THE EMPIRE PASS, NORTH LAWSON PARK BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

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North Lawson Park (on the northern side of the railway line at Lawson) has a long history extending back to the late 1870’s, when most of what we now know as Katoomba and Leura was only just being explored. It would be useful at this stage to check out my video on Dante’s Glen (here) and the blog which goes with it (here). There are many links in the blog to sites which will help you understand the place better.

The construction of walking tracks, steps, shelter sheds and all that goes with getting the public to visit these beauty spots was not just a matter of local pride but of economics. The upper mountain communities (Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba, 

Extract from the 1938 Railway "Walking Tours" map

Blackheath and Mt Victoria) were all after the tourists’ pounds as well. They had grander scenery, higher elevation and in particular round walks, where walkers didn’t need to retrace their steps. The Rodriguez, Federal and National Pass were, and still are, hard to beat for a great day’s walking. The Empire Pass at Lawson was Lawson’s attempt to capture more of this market.

We need to remember that, in those early stages of development, most of the money and labour required was donated by the local community. They did a remarkably fine job with very limited resources and we should honour the pioneer track designers and builders for the amazing things they achieved. At North Lawson Park, the main attractions lay on the western and eastern sides –Dante’s Glen and Fairy Falls on the one and Frederica Falls on the other. The “pass” (probably named to make it seem more impressive than it actually is) was constructed to join these two areas. It was 30 years after the initial track work in Dante’s Glen before the Pass was completed in October 1910. We don’t know who named it, but patriotism and loyalty to the British Empire was the order of the day and the appeal would be the same 4 years later when the Great War broke out in Europe – for God, the King and the Empire. You only have to look at coins of the day (King Edward VII, 1910) to see the inscription (in Latin, of course) “DEI:GRA:BRITT:OMN:REX:FID:DEF:IND:IMP”, which reads in English “By the Grace of God, King of all the British people, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India”. Most of that continued in use on Australian coins until 1966.

The people of Lawson were justly proud of their achievement. They not only constructed hundreds of stone steps, but put up sign posts in many places, built fire places and erected shelter sheds (at least 5 of them). Nothing remains today except the steps (and the seat at Lucy’s Glen, which I missed seeing this time) – and they blend perfectly into what is a beautiful environment, worth preserving for all time.

May I recommend Keith Painter’s Pocket Pal series of booklets (the relevant one being “North and South Lawson Walks”), which you can order from Mountain Mist Books (here). An extract appears opposite. A heritage study by the NSW Department of the Environment (here) contains lots of valuable information.

I’ll conclude with a little about Frederica Falls, which has given its name to the creek which the Pass follows for most of its length. Frederica was the eldest child of local pioneers Benjamin and Alice Roberts (born April 25, 1882).

 Her birth name was “Effie Alice Frederica Chilvers Roberts”; Frederica was what she was actually called. It seems that the land where the waterfall is located was owned by Benjamin Roberts at that time and the name was in use soon after her birth. This information comes from a biography of Roberts by Brian Fox in the Blue Mountains History Journal for October 2013 beginning on page 68. (Here). It may not be a great waterfall, but it is a great story.

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My grandmother (Annie Hayward) and my mother (Vera Paix) in 1957

From the 1927 "Mountaineer" tourist guide

WALKING TRACKS AT GORDON FALLS RESERVE LEURA BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

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The picnic area at Gordon Falls, Leura, is a great base for exploring some of the best tracks the Blue Mountains has to offer. It’s a stopping place for the buses which do the Katoomba-Leura circuit many times every day so you can easily get there from Katoomba or Leura railway stations, do a walk and then move on to other places like Echo Point and Scenic World.

I suggest you view my earlier video about Gordon Falls Reserve here and the blog here. There many other videos and blogs dealing with the area. These are listed below.

My recent video on walking tracks at Gordon Falls Reserve is here.

Videos

Katoomba Holiday 2007 Part 4

Gordon Falls to Tarpeian Rock

Sublime Point Road to Golf Links Lookout

Spencer St Leura to Lyrebird Dell

Leura Cascades to Olympian Rock

Gordon Falls to Golf Links Lookout

Leura Cascades to Tarpeian Rock

Gordon Falls Lookout and Elysian Rock

The Pool of Siloam and Lyrebird Dell

Blogs

Download a copy of the “Mountaineer Tourist Guide” (1908)

Leura Cascades to Tarpeian Rock

Gordon Falls Lookout and Elysian Rock

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DOWNLOADING “THE SCENIC RAILWAY” SOUVENIR BOOKLET (1937?) KATOOMBA

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The Scenic Railway at Katoomba was often called “The Mountain Devil” when I was young. 

This was before the Skyway and more recently the Cableway were added to the present Scenic World complex. The connection is that visitors to the Blue Mountains often bought (or made) little horned figures out of the hard fruits of the honey flower (Lambertia) which is plentiful in the upper mountains. You will notice the “devil” images in the book and the name on the side of the carriage in photographs.

