A 'BIG TOP' WITH A DIFFERENCE - BARCALDINE - PART 3 (THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS HERITAGE CENTRE) (10 - 16 JUNE 2019)

There can be little doubt that Barcaldine has set itself up as arguably the most 'worker orientated' outback town in Australia. 

Complementing the Oak Street memorial to the upheaval of 1891 and its aftermath, the Australian Workers Heritage Centre in nearby Ash Street is, in the words of its website, "the only national attraction dedicated to celebrating the lives and proud heritage of ordinary working people – telling the stories of the railway workers and blacksmiths, the farmers, nurses and teachers who shaped the nation."

On the face of it that seems a bold claim, but true or not, this is a remarkable place. 'Outback Queensland' sings its praises thus:

"Discover at your own pace the Australian Workers Heritage Centre – a place of reflection, within this museum styled complex, visitors can journey through exhibition space which celebrates the extraordinary legacy of working Australians telling a vitally important part of our nation’s history through its working life via interactive displays, film, photographs, artefacts and recreated historical work settings. 

Sited in the grounds of the former Barcaldine State School, many of the original structures have been re-invented into exhibition space. Historical work places of yesteryear, including a one teacher school, police watch house and railway station, have been relocated to the Centre from throughout Queensland. 

Home of the “Young-Un’ an enduring legacy – this offspring is the only direct descendant of the Heritage listed ‘Tree of Knowledge’ – symbolic of the Shearers Strike of 1891. 

Set in over two hectares, the Workers Heritage Centre has been designed with the weary traveller in mind. Beautifully landscaped gardens and shady trees surround a sparkling bore fed billabong creating a cool outback oasis, with the convenience of picnic, barbecue and playground facilities."

As I have previously commented, the feature building looks for all the world as though the circus has come to town, as this old photo, courtesy of 'Travel Guide', shows. And there is a reason for this....this is one bloody big tent which, as we saw in my last, rises high over the buildings of Oak Street.

For a place of its size, diversity of attractions, and beauty of the grounds, I was amazed to discover that it is a not-for-profit entity which receives not one jot of funding from any level of Government and is managed by a Board of nine and general Committee of fifteen, the members of which all provide their services in an honorary capacity. In a town of Barcaldine's size, this struck me as quite remarkable.

Obviously entry fees form part of the on-going funding, but at $18 for Liz and a mere $15 for her 'senior' (old fart) companion, yours truly, I consider these to be imposts on the purse of a very modest quantity.


The walk to the entrance along Ash Street took us past another of Barcaldine's street art exhibits, this time two horses attached to a small covered wagon, and again these animals were made of an assortment of old bits and pieces of machinery similar to the shearer in Oak Street.

A small cluster of businesses line this short section of the street including the coffee shop on the corner, Trackers Tours,

an art display (all of which was for sale of course),

and finally, of all things, a laundromat where the brightly coloured 'bubble' design decoration on the front wall very cleverly imitated the style of aboriginal dot painting.

We did comment that with all the tourist traffic this street attracts, these were very strategically placed enterprises.

The entrance to the Australian Workers  Heritage Centre (no-one uses what I think should be an apostrophe in this title!) faces down Ash Street which comes to a dead end at this point.

Needless to say the entrance area where fees are paid included rooms more than adequately stocked with 'Australiana' clothing, 

belts, hats (Akubra, of course), wallets, scarves and gift items of all sorts.....you name it, it was here!

Books and brochures were prominently displayed whilst the notice hanging around the neck of this cut out offered a dog minding service for those arriving with a pooch in tow (which serves to explain the otherwise very odd chalk notation below the sign!)

Large displays told the story of the centre and some of the events which led to it being here, but we already knew that tale, 

so we did not linger once our fees were paid, rather headed directly out into the magnificent gardens which are a real feature of this centre.

This seems as good a time as any to include an overview of the complex per medium of an excellent drawing of the grounds (taken from the centre's website) which shows how the huge tent towers over all around it.

From the entrance building we actually walked clockwise around the lake, past the elevated eating area, the railway station, the police exhibit (the tiny white building with the red roof), in and out of the 'big top', and thence through a number of buildings which form the bottom part of the grounds, culminating in a wander through the large old state school building with its two jutting wings which can be seen here directly across the lake from the tent.

A series of paved pathways make a stroll around these grounds a simple matter.

I've never been quite sure what purpose sign posts such as these serve, or why they are considered a necessary feature of exhibits such as this, but here it is for what it's worth. At least standing here I can be certain in the knowledge that Moscow is over 13,000 kms away.....now that's useful!

This shaded outdoor eating area, 

with elevated views out across the lake, seemed to be a much more practical inclusion in grounds which are desgined to encourage visitors to consider a picnic  

or a BBQ lunch.

The Kunwarara railway station building is actually the real deal. It was built in 1915 and moved here in 1994 from its original location some 75 kilometres north of Rockhampton.

Sitting at the station is another donation from Queensland Rail, this time what was once a sleeping car more latterly converted to a a maintenance wagon used by railway workers in western Queensland. 

The walls of both

are lined with photographs

and information boards telling the story of the development of Queensland's rail network, the reasons for it,

and some of the trials and tribulations of the families who made the tracks a reality.

Interspersed amongst all the historical stuff, were posters such as this extolling the virtues of the Shakespeare Hotel, where in the days of yore, for daily a tariff of ten shillings and sixpence, the redoubtable Mrs M Dennett would provide guests with great grog, airy rooms, "meals always ready on arrival of trains" (I loved that bit) and "prompt attention" to any waiting or arriving correspondence! What more could one ask for?

