Gillies Bridge, Black Creek, 1902

ABOUT THE BRIDGE:

The following three newspaper reports from 1901 indicate that, prior to the construction of Gillies Bridge, there was a crossing by the name of Holmes Crossing which was inadequate for local needs.

Messrs. Bennett and Gillies are to be thanked for their tickling the dormant Minister, and the latter (Gillies) is receiving great praise from Rothbury and Pokolbin residents for the promise extracted, re Holmes Crossing – a crossing becoming more important every day. As several large dairies are the opposite side to the station in case of flood, a great detour has to be taken with the cream and again farmers with produce and pigs are placed hors de marche.[1]

The tenders for the bridge at Holmes’ crossing, Black Creek, are to be called for in three weeks, so that a nasty entrance and exit to this abominable watercourse will be erased from the list of local grievances.[2]

To-day the tenders close for the Rothbury bridge, so we shall soon see a much-needed improvement completed. The get-in and get-out of this creek require testing to be fully appreciated; it is facilis est, going in from either side, but when half-way up, going out, the odds are in favour of your again reaching the bottom – especially after a shower.[3]

The Construction of the Bridge

The following four newspaper reports from 1901 and 1902 indicate that Mr. W. F. Oakes won the contract for construction of the bridge at £1902 and that construction was complete after a matter of months, it seems, to everybody’s satisfaction. Messrs. Gordon, Marr and Co. supplied the ironwork and Mr. Chapman of Ellalong the timber with the piles coming from the Manning River.

As predicted one of the lower tenders for the construction of the composite truss bridge over Black Creek, Rothbury, has been accepted. Viz: W. F. Oakes, Sydney, £1902, 36 weeks’ time for completion. Everyone using the crossing is thankful that at last this delightful slippery spot is to become a relic of the past.[4]

Messrs. Gordon, Marr and Co. supplied the ironwork, and Mr. Chapman of Ellalong, the timber. The piles came from the Manning River.[5]

Mr. Oakes has completed Rothbury Bridge, and all hands give him credit for having carried out his contract to the letter. He has spared no pains in making a thorough good job, and one that will last for generations.[6] All speak well of the contractor, Mr. Oakes, and his employees, praising them for the work accomplished in such a satisfactory manner.[7]

W. F. Oakes (Walter Frank Oakes), in partnership with his brother, Percy, was a prominent and successful bridge builder in New South Wales during the first 25 years of the 20th Century. Walter Frank was a Whitworth Scholar, a prestigious UK award endowed by famed 19th Century Industrialist Sir Joseph Whitworth. The Oakes brothers specialised in heavy timber constructions, with family records showing in excess of 60 projects ranging from small timber beam structures for local Councils to a series of timber truss bridges and a large steel truss bridge for the PWD.[8]

Oakes wrote a letter to his cousin in England in 1908 which includes some interesting comments.

The coasts are heavily timbered and very fertile as a rule; the interior in the wet seasons is extraordinarily fertile but the long periods of drought leave it quite dried up, and as bare as a board. The Australian hardwoods are I think the finest class of hardwoods in the world for durability and strength, and you are doubtless aware that large quantities are sent to England for special works, I am somewhat interested in the timber trade of this country but cannot help thinking it is a great mistake to be denuding our forest for export the way we are now with no thought of the future: the export trade runs into many millions of feet each year and there is no thought of replanting or afforestation of any kind.[9]

Oakes died in 1934 at the age of 62, and there was a short obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald:

DEATH OF MR. W. F. OAKES. Mr. Walter Frank Oakes, 62, died at his home in Lismore after a short illness. He was a civil engineer and one of the best known contractors on the North Coast. He had built scores of bridges, including the two main bridges which span the Richmond River at Lismore. He was born in New Zealand, and came to Australia with his father, also a civil engineer. When his father died he undertook civil engineering work in the Newcastle district. He built bridges at Casino and Goondiwindi, the pier at Tathra on the South Coast, and a lighthouse. In 1903 he left Australia for 12 months to lay railway lines in South Africa for the South African Government…. He is survived by a widow, three sons and a daughter.[10]

Other bridges constructed by Oakes include:

• Allan truss: Styx River, Jeogla, Kempsey to Armidale Road (closed to traffic)
• De Burgh truss: Beckers Bridge, Webbers Creek
• Dare truss: Coleman’s Bridge in Lismore

View the Geographic spread of contract works undertaken by the Oakes (Source: Peter Oakes).

