Mine Camp

Angel’s Rest Mine Camp
Old house -mine camp
Mine Camp post WW2
Another old house in Mine Camp
Old Houses in Mine Camp

The Wallarah Coal Mining Company was formed in London 1888 for the purposes of acquiring a large tract of coal bearing country south of Lake Macquarie Heads NSW.

The establishment of a large colliery in such a secluded spot was a difficult undertaking, as in 1888 there was only a bridle track running from Swansea, a little village at the entrance of Lake Macquarie.

The site selected for the colliery was two and a half miles from the jetty and the township. Mr Parton, the first Mine Manager, built a railway running from the jetty to the mine.

Because the miners had such a long walk before they could even begin work, houses began to spring up nearer to the mine. Thus, Mine Camp came into existence.

In August 1903 a postal receiving office was established at Mine Camp. There was also a shop run by H Hawkes. A flag was flown from a pole near the shop to let miners know if there was work for the day.

By 1903 there was also a Methodist Church at Mine Camp. On 24th December 1903 John Calvert, Methodist Clergyman at Adamstown, married Thomas Crompton and Edith Price at the Methodist Church the Mine.  Robert James Buchanon, was placed on the Cradle Roll of the Mine Sabbath School in May 1915. Mr Buchanon’s mother had, before her marriage, lived in the “Row”.

“The houses at the “Row” were of mainly two rooms, no verandah open fireplaces and a tank……. the houses in “Angels Rest” were made of weatherboard, 4 rooms, open fireplace, front verandah.” Some of the families that lived in the Row over the years were Lunn’s, son Harry was born in the first house in 1912, next house was the residence of the Absolom family, Mrs Jane Absolom was the popular cleaner at the Bay school for many years. Next door was occupied by the Fox family, Wally Hodge was next, Hopwood’s and Syd Benton and family were on the end. Later years saw the families Wiggs,  Bassett, Darcy, Hughes, Rolfs and Pellows move in. Christy Brace lived for a time in the row and later moved to Clarke Street.

Harry Lunn estimated that in 1916 there were about 15 houses in the “row” and 15 houses in “Angels’ Rest”. There were other bush huts in the vicinity.

The names of families in Angels Rest were Remington, Donahue, J Diver, Moffatts, William,  O’Neil, Wiggs, Britton, J Holby, Teddy Bell, S Hodge and Bandy Price.

Teddy Bell (Edward William Bell) was the longest resident of Angels Rest, arriving in the mid 1930’s and died at Angels Rest in the mid 1970’s. Teddy was a well remembered gentleman who was very active in local sporting   teams and was a wheeler at the mine. He always had a standing invitation on a Sunday to lunch with  Artie Lunn and family.

Also Peacocks, O’Neils and Wardles  also lived in the area further into the bush.

To the right past the Methodist Church at the top of the hill was another group of houses. Families from this area are remembered as  Adams, Archibalds,  Benton,  O’Neil houses,. Further up around the bend was the shop with  Farrow,  Crompton, Lunn, Minslow, and Darcy family residences.

Opposite Bob Adams’ house was a house occupied by the Buchanan family and later Chinnocks.

In a Petition to the Federal Postmaster General in 1904 requesting an additional 6 pounds per annum be paid to the postmaster at Mine Camp there were 101 signatures from people residing in the Mine Camp settlement.

“A” pit and “B” pit were the first mine entrances, both being at Mine Camp. By 1903 a new pit, called the “E” tunnel was opened and this tunnel was destined to become the most significant of the Company’s pits. New houses were built by the Company from 1908-1915 close to this new tunnel and the resulting settlement was known as Middle Camp.

The housing stock at the  Mine Camp settlement was deteriorating and the settlement would have become defunct sooner but for the Second World War and the need to build a radar station on the high ridge close to the Pacific.

Accommodation was needed to house the female radar operators and the guards. The mess, recreation, kitchen, sleeping quarters and the ablution areas were all constructed to resemble miners’ cottages (including dummy chimneys) so as to hide their real purpose.

When the war finished these “miners’ houses were acquired by the Housing Commission of NSW and these were rented out to local families.

On the 21st February 1949 a ballot was conducted by the Newcastle office of the Housing Commission at the home of Mr. Fred Northwood, Secretary of the Catherine Hill Bay Progress association for the 6 three bedroom houses of the ordinary type, and for one 2 bedroom house.

The successful applicants were T.L Brady, S Chinnock, A.B Crompton, A Henderson (Modie), W.S Sinclair, and R. J Smith (Potsie).

Over the years several other families moved into some of these homes.

Bob Purvis, Harry Baxter, Betty Miller, Val Conroy, Ben Fuller

The Post Office closed in 1952 and it is recorded that there were 21 households at the time.

The last residents in Mine Camp were Des and Lillian Lynch who left in May 1981.

Lillian was from the Hughes family and grew up in Mine Camp.

‘Mine Camp’ as a place name was withdrawn from the Geographical Names Register on the 31st May 1991.

 The road linking Sydney to Newcastle, known as the Sydney Road, ran through Catherine hill Bay (including Mine Camp) until 1926.

In 1927 a new road was built along the ridge line behind The Bay. This road we know today as the Pacific Highway.

Flowers Drive, which now connects Catherine Hill Bay to the Pacific Highway and which bypasses Mine Camp, was opened on the 28th November 1952.

Thus, Catherine Hill Bay was no longer on the main route to Sydney or Newcastle.

The old Sydney Road through Mine Camp, which was never sealed, remained the only way for people from Catherine Hill Bay to travel north from 1926-1952.

Double- decker buses travelled this gravelled road to bring mine workers from Swansea and to take children to Swansea, Belmont and Newcastle High Schools. Girls upstairs and boys downstairs, later on it was the well behaved at the front and the others at the back. There was often a stop on the bus trip home when a disruptive passenger was asked to leave the bus. The road was so difficult that once the bus fell over on the way from Swansea going down the hill in Mine Camp. One of the miners who was on this bus got off and walked and never caught the bus to the mine again.

The bus service was later privatized and the double- decker was not always used but the hazardous bends were still negotiated daily with school children standing, crammed together, standing amongst school bags, hanging on for dear life.

During the war years the buses were camouflaged and there was no glass in the windows