The Long and Winding Ride: Episode 9 – Gapsted to Milawa: Shiraz Mondeuse and Cabernet

   The Long and Winding Ride

 

 

Episode 9 Gapsted to Milawa: Shiraz Mondeuse and Cabernet

 

A favourite from Brown Bros. – 2008 Shiraz Mondeuse and Cabernet (pic: author) 

 

Episode 9 is less about riding and more about imbibing. It will be a day of calling at farm gates and factory shops to buy mushrooms, honey and berries, to taste olives and chocolate, sample cheeses and to drink wines at cellar doors. The Milawa Makers Loop offers the chance to get off the sealed trail and hop onto the gravel where farm gates await. A gastronomical delight is in store.

 

The down hill run from Gapsted to Milawa follows the M2M for a short distance and then branches off through Whorouly East, Whorouly and Markwood.  At our morning break we stop for a lesson in World War II prisoner-of-war history at Whorouly East. Upon reaching our destination we will meet a powerhouse club of the Ovens and King League, the Milawa ‘Demons’, and just down the road, a winemaking family of distinction.

 

 

Stage 9 Gapsted to Milawa

 

Prisoner-of-war camps were set up in 20 rural locations in Australia during the Second World War. Many readers will have heard of the ‘Cowra Breakout’ by Japanese prisoners and may know of the prisoner-of-war camp at Hay, but few may be aware of the camp at Whorouly East, known as Myrtleford Camp No. 5. The prisoner-of-war camp, established in 1942 at Whorouly East, had the capacity of accommodating 1500 people. All prisoners at the camp were Italians captured during the North African campaign. The men arrived by boat to Sydney, and were then transported by train to the Gapsted Railway Station, where they were marched into the camp. A large proportion of the 1000 men were officers.

 

Internees enjoyed the opportunity to work outside the camp with civilians, away from the confinement of barbed wire, bringing them closer to normal life. Prior to their repatriation in 1946, a group of 16 prisoners escaped, only to be found a few days later at locations as far apart as Wodonga, Tallangatta and the Ovens district.

 

It is reported that between 10 and 20 percent of the Whorouly prisoners returned to the district as migrants after the war, bringing some of their countrymen who had learned of the rich farmland and friendly people of the Ovens and King valleys. The Italians became tobacco growers and agricultural workers. And some of their descendants took to the Australian game of football.

 

In 1947 the site was taken over by the State Electricity Commission. Its 160 buildings were dismantled and transported to the Kiewa Valley hydro-electric power project at Mount Beauty. The camp site returned to its original use – grazing land for stock – but has relics in the form of concrete slabs where huts and amenities buildings once stood.

 

Whorouly

The Whorouly Football Club was founded in 1892 and joined the Ovens and King FA in 1904, the association’s second season. Whorouly (known as the Lions) have had an unbroken affiliation with the O&K competition securing seven premierships over the course of those 120 years (1925, 1926, 1952, 1977, 1978, 1989, 2007). Whorouly hold the record for the greatest O&KFL grand final winning margin created in 1978 when they defeated Beechworth by 120 points. Another club, Whorouly East, was formed in 1932 playing in the Bright District FA. In 1934 Whorouly East joined the Mudgegonga and District Association and claimed their one and only flag that season. A club named Whorouly Rovers was formed in 1936 and played in the Myrtleford-Bright FA until 1939.

 

 

Whorouly Recreation Reserve (Google maps)

 

 

From the Memorial Oval Whorouly to the Lake Oval

 

Whorouly is the hometown of early 1960s South Melbourne player Clem Goonan. In 1953 Whorouly’s regular boundary umpire,14 year old Clem Goonan, made his debut for the club. After taking out the O&KFL best and fairest award in 1958 VFL clubs came knocking on the Goonan family’s door. St Kilda, Melbourne and Geelong all sought his signature, but it was South Melbourne who won out. Goonan played for two seasons with Myrtleford, under the leadership of dual Magarey and Morris medallist Jimmy Deane, developing his football in readiness to make the step up to VFL football.

 

Upon joining South in 1961 he flourished under the coaching of former Melbourne star Noel McMahon. After 50 games playing as a defender and ruck rover with the Swans he moved to Wodonga in 1965 with his employment. The Bulldogs did not win his services, instead Goonan signed up with Albury under the coaching of Murray Weidemann. He finished his Ovens and Murray days as captain coach of Rutherglen in 1971-72. Clem was among the first group of players/officials inducted into the Ovens and King League Hall of Fame in 2006.

 

Another Whorouly footballer to have a successful VFL career was Ray Wartman who played 125 games for Melbourne in the late 1930s and early 1940s. His timing was perfect as the Demons won three straight premierships (1939, ‘40, ‘41) in Wartman’s time at the club. He was a tall and fast wingman, whose sporting prowess extended to being a champion runner and talented golfer. 

 

In the 2004 AFL National Draft Melbourne recruited another Whorouly talent, Michael Newton. His career with the Demons produced at least one highlight – the 2007 Mark of the Year – taken high above the pack resting on the head of teammate David Neitz. Nicknamed ‘Juice’, Newton was a cult hero for the Demons’ supporters for his trademark high-marking. After being delisted by Melbourne he moved interstate to play with Norwood in the SANFL (2012-2015). His best season was in 2014 when he booted 57 goals and was a big contributor to Norwood’s third flag in succession. Newton returned to the Ovens district in 2016 playing for Wangaratta in the Ovens and Murray League.

