Up the Mighty Murray! – Episode 22: Towards the Headwaters  

 

 

Episode 22               Towards the Headwaters  

 

Map of the Murray River

 

To the Corryong district in the Upper Murray League

 

Up the Great River Road to Khancoban

 

The Great River Road

 

The Great River Road links the Hume Dam with Khancoban in the Upper Murray region. Like other spectacular Victorian tourist routes, the Great Ocean Road and the Great Alpine Road, the Great River Road takes motorists, motorcyclists and cyclists on a memorable country road trip. The meandering route is lined with storyboards and artwork telling of the environments and cultural history of the Upper Murray region. There are five stunning and interactive sculptures, including the Bogong Moth and Murray Cod at Tintaldra, the Murray Cray at Bringenbrong, the Wedge-tailed Eagle at Mount Alfred Gap and the Rainbow Trout at Khancoban. Travellers are invited to stop for a while – at a pub, a river bank, a town – to take in the scenery and the quiet and maybe to enjoy a picnic or indulge in some local hospitality. We start at the Bethanga Bridge and wind our way along the Murray arm of Lake Hume until the lake gives the river back and then continue up the valley beyond Tintaldra and Corryong to the Bringenbrong Bridge near the border village of Towong. At that point it is just a short run up the Alpine Way to Khancoban where our five month Mighty Murray River journey ends.

 

 

One of the storyboards along the Great River Road

 

The Bethanga Bridge

 

The Bethanga Bridge

 

The Bethanga Bridge hails admittance to the Upper Murray, and conversely for Albury-Wodonga bound travellers along the Great River Road, says welcome home as it promises the upcoming reappearance of the Mighty Murray. 

 

The bridge dates from the period 1927-1930 when the Hume Weir was being completed. The dammed waters inundated sections of the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers and consequently drowned the old low level wooden bridges; one over the Murray at Talgarno (Hawksview Bridge) and the other over the Mitta Mitta at Ebden. The effect was to isolate the Bethanga district. An alternative route for the crossing was not settled until 1925, after a “battle of the bridges” among affected farmers. One group wanted a bridge from Bethanga over the Mitta Arm, because they shipped stock to Melbourne via the Ebden railway station. Another said that people would benefit most from a bridge where it was ultimately built arguing it would bring Albury closer to the farmers and they could also reach Wodonga conveniently by crossing the Bethanga Bridge and then the dam wall. 

 

NSW chief civil engineer Percy Allan, a man who designed 583 bridges, is credited with designing the Bethanga Bridge. Surprisingly Allan also found time for his other passion, the game of rugby. Reliable sources report that Allan might have had a say in plans for the bridge before retiring in 1927, but a roads engineer from his office, Vincent Packer, designed and supervised construction of the bridge. 

 

The Murray River boundary between New South Wales and Victoria is the top of the southern bank of the river. Therefore, structures on the river are considered to be in New South Wales. Because of its unique location, over the waters of a dam with the border running down the centre, the Bethanga bridge is the only built structure shared by both New South Wales and Victoria. It is a riveted-steel road bridge consisting of nine spans of 82 metres each and a total length of 752 metres. The total cost for the bridge when completed in 1930 was 200 000 pounds, a very large sum at that time. The bridge was totally Australian made, and amazingly, no worker’s lives were lost during its construction.

 

The timber deck came from northern New South Wales. But nearing completion in August 1930, not all timber had been delivered when a sudden flood submerged the Talgarno bridge. “In desperation, the engineers secured some local planks to complete the deck and open the new bridge. There was no time to summon a minister or celebrity to cut a ribbon.” (source: Howard Jones, Albury Historical Society)

 

The original rattly road deck was replaced in 1961 with a concrete slab deck and the bridge deck and truss structure was raised 30 cm to accommodate the enlargement of the Hume Reservoir. The bridge is of aesthetic significance for its picturesque rural setting spanning a wide expanse of water (when lake levels are high) and periodically at great heights over broad river flats (when the lake is low). It is also an eye-catching landmark for its vast scale and length. Additionally, the rhythmic patterning of spans and the repeated geometric motifs of the trusses give the structure visual appeal. The Bethanga Bridge is a photographer’s delight when fog falls on the lake or when bushfire smoke engulfs the surrounding Murray Valley.

 

The Wymah Ferry

 

As we discovered in an earlier episode there are only two remaining ferries along the Murray in NSW and Victoria, while South Australia has a dozen. One is at Speewa near Swan Hill, and the other is the Wymah Ferry which links Granya (Victoria) and Wymah (NSW). The Wymah Ferry was one of the earliest Murray River ferry crossings, providing transport for people and livestock. 

