Saturday, June 16, 2007

WELDBOROUGH HOTEL

Andrew and I had the pleasure of visiting the Weldborough Hotel in North-East Tasmania recently. The hotel offers accommodation both inside and also camping and powered caravan sites with an amenities block on-site.

The heritage listed Weldborough Hotel, originally built in 1886 and previously known as the All Nations Hotel, is situated in the picturesque rainforest of the northeast of Tasmania.

The hotel was mostly burnt down in 1928 and rebuilt by the then owner Maurice Russell. The area is perfect for bushwalking, fishing, mountain cycling, off road biking and driving.

This tiny settlement which is located 124 km north-east of Launceston is notable, more than anything else, for the exceptional pub - the Weldborough Hotel - and the Weldborough Pass where huge tree ferns grow on either side of the road.

Weldborough was first known as Thomas Plains. It was named after an early surveyor. The original plan was to open the area to rural development but the discovery of tin resulted in a sustained mining boom.

The mining boom saw a service town of pubs, general stores, butcher's shops and the like. Later a hotel (with good accommodation) and a racecourse were built.

'The Centenary of Portland' describes the town in the 1880s as 'The Chinamen came and set up a local Chinatown, carrying on as tin scratchers everywhere. All tin and goods went and came from Georges Bay by pack track and slab roads ... crops were put in, with good results, as Christmas time, while a few cows arrived upon the scene. This marks the earliest decade ... In the roaring days of the Weldborough Mine the lights were never dimmed, and with three shafts to every bed the trade 'roared on' continuously, and every prospect bore a pleasant smile. Having exhausted its importance as a going concern, the Weldborough petered out.'

It is widely recognised that this was the largest Chinese community on any tin field in Australia. They are said to have outnumbered the Europeans.

source: SMH Online

We can highly recommend taking the Mt Paris Dam Road and visiting Ma Mon Chin Dam, which is pictured below.









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