Bellbird Corner Riverside Reserve, Maffra in Maffra, Victoria | Landmark

Bellbird Corner Riverside Reserve, Maffra

Locality: Maffra, Victoria

Address: Sandy Creek Road 3860 Maffra, VIC, Australia

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• Landmark & historical place
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25.01.2022 Hello Cyclists! The "Great Rides in Wellington" brochure details 20 scenic bike rides in the shire including a Maffra-Newry-Tinamba circuit that involves an optional detour through Bellbird Corner. A mountain bike will be necessary since the old road the reserve follows is overrun with trees and full of cracks - and thats just the part of the road that still exists! You will also have to dismount and carry your bike down the steps to the short bridge over Newry Creek (impassable after heavy rain) and up again. Find the brochure by googling "Great Rides in Wellington"

25.01.2022 Eliza Amey drowned in 1867 at 12 months old and was buried on her parents dairy property on Lower Newry Road. Elizas mother was milking and to prevent her playing with the milk she left Eliza to play outside where she was found minutes later face down in a watering hole. Her coffin comprised two strips of bark from redgums. The scarred trees are in a fenced area near the corner of Lower Newry Road and Maffra-Newry Road and the grave itself was located using ground penetrating radar and is now marked and fenced. Both sites are maintained by the Bellbird Corner Riverside Reserve volunteers.

24.01.2022 Working Bee this 1 July is cancelled. See you on 5 August 2017.

24.01.2022 A sunny winters day perfect for a working bee. The wattle is just coming on and we have a great environmental flow to kick start the fish breeding.

22.01.2022 Bellbird Corner public meeting! Have you enjoyed visiting Bellbird Corner and want to help manage it? Bellbird Corner is maintained by a small group of dedicated volunteers appointed by the Department of Land, Environment, Water and Planning. A short meeting will be held on Saturday 3rd November at Bellbird Corner. The purpose of the meeting is to nominate between 3 and 9 people as the Committee of Management for Bellbird Corner for a term of 3 years. The current Committees term will expire on 17th November 2018. All positions will be declared open and nominations will be accepted prior to or on the day. Nominations from women are encouraged. Please contact secretary Tamsyn by text on 0427411935, by pm or comment on this post if youd like more information.

19.01.2022 Lovely winters day at the reserve.

19.01.2022 Working bee info! The working bee scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed for a week due to the forecast for stunning amounts of rain.

17.01.2022 A follow up from our previous post about Eliza Amey, her grave and the coffin tree: Gay Rogers has kindly allowed us to post these pages of her new book "Lone Graves of Gippsland". Phone 0419178242 to purchase the book in Willow Grove, 5633 2051 to purchase the book in Trafalgar or visit Collins Book Store in Sale.

14.01.2022 Spotted at Bellbird tonight, a Tawny Frogmouth. Thanks for the picture Jess and Angela!

14.01.2022 https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153563772791603&id=672636602&set=o.169771300065593

12.01.2022 Bellbird Corner is maintained by a small group of dedicated unpaid volunteers. Working bees are held at Bellbird Corner on the first Saturday of the month and new helpers are always welcome! Tasks may include mowing, weeding, spraying, track clearing, pruning, fencing, tree planting, whipper-snippering, and occasionally building work such as installation of tables, steps, creek crossing, and shelter. Our next working bee is this Saturday 6 May from 9.30-11.30am. A cuppa and snack is provided. Byo tools and protective gear. Children are most welcome with an adult. Please message or comment below if you would like to come, so we know to expect you.

11.01.2022 Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces or nephews? Are you a kid at heart? Come along to Bellbird Corner on Sunday 17th April 1-4pm, and have a go painting with ochre and charcoal with the fabulous Artist and Bush Tucker Facilitator Cassie Leatham! Kids may have met Cassie at school, as she takes her bush tucker and native craft workshops to schools all around Gippsland. She will show us how to make natural paint brushes to use, and will have air-dried clay for kids to have a play with, as well as some artefacts on display. There will be music to enjoy, and displays of insects and other critters by Mitch from Woolenook Native Plant Nursery. Its all FREE, brought to you by the Bellbird Corner Committee and Wellington Shire Council.

