Huts of Hotham & Dinner Plain – discover a forgotten history
Huts have played an important role in the European history of the Hotham region. Literally hundreds of huts once existed throughout the ranges of the district; from the earliest crude buildings of the miners and cattle graziers, wayside shanties and shelters for travellers and tourists and the important refuges for the pioneer skiers. The majority of huts and buildings have long since perished. Discover the forgotten history of the few remaining huts that survive in quiet corners around Hotham and Dinner Plain.
Howard’s Wire Plain Hut (Great Alpine Road, Wire Plain)
Billy Howard, a mountain cattleman from Harrietville erected this hut in 1962. The main building was a prefabricated building and brought in by truck. The hut was possibly purchased from the nearby Kiewa Hydro Scheme. The skillion section of the hut was added to store saddles and a water tank. The hut was used for Howard’s cattle grazing runs in the locality.
JB Plain Hut (JB Plain Great Alpine Road)
Located at JB Plain the hut was originally built by the forestry Commission in the 1940s and was relocated to its present location in 1978 for cattle grazing in the vicinity. JB Plain is named after Jim Brown who in the 1850s brought cattle into the alpine region with partner Jack Wells.
Derrick Hut (Hut Walk)
Built as a day shelter for ski tourers by the Wangaratta ski club in 1967. This neat little timber hut is a memorial to Charles Derrick a cross country skier who died in a blizzard in1965 whilst crossing from Mt Bogong to Mt Hotham.
Spargo’s Hut (Hut Walk)
Built by prospector Bill Spargo and his brother Cecil in 1927-28 for Bill’s prospecting and mining activities in the area. Bill was superintendent of the Alpine Road for the Country Roads Board in the early 1920s and was influential in the establishment of Mt Hotham as a recreational skiing location. He later discovered the rich gold-bearing Red Robin reef on Machinery Spur in 1941.
Silver Brumby Hut (Huts Walk)
The first Silver Brumby Hut was built in 1992 as a temporary film prop for the Australian film “The Silver Brumby” based on the famous novel by Elyne Mitchell and staring Russell Crowe. The present hut was built as a more permanent structure in 2006-7 by the Rotary Club of Sale, East Gippsland Institute of TAFE, Tanderra Ski Club and the Mt Hotham Resort Management Board.
Dinner Plain CRB Hut (Great Alpine Road)
This hut was one of a number of huts built by the Country Roads Board from the 1920s to provide shelter for travellers and CRB workers on the Great Alpine Alpine Road. The erection of these huts was under the recommendation of CRB Superintendent at the time, Bill Spargo.
Cobungra Ditch
The Cobungra Ditch, also originally known as the Cobungra Gold Mining Company water race or the Brandy Creek water race, was constructed in 1883-4. The race proved water for the hydraulic sluicing operation of the Cobungra Gold Ming Co. The ditch was used continuously into the 1890s, though with falling yield use of the race became intermittent. The race was last used in the 1930s.
