NO CUTLERY MADE HERE BUT A HELL OF A LOT OF MURALS - MOLE CREEK - PART 5 (SHEFFIELD) (21 FEBRUARY 2018)

Well dear readers, my promise to be back at it within a few days of my last update has clearly failed (for a host of reasons with which I'll not bore you). But despite a number of on-going family and medical demands, some semblance of normality has descended on the Mobile Marshies, and here we are again (now over a year behind!). 

I have oft complained of the need to edit photos to ensure that these missives do not run into the next century. Never has this been more true than in this case. The murals of Sheffield are breathtaking, in scope, size and numbers. 

I have been diligent (it has taken me seven hours to sort and edit the myriad of photos we had on file), but I suspect that you may well not believe this claim by the time you have reached the end of this offering. 

Fortunately we had allowed an entire day for this visit and as we drove out of Mole Creek the ever present Mount Roland again dominated the skyline for some time.

Within minutes the forbidding bulk of the Gog Range loomed large in our windscreen, but I have to say this crossing was a doddle compared to that we had done with the van in tow.

This trip gave us another view of the odd hedges we had first seen a few days before,

and of the craggy heights of the local mountain.

As we drove into Sheffield from the south we came across a sign confirming a situation which had been dominating the local news over the past two weeks....fruit fly had rared its ugly little head in the Apple Isle. To us this was very much 'ho hum', but here it was creating panic and havoc.

And it soon became apparent that the local authorities were babes in the woods when it came to a coordinated and effective control programme. Here in Sheffield we were presented with a classic example. These two signs both exhorted the disposal of fruit....there was only one major snag....there was not a bin to be found anywhere! 

Within a few days of our visit here, we were unsurprised (and relieved for the locals) to hear the news that South Australian fruit fly control experts had arrived on the Island. The only thing which confounded us, given what we had seen and heard, was that it had taken so long.

Ah, well, let's not be too superior.......back to the real purpose of this visit which began with a quick look at the old Sheffield railway station.

Today there is only one kilometre of the original 1914 track between Sheffield and Railton left, but this is put to very good use by the Redwater Creek Steam and Heritage Society which operates an old 'puffing billy' along this section on the first weekend of each month. 











With this done the main street beckoned, but before we embark on 'mural mayhem',

a spot of perspective is in order. I've included this photo courtesy of 'think tasmania' for two reasons. 







One it shows the absolute dominance of Mount Roland in the local landscape, and secondly, you can clearly see here that Sheffield is anything but large which adds emphasis to the incredible effort which has gone into the public art for which it has become world renown. (sorry about the alignment....a mystifying temporary return of the gremlins!)

We decided to park centrally, and as we made our way into the CBD we passed yet another example of a 'Tasmanina Tabernacle', this time of the Baptist persuasion,

and a couple of the small wooden cottages which we soon realised were very common to this town.

So, let the art fest begin!

We had no sooner found a park behind the main shopping precinct than we came across our first mural, and, quite coincidentally, it was this work which had kicked the whole thing off.

As we were soon to discover, most of the extraordinary collection of wall and other paintings here came with explanatory placards, which served to describe not only the genesis of the painting, but also significant (and sometimes quirky) facts relating to the history of the town.

Within metres in the same street 

we passed another two adorned walls. You may recall my earlier comment about scale....many of these paintings cover entire walls of large buildings.

As we wandered about I could not help but think of this town as a static inanimate version of those ludicrous examples of human tattooed 'artworks' to be seen roaming our streets these days, folk covered from head to foot (often literally) with an array of 'ink'. The difference was, here it was spectacular rather than a mere spectacle!

The obvious question is just how did all this come about and why Sheffield? Well it appears that back in 1985, the good folk of the town decided that they needed to spice up their lives and attract more tourists to their town. Recent boom times, brought on by the construction of nearby Lake Barrington, had come to an end

They drew their inspiration from a Canadian 'mural' town, Chemainus, and the aim was to develop "an outdoor art gallery of heroic proportions, depicting the pioneering history of the district and its people."

I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not they have succeeded. There are now over sixty murals dotted all around the town which also hosts an annual Mural Fest which draws international artists and visitors. 

Sheffield was named after the British home town of one of its first settlers, James Powlett, but here the similarity ends. Unlike its namesake, famous for its cutlery,  here in Tasmanian Sheffield there is nary a foundry, steel mill or industrial building to be found. 

