Last updated 5Jul25
Stone Fireplace beside northern Murrumbidgee River Walking Track
The Stone Fireplace beside the northern Murrumbidgee River Walking Track is a remnant from temporary dwellings in the area.
Location: GR 55H FA 678167-6087740, Cotter Dam 8627-2N 1:25000
Stone ruin beside the Murrumbidgee River
Visits: 5 Jul 25.
Documentation:
• From Darren Roso, Senior Conservation Ranger Ecologist, Murrumbidgee Catchments and National Parks, June 2025: “There is scant mention and no record of this stone structure. But oral history from Louis Margules “Cotter” and Eric Brown from “Fairvale” confirms it was a Scouting “Camp” structure from the 40s/50s to the 80’s.
All these sites have a much longer history though.
It is a good place to camp, a bit cold, but there is plenty of wood and reliable water and food and the river there has some different geomorphology which I believe allowed some productive fish trapping and not a bad crossing, so Ngunnawal probably camped there first. There are some burials close by. This indicates to me that the crossing function was good.
It was an existing rock and timber humpy occupied by a returned WWar 1 veteran for a while, and then enhanced and occupied in the 40’s by a few others who did local labour work and traded rabbits.
The rivers were a good place for these returned veterans to be. Not too far away from town but far enough so they didn’t impose their War induced psychological and physical traumas on the family and community in general.
Louis occasionally related the horrors of the many men living “away”, along the rivers. Hardly acknowledged, beyond help, hopeless, it was part of his role early on working with ”the Forestry and the Federal” to support some of these men, Louis wouldn’t talk about it much, but did related some harrowing events. It made him cry, I am now, just recalling the stories. Imagine actually experiencing them.
Louis “made some good trades” with these men, for a small profit, he would bring them news, supplies and cut their hair. Rabbits, labour and “intelligence” were the main currency.
I recall there was still some round timber frame in it prior to the 2003 fire. Structures like are not actively conserved as the level of conservation required is completely unknown. Do we restore to Original? 1940s, 1980s? We allow these structures of natural materials to “gracefully return to nature”, like say “Calvery”. You may note we have cut and killed the Poplars threatening to too quickly break the wall up and some of the sand and lime mortar as a cap on it, I’ve left the Portland cement section, its tough enough. And ugly.
There are many sites like these, but it was a difficult time and people at the time understandably, chose to forget them.”
• From Mike Smith, June 2025: “the fireplace was [enhanced] by the First Canberra Boy Scout troop Rovers, perhaps in the late 1940s. In those days scout groups used to camp right down by the river and there were numerous temporary structures in the area (now all gone).”
• From Mark Rogers via social media, July 2025: “If I’ve got the right stone ruin, yes – it is in the “Camp Cotter” scout grounds. It was just a ruin in the mid-70’s when we were thinking of part-restoring it as a winter camping spot – never managed to round up enough enthusiasm for it though. At that time the only timber left were 1 or 2 rotted upright posts embedded in the wall. Definitely true about 1st Canberra Rovers having a small hut at the site in the late 40’s/early 50’s – I spoke to several of them about it at Camp Cotter in 1977.”