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Gold mine, Beaconsfield. Unless you have been living on Pluto for the last year and a bit you are probably familiar with the town and its mine.

Nevertheless, Beaconsfield was on the map well before the events of April 2006. In fact, even residents of Pluto may have heard the commotion when gold was discovered here in 1877. Word of the strike spread fast and far, luring a diverse bunch of folk to this part of the Tamar Valley.

The Grubb Shaft Gold & Heritage Museum sits under the evening shadow cast by the towering head frame. Part of the structure that takes 21st century miners underground, it became a symbol of the Webb-Russell rescue. The Tasmanian gold reef, discovered by the Dally brothers towards the end of the 19th century, runs under the feet of visitors at the museum.

The museum is a history of Beaconsfield’s gold mining links and is housed in shaft engine houses, circa 1905. Sharon Verhulst is the manager of the museum. “It’s been here 25 years and is a hidden gem,” says Verhulst of the treasure chest she helps guard.

The museum is currently being extended, and although the works will not be completed until May 2008, it’s business as usual. You can still step into the miner’s cottage with furnishings so fabulously simple you could be moved to wonder about the current fascination with wide-screen TVs. Nearby is a timber waterwheel that once drove an ore crush. The wheel still turns. In fact, both children and adults will get a kick from pressing the button to make this regal hulk run.

The museum is also a social history of the Tamar Valley and a repository of local antiquities. While the region is now renowned for its cool-climate wineries, apples were once exported to all parts of the world from nearby Beauty Point. The museum houses farming accoutrements including working steam engines – great lumbering precursors of the tractor. In something of a novelty for children, and a sign of the breadth of the local artefacts on display, there are telephones with clock-like dials kids can use to make calls to each other.

You can take in the more-modern Beaconsfield mine from a viewing platform. The yellow elevator that brought Webb and Russell into the world’s spotlight is clearly visible. So are the blue tags on the ‘In-Out’ board from which the rescued men snatched their own nametags in a symbolic finale to their rescue.
Rodney Jenkins is from Queensland and with his wife is on a two-week tour of Tassie. His motor home is parked right by the gold mine. “We came to Beaconsfield because of what has happened,” he says of the Great Escape. “We’ll have a bit of a look around and then we’ll head to the bakery.”

After the Grubb Shaft Gold & Heritage Museum you might also want to call in to the bakery on Beaconsfield’s main street. The pies and pastries had a cameo in the rescue in that they were quite a hit with the media pack during the two weeks Beaconsfield occupied Australia’s centre stage.

The bakery can provide some of the fuel for the next part of your journey. At Seahorse World and Platypus House you can get up close to some extraordinary animals. You can buy a discount pass that covers entry to all three. The seahorses and platypuses are just down the road from Beaconsfield, at Beauty Point.

More Information:
The Grubb Shaft Gold & Heritage Museum is open 7 days a week. Phone: (03) 6383 1473
Seahorse World and Platypus House at Beauty Point are near the Gold Museum. Visitors can buy a discount pass that covers entry to all three.