Collingwood Water Race facts for kids

The Collingwood Water Race is a special old water channel in Queensland, Australia. It is located at Monkhouse Timber Reserve, near Rossville. This amazing structure was built between 1902 and 1906. It is also known as the Annan River Company Water Race. This historic site was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on April 13, 2006.

History of the Water Race

The Collingwood Water Race was built to help miners find tin. It was designed to move water from one place to another. This water was then used to wash out tin from the ground.

Why Was It Built?

In the early 1900s, people were very interested in mining tin. Gold mining was popular in North Queensland in the 1870s. But by the late 1800s, miners started looking for other metals like tin. Tin mining was similar to gold mining. This made it an attractive option for many.

Chinese miners were among the first to work with tin in North Queensland. They started around 1876 or 1878. They found tin deposits on Granite Creek and Cannibal Creek. More tin was found in 1880 near Herberton. Discoveries continued throughout the 1880s. Charles Ross found tin at Mount Amos in 1885. Other finds were made at Mounts Hartley, Leswell, and Romeo.

Early Tin Mining Challenges

The Annan River area had a busy tin mining industry for a few years. Miners found tin directly from underground or in creek beds. They used a method called "sluicing" in the fast-flowing streams. This work was hard and dangerous. It was also expensive to transport supplies to the mining areas.

As the easy-to-reach tin ran out, miners looked for tin in higher places. These places were often on terraces above the creeks. To get this tin, they needed water from a higher point. This water would then wash away the dirt covering the tin. This process needed special channels called "races."

Building the Collingwood Water Race

The Annan River Company's water race was the most impressive of these channels. Construction started in 1902 for the Collingwood Company. They planned to move water about 11 kilometers (7 miles). This water would go from one side of Mount Walker to their mining areas on the other side. About 40 men worked on the project.

However, the Collingwood Company ran out of money. The work stopped for a while. In 1905, a new company, the Annan River Tin Mines Company, took over. They restarted the project on November 22. More than 150 men were hired for the job. They built wooden channels called "fluming" over valleys. They also built a road up the mountain. In one spot, the race went through a tunnel in a hill.

The project was finished in 1906. This allowed the Annan River Company to start sluicing for tin. They began in January 1907.

Later Years and Challenges

In 1909, the Annan River Company left the project. Four miners then rented the race. Floods damaged the race in 1910. More repairs were done in 1911-1912. The company spent a lot of money to fix the race and fluming.

Sluicing was successful in 1913. They moved a lot of earth and found valuable tin. Mining usually happened for about five months each year. A new sluicing plant was installed in 1914. They also added long pipes. A sawmill was set up nearby to cut wood for repairs.

However, there were problems like not enough water in 1915. Tin prices also fell, and there weren't enough workers. So, in September 1916, all the equipment was taken apart and moved.

More repairs were done in 1917 and 1918 after bushfires. But finding enough workers remained a problem. In 1919, the race was moved to a different mining claim. But only a small amount of tin was found.

A cyclone in 1920 caused a lot of damage. Many meters of timber needed to be replaced. Sluicing started again in March 1920. It continued until August when the water ran out. More tin was found during this time. But in 1921, the tunnel through the hill collapsed due to heavy rain.

The Annan River Company sold the race in September 1921. The new owners spent four months repairing it. But tin production kept going down each year. There was very little mining activity after 1923.

What the Water Race Looks Like Today

When it was working, the water race was about 11 kilometers (7 miles) long. It started near Parrot Creek and went around Mount Walker. Today, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the race still exist.

In 2005, experts explored and mapped parts of the race. These areas were covered in thick rainforest.

Main Features

The race is mostly a ditch about 1 meter (3 feet) deep. It is about 1.8 meters (6 feet) wide. There is a bank on the downhill side made from the dug-out earth and rocks. In some places, the ditch is up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep.

Where the race crossed valleys, there were wooden flumes. These were like bridges for the water. Today, some of the wooden supports for these flumes are still standing. But the flumes themselves are gone.

You can also see signs of blasting on rocks along the race. This shows that explosives were used to build or fix it.

In the middle part of the race, you can see "stone pitching." This is where stones were carefully placed to support the channel.

The Second Race

Interestingly, there is a second, slightly smaller race. It runs about 20 meters (65 feet) below the main race. This second race was built to catch any overflow or water that leaked from the main one.

The Tunnel

About 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) from its start, the race goes through a tunnel. This tunnel is in a dense rainforest. The ditch becomes a deep cut before the tunnel entrance. The part of the tunnel that is still open is about 30 meters (100 feet) long. It is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) wide and 1.2 meters (4 feet) high. A rectangular shaft, probably for air, marks where the tunnel is blocked. Further along, parts of the tunnel have completely fallen in.

The lower end of the race is hard to see near Rossville. It might have been destroyed, or perhaps it was never formally built there. The natural slope of the hill would have carried the water down to the mining area.

Why It's Important Today

The Collingwood Water Race is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. This means it is a very important historical site.

A Look into History

This water race is one of the longest ever built in North Queensland. It shows how tin mining developed in the early 1900s. It helps us understand the methods used to get tin from the ground back then.

Unique Features

The Collingwood Water Race is special because it has a second race below it. This was built to catch any overflowing water. This design is very rare in Queensland. Its great length (originally 11 km or 7 miles) also makes it unusual. Most other water races were much shorter.

What It Represents

This water race shows the huge effort and money needed for mining in remote areas. It also shows how people relied on seasonal rains for their work. Many of its original features are still there. These include the two channels, the banks made from dug-out earth, blasting marks, the rock tunnel, and old supports for the wooden flumes.

Natural Beauty

The path of the water race goes through beautiful natural landscapes. It starts at Parrot Creek and ends on Mount Walker, overlooking Rossville. This mix of nature and history makes the site very special to look at.