Adversity & Resilience: Landscapes & Natural Environment

Hyacinth chokes the river
With its light green foliage and lavender flowers, water hyacinth is an exceptionally pretty plant but it is a great pest on the river. It normally grows in dams and backwaters but when a fresh occurs, it is swept out into the main channel. On several occasions, it formed rafts which covered the Bremer from bank to bank and which were so thick that they stopped boats. Children were said to have lashed boards to their feet and walked across the hyacinth, sometimes encountering rats which lived among the weed.

Hyacinth outbreaks were particularly bad in the 1930s and the usual solution was to place chains or cables across the river and pitchfork the weed onto the banks. Sometimes the build-up became extreme and a dredge had to be brought in. The pest had one major benefit. The hyacinth often occurred in dry conditions and farmers were able to use it as drought fodder. A woman who lived on The Terrace beside the river at North Ipswich recalled the scene in 1935: “I saw a man riding a bike up The Terrace with two sacks somehow attached. They were dripping water. We wondered at the sight, but soon found out the reason. Horse-drawn wagons etc were passing each other, going to gather fodder for their starving cattle. Even in these days of heavy traffic, I doubt The Terrace is ever as busy as it was then.”

The unusual activity was recorded in a 1935 Cinesound newsreel.

The King's Silver Jubilee of 1935 included a section on Horticulture by the Park Curator, F. W. Turley. He said:

The City of Ipswich has quite a fair share of natural beauties and after all, perhaps, natural beauties are more interesting than artificial beauties. It is true that Ipswich has not a river that compares with the Brisbane River, but its snake-like windings are easy and natural and in many of the reaches some pretty fairy-like scenes are to be found. The undulating nature of the country around the City adds very considerably to the beauties of the City.

 

Quite close to the centre of the City is that natural elevation known as Denmark Hill. This look-out is one that any city may be proud of, for from its summit, on a clear day, a complete circle of views may be obtained. Rowland Terrace is another point of vantage and from here some pretty views of the Bremer River may be seen.

 

From Raymond's Hill, on the northern side of the River, a wonderful panorama opens up, which includes the City, Limestone Hill, and all the eastern suburbs. Included in this view is that castle-like residence, standing alone amongst the woodlands, the home of the late Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Thomas, whose names are inseperably linked with the Blackstone and Ipswich Cambrian Choir.

 

Limestone Hill is a ridge running nearly north and south on the eastern side of the City. This locality is interesting to geologists on account of the flint and limestone formation. The trees at the northern end are famous for having given shelter to the explorer, Alan Cunningham, and they have been named in honour of him, Ficus Cunninghamii.

 

*Note: the information about Cunningham is believed to be folklore and not factual.