LOWER North town Hamley Bridge can be something of a “quiet” town, according to locals, but it will be anything but quiet this weekend as it celebrates 150 years of the region’s history.
Hamley Bridge 150 committee chair Richard Gregory said planning began in June last year to mark the momentous occasion, with four days of events planned from Friday, September 28.
The events will include a parade at the Hamley Bridge oval, as well as displays from the Light Horse Brigade, vintage cars and machines and local music.
There had also been costumes organised for school children to wear, reflecting the past 150 years, while the school and Hamley Bridge Institute will be open with memorabilia displays.
Among the planned events planned is the unveiling of a plaque on Saturday by Lan Le, the wife of present day SA governor – reflecting the history of the town, which has a connection to another governor’s wife, Lady Edith Hamley.
Railway town moves forward
JUST as the railway helped open up SA’s regions, it was also a major contributor to the formation of the town of Hamley Bridge 150 years ago.
In 1868, the foundation was first laid to build a bridge across the River Light at what would become Hamley Bridge, allowing it to become an important location heading north from Adelaide.
While former resident and local historian Glenys Edwards said the line, and Hamley Bridge, did not technically exist until 1869, the foundation stone in 1868 has always been considered a major date in the town’s history.
The bridge was named after state governor Major-General Francis Gilbert Hamley and his wife, Lady Edith Hamley – who was responsible for laying the foundation stone.
Glenys said originally only the bridge was called Hamley Bridge, with the railway station named Alma Station after the Alma Plains.
“But everyone was calling it Hamley Bridge so the name was changed in 1870,” she said.
In the days before rail gauges were standardised, Hamley Bridge played an important role in moving goods north. Glenys said in the late 1800s there were two main rail gauges across SA.
“The line up the Hamley Bridge had engines coming up (from Adelaide),” she said.
“They could continue on that line but if they wanted to go on any branch lines they had to change. As a break of gauge town, it was a very big railway town.”
Glenys said as well as goods leaving Adelaide, the site was an important hub for agricultural goods, such as cattle, sheep, hay and wheat, brought in from regional areas.
“There used to be huge wheat stacks at the station, before the silo was built,” she said. “It would come off the trains, ready to go onto other trains and be carried to Adelaide.”
Glenys said the town took a hit in the 1920s when rail lines became standardised across Australia.
“Trains could on through the town and didn’t have to do any transhipping,” she said. “It lost 70 men and families, which was a real downturn, but it has grown again.”
Glenys said the town evolved into an agriculture hub.
“Over the years it has been a centre for the agriculture industry around it,” she said.
“There were wheat silos and chaff mills and a lot of implement factories, making machinery for farmers.”
Glenys has been busy preparing a history book to celebrate the 150-year anniversary, much of it based on a book collated to mark the centenary.
Hamley Bridge 150 committee chair Richard Gregory said it was important to mark these moments.
“It’s a big moment and if we ignore it – it’s a long time until 200,” he said.
