Arcuate ridges and other landforms

If you have ever travelled along Ballarto Road then you may have noticed the sand ridge which follows Hobson’s Road at Rythdale. This is an Arcuate ridge, or a curved ridge or one shaped like a bow. The Rythdale ridge is three kilometres long and up to 100 metres in length.

The Rythdale Arcuate ridge can clearly be seen in this 1980 aerial. Ballarto Road cuts across the centre of the photograph, above the oval trotting track. Hobsons Road runs towards the top of the photograph and the curved object is the arcuate sand ridge. On the left of the photograph are man made drains to carry the water from the Deep Creek and Toomuc Creek to the Bay, part of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp drainage works.

There is also an arcuate ridge on which the township of Cardinia is built on. This ridge rises five to eight meters above the surrounding countryside and is partly due to the depression of the adjacent area caused by the compaction of the peat soils after the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was drained. The Rythdale and the Cardinia Ridges are the remains of the walls of ancient lake beds.

This aerial photograph was also taken in 1980 and shows the town of Cardinia, built on the arcuate ridge. Starting at the bottom of the photograph, is the Cardinia Recreation Reserve. Ballarto Road runs along the right of the Reserve to the top of the picture. The town is bi-sected by Dalmore Road to the left of the picture, and Cardinia Road to the right. The curve of the sand ridge can be clearly seen.

These ridges are considered to be sites of Geographical and Geomorphical statewide significance. You can access a  list of Victorian sites of Geological and Geomorphical significance, here.  These landforms are part of our early history, plus they also give me another opportunity to show you some of our extensive collection of aerial photographs which are kept in our Archive.

The Casey Cardinia region has a landform of International significance, the Western Port Bay Tidal Watershed. This is the area north east of French Island , between the Lang Lang River and Palmer Point. This area is a tidal divide and the dynamics of the tides here effect the tidal flow in the rest of the Bay. The sea floor sediments of the watershed 'are of considerable interest for the data they hold concerning the development of the on-shore Swamplands' due to the fact that they record historic changes in the sea level.

The inter-tidal flats between Lyall Inlet and the Bunyip River are of National significance and are shown here in this 1968 aerial. The South Gippsland Highway bi-sects the photograph from left to right. The first inlet from the left is Lyall Inlet. The farm complex is Harewood house, built for William and Annabella Lyall in the 1860s. The straight channel on the other side of Harewood is Cardinia Creek and the channel on the right is Moody Inlet. If you click on the photograph to enlarge it you will see the Cardinia Creek Boat Club marinas where Moody Inlet crosses the South Gippsland Highway.

On a National level, the inter-tidal flats between Lyall Inlet and the Bunyip River outlet (between Tooradin and Koo-Wee-Rup) are significant as the area shows the impact of the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp on the adjacent coast land and is a reference point for measuring the rates of coastal change. They are shown in the photograph above.

Of regional significance, is the tidal meanders of Sawtell Inlet at Tooradin as the area is a ‘clear display of of the development of flood tide meanders' and is thus a site to study tidal flow in a narrow inlet.

This 1986 aerial shows the town of Tooradin and the meandering Sawtell Inlet. The other inlet on the right is Evans Inlet. Tooradin's mud flats are also apparent.

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Pakenham South : a short history

Pakenham South Public Hall, formerly the State School.

Image: Heather Arnold

The area south of Pakenham wasn't closely settled until around 1900 when the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was well underway. Pakenham South originally covered the area we now know as Cardinia but the locality is now centred around Hall Road and Ellett Road and McDonalds Drain Road. This fluidity of place names is reflected in the names of the State Schools. The first school called Pakenham South opened in April 1874, working, at times, part-time with Toomuc Creek then Officer. In 1881 the school changed its name to Cardinia Creek and closed in May 1906.The next school to be called Pakenham South opened officially on January 1st 1913. The School was built on land purchased from H.Sawyer and Eva Bird was the first Head Teacher. It closed in 1951 when the pupils transferred to Pakenham Consolidated School.

 

Pakenham South State School, 1927.

Image: Look to the Rising sun : Back to Cardinia 1984 - a history of Cardinia and District, including Rythdale and Pakenham South. By Eileen Williams and Jewell Beard. (Published by the Back to Cardinia Committee, 1984)

The School and Fogarty’s store were located in Hall Road (formerly called Fogarty’s lane). Post Office facilities were available in the area from around 1913 when Miss Bird, the School teacher, was Post Mistress. The O'Brien family took over the Post Office in the 1920s. From 1932 until 1968 the Post Office was located in Ellett Road in the residence of John Ellett. Mr Ellett was Post Master until 1946 when he sold it to Jack Knight , who sold it a year later to Wally Francombe. Mr Francombe was Post Master until the closure of the Post Office in 1968. The Post Office took over the service provided by the Rythdale Post Office when it closed down in the 1940s.

 

Pakenham South Post Office, taken the year it closed, 1968. 

Image is from the National Archives of Australia Post Office Collection, Series  B5919,

Some of the early families in Pakenham South include : Michael and Sarah Shelton, on Ballarto Road, who arrived in 1898 ; John and Jane Ellett, on McDonalds Drain Road, who arrived in 1901 ; Thomas and Eliza Jeremiah on Koo-Wee-Rup - Pakenham Road, south of Hall Road, who arrived in 1902 ; James Arbuthnott, also on the Koo-Wee-Rup - Pakenham Road, who arrived in 1902. The farm continued on in the name of his daughter and son-in-law Dove and Will Rogers ; Samuel and Mary Stephenson, on Ballarto Road. They arrived in 1907 and in 1925 purchased “Rosebank” near McDonalds Drain Road ; William Wadsley and his brother John. They had land on the corner of Hall Road and Five Mile Road ; Peter Milroy arrived in 1908 and his farm was carried on by his daughter and son-in-law, Betty and Jack Sewell ; John and Mary Ann Blackwood, and their 10 children, came to Pakenham South in 1911 ; Richard and Elizabeth O’Hehir (nee Killeen) moved to the Koo-Wee-Rup – Pakenham Road in 1914 and George and Mary Atkins came to McDonalds Drain Road in 1920.

The Pakenham South area has always had a strong sense of community - Church services and Sunday School were held in the School building, a tennis club and cricket club was formed in the 1930s as was a Calf-Club, a sort of Young Farmer's Club. A Red Cross branch was established in 1939 to raise money for Comfort Funds, and the Progress Association was established in July 1946. The Hall Committee was established in 1952 to raise funds to purchase and renovate the disused School building from the Education Department, for use as the public hall.

The Pakenham South War Memorial, on the corner of Hall Road and McDonalds Drain Road.

Image: Heather Arnold

Much of the information for this post  was taken from Look to the Rising sun : Back to Cardinia 1984 - a history of Cardinia and District, including Rythdale and Pakenham South. By Eileen Williams and Jewell Beard. (Published by the Back to Cardinia Committee, 1984)

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