 

The ferry began in the 1860s as a private ferry crossing. Legend has it that a publican started the first punt to bring customers over the Murray River to his hotel at Wymah. Later, a public ferry began operating in 1892. The current Wymah Ferry is the fourth public ferry, with two previous ferries sinking and another dismantled. One of the ferries was originally used as a temporary crossing during the construction of the Bethanga Bridge. The present-day three-car ferry is called the “Spirit of Wymah”. 

 

Crossing the Murray on the ferry from the Victorian side creates an opportunity to make a 150 km loop trip back to Albury via Bowna. Taking the Wymah Ferry also offers a detour and an alternative route to the Upper Murray. Proceed along the River Road to Talmalmo for a chance to ask a local about the history of the legendary Dora Dora Hotel. Then continue to Jingellic and cross over the bridge on the Murray, to rejoin the Great River Road.

 

Tintaldra, Corryong, Towong and Khancoban

 

Tintaldra was the first settlement in the Upper Murray district when pioneers put down roots in 1837. The village is situated halfway between Walwa and Corryong along the Great River Road and offers sweeping vistas of the mountains to the east. One of its pioneers was Christian Vogel, a German immigrant, whose multiskilled repertoire included – publican, punt operator, blacksmith, farrier, carpenter, wagon-maker and dentist! European settlers came to the Upper Murray in search of pasture and water for their cattle, and they found both in abundance around Tintaldra. Today at the Tintaldra Hotel passers-by will see the Upper Murray River flag flying from the roof of the building – a sure sign that we are beside the Murray and in its upper reaches.

 

 

Panoramic view of the Upper Murray near Tintaldra

 

Corryong is the town everyone immediately associates with the Upper Murray. It is the largest settlement in the region and one that promotes itself as the true home and final resting place of ‘The Man from Snowy River’. Jack Riley, an Irish immigrant, is regarded as the inspiration for Banjo Paterson’s famous ballad. Riley worked as a tailor at Omeo and, while living in the area, started working as a stockman. He gained local fame as a gifted mountain rider, horse-breaker, bushman and tracker of wild horses. While working as the manager of the Tom Groggin cattle station he undertook the hair-raising ride which is the centrepiece of Banjo’s much-recited poem. The balladist met Riley while on a camping trip in the area and gained inspiration from the bushman’s tales of adventure in the Snowy. 

 

In 1928 Corryong hit the news when colourful Melbourne criminal Squizzy Taylor robbed a bank in town after his escapades at the Towong Racetrack where he and his gang upset the day’s racing program and got away with a big sum of cash. As you drive through Towong today the racecourse and historic grandstand, where scenes from the movie ‘Phar Lap’ were shot, cannot be missed.

 

 

Crossing the Murray at the Bringenbrong Bridge

 

The Bringenbrong Bridge, situated a hop, skip and a jump beyond the village of Towong, is a key waypoint on the Murray. It is there that the river takes a significant change of course. For the first 250km of the Murray’s journey its orientation is northerly, but it swings west-north westwards near Bringenbrong, the direction it follows for most of its further 2500 km wandering path except its final fall to the sea in South Australia. Indigenous People know the Murray upstream of Bringenbrong as Indi.

 

Bringenbrong Bridge

 

The bridge is also a major waypoint in your author’s journey, for it is here that I leave the Mighty Murray, and its story, before crossing the alps on my return to the South Coast of NSW.

 

Khancoban is the endpoint of our Murray River adventure. The mountain town is located near the mouth of the Swampy Plains River where it meets the Murray. The settlement owes its existence to the construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in the 1960s when the Murray 1 and Murray 2 power stations were built. Its principal function today is to house workers who operate and maintain the Snowy Hydro facilities located near the town. It represents the termination point of the Great River Road and a must-see photo stop on the Alpine Way which links Jindabyne with the Upper Murray region.

 

 

Upper Murray Football League History

 

 

 

Football in the Upper Murray district was established in 1893 with teams of cricketers from Cudgewa, Corryong and Mount Elliot playing each other several times a year in a competition called the Corryong Football Association. This represented one of the earliest country football leagues to be established in Victoria. At the start of the 1898 season a fourth club, the Walwa Football Club, joined and following their successful entry, Khancoban was admitted in 1899. The competition became the Upper Murray Football Club Association in 1900 and in 1901 the Mount Elliot club was selected to be renamed the Federal Football Club in honour of the Federation of Australian states. The Federal club then relocated to Corryong. The association restarted after World War I with limited numbers and by 1920 four clubs Corryong, Cudgewa, Federal and Walwa competed. In 1936 the UMFA became known as the Upper Murray Football League.

