Memories of Toolangi

Memories of Toolangi

by Alec Prentice Sewell I am writing these words in my 86th year, because of the ongoing loss of village, particularly here at Toolangi, with an increasing danger of our little children’s vision being blurred as to the who, what or where of our pioneers. Before all...

read more
Toolangi Tennis History

Toolangi Tennis History

by Joanne Priestley Tennis has been a part of Toolangi since the early days of European settlement. The first record details an annual meeting of the Toolangi Tennis Club in 1901 when Mr Waters was re-elected Honorary Secretary and Mrs Bassett Honorary Treasurer....

read more
Toolangi Cricket History

Toolangi Cricket History

by Joanne Priestley   It would seem that cricket was played from the earliest days of settlement in Toolangi. The first report is of an annual ball of the cricket club being held in the schoolhouse in 1897.[i] One can assume that balls were held by the cricket club...

read more
Finding the Toolangi Football Club

Finding the Toolangi Football Club

by Bernie Miller From the time I became involved in the history project in 2020, the Toolangi Football Club was mentioned by a number of locals. There were conflicting ideas of where and when the team played, almost 70 years ago. Some thought the home ground might...

read more
Toolangi-Castella District Community House

Toolangi-Castella District Community House

by Margaret O’Connell   Strengthening our community through opportunity, diversity and connection - Vision Statement 2019–2022 In 1995, under the auspices of the Kinglake District Neighbourhood House (KDNH), a local playgroup was started in Toolangi at ‘Toocom...

read more
Toolangi Church History

Toolangi Church History

by Joanne Priestley Church services were held in the public hall/State School from as early as 1896 with the Pastor, Reverend E.S. Chase, incumbent of St Johns Healesville, hoping for more success in 1897 than the previous summer.[i] Services were held monthly during...

read more
The Railway Line That Never Was

The Railway Line That Never Was

by David Pockett   Well over 100 years ago, the local Toolangi and Castella community was pressuring hard for a railway, primarily to service the timber industry. Local agitation began in 1890, following which the Yea River (Railway/Tramway) League was formed, with Mr...

read more
Post Offices & Stores

Post Offices & Stores

by Joanne Priestley Post offices were an integral part of early communities. Mail would be conveyed to the post office in a loose bag and then sorted by the postmaster or postmistress and held until collection. Like today, post offices offered Commonwealth banking...

read more
Maternal & Child Health Centre

Maternal & Child Health Centre

by Joanne Priestley In 1914, 2835 babies died before their first birthday in Victoria.[i] A committee of medical practitioners recommended that baby clinics be established in Victoria in 1916. But it was Dr Isabella Younger (later Ross) who, with three friends,...

read more
C.J. Dennis Memorial Hall

C.J. Dennis Memorial Hall

by Joanne Priestley The first building used as a hall in Toolangi was built in 1895 on the Toolangi Primary School site and measured 22 feet long and 14 feet wide. It was built by the local Toolangi residents and leased back to the Education Department as a school for...

read more
Chumlangi Co-operative

Chumlangi Co-operative

by Steve Whitemore and Lynn Dean   The year was 1979. Twelve starry-eyed urban socialists – Grant Borchers, Vicki Nobes, Steve and Anne Whitmore, Simon Harvey, Brian Tyler, Malenka Polkowski, Sally Mendes, Ian Locke, Jan Bennett, Lyn Dorrington and Colin O’Brien – met...

read more
Toolangi Scientific Observatories

Toolangi Scientific Observatories

by Geoff Biggs Toolangi has been an integral part of Australia’s scientific world for over 100 years. The Magnetic Resonance observatory was established in Toolangi in 1919. This was built to replace the Melbourne Magnetic Resonance observatory in the Flagstaff...

read more
Reflection of 43 years in Toolangi-Castella

Reflection of 43 years in Toolangi-Castella

by Jack and Ngaire Walhout   Introduction Hi, it’s Jack and Ngaire Walhout here, with just a few memories of our forty-three years in the Toolangi/Castella community.   Tallawalla Campsite In 1978 Jack was employed by Scripture Union to be Camp Ranger at their...

read more
Priestley Family in Toolangi

Priestley Family in Toolangi

by Louie Johnston (née Priestley) and Joanne Priestley Introduction There have been Priestleys living on the Old Toolangi-Dixon’s Creek Road, Toolangi, since 1908. The family tree of the Priestleys can be traced back to 1272 in Yorkshire, England. Early Priestleys...

