The beauty and colour of Broken Hill

Browne's Shaft Headframe at Junction Mine

I have just spent five days wandering around the heart of Broken Hill. The city is buzzing with energy and it's great to be back. My last visit was July 2017.

Renewable energy projects are on the go in a number of locations.

A water pipeline from Wentworth to Broken Hill commenced construction earlier in 2018, and when finished at the end of the year, will create water security for the city.

Many houses have new roofs courtesy of a hailstorm back in November 2016, so although a shock at the time, a lot of good has come out of that natural weather event.

There are lots of jobs too for the roofing crews. The pipeline project is said to create 150 local jobs, with a peak construction workforce of around 500 jobs. Mining related jobs are also cropping up, as there is still quite a bit of mine activity. Maybe more on that another time.

I came up from my hometown Melbourne to catch the tail end of the inaugural Heritage Festival which ran for two weeks.

It was fantastic to hear the fascinating talk given by Professor Simon Molesworth AO, QC on the final evening of the event last Friday. The setting for the talk was the historic Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery situated in Argent Street, Broken Hill's iconic main street. Prof. Molesworth was one of the key drivers in helping #BrokenHill to become the first National Heritage Listed City in January 2015.

I then took the opportunity to attend the biannual two day Agfair at the Broken Hill racecourse. With exhibitor numbers up on 2016, and coming from far afield and locally, my first Agfair was a lot of fun. There was a sold out fundraiser ball on the final night. The charity being the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I missed out on that one with all 500 tickets sold. Next time perhaps.

There seems to almost always be an event on in Broken Hill. That's one of the many reasons "I love Broken Hill."

There is so much happening in the city it is hard to know what to write about. So I will save it for another time.

I will just finish by saying that the weather has been glorious every day - low twenties. Sunny mostly, still, and beautiful clear starry nights.

This afternoon was yet again a fabulous opportunity to take some more photos. See my photo of Browne's Shaft Headframe at Junction Mine.

Cheers, Jane Deany

Browne Shaft Headframe at Junction Mine Broken Hill

Junction Mine Browne Shaft Headframe

I recently tweeted about www.ilovebrokenhill.com's 5th anniversary. The image I used, which is currently this blog's header image and the picture in this post, prompted the query, is that Browne's Mine? The question was posed by an ex Broken Hill resident.

I must say 'well spotted' to them.

And I admit, I was initially actually unsure of the headframe's name, so I rang the very helpful #BrokenHill visitor information centre, and together with their help and also reference to Elizabeth Vines' 2010 "Broken Hill A guide to the Silver City" we confirmed the details.

The picture is of Junction Mine's wooden headframe that was erected over Browne Shaft in the 1890's. It is the oldest remaining headframe on the #lineoflode.

You can see the mine and associated buildings on the Menindee Road, just on the edge of Broken Hill.

The image was taken by me around 7am in January 2013. Isn't the light lovely. It's one of the features that Broken Hill is know for i.e. great light and natural vivid colours. It is another reason why Broken Hill is so popular with artists.

Enjoy.

Cheers, Jane Deany