Tag Archives: Weston Park

Walking south and into the suburb of Claremont on the 9th stage along the Derwent River

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The intersection of Harbinger Lane and Ferry Road at Austins Ferry marks one corner of Weston Park. At 9.56am I turned left and walked across the Park parallel to Rusts Bay, crossed a single lane wooden bridge and rounded the Shoobridge sporting fields all the while enjoying the pleasures of dogs walking their owners along the edge of the Derwent River.

The photo below shows Shoobridge Park on the northern side of Beedhams Bay.

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I was amused and somewhat puzzled watching a Pied Oyster Catcher picking for worms on the sports oval, and not bothered by an interested German Shepherd. What happened to a little fear? What’s wrong with oysters?

I had an easy walk on mowed grasses to Beedhams Bay and was delighted when a White Faced Heron flew onto the path ahead of me. Slender. Petite. Soft grey.

At 10.10am I crossed the railway line following the tracks of others but there are no official paths. The Main Road was again to my right with the railway line to my left. Native Hens were feeding ahead and noisy plovers let them know I was coming.  Black swans floated on the Bay. I noticed bus stop 40, and realised 1 ¾ hours had passed since I started today’s trek from bus stop 47 in Granton South.

While at Beedhams Bay I was in full view of three mountains: Mount Direction on the eastern shore, and Mount Faulkner and Mount Wellington on the western shore.

I stopped for a morning tea break at 10.18 in a gazebo at the southern end of Beedhams Reserve.  Despite some protection from the elements, the food was blown off my spoon before I could transfer it to my mouth. My hair thwacked back and forwards at every angle across my head creating an interlocking mesh.

The photo below shows Beedhams Bay looking northwards across it.

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My maps indicated that the nearby building sunk low in the earth was a scout hall but I couldn’t see  signs of identification and the building looked locked up and unused. Foot tracks emerged from the area and crossed the railway line that cut through between packs of houses on either side. There was no evidence of being able to continue to walk close to the Derwent River so I walked up above but beside the railway line until I reached a road crossing at Bilton Street in Claremont.

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A local government bike and pedestrian path from Hobart reached its conclusion next to the railway line on the other side of the road. To my surprise Claremont Plaza, a multifaceted shopping village and other organisations, was located in the block diagonally opposite. This was a sensible location to make a toilet stop since there are no public toilets available during my 9th stage of the walk along the Derwent River.

By 10.46am I had returned to the rail/road crossing ready to continue the walk. I followed Bilton Street around the curve until its T junction with Cadbury Road and turned left. On the other side of the road, the lovely red brick unused old Claremont School stood boarded up.

The road turned uphill and passed the Bilton Bay Reserve (10.49am) and the entrance to the Derwent Waters Residential Club – an estate signed as private property thereby denying my access to the River’s edge (10.56am).  I continued walking on Cadbury Road flanked by tall pine trees thrashing in the wind, past the Cadbury Sports Grounds (11.05am), past the Cadbury Visitors Car Park (11.08) and turned left onto Bournville Road.  I knew I would be returning to have a closer look at the Cadbury chocolate confectionery manufacturing factory so I proposed to walk to Dogshear Point first and then be rewarded sweetly later.

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Granton and Austins Ferry on the western shore of the Derwent River

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On my 9th walk along the Derwent I will be passing through Granton South and Austins Ferry.

Granton is the northern-most suburb within the City of Glenorchy, part of the Greater Hobart Area.  I can find no records explaining how it came to be named. Granton and its Harbour in Edinburgh Scotland were not developed until the 1830s.  If the York Hotel in Tasmania’s Granton was built in 1849, possibly there may be a Scottish connection with the naming of the suburb.

Austins Ferry sits adjacent to and south of Granton within the City of Glenorchy.  Wikipedia informed me that this suburb was named after James Austin (1776-1831). Austin was transported to Australia as a convict and arrived in Tasmania in 1804. When he became a free man, the government granted him some land in this area. During the 1810s he had a profitable ferrying business across the Derwent River to the eastern shore. ‘In 1821 the visiting Governor Lachlan Macquarie renamed the village Roseneath, but it has since reverted to its original name.’ James Austin’s original cottage is located (somewhere) in this suburb and maybe I will be fortunate enough to locate it when I walk.

According to http://profile.id.com.au/glenorchy/about?WebID=160, Granton is linked with the suburb of Austins ferry for statistical purposes. In 2011, the joint population was 3,329.  ‘Settlement of the area dates from the early 1800s. Some growth took place in the early 1900s, although significant development did not occur until the post-war years. Most of the houses were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Growth continued from the early 1990s, with the population doubling between 1991 and 2011, particularly in Austins Ferry, a result of large numbers of new dwellings being added to the area. Major features of the area include Goulds Lagoon Sanctuary, Poimena Reserve, Hestercombe Reserve, James Austin Park, Roseneath Park, Shoobridge Park, Weston Park and one school.’

According to http://www.homesales.com.au/location/granton-tas/, Granton has a population of 1519 with an average weekly income of $787. The median prices for houses are $375,000. The average house is rented for $610 a week. 94% of people live in houses as distinct from other types of residences. 36% of people fully own their houses/property. Almost 30% are under 30 years of age and only 10% are over 65 years of age. 92% of residents were born in Australia.  By contrast, Austins Ferry has a population of 2221 with an average weekly income of $721. The median prices for houses are $287,000. The average house is rented for $340 a week. 87% of people live in houses as distinct from other types of residences. 31% of people fully own their houses/property. 27% are under 30 years of age and 14% are over 65 years of age. 88% of residents were born in Australia.