11.01.2022 Working bee info! Bellbird Corner is maintained by a small group of dedicated unpaid volunteers. Working bees are held at Bellbird Corner on the first Saturday of the month and new helpers are always welcome! Tasks may include mowing, weeding, spraying, track clearing, pruning, fencing, tree planting, whipper-snippering, and occasionally building work such as installation of tables, steps, creek crossing, and shelters. Our next working bee is this Saturday 3 November 2018 f...rom 9 - 11am. A cuppa and snack is provided. Byo tools and protective gear. Children are most welcome with an adult. Please message or comment below if you would like to come, so we know to expect you. Tamsyn See more

10.01.2022 Bellbird Corner is a public reserve following the route of an old road, between Sandy Creek Road and Lower Newry Road, Maffra, and incorporating the junction of the Newry Creek and MacAlister River. Once known for its resident bellbirds, the reserve encloses stands of remnant bushland and is home to a huge variety of flora and fauna. It is a popular place to walk, cycle and horseride, providing wonderful views to the mountains, a network of walking trails, and several picnic tables.

08.01.2022 We took our son nocturnal animal spotting at Bellbird last night and this brushtail possum came to check us out. We saw a barn owl too but couldnt get a decent photo.

06.01.2022 https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1140460832715010&set=o.169771300065593&type=3

04.01.2022 How lovely for our Bellbird Corner volunteers to be recognised during Volunteer Week by Wellington Shire Council and Volunteering Australia.

04.01.2022 The Coffin Tree Have you ever travelled along the Maffra-Newry Road and noticed a large gum tree about 100m west of the Lower Newry Road intersection? It has a low wooden fence around it and there is a prominent scar on the tree. Here is the story of that scar... Henry Amey and his wife Margaretta travelled from Port Albert by bullock wagon in 1863 to pitch a tent on the bank of the Newry Creek. They planted two poplars which can still be seen off Wrights Lane. Henry later pu...rchased the property on the corner of Lower Newry and Maffra-Newry Roads, built a slab and bark hut, and established a dairy herd, made cream and butter, and raised pigs. Henry carted his produce to Walhalla by pack horse, or walked the pigs 16 miles to Sale. On 27th April 1867 Henry was away. Margaretta was milking and fearing that her youngest child Eliza, then about one year old, would put her hands in the milk, she put Eliza outside. Tragically, Eliza drowned in a waterhole close to the dairy. A coroners inquiry was held within days and the jury found her death to have been accidental. At that time the cemetery had not been established in Maffra and Eliza was buried in consecrated ground on the family property. Henry cut two pieces of bark from a nearby gum tree to fashion a makeshift coffin for his young daughter. These are the scars that you see today on the Coffin Tree. Heritage Victoria have advised that this tree is the only known Coffin Tree in the state. Elizas grave is cared for by the Bellbird Corner Committee of Management. See more

02.01.2022 A little more about Eliza... In 1867 when little Eliza died tragically near her home on the corner of Maffra-Newry and Lower Newry Road, there was no cemetery in Maffra so her father Henry Amey cut two slabs of bark from a gum tree on Maffra-Newry Road, and Eliza was laid between them and buried in consecrated ground on the farm. A post and rail fence was constructed around Elizas grave, which over time collapsed and disappeared. A story goes that in 1930 Mr George Blackie S...nr was fencing on the farm which was then owned by Mr Alf Rowley. Down the hill from his hut came Bill (William) Amey, elder brother of Eliza and the sibling closest to her in age, and by that time an elderly man. He said to George, "You be very careful where youre digging, that is about where my little sister is buried." George went and saw the boss who relocated the fence. The late Mr Harry Roberts a local identity said the grave was 77m from the corner of the Maffra-Newry Road and 5m in from the edge of Lower Newry Road. When the Bellbird Corner Committee decided to mark the grave, underground imaging equipment was obtained through Wellington Shire Council. The grave was located precisely where Harry had said, 4 feet below the surface, the bark coffin visible on the imaging, and the same dimensions as the scar on the Coffin Tree. The Committee placed a marking headstone, found at Valencia Creek, and erected a fence around the grave. The West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority obtained a large rock, which stands with a plaque in the road reserve adjacent to the grave. In 2007 the refurbished grave was unveiled in an event attended by many descendants of the Amey family. Henry and Margaretta Amey stayed on the farm, and in 1880 had John Ashton design and build the red brick home that remains today. The Maffra Cemetery was established in 1870 and Henry Amey became one of its first trustees. Much of this history was compiled by Mr Ivan Frederick Amey, retold by Mr Jack Dwyer. See more

02.01.2022 At our working bee yesterday we did some weed control (an ongoing issue), and widened and smoothed the approaches to the new bridge over Guys Gully so the ride-on-mower can get through. Guys Gully is colloquially named after the family that has owned the adjoining land for many years.

01.01.2022 "River Walk" track.

01.01.2022 The weather is looking fine for this lovely afternoon tomorrow