Waratah

I am back from a few days in Tasmania's north and made a visit to Waratah. Roland and Billy Doe, grandchildren of Ephraim lived here with their wives and families: Roland till the early thirties, Bill for longer. It was different then. They were mining for tin at Mt Bischoff and the greenery and timber had disappeared. No conservation efforts were made in those days. It seems that there was electric light into the mine but the work was hard, dark and dirty. We looked for the spot where the Roland Doe house was, before it was transported to Wilmot and think we found it. So much for waratah however, the place was over run with gorse and broom. There used to be lots of tin in those hills but the gold is from the weeds. There are some great photos in the museum, taken in the early 1900s and the twenties. They had a picnic attended by 2500 people! That is a lot of tablecloths and crystal butter dishes to cart around! Knowing my family, everything would have been done properly.