State Coal Mine Wonthaggi
An underground tour of the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi Victoria
We were passing through Wonthaggi again and decided to visit the State Coal Mine one more time to participate in the Underground Mine Tour. We really wanted to do this on our last visit, but our itinerary didn’t allow it.
More info on our blog:
The tour goes for about an hour and a half, and in that time you cover about 1.5 kms. It starts off with a walk down a 1 in 4 decline for 250m, where you then find yourself 60m below ground in the heart of the mine. Throughout the tour our guide Kevin was great, sharing all about the mines operation, history and now importance to Wonthaggi as a tourist destination.
This was a great family activity and the kids learnt a lot. Highly recommended, check out our video above and our full write up about our trip to Wonthaggi last week which included a visit to the wider facilities of the State Coal Mine.
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 6 - McBride Tunnel
A guide to the location of the McBride Mine Tunnel Portal, a look at what's there in 2018 and historic information and images of the early mine buildings. The Dudley Area mine at shaft 16 is the next project. NOTE - THE PIT PONY HANDLER WAS CALLED A WHEELER T. A. 31102018
State Coal Mine, Wonthaggi
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 10 – Shaft 20
A video guide to the location of 20 Shaft, what’s there in 2019, and an image of the buildings which existed in the 1930’s. Some statistics are given. A listing of miners who were killed during the working life of 20 shaft is included. T. A. 09022019
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 11 – Kirrak
Video guide to locate and show remnants of the mine in 2019 and images of the mine in the year of closure, 1968. Use of a painting by Dennis Leversha gives this short video a good look.
T A 24022019
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 5 - Shafts 9 & 10 x
A guide to the location of coal mine shafts 9 & 10, a look at what's there in 2018 and historic information and images of the early mine buildings. McBride Tunnel is the next project. T. A. 23102018
???? Australia's worst mining disaster Dalyston No 20 Shaft Historical site Wonthaggi
Two significant coal mine disasters took place here at the no 20 Shaft in Dalyston, Victoria, Australia
???? The first occurred during the first year of operation on the 20th February 1931, when 4 men died underground.
Then disaster strikes once again, on the 15th February 1937, in which another 13 men died underground this explosion was so powerful ,it blew the cage out of the shaft some 40 ft above the surface, and hit the poppet head, making this the worst mining disaster in Australia's history.
The newspaper of the day the Canberra Times can be read from the national archives. (Link Below)
????
???? This second disaster, in which Thirteen miners were killed from the explosion, resulted in a successful national campaign to improve conditions for all Australian miners.
So at least some good came from the sad deaths of these miners.
May they rest peace.
The Dalyston township today, is nothing more than a few assorted stones and cement slabs laying around, and allotment numbers found on maps of the area.
LOT 36 Bass Highway
Dalyston
VIC 3992
???? Checkout other videos from Garry Purcells YouTube Channel:
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 1 - STATION AREA TUNNELS
A screening plant was erected on a spur line north of the Wonthaggi Railway Station to enable the loading of 301,600 tons of black coal from two tunnels to the west. It operated from 1919 to 1928. T A 170918
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 8 – Western Area
A video guide to the location of the remnants of the Western Area coal mine at Wonthaggi in 2018, some historic information, and images of the working mine in 1937. REVISED 11 12 2018
State Coal Mine | Wonthaggi, Victoria
The State Coal Mine is a great place to visit if you are in Wonthaggi or staying in Inverloch. Entry is free to see all the above ground displays, and you can go on an underground tour for a fee.
We were allowed to take our two dogs on lead around the above ground area - and it was well worth doing. There was a cottage set up as it would have been 100 years ago, photos and old tools that would have been used in the mines could be found in the out buildings scattered throughout the grounds.
