Week 23/52 - York - History preserved in stone

Hi everyone and welcome to week 23 of my 52 week Tour Downunder Western Australia.

We have left the beaches behind when we left Esperance last weekend and have hot footed home to re-stock, do the washing and repack in readiness for our trip North. We will be travelling "outback" through the north west for the next part of the tour and it will be a few months before we see the ocean again.

But first on our way north we will visit the historic town of York.

Situated in the rolling hills and fertile grazing country of the Avon Valley, just 96 kilometres from Perth, York is WA’s oldest inland town and one of Australia’s best preserved nineteenth century towns. Settled by farmers in 1831, only two years after the establishment of the Swan River Colony, York became the starting point for pastoralists, sandalwood cutters, explorers and gold seekers.

Now a popular tourist centre full of cafes and shops, York is proud of its history and is classified by the National Trust.

The York Heritage Trail is divided into four walks, each taking about two to three hours and covering 57 historical sites. Many buildings are built of stone displaying the craftsmanship of early tradesmen. The York Town Hall which is one of the finest buildings of its kind in country WA, symbolising the wealth that flowed into York as a result of the gold rush.

Here is a photo of the York Town Hall. For this series, just for something a little different I have added some sepia and a bit of other pp work to try and get an old world feel - what do you think of the effect?

From Life Images by Jill

Other buildings of particular interest are the Courthouse Complex, the York Residency Museum, originally part of York’s Convict Hiring Depot, the oldest inland church in WA, the Anglican Holy Trinity Church build in 1854, and St Patrick’s Church built of local stone in grand Gothic style in 1875 and featuring stained glass windows imported from Italy.

St Patricks Church...

From Life Images by Jill

This is the York Flour Mill which now houses Jah Roc Gallery which specialises in Jarrah furniture and works of local artisans.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the Convent School built in 1873. The stonework is typical of buildings in York.

From Life Images by Jill

This is the Blue Leschenaultia which you can see on the road up through the hills from Perth to York

From Wildflowers

From York we move on to Toodyay which is nestled along the banks of the Avon River.

The Heritage Town Walk starts from Connor’s Mill, includes St Stephens Church that has pews sawn and built by convicts, and continues up the main street which has retained its 1890’s character.

This is Connor's Mill - I have played around with this in Photoshop Elements and converted it to a drawing!....

From Life Images by Jill

The 20 kilometre Toodyay Pioneer Heritage drive retraces the route of the area’s first settlers, offering opportunities for picnicking and bushwalking.

The Old Newcastle Goal Museum provides a reminder of Toodyay’s convict past, including the history of WA’s most famous bushranger Moondyne Joe, whose series of arrests and subsequent escapes would amuse settlers and frustrate law authorities for 40 years. Toodyay hosts the annual Moondyne Festival in May.

Here is the main street of Toodyay. Once again I have changed it to sepia and used pp to make the shot look "old world".

From Life Images by Jill

As for the vignetting - I actually added it in Photoshop - just playing around - don't know much about pp - but it was in "filter-render-lighting effects". I thought along with the sepia it would give a bit of an aged old world look.....do you think it is overdone??.....

Thank you for looking everyone - I look forward to hearing from you.

Next week we will continue north along the Great Northern Highway to New Norcia and Perenjori and then into the "Outback". See you then.