 

One of the most interesting examples of football clubs changing names and colours, and also locations, is the ‘Khancoban Football Club’ which was variously identified as Khancoban, Towong Wanderers, Thowgla Wanderers, Tintaldra and Tintaldra-Khancoban United between 1899 and 1967.

 

The league remained a four-team competition until Berringama joined in 1929 for a two season career without achieving a single victory. A fifth team, Border United (based at Jingellic, NSW) entered in 1950 and remained as a single entity until 1962 when it merged with Walwa. A sixth club, Tintaldra (formerly Khancoban) joined in 1951. In 1968 the league returned to a four-team competition after the loss of Tintaldra-Khancoban United. NSW club Tumbarumba were admitted in 1971 followed by Tumut in 1978. Tumut’s exit in 1986 returned the competition to five clubs before the admission of Bullioh in 2001. 

 

Upper Murray Football League in perilous waters

 

When a league is reduced to only four clubs, as the Upper Murray Football League currently is, all clubs make the finals. And you can play a final without winning a match all season, just ask Corryong!

 

Current clubs in the Upper Murray Football League include Bullioh (the Bulldogs), Corryong (the Demons), Cudgewa (the Blues) and Tumbarumba (the Roos). Border-Walwa (the Magpies) went into recess in 2020 and likewise the Federal FC (the Swans) in 2023. For Border-Walwa their pause was attributed to the combination of a lack of players and the devastating impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires. Federal have also struggled with player numbers and volunteers to keep the club afloat. According to AFL Country Victoria, both Border-Walwa FNC and the Federal FNC remain affiliated with the Upper Murray Football Netball League and have publicly stated their desire to rejoin the league in the future. Both clubs maintain some involvement within their local communities including fundraising events and community days. Parochialism could be the greatest obstacle to a sustainable competition with a reluctance by clubs to entertain the concept of mergers. One former star country player with experience of playing for an amalgamated club in the Hume League has suggested the best road forward would be for the remaining clubs in the UMFL to consolidate and enter a single team in the Tallangatta and District League. But that means drawing curtains on a league that has survived for 130 years. It would also be problematic for Tumbarumba footballers and netballers given their geographic position relative to the T&DFL.

 

The most successful clubs in the UMFL are Corryong with 32 premierships and Cudgewa with 31. The Upper Murray league was zoned to South Melbourne during the era of country zoning (1967-85). During that time no players were recruited from the Upper Murray League to the VFL. But previously a Corryong-born lad made his way from Cudgewa to play for Carlton. Bob Chitty was both talented and versatile but the thing he is remembered for most was his unbridled aggression. The hardman was described thus:

 

“Some players manufacture aggression, others seem born to it; as far as Bob Chitty was concerned, aggression oozed out of his every pore.” (australianfootball.com)

 

Chitty was Carlton’s captain in the infamous 1945 “Bloodbath Grand Final”. His involvement included a king hit on South Melbourne’s Ron Clegg which triggered the violent incidents. His act of elbowing another opponent resulted in an eight week suspension. Chitty was on the receiving end himself in the last quarter when he was knocked out by Laurie Nash.

 

Bob Chitty returned to the north east in 1947 as captain coach of Benalla, before moving to Tasmania to finish his playing career. Chitty had another string to his bow. While at Benalla, the horseman from the Corryong district got the starring role as bushranger Ned Kelly in the film “The Glenrowan Affair”.

 

Coincidentally, the three main combatants in the 1945 grand final went on to play country football for clubs either side of the border: Nash at Wangaratta and Greta, Chitty at Benalla and Clegg at North Wagga. Several other players in the match went on to play in the Riverina and the Murray region of Victoria. Carlton’s centreman Clinton Wines later played and coached in the South West District League with Ganmain and Grong Grong Matong. Blues’ half back flanker Jim Clark captain-coached Echuca, while the Bloods’ wingman Bill King captain coached Corowa, North Albury and Howlong.

 

Bob Chitty’s brother Peter, played several games for St Kilda before WWII but is remembered more as the country footballer from the hills of north east Victoria who won the ‘Changi Brownlow’ while a prisoner of war at Changi in 1943. (If you get a chance, read Roland Perry’s 2010 book The Changi Brownlow.)

