Manjimup

We passed through Pemberton on the way to Manjimup. Pemberton is a town surrounded by tall timber and has the Gloucester tree only 3km from town. The Gloucester tree is the highest working fire outlook tree in the world.  There are 153 climbing rungs to a height of more than 60 metres. The town has many timber buildings adding to the character of the town.  There are still streets with some of the small timber cottages really giving the town that character.



Climbing the Gloucester tree, as if, done that in 1980 why do it again.

We stayed in Manjimup for a couple of nights, again another town in the sheep and timber area, although I think Manjimup is on the fringe of the tall timbers.  The highlight for me was the Manjimup Timber & Heritage Park at the northern end of town - it was free to enter the park with a large picnic and playground in the centre which is surrounded by heritage buildings and logging equipment.

Snorting Liz

Snorting Liz - this is a unique 12 tonne steam engine built by Ransome Sims and Jefferies in Ipswich UK.  It began life in WA clearing land for the State Gov.  Later brought by the Shepherdson family it went into service in 1915 hauling logs. As a traction machine it was unsuitable in the heavy wet soil of the south west so it served inside the sawmill, stationary.  When Shepherdson put down rail lines to Wilga Sawmill, Snorting Liz was converted to wheels for rails in 1921.

Robey Steam Engine

Robey Steam Engine - The horizontal, Class E, cross compound engine used to drive the Tone River Mill

Robey Steam Engine

Locomotive Engine Number 109

Locomotive Engine S.A.Y. Class number 109 was built by Beyer Peacock & Sons Ltd, Manchester, England in 1907.  It was reputed to have hauled passenger carriages between Perth and Freemantle.
From 1958-62 it hauled timber over rough bush lines to Bunning Bros. Northcliffe Mill.  Derailments were a daily occurrence.

 

A couple of the buildings on display, the cottage and other buildings are furnished with glass dividers providing good visibility of exactly how these buildings were furnished.

King jarrah tree, estimated to be 500 yrs old and 2.6m diameter

Going west from Manjimup towards Nannup we stopped, had a coffee and checked out Glenoran Pool, The Four Aces and the One Tree Bridge, which when you look at the piccie it's self explanatory.  Unfortunately not a lot of history about the bridge was mentioned other than the tree was used to span the river but you could see how the timber cutters would have used their ingenuity to build this crossing.

One Tree bridge

One thing that continues to impress us as we have travelled through WA is the facilities which are provided at the small parks and stops.  They usually have well maintained and clean picnic tables and toilets for the locals and tourists to use.