The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Wednesday 23 November 1904, page 8 One place in Warrnambool that was part of my childhood over 60 years ago was the old Warrnambool Corporation Saleyards. Opened by the Mayor on 22nd November 1904 it was The place to be on Wednesday each week-sale day. When the Council built these saleyards, at a cost of 5000 pounds ($10,000), they did so because the original saleyards were the cause of much criticism-smell, drainage etc. Ironically, by 1937 these New saleyards were being criticised for the same reasons and there was a petition presented to Council to move them to a site near the Rail Trucking Yards at the top end of Koroit Street (now cement works adjacent to Hanson’s site).As you will read later, the movement of cattle from the Raglan Parade site wasn’t an easy task and the mess that could be created by the stock en transit. Obviously, later on those saleyards were moved to Caramut Road and today discussions are being held to build a regional saleyards at a site outside Warrnambool. The choice of the Raglan Parade site is interesting given the objections and criticism of the previous site and the later petition to Council to relocate the Saleyards to an area near the Railway Trucking yards. At the time, one of the most substantial buildings in Warrnambool was St John’s Presbyterian Church which was located in Spence Street overlooking the Saleyards. Built in the mid 1800’s, it’s congregation had serious input into the Warrnambool community. However, it would seem that the existence of over 40 hotels in the Town at the time that the Saleyards were opened indicated that the Calvinistic influence was not strong at the start of the 20th century.The location in that spot may have been for other reasons. That could have been the importance of the Saleyards in attracting shoppers to the main retail area of the town. The need of a farmer to buy and sell his stock meant a trip to town with his family, such habit noted in the Colac Herald around that time. So doing the sums, one farmer coming to market would mean that there was two people plus his children. The size of the Warrnambool market resulted in hundreds of shoppers each sale day-great for business. So the location of the Saleyards adjacent to the main shopping precinct made sense. Warrnambool was the rail hub for the transport of livestock to Melbourne. Before road transport as we know it today ( the impact of the National Rail Strike in the late forties is the subject of a later essay) , all livestock was required to be transported by rail or driven by drovers on the road. Exceptions were allowed but only with a special permit and under extreme conditions. Farmers who had a truck could bring their stock to market but needed a license to move stock by truck from property to property. As a result Warrnambool and District was no different from many areas around the country with most livestock activity based on the access to rail transport. Small livestock sales that depended on Warrnambool for transport were Koroit, Grasmere, Purnim. Allansford and Nullawarre. Of course there other and bigger livestock sale sights in the Western District at the time in places such as Colac, Camperdown, Terang, Portland, Heywood, Casterton and Hamilton but all these Towns had rail access. For Warrnambool, drovers would ride out each day to a particular sale. They would collect cattle from farms along the way by arrangement with the Stock and Station Agent who was conducting that particular sale. When the sale was over, the drover or drovers would drove the sold cattle back to Warrnambool-to the Rail trucking yards to be transported to meatworks in Melbourne- or to the Warrnambool Abattoirs to be slaughtered for the local Warrnambool butchers. The Saleyards built by Council in 1904 was situated on the northern side of Raglan Parade (now Swan reserve) on an angular site bordered by Kepler Street on the west, Spence Street on the North West and Raglan Parade on the Southern boundary. There were entrances from Raglan Parade, Spence Street and Kepler Street and with ramps for loading and unloading pigs and calves in Kepler Street at the Raglan Parade corner. In the north eastern corner of the saleyards were sheep pens and considering that the district catered mainly to dairy cattle and cattle fattening, a surprising number of sheep went through this market. The Auctioneers’ offices were situated to the right of the main entrance off Raglan Parade, Cattle sold at the Warrnambool saleyards were driven by drovers and others from the saleyards to the Trucking yards and Abattoirs (now Midfield) after the sale was finished. I remember Curly Leslie who was there to help every sale day but the drovers were the important ones-Jack”Jockey” Noonan and Wattie Wright. Jack was also the assistant clerk of course to Harry McKenna at the Warrnambool races while Wattie was a drover when he enlisted in the Light Horse in 1915 and after WW1 remained a drover. The route taken by the drovers in moving the sale cattle was out the side gate of saleyards into Kepler Street (that street was not divided between Spence Street and Raglan Parade in those days), turn right into Raglan Parade-the Parade in those days was not a divided road so by keeping to the right avoided any traffic and it was straight going to Botanic road where the mob veered left into Fitzroy Road. In those days there were very few side streets as far as Giffen Street where the mob was wheeled left and proceeded on to the top of Koroit Street where the rail trucking yards was sited. One frustration in researching this topic was the absence of digitsed copies of the Warrnambool Standard as there must have been many complaints about run-a-way cattle leaving faeces in unusual places or cattle destroying garden beds and such complaints giving rise to petitions to move the saleyards. it took several hours to round up the entire mob. That evening Jack Noonan swam his horse over the Merri River in pursuit of escapees. If the sale at Warrnambool finished early, the drovers normally adjourned to Tattersall’s hotel across the Road from the Saleyards to slake their thirsts. If it finished very early Jack and Wattie did a lot of thirst slaking and needed help mounting their horses. The night’s droving was left to the amateurs. Was scary!!!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 05:03:04 +0000
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