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General News

7 December, 2023

Friends of Bristol Hill Tower seeking local memories

“Mum would take our hands and we’d go to the first level, that was as high as we were allowed before we were old enough to go right to the top and when we did — the view was just magic.” That’s one of Bruce ‘Darky’ Duncan’s earliest...

By Riley Upton

Bruce Duncan’s memories of the 1984 celebrations of Victoria’s 150th anniversary, held at the Bristol Hill Tower, are exactly what the Friends of Bristol Hill group are hoping to capture as part of an ongoing project.
Bruce Duncan’s memories of the 1984 celebrations of Victoria’s 150th anniversary, held at the Bristol Hill Tower, are exactly what the Friends of Bristol Hill group are hoping to capture as part of an ongoing project.

“Mum would take our hands and we’d go to the first level, that was as high as we were allowed before we were old enough to go right to the top and when we did — the view was just magic.”

That’s one of Bruce ‘Darky’ Duncan’s earliest memories of the Bristol Hill Memorial Tower, which he said has been a constant in his 83 years of life here in Maryborough.

“I was born here in 1940 and I’m still here and as a matter of fact, I did spend a lot of time at the tower as a boy, it’s part of Maryborough and it’s been part of all 83 years of my life,” he said.

“I had one mate who lived in Barkly Street and I’d ride my bike to his place of a weekend and we’d come up here doing all the things boys at that age would do — climbing trees and the like.

“One day we rode our bikes up here when the road was just dirt with big pieces of quartz and granite and my friend said ‘I bet you’re not game enough to go flat out down the hill on your bike’.

“That was the worst thing he could’ve said to me — I got a good run up and gave it my best shot, I was belting along but I had a loose chain and because it was so bumpy, it came off and I lost my brakes.

“I was hanging on for dear life, I came off the road and was dodging tree stumps and holes, I was going like the clappers but salvation was in front of me, namely in the form of a bloke’s back fence that I smacked straight into.”

The tower has been a constant throughout Darky’s life, with many balmy afternoons spent yabbying in a dam behind the tower, riding his bike and looking out over the view of his hometown.

He even remembers Mary-borough’s celebration of the state of Victoria’s 150th anniversary being held at the tower in November 1984 and the Maryborough Highland Pipe Band, a group he spent 62 years with, performing.

“The clearest memory I have of that day is the pipe band marching up the hill to the tower and it was bloody hard trying to keep in time and in step with everyone else,” he said.

“They had a time capsule put in the bluestone fence in the car park so organisations could put mementos and relics in there and a few dignitaries and officials made speeches, it was a good event.”

Darky’s memories and stories of the tower are exactly what the Friends of Bristol Hill Tower group are seeking to capture as they work to document the restoration and beautification project for the tower and surrounding bushland.

Group members are eager to speak with residents who have special memories of the tower, or objects or souvenirs that would add to the development and enrichment of the archive the group is developing.

“We believe this project to be of great significance to the Mary-borough community at large, reinforcing the notion of Maryborough people being deeply concerned about its history and future, and also of Maryborough being a vibrant and engaging community,” Friends of Bristol Hill Tower member Garry Higgins said.

Residents interested in taking part in the project can do so by contacting secretary@maryborough rotaryvic.org.au or filling out participation forms at Parkview Bakery, Country Trends and The Maryborough Advertiser.

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