Wandiligong today is a sleepy village of quaint cottages with lace curtains blowing in the breeze.

However during its heyday it was an industrial hive of gold-bearing quartz mines and pounding stamp batteries.

Revisit some of the forgotten places that capture some of this valleys early goldfields history.

Hidden amidst the hills of the picturesque township of Wandiligong, in Victoria's north east, lies the slumbering tales of hundreds of gold-bearing quartz reefs mines, which over several decades produced many thousands of ounces of gold.

A Tour of the Mines explores some of the more significant mining sites of this area, revealing remarkable stories and places. Rarely seen locations are visited, such as the subterranean worlds of the famous Oriental, Long Tunnel and Try Again mines. Other intriguing features interpreted include man-made canyons, battery sites, steam engines, tools, strange technologies, restaurant and hut sites as well as the isolated settlement of Gunnies Lake. This film is a rough, ready and adventurous tour of rediscovery amidst the natural splendor of the Wandiligong Valley.

Written & Presented by Andrew Swift
Filmed by Sean King

DURATION APPROXIMATELY 85 MINUTES
FOR GENERAL VIEWING
Released October 2006.

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The Buckland today is a tranquil valley, once a place where gold could be plucked from the banks of the river, but in its shadows lurks a dark and dramatic goldfields history.
Many hundreds of diggers and their families would die during "colonial fever" epidemics of 1854 and in 1857, 2500 Chinese diggers were herded down the valley by an aggressive mob of European diggers in the infamous "Buckland Riots".
The Buckland Valley was one of the most eventful mountain goldfields in Australia. Within a few short years it witnessed a rush of over 6,000 diggers, a high death toll with the outbreak of typhoid and the infamous anti-Chinese race riots of 1857.
Filmed after the 2006 bushfires, this documentary recalls these major events as well as examining many of the varied historic mining sites of this valley. Visiting large scale hydraulic sluicing pits, Chinese hut sites and floating into old quartz reef tunnels, where the footprints of the last miners are found. An ancient Chinese mining apparatus is also rediscovered in a working reconstruction.

This film is a rough and ready adventurous tour of rediscovery set in a remarkable corner of North Eastern Victoria.



Written & Presented by Andrew Swift
Filmed by Sean King

DURATION APPROXIMATELY 94 MINUTES
FOR GENERAL VIEWING
To be released June 2007.

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In a quiet, forgotten gully, just north of the mountain village of Harrietville was the noisy and busy industrial work site of the Rose, Thistle & Shamrock Goldmine.

It was one of the longest continually operating and largest producing goldmines in the district.

Once the focus of much of the community of Harrietville, this now more-or-less forgotten goldmine is rediscovered, and some of the remaining features are brought back to life.

Today this historically significant mine is included on the Victorian Heritage Register

In the spring of 1860, near the recently established New Rush Settlement (today Harrietville), a rich reef was discovered that would be worked for its golden wealth for the next seventy years. This was the Rose, Thistle & Shamrock.

This documentary takes you back to the reef's initial discovery in 1860 through to the mine's closure in 1934, describing the various mining techniques and methods utilised at the site. Many of the remaining features are interpreted and numerous sketches, diagrams and early photographs are also incorporated to bring this historic mining site back to life.

Enter into the damp, dark tunnels and shafts from which the gold bearing ore was mined. See a team of miners during the 1890s as they drive a tunnel over 2,200 feet in length.

By no means a conventional documentary, the bulk of this film was shot in one sequence with little editing, rehearsing, or re-shooting. With a few little hiccups and just a little bit of dry humor, it makes for an entertaining local history documentary.

Written & Presented by Andrew Swift
Filmed by Sean King

DURATION APPROXIMATELY 61 MINUTES
(Including Behind the Scenes footage)
FOR GENERAL VIEWING
Released April 2001

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A historic corner of the Australian Alps is explored immediately after the devastating bushfires of 2003.

Journey into the Black Hole was filmed on Australia Day weekend in 2003 when bushfires were still burning in the region. The fires devastated over one million hectares of State Forest & National Park, clearing scrub and undergrowth that in some places had lain undisturbed for over 60 years.

With smoke still thick in the air and within days after the fires having passed through the area, Sean and Andrew venture into the East Branch of the Ovens River (known in the mining days as The Black Hole), hoping to visit and record some of the many historic sites, which for many years had remained hidden in the remote bush above Harrietville.

Numerous mining sites are visited and features interpreted, a highlight being the discovery of an old hut that once was occupied by the Herculean Scottish miner, Peter McDuff. The hut's features, including a tall chimney and a stone blacksmith's shop, are revealed by the fires for the first time in many years.

Written & Presented by Andrew Swift
Filmed by Sean King

DURATION APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES
FOR GENERAL VIEWING
Released April 2005

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Beneath one of Victoria's highest peaks and one of the High Country's most popular walking tracks has slumbered some of the State's most significant Historic Goldmining Sites.

This documentary will change forever what you may have once thought about this region and the history of the mountains.

For many, the heritage of the high country is about Cattle Graziers and the early ski industry. What most don't realise is that much of Australia's High Country was opened up by those in search of gold.

An expedition party heads beneath the Razorback Spur & Mt Feathertop in search of this forgotten history. The Razorback group of quartz reef workings, an Industrial Wonder of the Mountains, is explored and seen for the first time. Tunnels, a massive tramway network, hut sites, blacksmith shop and intact quartz mill, all as the miners left them over 100 years ago, are described and interpreted. The crusade continues to the Holy Grail of mine sites and visits a rare missing link in ore milling technology.

The setting of these historic mining sites amongst the natural splendor of the Australian High country is a visual and experiential sensation.

Written & Presented by Andrew Swift
Filmed by Sean King

DURATION APPROXIMATELY 46 MINUTES
FOR GENERAL VIEWING
Released April 2006.

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR A SHORT PREVIEW

FOR PRICES & ORDERING PLEASE SEE DETAILS AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

A brief history of the Buckland River Goldfield. The rush for gold, the deaths, the Chinese tragedy and the rebellion that culminated in the infamous Buckland Riot in 1857.

A thoroughly researched soft cover book of 256 pages, including over 200 photographs illustrations and maps.

$35 (post & packaging within Australia, add $8)











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