We arrived home from our trip to Cobden late yesterday afternoon. We had a cool start in the morning with a temperature of around 4C but the sun was warm, especially in the car behind glass.
We choose to drive home via Benalla and along the Silo Art Trail route via the towns of Tungamah, Devenish and Goorambat. This was a drive of about 300 km . We have seen these silos before, but they are worth revisiting, especially in Devenish where a couple of new murals can be seen. These towns are all on the railway line from Benalla to Oaklands in NSW. This line is freight-only and mainly used by seasonal grain trains.
Tungamah is a relic of earlier days with a number interesting and historic buildings. For example, the court house building was constructed in 1890. It started as a Court of Petty Sessions, being an intermediary between the community and the government, mainly for petty crimes. In cases of people being sentenced to prison they usually went to Beechworth jail. The Courthouse was closed in 1976, with the space being used by a resident police officer at that time, and later housing a preschool play centre. It is a long time since a magistrate presided over a case in this building
The Tungamah Silos were the first to be painted in north-east Victoria in 2008. The paintings depict iconic Australian bird life – dancing Brolgas, a Kookaburra, a Galah, a Kingfisher, a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, two small wrens with a white Ibis sitting in the thick foliage of a gum tree.
St James, to the south, is a rural township in northern Victoria, with its name coming from an original nearby pastoral station. In 1892 a storekeeper, George Coles, bought a shop in St James and another in Lake Rowan, 6 km eastwards on the road between Benalla and Yarrawonga. Three years later he built a family home in St James. In 1910 his son, George junior, after having worked for several rural and Melbourne retailers, acquired the St James business, which was the genesis of the G.J. Coles and Co chain of variety stores. The silo art on the three structures by the railway line tells the story of the origin of the town and the enormous retail business that we know today.
The next town to the south was Devenish. It is now a quiet and sleepy place with little activity apart from the general store in the main street. It has a populationn of about 290 people. Most of the buildings in the Main Street have been boarded up and it looks as though the pub has ceased business. A Post Office was opened there in 1877 under the name Broken Creek and was renamed Devenish in 1878. With the arrival of the railway in 1883, the post office was relocated and named Devenish Railway Station, before reverting to Devenish around 1889 as the township developed.
The town’s concrete grain silos, situated on the main street, began receiving wheat in December 1943. A bulk oat storage facility was added in 1965. During World War I, fifty young men and women from the Devenish community enlisted in the military services, representing one in six residents at that time. This significant contribution is commemorated through murals on the town’s silos. The artworks honor the service of these individuals and include depictions of a World War I nurse and a modern-day combat medic.
Around the corner is a barn-like building with a new mural depicting the Women’s Land Army of WW2 and a train arriving into the station.
The most southern town on this art trail is Goorambat. It is an unremarkable place other than for the fact that Queen Elizabeth II visited Goorambat in 1954 as part of her Victorian Tour and stayed over in her royal carriage for one night. The Goorambat silos were painted by famed iconic Melbourne Street artist Jimmy Dvate.
He is known for his striking renditions of endangered animals from across Australia. One of his paintings on the silos is an artwork depicting ‘Millie’ the Barking owl – a local raptor species. Millie is a resident of Healesville Sanctuary but is an endangered bird of prey from the area. On a second silo, he painted a rural scene that shows rthe typical habitat of the Brking Owl.
Later, Jimmy returned to paint a third silo with a tribute to Clydesdales Horses – Clem, Sam and Banjo. Clydesdales have always been the backbone to the Goorambat Community.
We found a sandwich for lunch at the roadhouse at Bonnie Doon on Lake Eildon. Because of the current drought, the water level is quite low, and like the rest of the area, it looks like it would benefit from a good downpour of rain.
Our last stop, before reaching home, was for a coffee at the tiny town of Yarck, near Yea. We have frequently stopped at the ‘Giddy Goat’ cafe for coffee or a snack. Before the days of Covid it was situated in a very simple building with wooden floorboards. During Covid, the owners converted the cafe into a ‘hole in the wall’ operation where drinks and food are served through a window. The owners told me that it was a better arrangement, but I don’t know whether she meant it was better for the owners and staff, or for the customers. With a fresh breeze blowing, it was much better to drink our coffee in the comfort of the car rather than outside at one of their picnic tables.
Stand by for the story of our next driving tour commencing in early July.
