Iron Knob - Places to See

Iron Knob Tours and the Tourist Centre
One of the ways in which the local community raises funds is by conducting tours of the mines which leave at 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. on weekdays and 2.00 p.m. on Sundays from the excellent Iron Knob Community Tourist Centre. The tours take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours and are followed by a 7 minute video and an inspection of a pictorial display of the history of the town. The Tourist Centre also sells interesting ironstone jewellery ranging from worry beads to expensive necklaces.

The tour, which is undertaken in the visitor's own car, is full of interesting and idiosyncratic information about the development of the mine and the growth of the town.

The Community Tourist Centre also houses the Mining Museum. A large display of mining equipment and mineral specimens with interpretive photographs of the local mining area.

Leaving the Community Tourist Centre the tour passes the first home built for the BHP Employment Scheme in Iron Knob. The scheme allowed workers to buy their own homes by putting down a deposit of ?50 and having ?1 a week taken out of their pay until the house was paid off.

Corunna Station
On the way the guide points out Corunna Station on the foothills opposite the town. The station's moment of cinematic fame occurred in 1957 when it was used as one of the locations for The Sundowners which starred Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.