The Opening of the Bridge

Although Gillies bridge is not unique in this, it is certainly unusual that the bridge reportedly received two official openings with two separate christenings and two quite different names given (neither of which were ‘Gillies Bridge’). The first opening was by the Contractor on Thursday 15 May 1902:

The bridge at Rothbury was formally opened on Thursday evening by the contractor, Mr. W. F. Oakes, and was to be handed over on Monday to Mr. Edgell, who was away, and could not put in an appearance. Mr Oakes had everything ready: red, white and blue ribbons tied across the bridge, and a bottle of wine, slung so as to strike a small rock in the centre of the bridge. The bottle was broken by Miss Bessie Nicholson, and ribbons broke by the first buggy. It was christened the Coronation bridge.[11]

The second opening was a month later by the local member, Mr Gillies, on Wednesday 18 June:

Wednesday 18th of June, is the anniversary of Waterloo. It will be remembered for years to come as the anniversary of the opening of the bridge, the School of Arts, and one of the best entertainments given in the district. The bridge was gaily decorated with the flags of all nations, an evergreen arch being in the centre, from which was suspended the bottle of wine used for the christening…. Mr. Gillies…. Praised Rothbury to the skies, and, stating he would speak later, handed the bottle to Mrs. Gillies, who smashed it against a bolt, declaring the bridge open for traffic, and naming it the Rothbury Bridge. The vehicles were then driven to and fro across the bridge, breaking the usual ribbons.[12]

The Naming of the Bridge

It would seem that during construction, the bridge was called ‘Rothbury Bridge’. At its first official opening it was named ‘Coronation Bridge’, until its second official opening where it resumed its original name of ‘Rothbury Bridge’. By the 1930s, the bridge was known as ‘Wilderness Bridge’, as can be seen from the newspaper articles in the following section, and now it is ‘Gillies Bridge’.

Interestingly, there are reports of other bridges in the area being named ‘Gillies Bridge’. In 1894 (eight years prior to the opening of the bridge over Black Creek), it was reported that a new bridge connecting west Maitland with Campbell’s Hill and the Great Northern Road was “to be called Gillies Bridge, as a mark of respect to the present member for the district”.[13] Only two years later it was reported that a party of nearly 300 ladies and gentlemen assembled while two bridges in the locality were formally opened by, “Mrs Gillies, wife of Mr. John Gillies, M.L.A., that spanning Black Creek being christened the Lovedale Bridge and that over Deep Creek the Gillies Bridge”.[14]

In 2001, it was decided by Cessnock City Council to signpost the bridge as “Gillies Bridge – Black Creek” because it had been discovered that the bridge was denoted “Gillies Bridge” on the Allandale Parish Map Editions three (1902) and four (1908).[15] It is possible that the naming on these maps was incorrect and later maps do not show the name. However, since the other Gillies Bridges in the region are no longer so named it is probably not inappropriate for this bridge to take that name.

References

[1] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Monday 29 April 1901, p 4.

[2] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Tuesday 25 June 1901, p 5.

[3] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Tuesday 16 July 1901, p 5.

[4] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Wednesday 28 August 1901, p 6.

[5] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Tuesday 20 May 1902, p 4.

[6] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Monday 5 May 1902, p 4.

[7] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Monday 12 May 1902, p 2.

[8] Don Fraser, Nomination Report for the Bendemeer Bridge as an Historic Engineering Marker celebrating its centenary in 2005, prepared for Engineering Heritage Australia (Newcastle), September 2004, p 10.

[9] Personal Letter from W.F. Oakes, Civil Engineer and Contractor to his Cousin dated 14 May 1908, p 2.

[10] The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 9 October 1934, p 12.

[11] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Tuesday 20 May 1902, p 4.

[12] The Maitland Daily Mercury, Thursday 19 June 1902, p 4.

[13] Evening News, Friday 18 May 1894, p 5.

[14] The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 31 August 1896, p 5.

[15] Director Strategic & Community Services Report #218/2001, Cessnock City Council, Report December 12, 2001: De Burgh’s Truss Bridge, Wilderness Road, Rothbury – proposed naming as “Gillies Bridge”