 

On the final leg of the ride to Milawa, near Markwood, we cross over the Everton-Carboor Road. Carboor, a small settlement and farming community located in the midst of the country between Myrtleford and Moyhu, was one of the founding members of the Ovens and King FA in 1903. The club lasted for only one season in the association. 

 

Arriving at Milawa we stop at the crossroads, where the Snow Road is met by the Milawa-Bobinawarrah Road. The township was once known as ‘The Square’, with two hotels occupying opposite corners of the intersection. Today it is down to one – the Milawa Hotel, a popular watering hole for both locals and travellers along the Snow Road.

 

Milawa Hotel (Milawa Hotel on Facebook)

 

Pedalling on a little way we approach a family owned winery at Milawa and park our bikes outside what was originally a hay and grain storage barn. John Francis Brown produced the first vintage of wine, from grapes grown on the family farm, in that barn in 1889. His son John Charles Brown took over the business in the 1930s at a time when the wines were in popular demand among the local tobacco-growing Italian community. Not only did he make the first vintage of Shiraz Mondeuse and Cabernet (in 1954) but John pioneered the cellar door experience that has become synonymous with the family’s burgeoning business. Innovation in the vineyard has also been part and parcel of their success. Exploring new varieties, including Prosecco in particular, is a cornerstone of the family’s wine making history.

 

Why Shiraz Mondeuse and Cabernet? The name rolls off the tongue doesn’t it. Mondeuse, a French blending variety, was planted at the Milawa vineyard in the early days of the enterprise. Grapes from the three varieties, picked at the same time, are fermented together to produce a rich wine of great depth and ageing potential. It was a favourite of John Charles Brown OBE and one that I first tasted in 1981 and continue to enjoy – albeit a winter-time special occasion wine.

 

Lunch stop

We have reached the midpoint of the long and winding ride. After nine episodes in the saddle, we all deserve a slow gourmet lunch experience with food prepared by chefs and wine served by sommeliers. Here in the lower King Valley we are at the ideal place. 

 

Backtracking to the recreation reserve on the outskirts of town, we find the home ground of the Milawa Football Netball Club (the ‘Demons’), the cricket, bowls and tennis clubs. The ground was known as the ‘Cricket Reserve’ after an open lane was appropriated for playing games of cricket in the 1860s. Fencing was financed from subscriptions and a pavilion was erected from monies paid by graziers who rented the reserve. In a similar procession to the contemporary ‘March to the MCG’, spectators and competitors would assemble at The Square and walk together to the recreation reserve for annual sports days. Comical outfits and colourful tableau were the order of the day.

 

Milawa Recreation Reserve (Google maps)

 

The Milawa Football Club holds the proud record of being the only club in the Ovens and King League to have competed in every year of the league’s history. Of the five inaugural members of the O&KFA only two remain in the league today – Milawa and Tarrawingee.

 

Milawa was a powerhouse in the early 1920’s, winning back-to-back premierships  in 1922/23 and another in 1927. In 1984/85 the Demons doubled up once again. After their 1991 premiership an eighteen year drought set in until 2009. In 2013 Milawa once again made league history by winning premierships in Seniors and Reserves and all four grades of netball. What a celebration that must have ignited. Milawa took out their 11th O&KFL flag in 2019, placing them second, behind Moyhu, among the premiership standings of the current clubs. The 2019 flag was the pinnacle moment in Milawa’s record  40 wins in a row through 2019-2022.

 

Milawa proudly boasts a handful of former footballers who have been inducted into the Ovens and King League Hall of Fame, among them: the Allans – Kevin, Brendan and Mark, Neville Pollard and Jeff Clarke. One of Milawa’s favourite sons, Merv ‘Farmer’ Holmes (from Carboor), was inducted into the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League Hall of Fame (in 2008) for his outstanding contributions as a player and coach with Wangaratta Rovers and as a representative of the league during the 1970s and 1980s. `

 

From Milawa to the Western Oval and Windy Hill

 

‘Bluestone’ Bob Flanigan, a boy from the King Valley area of Myrrhee played for Milawa in the early 1930s before VFL football called in 1936.  An opportunity to make a league career was given to him by Footscray. He was described as an ‘iron man’, for he had no fear and his aggression on the football field was second to none in those tough days of league footy. A Footscray teammate gave the centre half back Flanigan the nickname ‘Road Metal’. Even at training the fearless Flanigan could be a risk to himself and others. In 1937 he sustained a life threatening head injury as a result of a severe collision with ruckman Stan Livingstone on the training track. After 49 games with the Dogs his career looked to be finished due to recurrent injuries, but Dick Reynolds at Essendon saw otherwise. ‘Bluestone’ was his new name at Windy Hill where he played 42 games for the Bombers, including their 1942 premiership. He was known for his high marking and vigorous daring dashes from defence.

 

Next episode

In stage 10 we cross back over the Ovens River on our way to Tarrawingee.

 

 

More from Peter Clark can be read Here.

 

 

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