ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

IPSWICH ON THE BREMER Maureen Clifford © 07/12


They came from Cornwall, Wales and Ireland - settled near the Bremer.
and gave this town the old familiar names.
They named them for places back home, the green hills that they loved
though climate here could hardly be the same.
The soft and gentle mists they loved fell not upon our plains
the yellow grasslands here were perhaps strange.
The heat of endless summers and the cold at winter times,
were thought by some to be a poor exchange.

But these were hardy folk and they were here to mine the coal
for in the eighteen hundreds it was found.
The first mine was at Woodend and then one at Tivoli,
The Eclipse, the Perseverance, Waterstown.
The mined coal was transported on steam punts on Bremer’s waters,
with coal enough to feed their boilers fires.
At Basin Pocket they would turn around and head back down
to Brisbane and the waiting, willing buyers.

They lost seven men at Eclipse in eighteen ninety three
the Bremer broke her banks and was in flood.
A roof collapsed and waters surged the men there stood no chance
all drowned, their bodies buried in the mud.
And once again the people mourned, mining was a hard game
but there was wealth and riches for their toil.
They now had shops and churches, and a Welsh Cambrian choir
and workers cottages built on this soil.

Majestic homes were also built with turrets reaching skyward,
the town was booming – all here held hopes high.
Lewis Thomas built Brynhyfryde in eighteen ninety one.
six hundred thousand bricks put out to dry.
Forty nine rooms his mansion held – named for a pleasant hill
in Wales – this bloke had worked since he was eight
He sought to make his fortune in the gold fields over here
but black gold made him rich here in this state.

Another man called Thomas opened up a general store.
Cambrian Stores in memory of home
His store at Blackstone stocked all different kinds of mining goods
that miners might require, from spade to comb.
A wide and shady awning graced the shop whose verandah
was built a little higher than the street
Two bow shopfront windows proudly displayed all of his wares
a shady spot for folks to meet and greet.

And should you today travel on a journey through Ipswich
it’s not hard to recall those earlier times.
We still have workers cottages upon our busy streets
and evidence still stands of those old mines.
The suburbs bear the names the miners gave them years ago,
Brassall, Blackstone, Ebbw Vale, Dinmore, Swanbank
We have a strong proud heritage, of blood and sweat and toil.
It’s those first intrepid miners we should thank.

A lot of interesting detail Maureen. Some of my mother's forebears were Cornish miners but they settled in Lithgow in NSW. They lived in a little section of Lithgow that is still known as Corneytown.

Sorry Neville I missed this It is interesting the history of the miners that came out here. The Cambrian Store I mention in this poem is still here in Ipswich and this poem was sparked by an online chat that I had with the GGrandson of the Mr Thomas mentioned and a photo restoration I did for him of a pretty crook old photo.

I had no idea when I wrote this that his GGF knew the other Mr Thomas but it turned out he was the land lord of the store across the road and had often entertained Mr Thomas the Cambrian store owner socially to soirees at Brynhyfryd, which no longer stands being demolished back in the 1930's when the depression hit. It was apparently the social hub of Ipswich in its day for the gentry. The main doors of Brynhyfryd are in the Welsh Cambrian choir building here and the story goes that many of the other fixtures and fittings from the grand old house are in other Ipswich homes still.