Peter and Vicki's Travel Blog: Thanks to Big Lizzie Red Cliffs comes alive!

Looking at this harsh mallee scrub which is characteristic of the area it has been puzzling me at just how they cleared it to even start making the land productive!!! Found one of the big helps today on our visit to Red Cliffs, a quaint, but historically interesting town 17 mins from Mildura CBD on the Calder Highway - Big Lizzie!

Big Lizzie takes pride of place in Barclay Square in the middle of town. The Red Cliffs area was cleared with the assistance of Lizzie, a 45 ton tractor and 2 wagons. She came to the town in 1920 to commence the extremely slow work of clearing the dense and vast mallee scrub for the important Government Soldier Settlement Scheme.

What a life Lizzie's had! Love these unusual stories! She remained in Red Cliffs area from 1920-1924 at which time she was driven to Western Victoria to clear other areas of land. In 1938 her Blackstone engine was sold to a company in Pyramid Hill who used it to run stone crushing equipment until 1942. It was broken up and sold as scrap in 1945. In 1970, Cr Ern Wolfe discovered the location of 'Big Lizzie" on a property at Balmoral, near Horsham. With the Red Cliffs Golden Jubilee approaching in 1971, it was through great determination that Lizzie was returned to the Red Cliff township. The Big Lizzie association oversaw the restoration of the "rusty old hulk. The Bicentennial gift from the Shire of Mildura in 1988 was the immense shelter which now protects Lizzie and her trailer from the elements. Her second trailer still awaits restoration. You'll find Big Lizzie in Barclay Square.

BARCLAY SQUARE, RED CLIFFS

A busy little square cosseting lots of interesting treasures

Pete looks small beside her

Not a spare tyre but a spare cog! lol

Impressive!

Lizzie on the job!

And the Government Soldier settlement Scheme? This little town of Red Cliffs has a big history! The township was established in 1918, as what would become the largest soldier settlement in Australia! Parcels of land were granted to 700 returned soldiers after WW1 by the Government at the time. The land was mainly made up of uninhabited dense mallee scrub which needed to be cleared before being developed into an irrigation settlement. The scheme was hugely successful resulting in the thriving horticultural industries in the area today! The things you learn!

And there's more...........

The lovely gardens of Barclay Square were named after Nathaniel Barclay, soldier and politician. He was wounded in the shoulder and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for "carrying important messages through heavy fire". In 1920 he moved to the Mallee to work in a contract gang clearing the land in the Soldier Settlement Scheme. While residing in the red cliffs area he was an active member of various groups, including Parliamentary Representative for Mildura over various terms and president of Mildura Council (1958-59). He dies in 1962 and the square was named after him in1964.

A cenotaph, two honour wall listing the names of the men and women from Red Cliffs district who enlisted in the armed forces, and a pine tree grown from the original seeds of the Lone Pine at Gallipoli
can also be found in this lovely park.

The cenotaph, Honour Walls and the Aleppo pine tree planted in 1965, in Barclay Park

The history of the town is detailed in the mural on the water tower, done by the Red Cliffs Secondary College students.
They were supervised by Broken Hill mural artist, Clark Barrett.

The cannon, a Krupp 21 cm Versuchsmorser Nr #M1907 (phew!) stands in the square and is 1 of only 8 built in the world. It is believed to be the last one on display anywhere. The gun was allocated to Australia from the pool of surrendered German guns after the Armistice in 1918. It was originally situated at the Melbourne war memorial in 1921 (then unbuilt). It was given to Red Cliffs and unveiled on Anzac day 1928.

Red Cliffs holds a Country Market the first Sunday of every month in Barclay Park and along the streets of the town. Lucky us! - it's the first Sunday! Great wandering around looking at the array of all things country!!