1840 - 1940

Harvesting Our Coastal Rainforest

May 22, 1935  Log drawn from Middle Brother Mountain to Hayden McInnes Mill at Ross Glen with Stan Kidd on horse. Log recorded as 17’ 6” long with a 18’7 “girth.

[Esther Bradley (Kidd) Collection]

As the story goes this was ‘..too heavy for the the stand at the Mill, which collapsed under its weight.’

Extracts from ‘The Forge’ by Sid Tiedman (1975)

The extensive rainforest of the Stewarts River valley contained great numbers of Cedar, Beech, Rosewood and other valuable softwoods, but Cedar was the most sought after, and cedar getters were active here before 1830.

Cedar trees close to the river were felled and rolled into the water and floated down in the form of logs or rafts. Many of the trees were of immense size, and were hard to handle, and some were pit-sawn into flitches and floated down in the same way.

Most of the bullock teams hauled logs to Johns River Wharf to be transported by steam punts to saw-mills at Laurieton, Kendall and Ross Glen and loaded onto a coastal ship the ‘Allenwood, plying from Laurieton to Sydney. It was owned by Allen Taylor & Co.. Others drew logs to Steinmetz Mill at Hannam Vale.

Compiled by Daintry Gerrand from the ‘The Forge’ by Sid Tiedman 1975, ‘Fletcher family History 2003/04) Recollections from Brian Fletcher (compiled by Michael and Marguerita Fletcher), Conversations with Esther Bradley (Kidd), Brian Fletcher and Ken Tiedman, September, 2010

1923 Bill Cross’s bullock team at Stewarts River. Photo courtesy of Ken Tiedman and Bill Buckler

1923 Bill Cross’s bullock team at Stewarts River       Photo courtesy of Ken Tiedman and Bill Buckler