Unlike the story I (basically) made up regarding the last log from Hell Hole this story from Cousin Bob, recounts what really went on – Thanks Bob.
The last cedar Dad cut.
Shortly after that tree (The last log of Hell Hole) was felled and taken to the mill Dad, Jim Mauger and myself went down to Hell Hole to salvage the remains.
Jim had a large shed part filled with salvaged cedar and Blackwood. He also had a large band saw from the old government saw mill in Canberra which he reckoned he would rebuild. I don’t know that he ever did.
Hell Hole is out from Fitzroy Falls about half way down into Kangaroo Valley. It is mainly talus slope and bench. It is difficult to get to and was accessed by a a steep logging track.
Dad first cut a slab from the top of the stump and this ended up as the top of the table your dad built. The stump was then excavated with the Cat and loaded onto Jim’s small flat bed truck via a makeshift chinaman.
The larger branches were also loaded. The little truck had a pronounced bow from the weight.
Whilst this was going on I went walking around the side of the mountain. There was another mature cedar of great proportions, tall and straight and too high to fully photograph. Whilst it could have been harvested Dad thought it best to leave it there. Though he was the Missingham family saw mill timber getter he had a great love and respect for the bush.
On my walk I found a large piece of petrified wood which had fallen out of the bank and onto the track. It was near a cubic foot in size. It appeares to be an Auricaria of some sort. I carried it back to the Land Rover. Damn it was heavy. I still have it and it is by the front steps of our new house.
The coffee table went with Mum and Dad as they moved and Mum had it in her little house in Goodwin Retirement Village here in Canberra. It now resides with a friend of Mum, Dad and myself who lives only a few hundred yards from our new abode.
I managed to get some of the timber from the tree and have built a few pieces from it including an American Chippendale long clock with a bonnet top for Kell. I inherited it from him when he moved to Thailand. It too resides in our new home and strikes the hours and quarter hours.
Cheers,
Bob
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