Dandenong Police Paddocks and Churchill NP - Pictorial Heritage 1837 to 2017

Epilogue

Home
History
History of Melbourne
Geomorphology
Early Settlement
1837 Native Police Corps 1837-1838, 1843-1853
Westernport Aboriginal Protectorate 1840-1843
1840 Tirhatuan Land
1853 Victoria Police Horse Stud Depot 1853-1930
1893 Belgrave-Dandenong Pipeline
1912 Scoresby Tramway
1920s Churchill National Park - the Lagoon
1941 Churchill National Park
1915 - Dandenong Aqueduct
1946 Heany Park Lake
1942-1946 Rowville Military Camp
1964-1965 Jamboree - Information
1964-65 Jamboree - The Site
1964-1965 Jamboree Site Plan
1964-65 Jamboree - the Logistics!
1964-65 Jamboree - Around the Camp
1964-1965 Jamboree Action (Part 1)
1964-1965 Jamboree Action (Part 2)
1964-65 Jamboree Action (Part 3)
1964-1965 Jamboree Actions (Part 4)
1964-65 Jamboree Visitors' Days
1964-65 Jamboree - Religious Observances
1964-65 Jamboree Internal Roadways
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Baden Powell Drive
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Clifford Park Drive
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Frankston Drive
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Belair Avenue
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Greenbank Avenue
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Greystanes Crescent
1964-65 Jamboree Roadways - Lansdowne Rd
1964-65 Jamboree Movie Show!
Woodland Walk and Lagoon
Road History - Police Rd
Road History - Brady Road
1964-65 Jamboree - Shopping and Exhibition Area
Road History - Stud Rd Precinct
Southern Police Paddocks Land
Road History - Churchill Park Drive
Road History - Gladstone Rd
Road History - Heatherton Road
Road History - Power Road
Scout Camps and Reserves
Melbourne Water Retarding Basin
Narrandjeri Wurundjeri Park
Walking Tracks
Proposals and Plans
Epilogue
Suggestions for Investigation and correction
About the Author
About the Author
References

police-paddocks-picnic-ground-2013.jpg
Author at Narre Narre Warren Picnic Ground March 2017

THE END OF OUR JOURNEY

And so we have reached the end of our long journey through the Dandenong Police Paddocks and Churchill National Park, which has spanned some 180 years!

My first memories of Police Paddocks was way back in 1959, having just obtained my Driver's Licence and becoming the proud owner of a beaten-up 1948 Ford Anglia Tourer! I can recall driving with my brother "in the country" south along Stud Road, at a time when much of the surrounding land was still used for farming and agriculture.

I remember looking across to the east towards the hilly, wooded area - the Paddocks was a desolate tract of blackberries, thistles  and weed-infested scrub.

In December 1964, I returned to the Paddocks, as a visitor to the 7th Australian National Jamboree with a mate who was a Rover Scout in a Dandenong troop.

I had little further contact with the Paddocks and Churchill NP until 1975, when I had become aware of the network of walking tracks which had been opened up there through the (then) Victorian National Parks oganization (which became Parks Victoria)..

Since then, I have completed all of the recognized tracks and trails.

Prior to about 1980, there was little meaningful public information or maps available about the area, or the adjacent Lysterfield Park.

The first edition of the Melways directory (1966) contains only rudimentary details about the region - the 1968 edition showed the road networks which had been built for the 1964/65 Jamboree. In those years, the content of outer suburban areas around Melbourne published in Melways lagged by about two/three years.

This improved when Parks Victoria published its popular guide to Melbourne's Parks and Gardens, in 1996, which included information and basic maps about the region.

Research

This Project has consumed several months of detailed investigation!

Click on any image to display a full-sized view!