Up the Mighty Murray! – Episode 3: The cradle of the paddle steamers
Episode 3 The cradle of the paddle steamers
To Mannum in the River Murray Football League
Map of the Murray River
Murray Bridge to Mannum
At Noa No Landing, a few kilometres north of Mannum, William Randell and his two brothers assembled the Murray’s first paddle steamer, the Mary Ann, which they launched in February 1853. The Randells had no previous knowledge of boats, only dreams of River Murray transport as inspiration. Their goal was to build a steamboat for the transportation of flour to the goldfields in Victoria. They transported the prefabricated hull overland by bullock cart all the way from their father’s flour mill at Gumeracha to the Murray. The little open steamer, named after their mother, must have been quite a sight on the Murray.
PS Mary Ann
(source: mannum.org.au)
Captain William Randell is regarded as the founding father of Mannum. After his epic journey up the Murray from Goolwa to Echuca in 1853, the pioneering William Randell built a wharf and established a successful river trading and river boat building business at Mannum, the second oldest settlement on the Murray in South Australia. The riverboat men in South Australia were known as the ‘bottom enders’, while those venturing upstream from Wentworth on the Darling, Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers were the ‘top enders’.
Mannum, with its broad reaches, enjoys one of the best river cruising opportunities along the Murray. Some say it is the ‘houseboat capital of Australia’, although Mildura and Echuca may also lay claim to that title. The Mannum Dock Museum showcases the PS Marion and PS Mayflower, the Randell Dry Dock, Aboriginal artefacts, heritage machinery, photographs, documents and art work.The Mary Ann’s original boiler is a centerpiece of the exhibition. Among the heritage agricultural machinery you will find the stump-jump-plough, header harvesters and wrought steel plough shares built by the Shearer Brothers who originally operated from the Mannum blacksmith’s shop. Their innovative agricultural machinery helped to revolutionise farming in the Mallee.
The locality of Ponde, below Mannum on the Murray, is symbolically the ‘home of the giant Murray Cod’ and also a stretch of the river where some of the largest fish have been caught. The piscatorial fame of Ponde has its origins in the Ngarrindjeri creation story of a giant cod called ‘Pondi’ who gouged out the river’s winding course with its tail while being pursued by Ngurunderi as he canoed along the river in search of his two missing wives.
There are thousands of Murray Cod fishing stories in the folklore of fishermen along the mighty Murray. As we paddle upstream look forward to reading a few of those historical tales, including one report of a cod caught on a flooded football ground!
The present day plight of the Murray Cod and other native fish species such as the Golden Perch, is however, a more critical story and one that is inextricably linked to the health of the river system. We will explore that theme in more depth as our exploration of the Murray-Darling system unfolds.
The section of the River Murray between Wellington and Mannum is known by geographers as the ‘swamplands’. Here the river corridor is confined within a narrow floodplain, up to 2km wide. Much of the floodplain has been isolated from the main river channel by levees protecting irrigated agricultural land, resulting in a loss of floodplain habitat. As noted in episode 2, during the recent floods those levees were breached in many places causing widespread dislocation and disruption for farming communities.
Stretches of the Murray between Murray Bridge and Mannum are lined with willow trees, a feature also found on other sections of the river, particularly around Renmark and also the Upper Murray. Willows were planted on riverbanks for navigation purposes, to mark the main channels for the riverboat captains in the paddle steamer era. They are also good for providing shade, places to tie up and can help to stabilise the banks and prevent them from eroding. Fishermen favour the willow roots because they provide ideal shelter for fish. But, being so shady, they displace the native vegetation, which results in a loss of habitat and food sources for native animals. Unlike River Red Gums, willows and other exotic trees don’t provide the hollows essential for many species of birds, bats, reptiles and possums. As deciduous trees, they can also reduce water quality by depositing large amounts of organic matter into the river in autumn. To top it off, they also consume large amounts of water. We will further explore the ecology of River Red Gums when we reach the Echuca area in episode 16.
On the subject of water, Mannum is one of the two locations providing piped water from the River Murray to Adelaide. The other source is from Murray Bridge.