 

The Cudgewa FC was formed in 1892 and was a founding member of the Corryong FA. The Blues’ most successful era was the post World War II period between 1946 and 1986 when they played 24 grand finals for a return of 16 flags. 

 

A football club was formed at Bullioh in 1928 to participate in the Tallangatta and District FA. Meanwhile, a club at Tallangatta Valley, formed in 1909, played in the neighbouring  Mitta Valley FA. In 1947 the two clubs merged to form the Bullioh Valley FC and participated in the Tallangatta and District League until 1977, claiming one premiership (in 1950). In 1978 the club merged with Tallangatta to form the Tallangatta Valley FC. In 2001 the Bullioh FC reformed as a stand alone club and was granted permission to join the Upper Murray FL. Instant success followed the reincarnation of Bullioh, with five premierships coming in the first decade of its affiliation with the UMFL. After Bullioh’s move, Tallangatta Valley eventually reverted to the name ‘Tallangatta FC’ in 2009.

 

The Bulldogs’ home ground is the Whyeebo Recreation Reserve located 15 km up the Tallangatta Creek Road from the small settlement of Bullioh.

 

Upper Murray League Grand Final 2023

 

Cudgewa v Bullioh

Saturday 26th August 2023

at Cudgewa

                       

 

Blues             v             Bulldogs

 

Preview

 

Undefeated Cudgewa were odds-on favourites to win the 2023 UMFNL grand final. On the four occasions the two sides met during the home and away season the results were: round 3 – Cudgewa 108 defeated Bulioh 68; round 5 – Cudgewa 101 defeated Bullioh 47; round 9 – Cudgewa 114 defeated Bullioh 71; round 11 – Cudgewa 152 defeated Bullioh 84.

 

The match

 

A beautiful crisp and sunny late winter afternoon greeted the two teams at Cudgewa on grand final day, August 26th. After a blistering eight goal to nil first quarter, which set up victory for the Blues, Bullioh’s plans for an upset win lay in tatters. The day followed the script of many country and city grand finals with the favourites jumping out of the blocks with two goals on the board in no time, stunning their opponents and setting the tone for the match. From that point on the Bulldogs could only muster token resistance as the Blues went on a scoring rampage. In many ways the flow of the match and the scorelines mirrored the 2022 AFL grand final when the Cats had the Swans on the ropes by quarter time, then after being matched on the scoreboard in the second term, put their foot to the floor after half time and ran away with a huge win [20.13 (133)  to 8.4 (52)]. 

 

Cudgewa’s fleet footed midfielders propelled waves of forward thrusts feeding their forwards with pin-point passes. The Blues’ forward line, led by the Bartel brothers across half forward, cut the Bulldogs defence to ribbons and their big forwards feasted on the opportunities, responding with match-winning accuracy to produce an emphatic 94 point victory. It was the Blues first flag since 2015 and the biggest UMFNL grand final winning margin in 15 years.

 

Scores

 

Cudgewa 8.5 12.8 16.10 22.14 (146)

 

Bullioh 0.1 4.1 7.2 8.4 (52)

 

Goals – Cudgewa: Prior 7, Jason Bartel 4, Cameron 4, Josh Bartel 3, Lieschke 2, Carey, McKimmie

 

Bullioh: Murray 4, Schubert, Rafferty, Fisher, Wellington

Best: – Cudgewa: Adam Prior, Jason Bartel, Josh Bartel, Mitchell Pynappels, Darcy McKimmie, Luke Bloom

Bullioh: Lindsey McDonald, Harrison Cowie, Luke Rafferty, Harry Nicholls, Jake Fisher, Kelvin Wallace

 

 

Cudgewa senior team –  UMFNL premiers 2023
(source: Upper Murray Football Netball League on Facebook)

 

 

It was a premiership quadrella for Cudgewa who celebrated victories in the seniors and reserves football as well as the A and B grade netball.  In the Reserves, Cudgewa 8.7 (55) defeated Bullioh 5.6 (36). In A Grade netball Cudgewa 55 defeated Tumbarumba 48 and in B Grade the Blues 65 defeated the Bulldogs 30. 