It’s not my intention to write a history of the place – others have already done a great job of that. I’ll let this little book tell the story itself, which is why you need to download a copy. According to “Trove” (the National Library of Australia’s online search facility), this publication is out of copyright so you are free to download a copy for your own use. The link with Trove is here. Go to the bottom of the page which loads up and click on the download link there. It begins with “View at …”.

At the time of publication the operation of the Scenic Railway was still under the control of the Katoomba Colliery Limited; subsequently the whole site was bought by the Hammon family and developed into the world class tourist attraction it is today. For more information on the origins of the present day Scenic World, see “The Burning Mists of Time” written by Philip J Pells and Philip J Hammon (2009). The book has its own website here. (Link not working February 2024.)

My video which accompanies this blog is here. It contains more photographs from the Scenic Railway booklet.

Here is a list of some of my videos and blogs (with links) which make reference to Scenic World:

Videos

To the Bottom of the Scenic Railway Via Furber Steps 21st November 2015

Katoomba Falls Walking Tracks 25^th June 2015

Katoomba Holiday Part 1 15^th May 2015

Cascade St to Katoomba Falls Reserve 17^th January 2015

The Cableway Scenic World 16^th December 2014

The Rainforest Walkway Scenic World 10^th December 2014

The Scenic Railway Scenic World 29^th November 2014

The Skyway Scenic World 13^th November 2014

Katoomba Falls to Scenic World 12^th September 2014

The Round Walk Katoomba Falls to Scenic World (2) 4^th July 2014

Furber Steps 23^rd January 2014

The Round Walk Katoomba Falls to Scenic World (1) 24^th August 2013

Blogs

Katoomba Falls Walking Tracks 25^th June 2015

Furber Steps Katoomba Falls 22^nd January 2014

The Round Walk Katoomba Falls 15^th September 2013

The Katoomba Falls Reserve 26^th August 2013

The Orphan Rock Katoomba 21^st August 2013

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Lambertia formosa - the Honey Flower or Mountain Devil

KATOOMBA FALLS WALKING TRACKS BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

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The Katoomba Falls area was one of the first in the Blue Mountains opened up for tourists to enjoy. Local residents probably made the first rough tracks from the vicinity of today’s railway station down to the number one attraction – Katoomba Falls. The opening of the nearby coal mine around the same time made access easier to this area and the basic network of tracks we know today was in existence well before 1900.

Quite a lot of my videos and blogs have been about this area. In fact, we seem to have lunch or afternoon tea in the reserve nearly every week. Here is a list of these – with links – which will help you to explore the area from the comfort of your own home (or from along the track, if you are so inclined).

The illustrations come various old guide books I’ve downloaded through Trove.

Videos

Katoomba Falls Walking Tracks 25^th June 2015 

Katoomba Holiday Part 2 21^st May 2015 

Katoomba Holiday Part 1 8^th May 2015 

Cascade St to Katoomba Falls Reserve 17^th January 2015 

AShort Round Walk at Katoomba Falls 21^st November 2014   

Katoomba Falls to Scenic World 12^th September 2014 

The Round Walk Katoomba Falls 4^th July 2014 

Katoomba Cascades to Echo Point 25^th January 2014 

Furber Steps Katoomba Falls 23^rd January 2014 

Katoomba Falls Reserve and Caravan Park 25^th August 2013 

The Round Walk Scenic World to Katoomba Falls and Return 24^th August 2013 

Katoomba Cascades and Reid’s Plateau  3^rd August 2013

Blog Entries

Prince Henry Cliff Walk Katoomba Cascades to Echo Point 24th January 2014 

Furber’s Step Katoomba Falls 22nd January 2014 

Katoomba Falls to the Bottom of the Upper Falls 5^th December 2013 

The Round Walk Katoomba Falls 15^th September 2013 

Katoomba Falls Reserve 26^th August 2013 

The Orphan Rock 21^st August 2013 

The Katoomba Cascades and Reid’s Plateau 3^rd August 2013

Please let me know via the comments section below or on individual blogs or videos if you find something that should be corrected (or added).

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF “THE MOUNTAINEER” (1908) BLUE MOUNTAINS TOURIST GUIDE

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Over the past 150 years (or thereabouts) hundreds, maybe thousands, of books have been written about the Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia. Their location (50-100 km west of Sydney), their wild beauty (rugged sandstone outcrops, numerous waterfalls and cascades), their vegetation and their altitude (rising to more than 1100 metres ASL) have made the area a popular place to visit and live.

More books are being written even as I write this which shows the undying interest of the public in “all things Blue Mountains”. While the occasional copy of an out-of print book can be found in second hand shops, I know from experience how rarely this happens. Even then it is unlikely to be as much as 50 years old. However, there is a resource available to all where we can download (for free!) copies of some genuinely old books. I am referring, of course, to Trove, the online arm (eye might be better) of the National Library of Australia. You can go to the Trove site directly from this link here. You will soon discover that it is a very diverse collection indeed. If you are new to Trove, I suggest you spend some time exploring it. You will be amazed at what’s there for you to study and enjoy.

