General News
26 February, 2024
Memories of the tankmaker shed
“Although it was only an old tin shed, it’s a very important part of our history that is now gone, and once these remnants of our history are gone, they are gone forever.” Maryborough Midlands Historical Society member Geoff Lovett has fond...
“Although it was only an old tin shed, it’s a very important part of our history that is now gone, and once these remnants of our history are gone, they are gone forever.”
Maryborough Midlands Historical Society member Geoff Lovett has fond memories of the tankmaker shed on 93 Alma Street which sat behind his old Chicken Maryland shop.
The corrugated iron structure was built by William Whittle in the early 1920s, and even though the century old shed was demolished recently, due to asbestos being identified in the shed, Mr Lovett said the site had more history behind its rusted frame.
“William had a shop that fronted onto High Street called Whittle’s Plumbing Supplies and at the back of the business, he built this shed,” he said.
“For many years he manufactured tanks in this shed, and there would be numerous homes in Maryborough who have a Whittle tank.
“He had two sons George and Harry who both followed him into the plumbing business.
“When George came back from the Second World War, on medical advice he was advised not to continue as a plumber, so he got a job at the Maryborough Technical School and became a plumbing teacher for decades when plumbing was a mandatory course.
“When their father died, Harry for many years operated from this shed and made hundreds of tanks.”
While Mr Lovett understands the building served no commercial purpose anymore, he said he was disappointed to see the historic landmark disappear.
“I’m absolutely making no judgements towards the owners about their rights to remove the shed or the fact that it has been removed,” he said.
“I am very sad that it is gone, it was a stark reminder of what was here over a century ago, and when they are gone, they are forgotten.
“There would be scores of people daily who have driven past this shed, my feeling is that 99 percent of people never took any notice of it, but now that it’s gone they have.
“As we are seeing development through Maryborough and the Central Goldfields, we are seeing more and more of these structures disappear.”
One of those structures has been the Maryborough Knitting Mill (MKM), which closed in the 1990’s and now is home to the Goldfields Shopping Centre with only the chimney remaining.
According to Mr Lovett, the preservation of the chimney serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving history.
“When council got the first application to demolish the MKM building, we said you must keep the MKM chimney, so although the building went, the chimney is there forever as a reminder of what stood there,” he said.
“Those reminders of our past and our history are very important — simply by being there it gets people to ask questions and find out what the history was.”