The odd amusing local anecdote popped up here and there to lighten the mood. I had heard previously that this is a true story, but it does seem to a have a jot of 'come in spinner' about it! "The jury remains out", as they say.

From the railway exhibit it was back to the pathway and  on to the 

rather quaint little Queensland Police contribution to the centre

where the sign posted outside the building told the story.

Inside one particular exhibit caught my eye. Now normally in an exhibition with an historical bent, a photo such as this would not arouse too much interest, but there is more to this one than initially meets the eye,

as the text next to it explains. The same jury is still out!

We had, by now, reached the towering tent which dominates the entire area. Before we go in, I would ask you to note what appear to be the side and rear of two large trailers either side of the entrance doorway. They look like trailers because that is exactly what they are (an explanation will follow).






As we wandered around the cavernous interior of this now permanent structure, two obvious questions demanded answers.......why was it built and why is it here?

And at this point dear readers, I am going to have to admit to a complete blank about something I should have known about.

The poster, which filled this embarrassing gap in my knowledge of events not too far in our past, was headed with a delicious pun, but more importantly provided the explanation I had been seeking, even down to the reason for the positioning of the large trailers I had mentioned in my last paragraph.

This huge structure, formally known as 'The Celebration Theatre', spans 40 metres and is as tall as an eight storey building. It can seat 600 people under its roof. 

It was designed to allow for the indoor screening of the film commissioned to celebrate Australia's 200th birthday and was the main structure in the tent city which toured the country. 







This photo gives some idea of just how impressive this travelling show really was. How on earth I had absolutely no recollection of this is quite beyond me.






So there we have the answer to the first question. As to the second, I am still not entirely sure how the Barcaldine group managed to snare this cavern of canvas for their site, but it did arrive with some fanfare. I guess it would come as no surprise, given the nature of this exhibition, to learn that the now permanently erected tent was formally opened by that doyen of the labour movement, the then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, on 4 May 1991.

Once I knew this, I could not help wondering just how much clout he may have wielded, directly or indirectly, to see this edifice erected as the centrepiece of an exhibition which celebrates all things 'worker' and 'union'.

I should comment at this point that I was more than underwhelmed once we had entered. Whilst the entire circumference of the interior walls was filled with photos and displays, there seemed to me to be little coordination or cohesion about the whole thing and that this was a spectacular space crying out to be put to better use. 





But at least I now knew why this was here, and we moved on much better informed than when we had entered, past the quite impressive pagola which backs onto the town War Memorial site, 













where the path took us past the eastern end of the lake 













and on to the group of buildings in this section of the centre.
















Before getting to this point, however, we did pass a tree which, but for the information board beside it (and the fence around it), may well have gone unnoticed.....just anther of the gums planted to shade those passing by. That, of course, would have been a real mistake.










This healthy looking ghost gum has far more significance. I'll not bore you with the somewhat self-promoting blurb on the nearby information board other than to say that this tree is the only direct 'descendant' of the original Tree of Knowledge, skillfully propagated by the scientists and staff of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. Well done team....a real slap in the face of the idiot who poisoned the original.

The buildings in this pat of the grounds included one dedicated to the Australian Workers Union

with a section dedicated to shearers at the rear of it (and, hooray, the pedant in me was delighted to see an apostrophe!)

The displays in this hall did not create any real surprises









but for one.....a list of the slang terms associated with the shearing industry.

I have to confess to being au fait with most ('ducks on the pond' struck a particular chord!) but I am sure this would be a real eye-opener for visitors from foreign shores.

The interior of the adjacent Labour House

was unsurprisingly entirely dedicated to a presentation of all things both 'labour' and 'Labor',

a presentation which included many old political cartoons which I have to say were, for me, the highlight of this exhibition. Frankly, by now, we were both beginning to feel somewhat brainwashed.

From here on the remaining exhibits were focused on the more practical aspects of working life, such as Transport and Communictions where the centre piece was this beautifully reconstructed Cobb and Co coach.

Next door, a single teacher school room, 

is another exhibit building brought in from elsewhere, this time from Torrens Creek, a tiny town on the Flinders Highway between Hughenden and Charters Towers. We have driven thought it on several occasions.

Behind the old school building, the Power House enclosed 

an old diesel driven electricity generator widely used throughout country areas for many years. This one came from Quilpie, another town with which we were now quite familiar.

I remain unsure as to just how demanding it was to keep these things running day and night, but one thing is certain.....if the size of this extinguisher is any thing to go by, fire suppression was in the forefront of the minds of those who established these plants.

And finally, here we were, at the last and, in my view, most elegant and impressive of all the buildings here in the Australian Workers Heritage Centre, the old Barcaldine State School. 

It was impossible to capture the entirety of this grand old building in one photo, so I scuttled around to Ash Street to grab another shot from a different perspective, but I have to admit I have still not been able to do it full justice.

Within these walls we found exhibits dedicated to the development of government in Queensland

including a recreation of the real seat of power, an early Parliamentary Chamber which we could view from an upper level.

By the time we had reached the end of our prowl around this undoubtedly impressive centre, we were pretty much mentally done and beginning to feel a little ambivalent about what we had seen. 

In the main the displays were impressive, and the grandeur of the tent spoke for itself. The grounds and gardens are nothing short of magnificent, but we both left with the feeling that much of the explanatory script with accompanies many of the exhibits and displays was just 'too much'.  I have always been a great fan of clever understatement, something which is definitely not to be found here.

But having said that, and without in any way wishing to sound 'sniffy', this is but a small and personal criticism of what is a marvellous exhibition, all the more impressive because it is self funding and managed entirely by volunteers. 

No trip to Barcaldine would be complete without a visit.