Derby - Places to See

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This was published 15 years ago

Derby - Places to See


Pigeon Heritage Trail
An excellent account of Pigeon's reign of terror and a discussion of the places connected with his operations around Derby can be found in The Pigeon Heritage Trail: Aboriginal-European Relations in the West Kimberley, 1890s which is available from the Derby Tourist Bureau in Clarendon Street, Derby. It has clear directions to the Old Derby Gaol in Loch Street and the old cemetery in Sutherland Street which has the grave of Pigeon's first victim, Police Constable Richardson.

Boab Prison Tree and Myall's Bore
On the outskirts of town (7 km south on the Derby Highway) is the Boab or Baobab Prison Tree and the Myall's Bore.

The huge baobab tree was used as a lockup for Aboriginal prisoners. It was the last stopover point for patrols returning to Derby. Capable of holding a number of prisoners it has an entrance which is about one metre wide and two metres high.

The Bore, originally known as Miyarli Well, was originally sunk by a man called Mayall who in 1912 sank the bore to a depth of 322 metres. The daily flow of water was 315 000 litres. The bore was capped in 1980. Beside the bore stands a huge 120 metre long cattle trough which was built in about 1920 and is reputed to be the longest in the southern hemisphere. It is claimed, although it seems hard to imagine, that when the trough was in use 1000 head of cattle could be watered at one time.

By the early 1900s Derby was a port of minor importance. It wasn't until the 1950s that the port had a new lease of life when, in 1951 iron ore mining commenced at Cockatoo Island. This did much to revitalise the town so that by 1964 there was sufficient optimism to build a new jetty (the one now standing at the northern end of the town). Beside the jetty is one of the town's most unusual sights - the remnants of the livestock loading facility. The yards and the race were built in 1964 and used until 1968. Cattle after being inspected and dipped at Myall's Bore were herded along the fringe of the mudflats to the cattle lead near the present bulk fuel depot. The lead ran 2.5 km across the mudflats to the yards and the race near the Wharf Restaurant gives some idea of the complexity of the operation.

Since the 1970s the port has been slowly in decline. In 1973 the last passenger arrived aboard a state ship and in 1980 the last commercial ship visited the port. In the port's last full year of operation 51 vessels visited consisting of 13 overseas ships, 34 interstate, 2 naval vessels, 1 customs vessel and a refugee boat. Now there is some talk of moving the town so that a new port can be built closer to the deep waters of King Sound. If this eventuates it will be part of the Kimberleys continuing process of building two towns for purely practical reasons.


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