,
but it got better (or worse) in one of the front yard garden plots. As you can see in the previous shot, the owner of this racist nonsense was walking towards his front gate as I was snapping away. Needless to say he wanted to know what I was doing. I took one look at his four legged companion (which had a similarly nasty looking mate) and replied much more blandly than would have been the case otherwise!
As we were walking back a little later, the second front yard brute was expressing himself in a way which mirrored exactly what I really thought of this xenophobic display. The other thing which struck me was the expense to which this fellow much have gone to have these signs so well produced. Ah well, democratic freedom does throw up some strange folk.
But moving right along......this is what Tallarook Street is really about,
and here was one young travelling family taking a break and making very good use of it!
From this point we wandered off into Station Street, home to much of the old Seymour CBD, such as it is, and, of course, the grand Seymour railway station and another stand of magnificent trees shading lovely garden walls.
I'll not bore you with a blow by blow of the shops here, but by now you know that I cannot resist shots of signs with a difference, and here I did come across a couple, beginning with one in the window of the Station Street 'chippo'.
What a relief this must be for all who front the counter here! (this was only one of several in the same vein.....Lady Macbeth's protests sprang immediately to mind!)
The nearby pharmacy
made this proud boast for all to see. There was only one small snag....it was shut! All I can say is that its immediate competitor, but three shops away, was at least open and in the game....they win!
Here in Station Street there was no need to wander about with cravings for an Indian feed left unsated with these two purveyors of the hot and spicy tastes of the east actually side by side.
I noted with some glee that at least the proprietor of 'baba's kitchen' had hedged his bets.
The streetscape here included this quite large building which was something of an enigma.
The art deco Railway Club Hotel was cheek by jowl with what looked very much like another pub,
on which the faded and barely legible sign on its side wall declared that this was indeed, or at least had been, the Terminus Hotel, where Melbourne bitter was on tap.
This setup had me really puzzled, and later curiosity did get the better of me. If indeed these were two separate establishments, then competition in the pub game here in Seymour would have been on the cutting edge!
A later search revealed that they both share the same address and phone number, although they do have different review sites. This is either very odd or really clever, given that one is very much more up-market than the other....this will be something to be sorted if we return!
Here at this end of the street one facade indicated that the Chittick Brothers had been around for some time, well since 1876 at least, but this was really the only establishment in the street which boasted any age. Frankly Station Street is a bit ho hum, until, that is,
you cross the road. The entire length of the side opposite the commercial and business buildings was given over to these lovely gardens,
which are all part of the Seymour Railway Station complex.
Of course we could not go by without a closer look.
What a grand old station building this is, clearly befitting the status it once enjoyed within the system.
It was also damned hard to photograph well, but I did my best to capture what I could.
The nearby Victorian Railways Institute building spoke of headier days of rail and steam,
as shown in these two shots of yesteryear,
courtesy of the Victorian Museum.
Notwithstanding the fact that today the activities here are much more limited, the station gardens and walls line most of the southern side of Station Street, where we found our third Wolfe statue, suitably endorsed for this time of the year!
This large subway entrance gave access to the second platform
just beyond which the red brick walls of the station gardens finally gave way to this magnificent stand of trees.
I have to say that in all our travels we have seen a station or two, but this we found in Seymour was as impressive as any and was a real highlight of our brief town tramp.
We left Station Street through a rather bland shopping arcade
which took us out into the large and modern town shopping complex
which included all the usual suspects and which is the real heart of Seymour retail.
And what's a cake shop without a visit? The only thing surprising about this particular foray was that she emerged empty handed....the chocolate doughnuts and vanilla squares were clearly not up to standard!
By now we were becoming just a tad footsore, so it was time to head back down Tallarook Street, but on this leg of our ramble we turned off to our left past the bowls club to check out the local swimming pool (War Memorial, of course)
to find that the good folk of Seymour are more than well served when it comes to a refreshing splash on a hot day.
The lifeguards were hard at it cleaning the main pool and I have to say we were a little surprised that this large and well kept complex was all but empty. Despite the recent cool change, it was still anything but chilly and school was not yet in for 2019.
The town is equally well served when it comes to other sporting facilities, including outdoor netball and tennis,
and a large indoor stadium.
The extraordinary sign posts throughout this area reflect much of the activity which takes place here,
including those of an agricultural bent.
As we were walking down one of this park's well kept roadways, we spied something which had a familiar ring to it. Surely not.
Indeed it was....another of the Annis and George Bills water troughs, these odd contributions to Australian life which we first came across at Darlington Point over a year ago.
As we walked on past the wide grassy expanses of the Seymour football oval
with its brightly decorated stand,
we could see that we had almost completed our circuit. This short path took us to an exit gate which was directly opposite the back entrance to our caravan park. How coincidentally convenient!
We had enjoyed this stroll through some of Seymour's history and its CBD, but there was still one thing left to do before we moved on. I'll bring you the incredible Seymour Vietnam Memorial Wall in my next.
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