Thoughtful souls haved placed nice folding chairs at the Lookout Site!
There are good views towards the Bay, the hills, and suburbia.
There are three ways to reach the site, from the -
- gate at Churchill Park Drive (next to the Waverley Golf Course) (shortest and flat)
- Nerre Nerre Warren picnic ground (at the end of Brady Rd) (hilly)
- Rowville Recreation Reserve (off Stud Rd) - an "unofficial" hilly track through grassland! Beware snakes!
Aboriginal people knew the location of Dandenong Police Paddocks as Nerre Nerre Warren.
The Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate Station was established to
'protect' Aboriginal people from the frontier violence by encouraging
them to move to government stations. From October 1840 to December 1844,
the 'official' headquarters for the Melbourne or Western Port District
was Nerre Nerre Warren. At this location, school classes and religious
services were held for Aboriginal people and rations provided in
exchange for manual labour.
The Native Police Corps was stationed here from 1842 to the early
1850s. The Corps, consisting of Aboriginal men under the leadership of
Captain Dana, were involved in dealing with disputes between Aboriginal
and European people across Victoria.
The Native Police were also the first police stationed on the goldfields and they acted as guards at Pentridge Prison at Coburg.
Aboriginal people worked as trackers with the Victorian Police
between 1879 and 1963. Until 1931, many of the trackers were based with
the Victorian Police Horse Stud Depot at the Dandenong Police Paddocks
Reserve.
Hello Bob, always a lovely area to view this place and thank you for sharing the history of this area which explains it name. Great photos and yes, I wonder what thoughtful sole placed those chairs at the lookout?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and best regards! Michael Stevenson