Read more about The State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi here:
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 2 - Eastern Area Mine
ERRATA - TOTAL PRODUCTION WAS 2,261,550 TONS OF COAL, NOT 3,261,550. Wonthaggi has the State Coal Mine museums and tourist park where people can go down into a working black coal mine on underground tours. This is a rejig of a 2013 video. T A 21092018
A weekend in Wonthaggi at the State Coal Mine in Victoria
We had a cycling event to participate in with the kids, so took the opportunity to do some weekend camping in Wonthaggi, Victoria. We grabbed our family tent, loaded up the car, and headed off for a short drive down the Bass Highway towards Phillip Island. Wonthaggi sits 130kms from Melbourne, veering off towards Inverloch and Wonthaggi from the Phillip Island road.
More info on our blog:
We stayed at Coalfields Caravan & Residential Park which is right in the heart of town opposite the Wonthaggi Hospital and at the end of the main street. A short walk puts you amongst the supermarkets, shops, cafes and restaurants. Coalfields has a great camp kitchen and eating area, and we set up the tent in the grassed area opposite.
Also onsite is a really decent shower block, a pool and plenty of room for the kids to ride their bikes and scooters.
A short 10 minute drive from Wonthaggi is the seaside town of Inverloch. Inverloch has a great patrolled beach area at the Surf Life Saving Club, and a big beach area down by the foreshore.
There is a Farmers Market regularly which really is one of the better ones going around. We’d been there previously, and loaded up on honey, fruit and vegetables and the best caramalised nuts going around!
The weather was a little overcast, but we went down to the beach anyway for a bit of rock skimming and teepee building. A big shift of sand has resulted in almost a dessert leading out to the opening of the inlet to Venus Bay, and all of the locals and visitors have collectively built and continue to build a series of teepees throughout.
Whilst away we were contacted by Rachael on our Facebook page who tipped us off to visit the State Coal Mine. Now we had seen these signs, mostly in poor condition around Wonthaggi and in passing previous trips. It had never really grabbed us, but thought we would follow through on the advice of someone local.
WOW! The State Coal Mine is unbelievable. They have a large Café, entry is free and on top of the amazing real life coal mine facilities there was a great BBQ and Picnic area complete with Fairy Garden. For the record Jed won the fairy search, with 66 fairies found!
We walked around the grounds, checking out the farm animals and canaries, looking at a home setup as it would have been back when the mine was in operation, explored the washing, changing and living facilities, an explosives storage block, the bike shed, an old steam train and more.
We had a great time as a family in Wonthaggi. Whilst there we were impressed by the ammenties in the town, the amount of activity such as bike riders, joggers and walkers and the list of things to do locally and within 10 minutes. We had a short weekend, but will definitiely be back to check out things like the Bunurong Coastal Drive, the Dinosaur Dig, the Bass Coast Rail Trail and the Victorian Desalanation Plant Ecological Reserve.
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 9 - Shaft 18
A video guide to the location of the remnants of coal mine shaft 18 at Wonthaggi in 2018, historic information, and images of the early mine buildings and miners. At the end of the video is a list of miners' who lost their lives whilst working at the Eastern Area mine. T. A. 18012018
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE - McBride Disaster 1942
The loss of two men and the delay with their recovery from the mine has been described as a disaster. The sequence of events are shown here and more importantly a reminder of the fact that 19 men were killed during the life of the mine. T. A. 27122018
Laser Strike At Wonthaggi Coal Mine
Laser Strike at Wonthaggi State Coal Mine. The only one of it's kind! Go deep underground into the centre of the earth and battle it out in an action packed session like no other!
Kilcunda - Coast Coal Mine
A look at Kilcunda where the black coal mines of the past were located, including some images of the working mines. Kilcunda had coal mines from the 1870's up to the 1950's. A draft horse was used to pull coal skips from the Coast Coal Mine.
T. A. 10519 Redone to correct errors
WONTHAGGI - DALY'S COAL MINE b
The only private black coal mine in Wonthaggi commenced operations in 1910 and was known as Daly's Mine. It changed ownership a couple of times and closed in 1926.
UPDATE T. A. 01-07-2019. Caption name correction
Historic Coal Mine Wonthaggi
WONTHAGGI STATE COAL MINE 3 - The Pioneer Mines
How to find the location of the mines to see what remains after 100 years +. Historic photographs and captions tell a small part of the mines history. More videos of other mine sites to come. T A 01102018