Fruit growing in the Hawkesbury

Fruit has been grown in the Hawkesbury since the early 1800s and by 1810 there were over 100 hectares of orchards growing peaches, plums and apricots.  From the 1820s the cooler climate in the Kurrajong area became popular to grow fruit and the hills were covered with fruit bearing trees.

Stone fruits and apples were well-suited to the elevated areas of Kurrajong and Bilpin were suitable for stone fruits and apples. Granny Smith, Delicious and Jonathan apples were grown. Some orchards grew peas in between the trees as an additional crop.

Orchards at Kurrajong early 1900s
Courtesy State Records NSW Digital ID: 12932_a012_a012X2450000131

Did you know by 1890 the Hawkesbury grew over 195,000,00 oranges? In the 1930s the district was struck with an outbreak of fruit fly forcing a number of orchards to shut down. Other fruit grown included pears, plums, currants, gooseberries, strawberries and cherries all performed well. Melons were grown up and down the river and were easily transported by riverboat. By 1944 there were still 286,000 citrus bearing trees all over the Hawkesbury which was 20% of NSW total. The 1956 flood destroyed a lot of the orchards situated along the riverbanks. Beautiful peaches also were grown around Wisemans Ferry and Maroota – who can ever forget the taste? 

Unfortunately the number of orchards in the Hawkesbury has drastically reduced over the past 30 years with only a handful remaining.

Devastating bushfires - Trove Tuesday

As the devastating bushfires head towards Bilpin (as I type), burning thousands of hectares, it brought to mind some of the horrific bushfires that have taken place in the Hawkesbury's past, so I turned to Trove to find more information from the digitised newspapers.

Looking towards the Kurrajong Hills today from Wilberforce © M. Nichols 2013  

In early December 1944,  bushfires wreaked havoc over the Hawkesbury district. Two lives were lost as a result. The Windsor & Richmond Gazette reported on the 13 Dec 1944 the "nightmare picture of roaring flames, choking smoke and blistering heat, succeeded by a calm night of macabre beauty from millions of twinkling lights of burning trees and posts, and a new day of black desolation and silence broken only by shots as burned and blinded animals were put out of their misery.

Another destructive fire occurred in the Kurrajong district, around Comleroy Road. The newspaper reported on the 17 Dec 1926, that it was on of the "worst bush fires experienced" for over 50 years. "Thousands of acres of grass and standing crops, together with several buildings" were destroyed, with over 300 fire-fighters fighting the fires.

There was a close call when a fire in the Londonderry area head towards South Windsor in December 1951. On the same day there were also fires in Springwood and the lower mountains. The temperatures were extremely high and the wind blew from many directions. The Windsor & Richmond Gazette 12 Dec 1951 recorded that only a change of wind saved South Windsor.