read more
Memories of Toolangi, late 1950s-1990s

Memories of Toolangi, late 1950s-1990s

by Jenny Chambers   I feel very much like a ‘Johnny‑come‑lately’ when you compare the time we have been in Toolangi with the likes of Biggs, McLaines, Dembys and Priestleys, but the fact that I have been asked to talk to you indicates that I am at least regarded as a...

read more
Origin of Place Names Toolangi and Castella

Origin of Place Names Toolangi and Castella

by Bernie Miller Previous names and origin of the name Toolangi   Toolangi and Mount Rose On commencing research for this article, there were many comments, locally and online, that the Toolangi district had been known as Mount Rose up until the 1890s. This...

read more
‘Wirilda’ Rhododendron Garden

‘Wirilda’ Rhododendron Garden

by Joanne Priestley Introduction Toolangi is home to lush mountain forests of gigantic Mountain Ash and some incredible ‘European’ tree specimens. The Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea) at ‘Arden’ was planted by C.J. Dennis and Poet Laureate John Masefield in...

read more
Strawberry Runner Plant Growing in Toolangi

Strawberry Runner Plant Growing in Toolangi

by Joanne Priestley In the 1950s, the yields from strawberry fruit crops in Victoria were low and declining. To a large extent this was due to repetitive vegetative propagation of plants infected with viruses. [Note 1] In addition, many of the available varieties were...

read more
Rimington’s Nursery

Rimington’s Nursery

by Joanne Priestley George Rimington arrived from England in 1871 and in 1877, established the Parkhill nursery in Kew, Melbourne. George, his five sons, and grandsons expanded the business over the years to include several other nursery sites to supply their retail...

read more
Toolangi Sculpture Trail

Toolangi Sculpture Trail

by Steve Meacher   In 1996, nine artists from Australia and across the Asia-Pacific were selected to create the first ever Sculpture Trail in the Toolangi Forest. The sculptors created installations using materials sourced predominantly from the forest, drawing from...

read more
Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre

Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre

by Steve Meacher In the late 1980s there was increasing controversy regarding the native forest logging industry, particularly the wood chipping sector. The industry was spending millions of dollars to improve its image. Against this background, in the early 1990s the...

read more
Shadows of a Great Forest

Shadows of a Great Forest

by Bernie Mace   The small settlement of Toolangi, located on the ridge of the dividing range approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Melbourne, has long been appreciated for its mountain forest ‘ambience¢. In the context of the much broader environment, it’s located...

read more
Knitting Nannas of Toolangi

Knitting Nannas of Toolangi

by Lynn Dean   The Knitting Nannas of Toolangi (KNOT) was a group of grandmothers from Toolangi and Healesville who were deeply concerned about the logging of Toolangi State Forest. Even though there was a history of logging over the decades in Toolangi, it had...

read more
Toolangi Fire Brigade

Toolangi Fire Brigade

by Dawn Hartog, Captain   Toolangi Fire Brigade is one of the 1,217 brigades that make up the Country Fire Authority (CFA), which was established after the disastrous 1939 Black Friday fires, when Charlie Demby, forestry officer and a member of one Toolangi’s...

read more
Memories of Bushfires

Memories of Bushfires

by Alex Demby   I was born on 30 January 1922. One of my first memories was of the 1926 fires. My mother told me that Mount St Leonard was ablaze. The bullockies used to burn off to get new growth of wild oats. She took me up near the Methodist Church one night, to...

read more
Black Saturday 10th Anniversary

Black Saturday 10th Anniversary

Speech by Margaret O’ConnellCommunity commemorative event held at Castella Central Park, 7 February 2019 My task is to talk about what happened in our Toolangi-Castella community after the 2009 fires, but firstly I want to specially thank the CFA members, DSE staff,...

read more
Black Saturday Bushfires

Black Saturday Bushfires

Black Saturday Bushfires by Steve MeacherSaturday, February 7 The weather conditions in Toolangi on Saturday 7 February 2009 were exactly as we had been warned throughout the previous week, very hot with a blustery wind from the north. As predicted, the fire weather...

read more
Bob Pockett, Local Historian

Bob Pockett, Local Historian

Bob Pockett, Local Historian by David Pockett   Bob was born in Healesville, in May 1922, right in the middle of the guesthouse and tourism boom. At this time many of the key ‘players’ in the district were themselves making their own impacts on history, while...

read more
Artists of Toolangi

Artists of Toolangi

Artists of Toolangi by Sunderai Felich Originally from metropolitan Melbourne, my partner Savaad and I moved to the Yarra Valley in 1986 after the birth of our son Meeran. We were thinking of building in Chum Creek when a local builder, Chris Overend, mentioned that...

read more