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Homage to Guildford
Musical reminiscence in a time of pandemic
A few kilometres outside Castlemaine, Victoria, lies the village of Guildford, population 333.
Castlemaine itself is a quietly alternative rural city, population just under 7,000. Understated 21st-century hipster chic sits well with faded 19th-century Gold Rush glory.
Guildford is a ten-minute drive out of town, where the Midland Highway – a modest, two-lane thoroughfare – crosses the Loddon River. It’s the sort of place where householders have a stall at their gate with fresh-laid eggs or potted plants and an honesty box.
The quiet main street, Fryers Street, intersects with the highway. On the four corners of the crossroads stand the Guildford Family Hotel, the General Store, the Public Hall and the sports oval.
Fryers Street leads down to the Village Green and the Big Tree, a 500-year-old River Red Gum. It is 34 metres tall and nine metres round, and reputed to be the biggest of its species in the state.
Steep hills dotted with farmsteads overlook the village centre, nestled deep in the sheltered Loddon Valley near the river’s confluence with Campbell’s Creek.
The place is known as Yarrayne to the traditional owners, the Dja Dja Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.
The tiny settlement is amply endowed with former pubs and former churches, speaking to its Gold Rush origins. The nearby Mount Alexander goldfield was the world’s richest shallow alluvial gold deposit.
