Some Good News
Almost the entire length of Darkwood Road now sealed, plus 5 higher level concrete bridges. Funded mainly via grants. But many thanks to council for their contribution. Still have the approaches to the three just completed bridges, this to be done via council. From a reliable source, due to insane environmental constraints. Frogs, micro-bats, flying foxes etc, an extra bridge could have been built via the savings. The savings via these concrete bridges will be enormous for maybe 100 years. Still several wooden bridges to maintain, which is a huge drain on councils’ resources, but is often funded via disaster relief following flooding. The negative is, with already an increased traffic flow, some idiots at the wheel, via social media, the road upgrade will attract an influx of those B tourists. Interesting to note, in 1969 when we purchased our farm, there was upstream eight occupied dwellings and fifteen downstream to the Thora Store. To-day approx 150 plus two schools with about 250 kids. Prior to the great 1950 flood there was two churches, 2 public halls and 5 post offices. Thora, Upper Thora Orama, Darkwood, and I believe Brinerville. The mail and lots of provisions delivered to the farmers via the cream lorry. The whole valley, farmed for cream and pigs, fed via skim milk and corn. Almost a forgotten era but in those days much more a community, and the question I could ask, with so little were people happier in those early days, bonded together by that family unit, than to-day when we are drowning in material possessions, and the family unit collapsing, the work ethic slipping away, and far too many in a soft non-physical non-productive occupation or relying on the hand out. Always maintained a beer and a good feed following a hard productive physical day at work far more enjoyable than a bum job in front of a screen for no visible end result.
Darcey Browning