Hunters Hill coaches

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robert
Posts: 1443
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:16 am
Location: Sydney

Re: Hunters Hill coaches

Post by robert »

Image
Ben O wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:41 pm Hi all,

More tangential information here.. I apologise. By coincidence I recently researched Higlett's as a tangent to investigating the Lee family of Picton Omnibus, which in itself was a tangent when looking into the Heise family of Cooma Coaches!

Several factors arose in the 1940's that saw bus and hire car operations flourish in Camden in that decade. The opening of guest houses in the Burragorang Valley created the need for transport off Pansy - the Camden train - out the rugged roads to The Oaks, Burragorang and further west. The decade also seemed to be a formative period for the establishment of school bus services across regional New South Wales. The passenger services attracted the interest of local P&C' committees, who saw opportunity in using the vehicles that were otherwise unused during school hours. Some early timetables also refer to miners' services.

Jack Pippen was a farmer who saw opportunity in transporting hoildyamakers to guest houses. The service ran Camden - The Oaks - Nattai - Burragorang House - Bimlow. Noting Nattai is the furthest western point of the current Region 15 network, I could not determine the exact location of Bimlow, which was a further hour beyond Nattai in Pippen's timetable. Jack Pippen passed away 14 August 1946. In or around December 1948, the service passed from Mrs M. Pippen (widow?) to Mr Peter S. Withers. Despite several operators regularly publishing passenger timetables and advertising special trips in the Camden News, Withers disappeared from the Camden News immediately after December 1948.

George W. Higlett moved to Camden from Sydney in 1948, purchasing a mail run between Camden and Yerranderie (40 miles / 65 km), using a car and trailer. He partnered with Gordon L. Lee to commence a bus service from Camden - Burragorang - Yerranderie commencing Tuesday 1st June 1948. Expansion occurred very quickly. By the end of 1948, additional routes were operated and the fleet consisted of 6 buses, followed by an extra 2 purchased on local services at Picton in 1949.

Regards,
Ben
I have only just seen this thread - so thanks, Ben. Very interesting to hear the history of what are now called "Camden Country" routes, west of Camden, part of region 15.

Yerranderie is west of the Wollondilly River, which flows into Warragamba Dam. As I understand, access to it from Camden was cut off when the dam filled up in the 1950s/60s and you now get there via Oberon and an unsealed road. I'd never heard of Bimlow, but Google has produced this link:

https://www.stayinthebush.com.au/stay-i ... -edith-nsw

So Bimlow is near somewhere near Edith, which is between Oberon and Jenolan Caves.

I found a map on line showing all these places, but can't work out how to show the link (not secure?).
For information about private & Government bus routes in Sydney, look at http://www.sydneybusroutes.com
tonyp
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Re: Hunters Hill coaches

Post by tonyp »

robert wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:13 am
Yerranderie is west of the Wollondilly River, which flows into Warragamba Dam. As I understand, access to it from Camden was cut off when the dam filled up in the 1950s/60s and you now get there via Oberon and an unsealed road.
Unless you're lucky enough to tag along on a Sydney Water inspection as I did and you go via the original road from The Oaks across a ford across the backwaters of Warragamba reservoir. Yerranderie is still quite a significant historic place and tourist attraction with people living and staying there.
tonyp
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Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:31 am

Re: Hunters Hill coaches

Post by tonyp »

I've talked with the owner of MO 4576 and he has it on his land on the northern beaches and is restoring it very sympathetically, keeping all the original windows and general form, with only a bed, kitchen and bathroom taking up some of the interior, the rest remaining untouched. The solar panels were specially moulded to follow the roof form and be invisible from the ground. It's in very sound condition and the Reo Gold Crown straight six engine is still, it seems, in working order. He needs some advice about the brakes though and not sure where to get that. The seat cushions were all rotted out, but he has kept a couple of double seat frames and the driver's seat for future reference for restoration. Overall he's very sympathetic to the significance of the bus. This will be all good as long as he is the owner. The critical point with buses such as this is that if a museum doesn't pick them up, their future is dire.

Hard to believe it's nearly 60 years since this bus was brand new and Clarrie Paull gave me a tour of it. Time flies.
PG1
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Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:34 pm
Location: Girraween

Re: Hunters Hill coaches - Bimlow

Post by PG1 »

To continue this, albeit slightly off-route, journey:

The suburb of Bimlow?
The Geographical Names Board recently sought community feedback on a proposal by NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) to create eight new address localities (suburbs) within NPWS reserves in the Wollondilly LGA. Feedback was being sought on the proposal to create new suburbs named Kowmung, Beloon, Jooriland, Burragorang Valley, Brereton, Kedumba, Bindook and Bimlow.
Presently, Blue Mountains National Park is both a suburb and a national park reserve, and the boundaries do not match each other. The proposal from NPWS divides the current suburb of Blue Mountains National Park into smaller more meaningful areas named after prominent, well established geographical features found within the new boundaries. Creating these suburbs will help to reduce confusion, enhance national park addressing and narrow down locations within the larger reserve. This is the first stage of creating suburbs within the Blue Mountains National Park (suburb).
Bimlow, Bimlow, Bimlow – pick one
Six maps records many locations in the Warragamba - Oberon - Burragorang areas with Bimlow as part of its name – all in mountain areas.

