Page 18 - rigneymaster

One Man’s Goldfield: the story of the Horseshoe Bend Diggings, William Rigney and Somebody’s Darling

outfit that I came upon a very bad stretch. A gold dredge nearby, in following the lead
of gold, had ripped up the road.

I had to get off and push through the makeshift track and over the shingle
tailings….However I got clear and a few miles further on I was glad to put in at a quiet
little hotel. I have never seen a home that so much resembled Robbie Burn’s cottage
as did this homely old hotel. A very dear old lady had owned it for many years. She
had a few grandchildren for whom she usually purchased something nice. I seldom
missed here with an order, and was successful again, despite the fact that I started
well off on the wrong foot when I said, as Mrs S. greeted me, “if I had my way I would
not let the dredge tear up the road the way it is doing. I have had a very hot time in
those tailings.” “Young man, “she said “you should be very careful what you say. I
may have an interest in that dredge.” She had, and her sons also. “Well,“ I said, “I am
as dry as the dusty road. I will have a light shandy” (my limit.) “You will have nothing
of the sort. Young boys like you should not drink beer. Sit down over there and I will
bring you a cup of tea,” she said. I was twenty four at the time! “Over there” was a
small alcove off the bar with two forms and a long table, where a few waggoners could
rest and enjoy their snack. What a great old lady she was, and where will you find her
like in the trade today! Many a weary man was very glad to pull in at her Horseshoe
Bend Hotel when you pass that spot today all that one sees left of that old house is a
heap of overgrown sundried bricks, but nearby is a very nice bridge erected by her
boys over the bonny wee burn which served the hotel and stables for so many years –
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a very nice memorial to one of the real old identities.”

The author’s reference to the Stewart’s accommodation house as the Horseshoe
Bend Hotel may have been purely a geographic reference. No date is given for the
extract quoted above. Other references in the book, relating to the author’s BAT
motorcycle place the date between 1902 and 1915.

The Horseshoe Bend Post Office was opened in 1867, following a petition from twelve
local residents - of whom William Rigney was one.

Link to site of Horseshoe Bend Post Office in Google maps

The post office was a wooden building, beside Stewart's Island Block Accommodation
House, at the point where the State Highway crosses a small stream. The stream is
crossed by a bridge erected by the Stewart family as a monument to their parents'
pioneering efforts. It is quite a distinctive bridge approximately two kilometres from the
Island Block hill. It seems strange in these days of post office closures that the
Horseshoe Bend Post Office should be opened only two kilometres from the Island
Block Post Office, and right beside the Island Block Accommodation House.

Link to site of Island Block Post Office in Google maps

There is very little difference in the distance from the Bend to the two post offices and
it is difficult, with a modern perspective on transportation, to see the justification for
two offices so close together. The arguments at the time must have been very
persuasive. The post office stayed open until 1917, with the mail being delivered to

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Hislop, JB Pure Gold and Rough Diamonds. Self published 1943.

© Jeff Robertson 18