Thorpdale, Victoria

Thorpdale Victoria
"Welcome to Thorpdale - Heart of Potato Country"
Population	447 (2006)
Postcode(s)	3835
Location	137 km (85 mi) SE of Melbourne 23 km (14 mi) SW of Moe 14 km (9 mi) SE of Trafalgar
LGA(s)	Shire of Baw Baw
State electorate(s)	Narracan
Federal division(s)	McMillan

Thorpdale is a small country town in the Gippsland area of eastern Victoria, Australia, less than 20 km south of Trafalgar. Famous for its potatoes, it is located amongst the rich farmland of the Latrobe Valley. Thorpdale spuds are eaten around the country and also exported overseas. The name "Thorpdale" means "village in a valley" [1]. The soil in the area is particularly rich as the town is located in a former volcanic crater. It is administered by the Shire of Baw Baw. At the 2006 census, Thorpdale and the surrounding area had a population of 447.

History

John Longstaff's Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898

The Thorpdale district, known at first as the Narracan district, was settled in the 1870s. The first settlers arrived from the old Melbourne – Sale Road via McDonalds Track – a former stock route that had been surveyed in 1862 through the hills from Lang Lang to Morwell Bridge, but which shortly became disused and very much overgrown. Land selection began at Narracan (near the eastern end of the track) in 1873. The main selection front progressed steadily along the track, reaching Narracan West in 1876. Narracan West was renamed Thorpdale in 1884 and Thorpdale South in 1888). Much of the old town was destroyed during the large Red Tuesday (20 January, 1898) bushfire that ravaged Gippsland and the Otway Ranges. The present town of Thorpdale (situated about 2 km north of the old town) was founded in 1888 following construction of a branch railway line from Moe. At the height of its time it was a business centre for all the farming activity that surrounded it.

Today, the Thorpdale township is becoming smaller and smaller as more farming families opt to live in larger townships such as Trafalgar. The national decline in consumption of potatoes is making even farming difficult in the small town.

Attractions

The township holds the Thorpdale Potato Festival each year on the Victorian Labour Day holiday in March but as the insurance cost is too great for the small community to bear, it has not been run since 2002. The festival features potato sack races. The lush farming surrounds give the town a peaceful rural atmosphere and there are several scenic sights nearby, including the Narracan Falls, Trafalgar South Lookout and Henderson's Gully.

Tallest tree

A mountain ash gum tree (Eucalyptus regnans) at Thorpdale South once held the record for a the tallest tree in the world. The tree was measured as being over 114 m (375 feet) tall by a certified surveyor using a theodolite. The tree was later felled in 1880and re-measured along the ground, confirming the initial measurement. In 1976 the tree's location was marked by a plaque and a pole one-tenth the height of the tree.

References

1. Jim Tilgner, Recalling 100 Years (Thorpdale Centenary Committee, 1976). 2. John Adams FRHSV, So Tall the Trees (Narracan Shire Council, 1978). 3. Walter E. Savige - Savige Russell Powell 1848-1880 (Camberwell, 1981). 4. Kevin Murray – The Murrays Part 1 1840s-1890s (Melbourne, 1996). 5. Walter Savige - Historic Narracan [electronic resource], 2004. 6. Kenneth Cox - Call Back Yesterday (North Balwyn, 1979), pp 50-53.

External links

• The Spud Shed
• Thorpdale growers in talks with supermarkets
• Giant Trees photographs