20-464: Crowlands could refer to: Crowlands, Victoria , Australia Crowlands railway station, Victoria An area of Romford , United Kingdom Crowlands railway station Rush Green and Crowlands (ward) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Crowlands . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
40-708: A basketball court and a playground at the Crowlands Hall Playground . Navarre railway line The Navarre railway line is an abandoned railway that ran between Ben Nevis railway station and Navarre , in the Wimmera region of the Australian state of Victoria . The settlement of Navarre is in the Shire of Northern Grampians . It was surveyed in 1855 and named after the medieval European Kingdom of Navarre . Officially opened on 26 May 1914,
60-565: The Pyrenees Shire . Some of the railway reserve not left to revert to nature was replaced with unsealed roads, such as the Tulkara - Navarre Road, some of which were later asphalted. Station sites, such as at Tulkara and Crowlands, remain as little more than mounds of earth by the roadside, with scattered remnants of sleepers and mounds of ballast the only clue as to what was there. The branch station at Ben Nevis, just 100 meters or so from
80-579: The Wimmera River and is located approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) northeast of the town of Ararat , in the state of Victoria , Australia . It comprises a small village area of scattered houses and larger farms. The traditional owners of the locality are the Dja Dja Wurrung or Jaara people who are part of the larger Kulin nation . The Jaara people suffered badly when gold was discovered and their population dropped dramatically as
100-620: The 23-mile (37 km) line branched from Ben Nevis on the Avoca railway line and had five stations: Crowlands , Joel , Landsborough , Tulkara and Navarre. Rolling stock, engines, drivers and repair crews were supplied from Ararat When the service began, a train ran three times per week. In 1911, the Railways Standing Committee of the Victorian Parliament made the following recommendation. The line
120-624: The Europeans converted more land to mining. In 1836 Major Thomas Mitchell passed through the locality on his exploration of the Colony. During the 1840s European settlers began to move into the locality to establish sheep runs and harvest the nearby timber. Around this time the historic Woodlands Estate was established by Mr W J Clarke who selected some 180,000 acres. The original building and outbuildings, although much extended, still exist today. The property passed through successive owners and
140-487: The development of local business which included the establishment of the first public house, later called the Traveller's Rest Hotel. Many saw much promise in the locality and remained on as farmers or agricultural labourers. Up until the early 1900s the locality was predominantly used for sheep grazing as it was considered too costly to clear the open forest for the sowing of crops. Although considered good farming land it
160-468: The goods-only service was reduced from once a week to once a fortnight by 1953. An advertisement in The Argus of 14 February 1954 gave notice of the closure of the line, with the last service to run on 25 February that year. By 2010, little evidence of the railway remained, although aerial photographs clearly show sections of the right of way to the west and north-west of Landsborough, today located in
180-647: The line extended to pick up an increasing trade in grain. Well before 1950, the Victorian Railways was already considering the future of the line. At a meeting of local businessmen in Landsborough, it was revealed that there had been a sharp move away from the use of firewood, which represented 90% of the line's traffic, to coal. That left the Railways with little option but to close the line. Demand continued to fall while running costs increased, and
200-407: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crowlands&oldid=1182265689 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Crowlands, Victoria Crowlands is a locality nestled on
220-521: The local community it was decided that 39 wind turbines would be erected, each having a generating capacity of 2 megawatts . The towns facilities include a large recreation reserve, Community Hall, Country Fire Authority shed, Church and a Bed and Breakfast facility. An historic walking trail was established in 2012 and the town has an active film appreciation group known as the Crowlands Film Society. A number of wineries operate in
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#1732780452566240-572: The locality including the Dogrock Winery at Crowlands itself. A single morning bus service operates from one stop near the old Crowlands Primary School to Ararat twice a week with a return journey mid afternoon. To the north east of the township there is a large State Forest with a well maintained fauna and flora reserve and to the south is the Mount Cole Reservoir which is suitable for sightseeing. There are tennis courts,
260-413: The railway also operated a passenger service, one of the biggest users of the line were timber cutters and, for a while, six mills operated in the area, supplying firewood to Ararat , Ballarat and the capital, Melbourne . From its opening in 1914, returns from the operation of the line were adequate to justify its existence. Within a short period of time, extra storage sheds were required at nearly all
280-399: The region during the 1850s, and many of those pioneers who had arrived there at that time remained to establish their own farms and businesses. Planning for the line began some years before its actual construction and changes in its route were to be inevitable. Originally, the line was expected to serve the expanding agricultural needs of the region, carrying livestock, wheat and chaff. Although
300-414: The stations to handle local produce on its way to market. However, by the late 1940s, with dwindling supplies of suitable timber, the advent of motorised transport and rising operating costs, it appeared more and more likely that the line would close if something couldn't be done quickly. To try to improve the situation, leading businessmen of the area, particularly from St Arnaud to the north, lobbied to have
320-520: Was any truth in the rumours which since the discovery of the Bathurst gold field have been circulated as to the supposition of the presence of gold in the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees mountains. . . It is certain that as soon as this discovery is known, thousands will rush out to this country, and we may expect a constant and increasing stream of emigration." The large influx of prospectors prompted
340-427: Was constructed there two years later followed by a Police Depot in 1854. Gold was being worked successfully at Craigoir, the name given to the Pyrenees gold diggings , in the early 1850s and it was not long before thousands of prospectors flocked to the locality in search of fortune. "The attention of the public has for these last six weeks been anxiously directed to this district in order to ascertain whether there
360-405: Was gradually diminished in the size of its land holdings to around 53,000 acres in 1889 when it was purchased by William McCulloch . It remained in that families hands until 1937. The brick and granite buildings are considered historically and aesthetically significant. As more people arrived the need for community services increased and so the township was formally surveyed in 1849. A Post Office
380-545: Was not until much later that agriculture diversified to include wheat and other arable crops. In 1914 the Navarre railway line was established to connect Crowlands and other nearby towns to the main line to the south which ran between Ararat and Avoca. The line closed in 1954. Late in 2013 Pacific Hydro commenced construction of the Crowlands Wind Farm in the locality. After many years of negotiation with
400-552: Was to connect with the Ararat - Avoca - Maryborough line at Ben Nevis (originally called Crowlands) and there was debate amongst the members of the Committee as to the exact location of the station at Navarre. At that early stage, they could see the possibility of the line being extended to the north to Marnoo and St Arnaud . The line ran through lightly undulating, partly wooded countryside for 36 kilometres. Gold had been found in
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