I’ve chosen to concentrate on collecting downloadable books, magazines etc which deal directly with the Blue Mountains, though I have built up quite a library of other material which interests me. Getting time to read this electronic library is another thing, however!

You will generally be able to get what you want as a .pdf file, something easily read, saved and passed on to others. Sometimes it will come as an html file, which can present a problem if you are trying to make your collection look neat. It won’t always be easy to find out exactly how to download the desired item, but you can’t do any harm to the original by trying.

Even if you select “available online”, that doesn’t mean you can download the file or even look at it. You may need to be a member of a particular library (which means having a password) or be able to see only a page at a time. That’s all part of the challenge, I guess.

Finally, you will locate lots of material you can’t download. Usually this means that it is still covered by copyright; in these cases you may be able to locate a library from which a hard copy can be borrowed.

The reference in question today is the 1908 printing of “The Mountaineer”  the Blue Mountains tourist guide book. You can experiment by locating it yourself or you can use this link which I’ve already found here. This takes you to an information page. Here there are a number of active links which lead you to another information page. One of these is the image of the cover of the book, which is the one I followed. This second information page also has an image of the cover; clicking on this takes you to a third information page. On the left margin is a series of buttons, one of which (a down arrow in a circle) brings up “download” when the cursor passes over it. Click on it, and yet another information page appears. It is preset on .pdf for me, if not, select it, followed (finally) by "download”.

What you do now is going to depend on what software you have, but I select “Save File”, which puts a copy of the document into my download folder. Later on, I can shift it to a permanent folder, adjusting the name to whatever suits me. If I select “Open” instead, a copy of the document opens on the screen (naturally). You can then save it to wherever you wish.

This blog is illustrated by pages from the book, which, incidentally, is physically very small and fits into the palm of your hand. I have a 1927 copy, passed on from my maternal grandmother. Most of the text is the same as the 1908 version, though many of the advertisements, maps and other information have been updated.

Much of this material is repeated in my video on the same subject. You can view it by clicking here.

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BERGHOFER PASS MT VICTORIA BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW AUSTRALIA

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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 (5^th November 1906), and he became its first elected president on 1^st 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, 31^st 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 30^th December 1911 here.

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The Coo-ees recruiting march on the Pass. Day 26 (4th November 1915)

EVANS LOOKOUT, BLACKHEATH NSW AUSTRALIA

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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 15^th 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 26^th 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 16^th 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)

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MERMAID’S CAVE BLACKHEATH NSW AUSTRALIA

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“There is a beautiful gully near Blackheath, leading from what is known as the Mermaid's Cave - why so called only those who named it can know: one thinks of a sandy beach with white-crested waves, a cavern decked with glistening shells, and a lady with a long tail combing her hair. There is nothing of that sort to be seen, but after scrambling down a stony path and jumping over rocks, where a fall would be most inconvenient, one comes upon a shining pool, which, fed by a stream trickling through a cleft in the over-arching nook, in its turn feeds another stream, which gurgling over a rocky

path makes a deep gorge glorious with greenery. Here are ferns, from the majestic tree spreading protecting arms over the clear water to the tiny plant whose delicate fronds beautify every nook and corner and make all nature lovely. "Oh, if I could only take a little bit of the gully home," said one of us, "I shouldn't want a bush-house." "Just so, my dear madam, but this is a world of work, and nothing good can be got without effort." We appreciated this answer when the time came to go back, but hard work though it was we felt amply repaid by the memory of beauty, which once seen can never be forgotten.”

Charles Bayless photograph circa 1885

This poetic description comes from the Illustrated Sydney News, February 16, 1884 and is similar to several others of the time. Blackheath was in its infancy in those days, the first lots having been sold at a government auction in 1879. Development was slow at first and by the time of the Illustrated Sydney News report the population would have been only a few hundred. Nevertheless, Mermaid’s Cave appears to have been the first Blackheath attraction after Govett’s Leap and the Recreation Reserve surrounding it must have been declared in the 1880’s. It is now administered by the Blue Mountains City Council.

Naturally, the history of the place goes back into the Dream Time, and you might appreciate this video drawing attention to those times (here). Whether this is based on folk memory or not I cannot say, but it is a place which all visitors should enter with respect.

From the movie - source given on right

That this has not always been the case is apparent by comparing the scene today with old photographs, which reveal the amount of destruction of the rain forest which has taken place. I doubt that filming scenes from the movie “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” in 1985 did it much good either. For more information see here.

Other useful references are my You Tube video (here) and Jack Merriman’s photographs (here).

The place is easy to find. Cross the railway at the level crossing in Blackheath and immediately turn left into Station Street. Turn right along Shipley Road soon after, which you follow for about a kilometre to the Megalong Valley turnoff on the left. About another kilometre further on, the road goes through a deep cutting, at the end of which you will see the Mermaid’s Cave car park on the right. The track is signposted opposite the car park. Take care here – descending traffic cannot see you crossing the road! The walk takes 10-15 minutes and you can return by following the road back to the car park. All this is shown in the video. Fortunately traffic is light, except perhaps at weekends.

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Source: JEM Russell's Pictorial Guide to the Blue Mountains 1882-85