A REMARKABLE ENCOUNTER - COCKBURN - PART 2 (THE TOWN AND AN EVENING IN THE PUB ) (3 MAY 2019)

Of all the things this town offers (or now doesn't), it presents a riddle in the form of its name. The pronunciation is consistent, but the spelling can take one of two forms. So which is correct? 'Cockburn' or, as appears on the front of the town hotel, 'Coburn'?

Officialdom in all its forms dictates that we had now arrived in 'Cockburn'. So what's the story with the pub? We have heard several tales, the most consistent of which relates to the fellow who was commissioned some time ago to paint this august hotel. It is said that he decided that the use of the full spelling would not look balanced....it was too long, so he left out the letters 'ck'. And so it has remained. 

As I have mentioned earlier, this is now the only watering hole in the town, but this was not always the case. What is now little more than a hamlet was once a bustling railway town. The town history website provides the story.

"The huge ore deposits discovered in Silverton promoted the South Australian Government in 1884 to offer to the NSW Government the building of a narrow gauge railway line from the NSW ~ SA border to Silverton. This was seen necessary since horse drawn transport could not cope with the transport of the ore through South Australia. This offer was rejected by the NSW Government 

Local business people formed the Silverton Tramway Company in 1885 to build the railway line from Silverton to the SA border. COCKBURN as a town came into existence in 1886 (on the SA Side  of the border) as a location where trains would exchange locomotives and crews. On the NSW side of the border the Silverton Tramway Company built a station and siding called BURNS.

The pressure for the expansion of Cockburn was increased with mineral discoveries at Thackaringa and Umberumberka from 1883 onwards. By 1892 the town of Cockburn had become sizable. The population was 200 people. Cockburn boasted 2 hotels, 2 general stores, 3 boarding houses, schools and churches. It contained within its business sector a blacksmith, butcher, baker, produce merchant and carrier. Stationed at Cockburn included 2 engineers, a stationmaster, customs officer, locomotive superintendent and a miner.

Locomotive shed and related work facilities were recorded as existing in 1892.Seven trains regularly ran between Petersburg (Peterborough), Cockburn and Broken Hill. These included passenger trains." 

 All this changed in 1969 when the new standard gauge railway line (the east-west line) was built. It by-passed the station in Cockburn, and from this point on the town went into a steady decline.

The old railway water tank which can been found in Elder Terrace, almost opposite the hotel, and a few scraps of line and sleepers is about all that now remains of what was once a very busy yard.

This shot, courtesy of 'Fiveprime', shows what I mean. And there, on the right, is the very tank which still remains.

What a different scene this now is.

Late on the afternoon of our visit, the location of the 'new' line, and its distance from the town, became very apparent

as a long freight train rumbled it way east towards Broken Hill with the tell tale deep throb of large diesel engines rolling across the outback plain.

So, apart from the pub and the community hall next to the caravan park, what is now left here now in Cockburn? The sad answer is not a lot, but as I mentioned previously the remaining residents are stoutly resisting the Government proposal, first mooted in the early 1990's, to formally close this and all the other small Barrier Highway communities.

The homes which now remain are a mixed bag. This old stone cottage has been well maintained

but the same could not quite be said for its neighbour.

One thing these three do have in common is plenty of surrounding land!

Although postal services have been transferred to a room in the hotel, the town retains a stand alone Police Station which, like the pub, could rightly claim to the the 'first and last' in the State.

This home was in obviously good repair

unlike the old school building next door which has definitely seen better days.

The building which housed Cockburn's second hotel can still be found on the main highway.

Now functioning as the Border Gate Truck stop, the bars closed here in 1986. Before that, and because this building actually straddles the SA/NSW border, a line used to be painted on the bar to designate in which state one was enjoying a tipple. 

The fact that the border passes through the town gave rise to a very interesting aspect of the industrial relations history of nearby Broken Hill. 

A fellow named Tom Mann, an English immigrant who had been heavily involved in unionism in the Old Dart before taking up the same cause in Broken Hill, was reviled by many as a political 'disruptionist'. At one point he was banned from speaking publicly in NSW, but this was not going to stop good old Tom.

In 1908 he stood in front of the hall next to the Cockburn Hotel and addressed a crowd of over 3,000 folk who had travelled across the border by train from 'The Hill' to hear what he had to say, and it was this address which was the beginning of a massive industrial dispute known as the 1909 Lockout.

But back to the present, when we were treated to a pretty outback sunset as we made our way down Elder Terrace to the hotel for our pre-booked dinner.

The bar was aglow with colured lights and the chairs were lined up along the rather rustic tables in what was the only dining area in this old hostelry.













One room has been set aside as the pool room, but the remainder of the pub, apart from the 'post office' could best be described as 'a work in progress'.

But the fact that it remains open at all is a demonstration of the determination of the very few folk who still call this town home, and of the son of one of them who now lives elsewhere. 

The redoubtable and very determined Iris Williams, who has lived in Cockburn (off and on) since 1952 is the President of the Cockburn Progress Association. She has fought for years to save buildings and services in the town.

And this is something of a family affair. The hotel is now owned by Iris's son, Ryan Esam. When the previous publican died, Ryan reopened the hotel in 2011 and 'gave' it to the community who now run it......all as volunteers.

Just how do I know all this? Well, apart from what can be gleaned from various websites (including a cracker relating to the hotel itself) Iris was on deck on the evening of our visit to cook our meal, but it got even better than that. 

Soon after we had arrived a bloke strolled in and propped at the bar to have a few quite ales. It was apparent that he knew Iris well and was equally at home with the few locals who were wandering in and out. He is obviously in the know, I thought.

And so he should have been. In the course of the yarn I later had with him, I disocovered that I was chatting to the very Ryan Esam, the pub's owner. Ryan now lives near Bourke, but had just happened to be over-nighting here in Cockburn after visiting another property nearby.

In hindsight I am more than a little cranky that I did not arrange a pictorial reminder of this extraordinary encounter, but in my own defence I have to say that I was decidedly off song this evening and was actually struggling to maintain a lucid conversation under the increasingly deleterious influence of the wretched bug which had invaded my system.

But I did manage to enjoy the roast chook from the Iris Williams kitchen and can report that Liz was equally happy with her ravioli. And, thanks to the 'abc'ews'  (Broken Hill) I can bring you a photo of this remarkable couple, which appeared in a recent article about the hotel.

Bravo Iris and Ryan! I think it is more than fair to say that Cockburn's continued existance as a town is very much directly related to their efforts. And, as a quick aside, Ryan was dressed exactly as he is in this photo on the night we met him!

So, despite being far less than 100%, I have to say that we could not have been more delighted with our decision to finally spend some time in this little border town through which we had merely passed on so many previous occasions, where yet once again we were reminded of just how fascinating outback Australia can be if the time is taken to scratch a little under the surface.