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Sunday 24 May 2015

BERGHOFER PASS MT VICTORIA BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA


JW Berghofer circa 1912
The central character in this blog is John William Berghofer, born as Johannes Wilhelm Berghoefer in Munchhausen, Germany, who arrived in Australia as a 12 year-old in 1855. After working on properties in the area, he purchased the former Victoria Inn at Little Hartley in 1892, renaming it “Rosenthal”. He lived here until shortly before his death in 1927. With the formation of many rural Shires (local government areas) he became the first president of the Blaxland Shire Council, now incorporated within the Greater Lithgow City Council area. Follow up these references to learn more about the life of WJ Berghofer: The Mt. Wilson Bushwalking Group for May 2009 here and John Low’s book “Pictorial Memories Blue Mountains” (1991) here.
Rosenthal/Rosedale Little Hartley
As you can see from the adjacent photograph, probably taken well before Berghofer’s time, Rosenthal (now known as “Rosedale”) lies close to the foot of Victoria Pass. It would have seen a lot of passing traffic after its construction in the 1830s, especially following the discovery of gold near Orange in 1851. This greatly diminished after the railway from Sydney to Bowenfels was opened in 1869, when most of the many roadside inns in the Hartley-Bowenfels area became redundant.
Berghofer Pass (centre) and Victoria Pass (behind)
The completion of the Jenolan Caves road from Hartley through the Grand Arch in 1896 encouraged lots of visitors to make the journey from Mt Victoria. At first there were only horse drawn vehicles and bicycles but gradually motor vehicles began to appear on the route. Regular services from Katoomba were running as early as 1905. It must have been obvious to Berghofer, who was no doubt called upon to retrieve vehicles unable to cope with the steep grades of Victoria Pass, that an easier route was essential for the new-fangled automobiles. Thus was born the idea of a whole new road between Little Hartley and Mt Victoria.
Horse and dog drinking trough
Moves to build the new road must have commenced soon after the formation of the Blaxland Shire Council in June, 1906. At the same time, construction and maintenance of roads became a responsibility of local government. JW Berghofer’s name appears in the list of candidates for the first election (5th November 1906), and he became its first elected president on 1st March 1907, replacing the previously appointed “Temporary President”. (The Mudgee Guardian is the source of this information.) Work was certainly underway by March 1908, though without access to Council records, I can’t say when it started. In the issue of the Sydney Morning Herald for Tuesday, 31st March 1908, page 9, the road is called “Berghofer Pass”. It must not be thought, however, 
Blaxland Shire Council inscription
that Berghofer’s name was attached to the new road simply because he was the Shire President. In fact, he had been one of the prime movers in the construction of the 1900 Explorer’s Monument at the end of Mt York, as he was later to be of the 1913 celebrations at Mt York and Mt Victoria. Clearly, Berghofer saw the Mt York area as one of special importance to him personally. It dominates the view from “Rosedale” today as it always has.

Blue Mountains Shire inscription
Work on the new pass was not easy. The site was demanding and the adjoining Blue Mountains Shire Council was also involved, boundary adjustments between the two being underway at the time. No doubt this is the reason for the rock engraving showing the boundary between the two council areas. It appears that vehicles began using the road even while it was under construction, and it was in general use by the beginning of 1910. For approximately 10 years the pass was extensively used, but by 1920 most traffic had returned to the former route, which we know as Victoria Pass. It was not until 1952 that Berghofer Pass was finally closed, though no doubt adventurous motorists continued to travel on it after that date.
The Pass today has become a fine walking track, providing great views of the valley and especially the stonework put in place by convict gangs on Victoria Pass in the 1830’s. It allows walkers to appreciate the effort put into this project more than a century ago. See my video on the walk here.
Victoria Pass convict stonework
Something needs to be said about the treatment of JW Berghofer during World War 1. There were already schemes afoot to change the name to “Victoria Pass” before the war began, though this was never done officially. However, you will come across photographs of the Pass using that name or sometimes “New Victoria Pass”. I suspect that there were some in local government who envied Berghofer’s prestige and took the opportunity to attack him when anti German sentiment was reaching new heights in 1916. They successfully lobbied the state and federal governments to have the right to vote and to serve in local government removed from anyone of German birth. Berghofer lost his position on the Blaxland Shire Council. The same thing happened to Charles Lindeman on the Blue Mountains Shire Council.
The inscription as it is today
Some bigoted people even chipped Berghofer’s name off the inscription near the top of the pass. Well after the war the Blue Mountains council promised to restore it, but they never did. Berghofer died with the knowledge that there were still those who disliked him because of his birth nationality. It was not until 70 years had passed that his name was once again engraved in the sandstone cliff and it took the effort of his descendants to get the job done.
I’ll let John William Berghofer have the last word. “He was Australian and his heart was in this country. He asked those who signed the petition what had they done for this country. He had cleared the bush and made a farm, and used his strength and ability for the good of the country. Unless the Government said he was not fit to occupy the positions he now held he would not resign.” Read the entire article here.
Some Additional Reading: Presentation to the Duke and Duchess of York The North Western Courier Narrabri Thursday 5 May 1927, page 6 here.
Illustrated article (difficult to read) in The Evening News Saturday 30th December 1911 here.
My Blue Mountains You Tube playlist is here. I have three other playlists - on gem hunting/mining, Glen Innes and New Zealand.
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The Coo-ees recruiting march on the Pass. Day 26 (4th November 1915)

