The Barwon Heads Road is being upgraded, and it's not before time. The problem for all of us cyclists that use it a lot is that it's not open for use and that's meant I've had to find some new riding courses. One of my new ones sees me ride on Moolap Station Road. And that brings me to the subject of this post.
The road used to start at Cheetham Road, well it still does it's just that it's now cut off at Portarlington Road. It runs from there, due south until it turns into Townsend Road on the other side of the Bellarine Highway. I use it to get between the Portarlington Road and the Bellarine Highway.
Cheetham Salt Works - Moolap
Former Alcoa Site - Point Henry
The Cheetham Salt Works are where the road starts and are probably one of the main reasons the road exists. No doubt it was used to get people, product and goods to the other end, where yes, the Moolap train station was located. More on that, later.
The salt works are long gone, the pans are still there but the salt operations departed many years ago. I won't delve into the history as many others have already done that, except to say that there's still conjecture over what happens here next. The Government has prepared the "Moolap coastal strategic framework plan" and their project page informs that "The Moolap Plan itself does not approve development or rezone land. Implementation will be undertaken over time, informed by the future actions of Government and land owners."
What has been happening however, a little further out at Point Henry, is the complete demolition of the Aluminium works. The piles of concrete are enormous. Once it's all gone, this could very well be a nice residential area, as the plan seems to hold. On my rides to the point and back, I've noticed two things that would need to be taken care of. 1: given the rubber on the road and destroyed car tires, someone's having some fun in their car out there. 2: Illegal dumping on the side of the road.
The former Alcoa aluminium smelter and rolling mill covers approximately 81 hectares and is owned by Alcoa. It opened at Point Henry in 1963 and after 51 years of operation the smelter closed on 1 August 2014 and the rolling mill closed on 19 December 2014. The area is currently being decommissioned and rehabilitated in line with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) requirements. Alcoa have removed the majority of their buildings and infrastructure from Point Henry as part of their decommissioning works.
Cheetham Races
What am I referring to here? Well, I'm crossing into one of my other great passions right now, and that's the project where I am tracking down every former racecourse in Victoria. This next piece comes from my book "They Once Raced Here: The lost racecourses of Victoria. Volume 1: Barwon and Central Highlands."
Location: Lucas's paddock
Club: Cheetham Welfare Club
1926 – 1927
The Cheetham Salt Works existed in Geelong from 1888 to 1992 when operations ceased. Their main Geelong operations were in Moolap on the shores of Corio Bay with their plant located on the north side of the Portarlington Road. Now demolished, the salt plant was located near Wilsons Road.
The company had a Staff Welfare Club that, amongst other things, arranged for regular events for the employees. In 1926 and 1927, their regular sports day included horse racing events for which they obtained a racing permit.
In 1926, the events were held on 26 April and included, as the main event of the day, a trot. The sports and that trotting race took place adjacent to the Cheetham Salt Works in Moolap in the paddock of local dairy farmer, John Thomas Lucas. The forty acre paddock was on the southeast corner of Wilsons Road and Portarlington Road. Lucas Street and Lucas Reserve exist today on the land once owned by John Lucas.
In 1927, the sports were again held on 19 March and on the same land as the prior year. In addition to the trot race, there was also a hack race held that day.
Moolap Reserve and Races
Road looking North; School and Reserve; Road looking South
Yes, there were more races in the area, but this time we're moving back to Moolap Station Road. And again, I'll excerpt from my book.
Location: William Dean's paddock – adjoining Moolap State School
Club: Moolap State School Sports
1928 – 1932
A sports meeting was held by the Moolap State School in October 1928. Included on the program for the day were several trotting and pony races. The sports were held in the paddock of Councillor William Dean on land that adjoined the State School. The sports were again held in October 1929 and through until 1932 when a fatality occurred in a pony race on the day.
"PONY FALLS ON RIDER
Boy Fatally Injured
GEELONG. Sunday. -- The annual sports meeting in aid of Moolap school funds was attended by a fatal accident on Saturday. The lust event on the programme was a pony race, and the ponies were lined up for the start when C. Hincliff's Billy reared and overbalanced. The rider, William Hill, 16 years, of Verner street South Geelong, was pinned under the animal.
It was seen that he was seriously injured, and he was hastened to Geelong Hospital where an operation was performed for the purpose of relieving the pressure on the brain caused by a fracture of the skull. Hill, however, died during the early hours of the morning. The matter has been reported to the coroner."
While newspaper reports indicate that the sports had been taking place in Moolap since at least 1918, it appears that in the earlier years racing was not as formal as in the period from 1928 to 1932 with only novelty pony events and draught horse races on the program.
The State School, which is still standing today, was located on the corner of Moolap Station Road and Moolap School Road. It was situated in what is now Moolap Reserve. William Dean owned around 127 acres of land in Moolap. The northeast boundary of the Moolap Reserve is now known as Wills Crescent and the land on the opposite side of this road was William Dean's acreage. It was here that the sports and racing took place.
Wills Crescent is named for the first owner of the land of both where the school is and what became Dean's land. That owner was Thomas Wills who is credited as being one of the creators of Australian Rules football.
Moolap Star Drive-In
As we head further North on the road we come to a set of gates into what appears to be a paddock behind a house. These gates are from the former Moolap Drive-in that was located on the southern corner of the intersection with Cooney Street. I've known of the existence of this one for a little while, just like the one in Bell Post Hill that I wrote about some years ago. Other than the gate posts there's nothing left to indicate that a Drive-In was once here.
Entry Gate off Moolap Station Road (on left)
According to "Cinema Treasures", the Star Drive-In opened on 28 January 1955 and closed on 24 March 1984 and accommodated 581 cars. An aerial photograph on their website indicates that the screen was at the southern end of the property, near Wiggs Road. The entrance was through the gates that remain at Cooney Street and the exit was through the gate at the corner of Wiggs Road.
Exit gate onto Moolap Station Road (On right)
Moolap Station
Next stop on the road is the former Moolap Station site. The reason the road is named the way it is. The station was on the Geelong - Queenscliff railway, and you can read more on that from my blog of July 2016. (https://chrisganly.wixsite.com/author/post/2016/07/19/the-rail-trail)
The station site is on the east side of the road and is prominently marked on what is now the Bellarine Rail Trail. As the City of Greater Geelong's sign at the location explains, the station was firstly a wooden platform and was opened in 1 August 1881. A small shelter shed was added in 1887. As I mentioned earlier, the nearby salt works generated passenger traffic for the train and a goods ramp was added in 1890 and a station porter worked there until 1893. The goods siding did little business and it was removed in 1900. The station was used by the US Navy when they visited in 1908. After WWI there was very little traffic for the station and it was finally closed on 10 March 1936.
Former Moolap Inn
As we head further down the road, we come to the Bellarine Highway. On the south east corner of the intersection stands a house. This house was once the location of the Moolap Inn.
In 1859, Thomas Knapp advertised that there would be Christmas Sports on Boxing Day at his Moolap Inn. The events included a hack race for a silver cup.
Well that's it for Moolap Station Road. You never quite know where I'll go next.
Have fun out there!
Chris
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