Clunes, Victoria

Clunes Victoria
Main street of Clunes
Clunes
Population:	1026(2006)
Established:	mid-1850s
Postcode:	3370
Coordinates:	37°17′46″S 143°47′10″E
Elevation:	310 m (1,017 ft)
Location:	146 km (91 mi) from Melbourne 34 km (21 mi) from Ballarat 92 km (57 mi) from Bendigo
LGA:	Shire of Hepburn
State District:	Ballarat East, Ripon
Federal Division:	Ballarat
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 19.6 °C 67 °F 6.3 °C 43 °F 575.2 mm 22.6 in

Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, located 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2006 census it had a population of 1,026.

History

The town was home to Victoria's first registered gold discovery made by James Esmond. His discovery, first published in the Geelong Advertiser on 7 July 1851 triggered the first gold rush in Victoria. The township was established a few years later and subsequent gold mining, predominantly driven by the Port Phillip and Colonial Mining Company saw the town's population rising to well over 6,000 residents in the late 1880s.

Clunes post office opened as early as 1 October 1857 and in 1874 Clunes was connected to the Victorian railway network. Clunes station was opened in the same year.

In 1873 mine employers attempted to introduce Saturday afternoon and Sunday shifts. The miners refused to sign the new terms outlined in their contract renewals and went on strike. Some days into the action the miners organised the Clunes Miners' Association and what were to become known as the Clunes Riots, successfully resisting the use of foreign labour as strikebreakers. The Clunes Miners' Association is one of the earliest antecedents of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.^{[citation needed]}

From the 1850s through to 1893, when gold mining eventually came to an end, Clunes was an important gold production location in Victoria. During this period gold in excess of 1.2 million ounces was produced at Clunes. Surrounded by grassland, meadows and pastures, the town has preserved many of its elegant historic buildings until today and is recognised as one of the architecturally most intact gold towns in Victoria.

Present

Booktown

Concept

The idea of transforming Clunes into a European-style booktown was developed by Councillor Tim Hayes, Linda Newitt, Graeme Johnston and Tess Brady. Clunes held its first 'Booktown for a Day' event on 20 May 2007. Over 50 booksellers from around Australia set up shop for the day in the town's heritage buildings.

Renamed to 'Back to Booktown' a year later, the township holds now the event each year on the first weekend in May. With more than 60 booksellers, millions of books and 15,000 visitors, it has become the largest collection of books in any regional centre of Australia and the major Victorian regional book event.

Awards and Recognition

• In 2008 'Back to Booktown' was awarded as Hepburn Shire's Community Event of the Year.
• On 21 January 2010 the Hon John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, made the following statement during the Australia Day Luncheon: ‘In Victoria we even have our very own booktown. The regional community of Clunes in north-west Victoria sees its future as a cultural destination centred around literature. As well as their successful ‘Back to Booktown’ festival, just last month our Government helped launch the new Creative Clunes Community Bookshop.’
• On 23 November 2010 'Clunes - Back to Booktown' was awarded the Australian Civic Trust 'Award of Merit' in the Human Category for its use of heritage buildings in a 'respectful, as against destructive use.'

Wesley College campus (Wesley@Clunes)

In recent years Clunes has undergone a noticeable transformation and rejuvenation following the decision by Wesley College, Australia's largest co-educational private school, to establish a campus for Year 9 students in the town. Opened in 2000, about 80 students take up residency in the Wesley Clunes Residential Learning Village in the centre of town and become part of the local community for an eight-week period each term.

Film

Many of the external scenes and some internal scenes in the 2003 film Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger, were shot in Clunes. The Old State Bank in Fraser Street was used for the internal scenes featuring the "Euroa" bank robbery.

Clunes also appears in the films Mad Max starring Mel Gibson and the remake of the 1950s classic On the Beach. It also appears in the ABC television series' Queen Kat, Carmel & St Jude, Something in the Air and Halifax f.p..

Clunes was once closed off to the public for the TV show The Mole in 2001. The mission in that episode was to direct one of the contestants to pick up another contestant in a blacked-out car.

The most recent film shot in Clunes is Julius Avery's 13-minute movie Jerrycan. Jerrycan won the 2008 Jury Prize at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in France for short films, with its portrayal of restless teenagers in rural Victoria.

Sport

Clunes Football Ground, home of the Clunes Magpies

The town's Australian Rules football/Netball team is the Clunes Magpies, competing in the Central Highlands Football/Netball League.

Golfers play at the Clunes Golf Club on Golf Course Road.

Clunes has a very successful Cricket Club playing in the Maryborough District Cricket Assoc. Clunes has a Lawn Bowls Club that competes in the Ballarat Bowls Association. Clunes has a very successful Basketball Club and League. Clunes has a local Badminton competition.

Transport

Clunes railway station is located on the Maryborough railway line, Victoria. Services operate daily with one train in each direction.

When the State Government announced the Victorian Transport Plan, along with V/Line services being extended to Maryborough, Clunes was not part of the plan (with the only stations being Creswick and Maryborough). However as a result of protest by the town, the Government announced on 17 June 2010 that Clunes would be reopened and included on the line.

External links

• Class and racism in the 1873 Clunes Riot
• Clunes tourism information
• Clunes community website
• Wesley College - Clunes campus webpages
• Clunes Football Netball Club