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| The Bruce Railway Station. Now a private residence. |
Visiting the almost forgotten town of Bruce reminds me of visiting Silverton back in 2007, except Silverton has been revived into a kind of arts town with a very famous pub.
Bruce, on the other hand seems a little too spread out, and a bit too out of the way to make a similar 'arts' kind of revival.
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| Bruce's Pub appears to be an art studio with signs of restoration work in progress. |
Other buildings and homesteads are set fairly wide apart, and are mostly privately owned homes. You don't get much sense of being in a town as such. I'm told there are approximately 14 local residents/families?
Once earmarked to be a commercial centre, Bruce fell by the wayside after successive floods and drought in its early years.
Obviously the railway line is no longer operational and would require considerable repair to even entertain the idea of running a private train service, let alone a public one.
However, there is plenty of potential to create something of a tourist attraction should anyone be so inclined. The wide open landscape offers stunning views, particularly during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset.
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| Bruce features spectacular wide open space views of the landscape and night sky. |
It could be an ideal location to set up a glamping getaway, similar to Bukirk in the Clare Valley - which actually has a very similar vibe, with stunning views but not as wide open, see for miles, space as Bruce.
It also may feel like it's a little off the beaten track given, at the time of writing there are no sealed roads into Bruce, though nothing a standard car couldn't handle.
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| The Scruffy Fella is a great spot in Quorn to stop for all kinds of speciality coffees and other drinks. |
Currently mobile phone coverage is a little hit and miss, on the Optus network at least, but that is something that could easily be improved (or not if you wanted to offer a more device free experience).
Presently, there's no reason to even pass through Bruce unless you know the locals (it's relatives of ours that own the railway station). The most you can really do is stop on the side of the road to check out the view.
However, if you're looking for a place to create a glamping experience, or you just want somewhere to live away from the rat race, maybe keep an eye out for properties for sale out this way.
I didn't even know there was a town called Bruce, even having lived in South Australia for 13yrs since March '67 to May '70 I think. I've heard of Quorn only because the Aussie two-part mini series The Shiralee was filmed there starring Brian Brown and Nonie Hazelhurst with Rebecca Smart in the title role. Filmed in early 80s I think(I'd have to get my magnifying glass to check on my DVD) with lovely theme and background music with an Aboriginal flavour. I think Whyalla where we all lived for 11yrs would have been like Quorn in the early years when the population was smaller.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know either until a few years ago when Kathy's Sister and family moved into the Railway station. It's a town that never really got started thanks to flooding and drought in its very early development. All the buildings are so far apart it barely feels like a town.
DeleteI was told, while there, that a few movies have been made in Quorn, with the Shiralee being the most often mentioned. I should've added that into my article but we literally only spent a couple of hours in Quorn, on our last day, just for a coffee and a quick look around.
I've just realised that March '67- May '70 is only 3yrs! Must have missed some years out somewhere. You didn't notice either. Well, March 67 is the month we arrived from UK and we had about 2yrs at Elizabeth Vale where we bought our first house, then went up to Whyalla in 1970 abouts, forget the month now but Lesley was only about 17mths at the time. We left for Perth in '79, just after we'd just had your 9th birthday party, in the school holidays. Yes, we were in Whyalla for about 11yrs and 2yrs in Elizabeth Vale, so that adds up to around 13yrs.
ReplyDeleteThe DVD mini series is very good with each of the two sessions lasting 90mns, so if you start early enough say at 7-30pm you could watch it all in one go. The original British version back in late 50s I think starred Peter Finch as the Father and Dana Wilson as the Shiralee. (means 'burden' I've read)
I had to look the British film up as I couldn't remember Peter Finch's last name. He's British but people tended to see him as Australian, maybe because of that film, I don't know. It was a black and white film done in 1957. This is what it said about it: ......................
The Shiralee is a 1957 British drama film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Peter Finch.[2] It is in the Australian Western genre,[3] based on the 1955 novel by D'Arcy Niland. It was made by Ealing Studios, and although all exterior scenes were filmed in Sydney, Scone[4] and Binnaway, New South Wales[5] and Australian actors Charles Tingwell, Bill Kerr and Ed Devereaux played in supporting roles, the film is really a British film made in Australia, rather than an Australian film.[1] Interesting, some things I didn't know. This was the first version I saw at the cinema in UK. The Aussie mini series grew on me and it's a favourite now that I've watched a few times. (it's in colour) It's made by the South Australian Film Corporation in 1986. (I just got my magnifying glass out) I love the music in it. Rebecca Smart would be in her 30s now but she was delightful in this role, very natural. She was in an Aussie police programme a few years ago.
Dana Wilson was in that film 'Cry From The Streets' with Max Bygraves which you have seen on my DVD. She was the main child in it, she's Aussie as far as I know but is dead now at age about 50yrs, but when I looked it up years ago they hadn't decided what she had died from. I think her money might have got used by parents as Max said he'd last seen her working in a chemist shop in Sydney. Colin 'Smiley' Petersen was in the movie too with Max but he died early last year from a heart attack I think, he was same age as me at the time. (he was the first Bee Gees drummer in the 60s)
I tried to find the original Shiralee online a few years ago but it just kept coming back with the Aussie series. I think I could get it from a specialist classic British films site that I have acquired ones from before. I got the one with Max from Amazon.
Well, I hope I didn't get too far away from the town of Bruce! the only Bruce I know is Carl's dog! Nice talking about Quorn though and the mini series. I think you'd enjoy it, it should be still available online.
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