Another day at the footy in the River Murray League
Match of the round: Round 3
Tailem Bend v Mannum
Saturday 29th April 2023
At Tailem Bend
Eagles v Roos
Football has a long and colourful history at Tailem Bend with the first recorded games occurring in 1895. The first official game played by Tailem Bend was against Meningie at East Wellington in 1905. From 1935 the town was represented by two clubs, Centrals and Warriors. After the WWII recess the new Tailem Bend club joined the RMFL as the ‘Eagles’. Premiership success came quickly when they won the 1947 flag. A further 13 premierships have been won by the Eagles, although recent years have seen a long run of wooden spoons. In 2022 they reached the finals, bowing out in the Semi-Finals to Meningie.
Football dates back to 1891 at Mannum. The current Mannum Football Club was formed in 1927 after an amalgamation between the Mannum Rovers and Mannum Ramblers. The green and gold Roos have won seven RMFL premierships, in addition to the four flags won in other leagues (Murray Ranges FA and Torrens Valley FA). The club’s most recent premiership was in 2015. In 2022 Mannum finished the home and away season in fifth position with six wins and nine losses.
The last time they met: Round 16 2022 – Tailem Bend 13.10 (88) d Mannum 13.8 (86)
Tailem Bend, at home, start as slight favourites despite their loss to the Southern Mallee Suns in round 2. Mannum are yet to register a win in 2023 having had a bye in round 1 and a narrow loss to the Coorong Cats last week.
The match
After a sluggish start, Mannum got going in the second term. The Roos consolidated on their lead after half time and ran out comfortable winners over the Eagles who kept battling away until the final siren.
Scores
Mannum 0.3 4.7 9.9 15.9 (99)
Tailem Bend 2.1 2.2 4.3 8.3 (51)
Goals –
Mannum: Wakefield 4, Ribbons 2, Skrypek 2, Yaensch 2, Hampel, Branson, Kellar, Bullard, Krollig
Tailem Bend: Merrett 2, Edwards, Mickan, Chandler, Hogarth, Rossi, Hughes
Best –
Mannum: Holland, Stagg, O’Malley, Ribbons, Branson
Tailem Bend: Edwards, Perks, Mickan, Zadow, Jenkin
Around the RMFL grounds
Rambler 10.7 (67) defeated Mypolonga 9.8 (62) at Mypolonga
Imperial 11.21 (87) defeated Mallee Districts 5.1 (31) at Karoonda
Jervois 12.13 (85) defeated Southern Mallee 9.13 (67) at Jervois
Coorong Cats bye
Reigning premiers Imperial, with three wins from as many games, again look the team to beat in 2023.
Meanwhile…
In the Great Southern League round 3 winners were: McLaren Districts, Myponga-Sellicks, Victor Harbor, Willunga and Mt Compass.
Next episode: To Blanchetown in a ‘new’ football competition – the Murray Valley Football League
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.

Interesting history lessons for me once again, thanks Peter
Centrals champion Dean Mobbs is also a Mannum stalwart. Bewdy Peter.
Thanks Smokie. The history and geography of the Murray is fascinating.
Love the South Australian input, thanks ‘Swish’.
When in Mannum, be sure to visit the Mannum Hospital Auxiliary shop in the main street. Best jams, sauces etc , for miles around and excellent craft stuff, too, well above the average standard, plus a small second hand book section. Great spot.
As always with your writings Peter, this is providing a good read.
I must admit this is a part of the Murray River I have scant knowledge of.
Interesting hearing about the presence of Willows along the river banks. I’ll await Part 16 as you talk about the presence of River Red Gums and obtain more understanding of the contrast of these trees.
Billy Lokan, former Fitzroy player. I’m aware he was from North Adelaide prior to crossing the Murray River into Victoria. Do you know is he played for Tailem Bend prior to going to the ‘bright lights’ of Adelaide?
Keep up the good work Peter.
Glen!
Scheduled on my next trip to SA. Thanks Bucko.
Hi Glen, Australian Football.com advises Billy Lokan came from Walkerville.
Forgot to mention, Peter, they are not open every day of the week as it is a volunteer show, Check their Facebook page, think it is around 5 out of 7 days.