This town provides services for the pretty and productive surrounding district known for the production of fat lambs, pigs potatoes, timber and various vegetables. This really is a lovely part of Tasmania and visitors are encouraged to spend some time enjoying the many bush walks which abound throughout this region,

but for us, it was to be a town walk only, albeit a very long one. With the Cruiser safely ensconced in the large car park behind the main drag, we wandered off to the main intersection of this remarkable town, where Sheffield Road, aka Main Street, and High Street intersect.

Here we found what is probably Sheffield's grandest building, that of York Schmidt and Co, circa 1883, now home to various shops.

The large local clothing and footwear store of Slaters, established here in 1899, occupies much of the opposite corner, and, of course, 

one of its walls is adorned with a mural. There was nothing particularly special about this, but the information plaque nearby told a fascinating tale.

Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Wouldn't you be spitting chips if you were one of the Slater's kids! 

From here we veered off the main street in a quest to find the town park which is home to the Mural Fest. In doing so we passed this depiction of Ned and his gang why here is anyone's guess),

and noted that even stores which are empty still carry beautiful displays.

We had read that a town park we were looking for was home to an incredible display of artworks. 

How true this proved to be, but here we had another treat in the form of an accidental meeting with one of the town's residents with real local knowledge. She was very keen to point out the huge mural on the wall of a building at the edge of the car park....with good reason as you will see.

This offering told of the life and times of one of Sheffield's most revered sons, the good 

Doctor Leslie Sender, who, after brave and meritorious service in New Guinea during the Second World War, settled in Sheffield after spending some time post war in Sydney. 

Over the next thirty years he was a very busy boy, and obviously his wife was no slouch either! In addition to his Sheffield practice, Doc Sender made weekly visits to nearby Railton and Wilmot and conducted surgery once a week at the La Trobe hospital.

Despite his huge workload, this extraordinary man somehow found the time to be part of the community socially, even joining the labour force which built the local swimming pool. As was also noted on the mural, he had two personal dreams.....a sports car and a racehorse, both realised when he acquired an E type Jaguar and a number of fine horses including the very well known stallion 'The Taswegian'.

The large mural to which we had been directed depicted all aspects of his life, including one panel in which the woman to whom we had been speaking featured. Why? She was his daughter! We felt as though we now had a personal connection with one of the town's most famous sons.

After this remarkable encounter it was on to the park proper 

where row after row of large murals were on display.

And we were not alone. This group was but one of the hordes of oriental visitors swarming throughout the town,

something which probably explained a sign we later saw on the Sheffield general store....a mural of a very commercial kind!

The aim of the Sheffield murals and those here in the park were explained on this poster which we found near the entrance.

As we discovered, the comment about 'personal interpretation' was true indeed.

Let me share but a very small sample of this amazing display, 

where each offering bore a note detailing the artist and the theme of his or her work. In many cases this was pretty useful!

The themes were as varied

as the styles and the homelands of the artists.

Row after row of these large works stretched endlessly across the lawns and pathways of this magnificent precinct. 

Some of the contributors had other claims to fame.

In this case I would venture that was just as well....I doubt Eason would make a living as an artist!

The variety of works on display was truly remarkable, and we found ourselves meandering

about wondering just what we would discover next. We even came across this group

which brought us a reminder of another of Tasmania's famous art houses. The panel on the left hand end depicts a section of 'The Wall', that wonderful work we had enjoyed at Derwent Bridge a month or so ago.

Despite all that was on offer here, there was still room for more. What would we find here next year we wondered?

Hopefully it will be a little more inspiring than this one which I suspect was blatantly 'pandering' (!!) to the great bulk of the passing tourist trade (something which really should have come as no surprise!).

So, on that somewhat cynical note, we moved on. We had been at it now for over two hours and there as still so much more to discover as soon became apparent once we had wandered through this leafy walkway back to the main CBD area.

Again, it was a case of 'where on earth do we start'? We decided to return to the main town intersection and make our way north-west down Main Street past the Slaters store.

The buildings did not extend too far before the town gave way to the rolling countryside but those that were here provided plenty to look at.









Let's begin with the rather grand edifice which is home to Basiloco's pizza bar and cafe, an eating house where the Mobile Marshies became temporarily immobile for a lunch time snack break. Good grub! 



 

For those with a penchant for something sweet, the very colourful Sheffield fudge shop is just the ticket. Whilst there was no adornment on the walls of this shop, the gallery adjoining has done its bit as far as the town murals go.

The 'marble' shop on the other side of the street punched well above its weight and could hardly be missed by the passing parade of tourists. Apart from the garish hue of its exterior,

the verandah posts were anything but usual,

and its side wall was decorated to appear as though it was open to the elements. Some effort!