 

After the match, senior football coach Drew Cameron said: “With four clubs remaining you don’t know how much longer the league can survive so you want to savour these moments while you can.” (Border Mail, 6 September 2023)

 

 

Grand final results along the Murray

 

In the Picola and District League Waaia 12.11 (83) defeated Strathmerton 6.7 (43). In the Sunraysia League Irymple 8.14 (62) defeated Robinvale-Euston 4.9 (33). Back in South Australia, in the Murray Valley League, Sedan-Cambrai 13.13 (91) defeated Browns Well 8.5 (53).

 

Final episode in two week’s time (Wednesday 27th September): Wrap Up the Mighty Murray!

 

All photos by the author unless otherwise acknowledged.

 

 

Read all episodes of ‘Up The Mighty Murray’ and Peter Clark’s previous series Here.

 

 

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About Peter Clark

is a lifetime Geelong supporter. Hailing from the Riverina, he is now entrenched on the NSW South Coast. His passion for footy was ignited by attending Ovens and Murray League matches in the 1960's with his father. After years of watching, playing and coaching, now it is time for some serious writing about his favourite subjects… footy, especially country footy, and cricket.

Comments

  1. Peter
    Did you or other knickers and knanckers ever visit the Dora Dora hotel,
    named after a long extinct aboriginal tribe at Talmalmo?
    The bar was stacked with curios and memorabilia.
    Run by publican Alf Wright it traded for over 100 years.
    In 1998 it closed for business and was delicensed.

  2. Riverina Rocket says

    Extremely interesting and well compiled as usual Peter.

    A merger of Coryong, Cudgewa and Bullioh would leave Tumba out in the cold…
    too far from the Wagga-based Farrer league that has spread west – Ariah Park, Barellan & Coleambly
    and probably too far from Tallangatta league southern clubs like Chiltern and Beechworth.

    It has taken a long time for Tumba to build up and overcome the RL challenge in the town.
    Now the pie shop readily sells them pies for the canteen and they dont have to go to Batlow.

    Don’t reckon the proud Bullioh club would be in a merger…after the Tallangatta experience a few years back

  3. Yes John, Dora Dora Pub was a place my Dad and his fishing mates visited from time to time. Like everyone who stepped foot inside, he has vivid memories of Alf Wright and his unique establishment.

    Riverina Rocket, as always you add gravy to the roast with your observations of country footy and its characters. Pies are a big part of a day at the footy whether it’s played up in the hills, out on the flats or down in the big smoke. Well done!

  4. Ta Peter, it’s been a wonderful series. What would the prospect be of your series in recent years being put into a book, and published? It’d be worth considering.

    One of my mum’s cousins was at the postal service in Khancoban on the early 60’s. It would have been a bit busier then, than it is nowadays.

    The Bartel brothers at Cudgewa, would I surmise they were relations of Jimmy? My main recollection of Cudgewa is a horse the late Brian Cox trained about 10 years back.

    Thanks again Peter, for your latest wonderful series.

    Glen!

  5. Thanks for your ongoing interest, questions and contributions Glen. You have helped to keep the series bouncing along.

    Your question on the Bartel brothers at Cudgewa is one that I share. Jimmy’s father played football for Beechworth and Wangaratta Rovers, so that is a good starting point. The Bartel brothers mentioned in this episode were originally from Kiewa-Sandy Creek. Coincidentally, my Grandmother (paternal) was a Bartel from the Kiewa area. Maybe there is a connection?? I have not been able to join all the dots yet, but hopefully one day I will.

    As for a book, well maybe not… but perhaps I should never say no.

  6. The Mitchells lived at Towong Hill Station, one of the largest cattle stations in the Upper Murray.
    Tom Mitchell was a lawyer and parliamentarian. In 1942 he was captured by the Japanese and
    Interred in Changi POW camp until 1945.

    His wife Elyne was the daughter of Sir Henry Chauvel.
    She wrote many books including the Silver Brumby series.

  7. Peter Fuller says

    Congratulations Peter on this marvellous series, a tour de force.
    The challenges (numbers, isolation) facing small country teams and leagues are a serious problem for the survival of the code at the grass roots. Rocket is not only a wealth of information, but has also been a constructive agent in responding to those challenges.

  8. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Another ripping yarn Peter. Thanks again.

  9. John, thanks for your contribution on the Mitchell’s from Towong. They deserve a place in the story.

    Peter, you are on the ball in your recognition of Riverina Rocket’s passion for country footy and his continuing contributions. He has been a wonderful mentor and constructive critic throughout this series and previous ones.

    Thanks ‘Swish’, it has been encouraging to receive comments and contributions from some of the regular Almanackers, such as yourself. And just as welcome to get a comment from a reader from out of the blue.

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