Trig station
For those old enough to remember trig stations, there is Trig Station named TS930 BIMLOW, just slightly north-west of Natta.

NRMA Motor Park?
Bimlow is mentioned in a The Truth newspaper from July 1937 seemingly a reference to the NRMA Motor Park

The Sun
In an article Down to the Burragorang Valley ( The Sun newspaper 1 December 1929 - sourced through Trove) directions are given to Bimlow:
Here is a run that is full of interest. It will take the best part of a day, but it is well worth the effort of getting up a little earlier than usual. It leads you to the ever-beautiful Burragorang Valley, with all its grandeur. The total return distance is 136 miles. Take the Liverpool - road — it branches off Parramatta road and goes through Ashfield and Bankstown — and continue through Liverpool to Campbelltown and Camden. Half a mile beyond Camden there is a road which branches to the right and leads to The Oaks and Burragorang Valley. Half a mile from the main road, take the turn to the left. Now comes about a mile of climbing, and just beyond the top are cross-roads, where the turn to the left is taken; and half a mile further on the road to Burragorang Valley turns sharply to the right out of The Oaks village. A few miles on, and you come to Oakdale and about five miles ahead is the turn-off to The Lookout on the right. From now on, for another five miles, there is a succession of bends till the road joins that leading to Cox's River and Bimlow. Here you can turn to the right and go down the stream, or go on to the river. Most motorists prefer to take the former route, for there are many delightful picnic and camping grounds along the river bank. Five miles from the junction is Lacey's Bridge, and on the route is the new N.R.M.A. camping reserve. Through the lower part of the valley the road crosses Cox's River, but later on it becomes very- rough. It finishes at Wentworth Falls.
The NRMA Reports on Roads – 16 April 1940 (sourced through Trove) also gives directions to Bimlow:
For a pleasant day's outing, few places offer more - Interesting: scenery ran Burragorang Valley, which to 68 miles from Sydney by way of Camden and The Oaks. The NRMA Touring department reports that an excellent tar-paved road extends to the top of Burragorang Mountain on the eastern side of the Valley. On the descent (about 1200 feet in three miles and a half) tar-paved surface extends to a point near the Nattai Post Office, after which the road Is of fair gravel surface to Spring Corner, where the right fork leads to Bimlow and the left to Central and Upper Burragorang.
Tourist Map
Sourced from Trove
The Blue Mountains and Burragorang Valley tourist map compiled by the NSW Department of Lands records Bimlow – just north of Nattai. It also makes to references to “Pippin”

PhD Thesis - THE DANCE BETWEEN COSMOGRAPHY AND CHOROGRAPHY: MAPPING AUSTRALIA by Sally Ann Coppard B App Sc (Hons) reports:
On the 1932 Tourist map of the Blue Mountains and Burragorang Valley, two churches were shown, both at Coxs Junction, which is now all but forgotten as Junction Point. There was a ‘store (part time)’ just past Bimlow, which was once known as the ‘capital’ of the Burragorang Valley. Now it lies deep beneath the waters of the lake, gazed down upon by Bimlow Point. The tiny hamlets of Lower Burragorang and Central Burragorang are remembered in the name of the lake itself. Around the lake today is a three-kilometre ‘No Public Access’ zone where once people came to escape the city and enjoy the tranquillity of the Burragorang Valley and its basic tourist infrastructure. The 1932 tourist map shows the NRMA Camping Ground, which would now be deep beneath the waters below Carlon Point. Accommodation in the form of guesthouses, and shown on the 1932 map, included ‘Blattman’s’ and memories of this appear on current maps as Blattmans Point. The guesthouse of ‘S. Pippen’ now appears as Stevens Point.
robert
Posts: 1443
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Location: Sydney

Re: Hunters Hill coaches

Post by robert »

Gail Santos wrote: Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:29 am There was a local tradition that Lane Cove shopping centre was known as the "tram terminus" (or more simply "terminus"), apparently for quite a considerable time after trams stopped running there in 1958.
As referred to in Leon Manny's excellent book, "Terminus" please, all about private bus services in Lane Cove Municipality.
For information about private & Government bus routes in Sydney, look at http://www.sydneybusroutes.com
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boronia
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Re: Hunters Hill coaches

Post by boronia »

Those were destination signs on some HH buses.
Preserving fire service history
@ The Museum of Fire.
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