Bungonia to Braidwood
(First published 1996 reprinted 2000)
Bungonia to Braidwood tells the story of several important goldfields in the Bungonia to Braidwood area. They include the Jembaicumbene, Mongarlowe Snowball and Upper Shoalhaven goldfields close to Braidwood and the Bungonia, Nerriga and Spring Creek Jacqua goldfields further to the north. Bungonia to Braidwood provides a unique perspective on Australian mining history, for it focusses on mining typologies, technologies and the role of the Chinese miners, and includes comprehensive descriptions of the physical remains of these fields. Possibly it is the first book published in Australia, or indeed elsewhere, to have done so in
While several of the fields were located in more settled climes close to the main town of Braidwood, others were located in rugged and isolated terrain to which even vehicular access was at times daunting, especially after heavy rain. Rivers had to be crossed and mountains and hills scaled, tasks that proved almost impossible in the fading light. Sometimes the vegetation was the main challenge, with two mete high thickets of tea trees in every direction. In the Bungonia and Nerriga areas mining sites were located in almost every major gully feeding into the Shoalhaven River. And in these gullies were the remains of miner’s huts and camp sites, untouched since they were abandoned so many years ago. Barry was one of the first, if not the first, person to have stumbled on these remains.
Bungonia to Braidwood was the second in a series of books on mining communities in southern New South Wales. It was based on a historic study of historic mining sites in the Shoalhaven and South West Slopes districts carried out with the assistance of funds from the New South Wales component of the National Estates Grants Program. Publication of the book was assisted by the Upper Shoalhaven Catchment Management Committee.
293 pages, 34 maps, 175 black and white photographs, limp cover