I have to admit that this did suck me in. It had been years since 'cats eyes', 'tom bowlers' and 'baldies' had been an important part of my life. There were marbles galore in the bins lined up on the shelves of this shop, but even more striking was the exquisite glass ware, a few samples of which you can see cleverly positioned to catch the light on the window sill.

Just beyond the 'World of Marbles', the creeper strewn 'Emporium' and the impressive Sheffield Hotel were both open for business, but unusually we did not breast the bar....we were far too busy.

A short side street ran beside the pub, and as with so many spots in Sheffield, Mount Roland again filled the view in the distance.

And even a side alley like this in Sheffield may be home to more murals.

They just kept popping up everywhere. No wall was too small, such as this next to the alleyway where the ticket office for the now defunct Sheffield Mount Roland Cable Car was 'open for business'.

The buildings of the Old Bakery Apartments and Motel opposite presented artworks on a much grander scale, most of which was dedicated to a presentation of the history and early life of the town. I'm still not sure of the significance of the two lion statues!

As the mural near the motel office colourfully depicted,

this area had indeed once been home to the town bakery

and much more.

What a wonderful way this was to learn about the history of a town. In our travels we had  previously come across the odd mural or two, but certainly never anything on this scale. The good folk of Sheffield have certainly achieved their aim of developing "an outdoor art gallery of heroic proportions, depicting the pioneering history of the district and its people."

Here in the motel precinct, murals are presented en mass, each with its own explanatory plaque.

They were all beautifully crafted, like this example, a scene telling the tale of a lightning strike

which untimately led to the death of a local workman who broke his back when thrown from his terrified horse.

By now we needed no convincing of the truth of the advice contained in most of the material exhorting the tourist charm of Sheffield which strongly advocated leaving an entire day aside to do justice to what was on offer here.

We were still not done, and as we made our way back to the area where we had left the Crusiser, we passed the odd frontage of 'Roland Lodge', the home of the Sheffield members of the Masonic Lodge,

and far more imposing bulk of the old town hall building.

We were on our way to King George V Park, one of our last ports of call here in Sheffield where we had read that we could tread the 'mosaic path'.

It lay before us, just behind the 'other park', sealed with bitumen and full of vehicles, including ours.

This pathway is a quite recent addition to the public art of Sheffield. With contributions from artists, local school children and other community members, all 78 mosaics depict Tasmanian flora and fauna. The project was formally opened in October 2016 and won 'Project of the Year' at the annual Australia Day awards presentation of that year.

This winding pathway did indeed live up to its reputation. It was a shame about the crunchy grass through which it wended its way, but we knew why this was so. Painting walls with murals is one thing...making rain quite another!

Whilst obviously much smaller in scale and scope than many of the murals, the mosaics were equally varied, colourful and masterly.

And as if all this was not quite enough, one worthy local had taken to an old tree stump with chain saw and chisels to create this unique park resting place. I failed in my attempt to have Liz pose for posterity!

By now we had been roaming around Sheffiled for over five hours and were becoming just a little footsore. We were also rapidly reaching our mutual mural saturation point. Let me leave you with a few final Sheffield snippets as we make our way back to our transport home.

In the earlier part of this offering I brought to you a couple of the typical small wooden cottages which abound in Sheffield. 'Paeroa' provided an example of 'the other side of the street'. 

And speaking of streets, our final toddle (by now more of a totter) brought us back to Main Street,

where the siren smells of hot food emanating from the quaintly named 'Moo Choo' (again complete with mural) failed to entice us in (we had already eaten).

The thought of a quenching ale or two at the bar of the RSL and Citizens Club flitted fleetingly across our consciousness 

but we resisted even that tempting prospect and stopped only long enough to admire the huge mural on the side wall.

Another brief halt enabled us to take in the artistic offering on the wall of 'Mountain Mumma'. 

I was initially quite taken aback by the name of this rather grand premises until I discovered that apart from being a fine restaurant, this is the local home to regular live music events where muso's of national standing present blues, indie and folk concerts. I wonder if they sought John Denver's approval??

My last offering of all we saw during this most entertaining ramble around what is now a fascinating town comes with the question......where was this bloke when we had first arrived? With me on the pillion seat and Liz in the sidecar our town tour would have been far less strenuous! 

Sheffield had certainly lived up to its reputation. We had been royally treated to a marvellous combination of good art and history, and had some valuable exercise to boot. And believe it or not, as I mentioned in the opening paras, if I had included all we saw and snapped, this missive would have been three times longer!

This had been another example of 'don't miss this if in Tassie'.