Blackall via Barcaldine

August 02, 2018

The Knowledge Tree in Bark-y

Blackall via Barcaldine (Colloquially known as Bark - y)

We departed Longreach on the Sunday morning and drove to Blackall via Barcaldine. Barcaldine is the town which took the stand re the Shearers strike. It is renowned as the town that was responsible for the formation of the Labor Party in Queensland and you get a sense that the town is proud of its role in Australia's political history. The Knowledge Tree in the middle of town is very remarkable.

Once in Blackall and after a bit of a look around we decided to stay at the Council Park in town but just off the man road. This town is kept impeccably by the Blackall and Tambo Council. The Park is $4.00 a head and includes free showers and toilets, some of the cleanest we have seen whilst caravaning. We just hope everyone filled out the form and put the money in the honesty box!

In the afternoon we walked through the town noting all of the lovely gardens, including the beautiful Bottle Trees (Boab) and other information boards. We decided we could see the Blackall steam driven Wool Scour in the morning before departing for Charleville, but that we would sadly miss the Blackall Bushmans Hall. Blackall was the first Queensland town to tap into the Great Australian Artesian Basin which happened in the early 1900’s by drilling over 2,000 feet to tap into the basin. This still supplies the towns hot and cold water even when the Wool Scour closed in 1978.

The remainder of the afternoon allowed me to finish Leos model boat I had been plugging away at since leaving Adelaide.

Next morning packed up and off to the Post Office to send off the model boat for Leo and Ela’s gift. That done we were out to the Steam driven Wool Scour. The Wool Scour has received since restoration, recognition as a Heritage Engineering feat. Apart from the Artesian Bore still being operable the friends of the Wool Scour have restored the Steam Engine, Buildings and the Scour troughs etc. The following videos will provide some insight into why the Scour was awarded Engineering Heritage recognition.

After scouring and drying this is how clean the wool looks

The Scour was operable till 1978 when wool became scarce because the farmers were loosing too many sheep to dingoes and other wild dogs and as a result, changed their merino stock for cattle!

Sadly now all Australian wool is scoured in China!

I hope the photos give you some idea of the engineering excellence this heritage wool scour has been built on together with the tenacity and ingenuity of the people who worked there. As well it will show the work volunteers undertook to get the Wool Sour back into operating as a demonstration of the engineering excellence and its service provision for the Australian wool industry. I hope the photos tell a bit more of the story for you.