Talk about a slice of history. There’s a cake in Wedderburn’s General Store Museum carbon dated 1890. The original general store provided locals with all and sundry until 1969. Fortunately, the last owners didn’t bother with a clearing sale so much of the stock remained in store - a remarkable collection of everyday goods that tell a story of everyday life from the hey days of the goldfields to the swinging ‘60s. The locals rallied, opened the store as a museum, and have been adding to the collection ever since. Behind the store the coach builder’s workshop houses the original blacksmith forge and horse drawn buggies.
The museum is just one of countless fascinating historic buildings beckoning visitors throughout the Loddon Valley.
In Inglewood the 19th century main street is like a heritage film set, flanked by vine-covered verandas and shop fronts boasting original ghost signs. Many of the historic buildings now house vintage stores. Tour the town beyond to find the odd gold-era mansion still loved and standing.
In Tarnagulla the historic buildings of the common folk as just as lovely as the grand. A collection of tick-tacky, tumble-down timber cottages sigh into the footpath of curved Scandinavian Crescent, punctuated by several grand buildings that whisper of past riches. Seven gracious brick churches serviced the 5,000 miners who once lived here and many of these houses of worship still stand in the forest around the town. The whole place is an Intagramer’s dream.
Think Bendigo and Ballarat have the monopoly on gold rush architecture? Think again. Even the tiniest pocket in the Loddon Valley boasts enviable heritage charm. The iconic Newbridge General Store is one example. It’s been serving the river-side community since 1855.
