Briseis Race Walking Track


“Hi, I'm Shannon, during the summer of 2011 as a bursary student with Forestry Tasmania, I took the challenge to visit Forestry Tamania's 52 visitor sites.

I hope you enjoy my blogs and are inspired to visit some or all of these places for yourself."

 

The Great Briseis Race used to run all the way from up near Derby, to beyond Ringarooma. The race was constructed to deliver water for the hydraulic mining methods being employed at the Briseis Tin Mine at Derby, which was the biggest at the time.  The race was 48km long and was completed in 15 months between January 1901 and March 1902, making it the largest project of its kind in Australia. The name came from the 1876 Melbourne Cup Winner.

To get to the start of the walking track you head east through Branxholm on the Tasman Highway, and just before the school, turnoff onto Donald Street which later becomes Ruby Flats Road. The walk is only 30 minutes return, and goes along side the old race. Moss has covered most of the walls, but if you look closely you can tell just how much work went into the construction, with each side being a stone wall. That means they had to cut 4 meters deep into solid stone, which would have been quite a feat using only man power.

There are many other remnants to be spotted along this track, such as in some old tree stumps you can see the ‘shoe’ marks which were inserted for tree fellers to stand on while they cut down the tree. They did this so that they could cut a bit higher than the base, where the tree had often rotted. You can also see some of the old timber trestles and fluming structures which were built to help transport the water.

There also used to be insulators and a one strand telephone wire which ran the entire length of the race, and up in the trees if you look carefully you can see evidence of this. It really is an amazing feat achieved by the 300 workers who pitched in to make the race. It must have taken a lot of determination to dig so far, and 4 metres deep into solid rock. It really is a site to see.
 

GPS Coordinates :

LAT :  41°10'27.69"S
LON : 147°44'33.10"E


Click here to view in Google Earth!

 

 Always check our road and track closure information before setting off on your journey (click here)

Travelling Details

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