Sunday 3 May 2015

EVANS LOOKOUT, BLACKHEATH NSW AUSTRALIA


View from Evans Lookout October 1960
Every Blue Mountains lookout has a story attached to it. This lookout has one of the finest views of them all, but it’s not simply the view we are interested in here.
The first questions which come to mind are these: who was George Evans and how does his name come to be attached to this lookout? Because we have recently celebrated the bicentenary of the first Blue Mountains crossing by the British settlers in NSW, many will be aware that Governor Macquarie sent out an expedition late in 1813 to follow up on the discoveries of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. This was led by George Evans, assistant surveyor to John Oxley, who went on to the site of Bathurst and beyond.  Be assured that this is a different George Evans from the one whose name is attached to the lookout.
The monument at the lookout has this inscription: “This memorial was erected in memory of George Evans Esq. Solicitor of Sydney & London who was a pioneer of this district. He discovered this lookout and entrance to Grose Valley in the year 1882. Erected by his daughter Mrs E.E. MacLaurin 1932.” This information appears to be accurate, except that it is unlikely that Evans was the first to discover the nearby access into the valley.
There are several valuable books you might like to locate. “Blackheath – Today from Yesterday” (produced by the Blackheath Rotary Club, 2005) is a great source of information on early Blackheath, including material on George Evans. “Back from the Brink” (Andy Macqueen, second edition 2007) is the story of the Grose Valley and is a great read.
Note: "Mr Evans" lower centre of map
You can download a report on George Evans’ Blackheath home “Cleopatra” from the Department of the Environment here. Another useful download from a blog called Dossier 48 (here) will also save me repeating a lot of material.
That Evans’ country home had already been built in Blackheath by 1882 is beyond doubt. It’s also clear from a report in the Nepean Times (Saturday 15th June 1889, page 4) that a track ran from there to what is now known as Evans’ Lookout. You can download this from Trove here. Also of interest is a map (probably dating from 1882) in the “Pictorial Guide to the Blue Mountains” by JEM Russell, which you can download from Trove here.
There is good reason to believe that, although Evans came across the site of the lookout in 1882, he was preceded by others who found the access into the Grose Valley, probably by way of the present Horse Track.
Hayward Gully Falls from Pulpit Rock Lookout
Evidence for this comes from two letters by one William Hayward, the first in The Sydney Morning Herald for Thursday 26th January 1860, page 8 (downloadable here). Hayward claims to have shown the route for the proposed railway line through the Grose Valley to the surveyors in 1857 or 1858. The second letter tells us that a route he used to get into the valley was near today’s Evans Lookout. (Australian Town and Country Journal for Saturday 16th October 1875, page 33.) This letter is downloadable here. He states that he was last in the valley in 1849, a fact which is not inconsistent with the 1860 letter. Obviously, the way into the Grose Valley near Evans Lookout was known before George Evans came there in 1882.
Presumably Myles Dunphy named the nearby gully “Hayward Gully” in recognition of this man’s feat.
Apparently it is only a happy coincidence that my uncle Philip Hayward and his family were living in the vicinity around the time that Dunphy was investigating the area (1950’s).
Here are the links to several of my videos on the Evans Lookout area. Evans Lookout Tracks here. The Grand Canyon here. The Cliff Top Track here.
There has been considerable redevelopment of the lookout area in recent years. (Note February 2024)
My Blue Mountains You Tube playlist may be found here. I have three other playlists - on gem hunting/mining, Glen Innes and New Zealand.
All New England and other Geology blogs and videos