Dunne Collection
Harry Dunne married Janet Forrest in 1935. Together they experienced the hardships of early pioneering life in Beacon.
During the 1930’s a scrub roller was used to clear the vegetation on this block of land owned by Tom Miller. This land later became part of the Dunne farm. Tom Miller was the brother in law of Harry Dunne having married Harry’s sister Alice. Alice Miller taught at the Beacon school for a short period of time.
This is the first wheat crop sewn by Harry Dunne in 1926. A period of 3 years passed from the purchase of Ninghan location 539 to the first crop being sewn. The land had to be cleared and prepared during this 3 year period. Clearing was done by ring barking the trees and waiting for them to die and then they could be cut down and burnt to clear the paddock ready for crop.
Seed wheat and superphosphate being loaded into the combine being pulled by the Chamberlain 354. The Countryman 6 tractor on the left of the photo is pulling the International combine.
The Chevrolet truck is loaded with superphosphate while the truck behind would have the seed wheat on board. Two Chamberlain tractors approach ready to reload.
Late 1960’s or early 1970’s seeding time at Dunne’s property “Parakeelya” Beacon. The truck on the left is a late 1940’s model Chevrolet loaded with bags of wheat. The central tractor is a Chamberlain 354 towing a Sunshine Massey Harris combine seeding machine. The rear tractor is a Chamberlain Countryman 6 towing an International combine seeding machine.
Late 1960’s John Dunne drives the Chamberlain Countryman 6 tractor pulling the International A81 harvester with a 14 foot comb.
No hat, no cab, no sunscreen, no shirt. Clothing would have consisted of a pair of black Stubbie shorts and a pair of thongs. This was before the days of slip, slap, slop.
Delivery to the Beacon bin in the 1950’s. Some farmers continued to use bags for delivery while others were moving into the future with bulk bins. Bulk bins were a great time saver for delivery.
A view from the high tank stand near the original Beacon wheat bin. In the background there is a railway cottage and some sheep yards originally used for yarding and trucking sheep away on the train. These features mentioned in the background are quite hard to see in the photo.
This photo was taken from the top of the tank stand by Harry Dunne. In the background can be see the line up of trucks coming in first thing in the morning to unload.
Another view of the wheatbin taken at the same time as the previous photo. This one clearly shows the railway lines alongside the main wheatbin. Closest to the right of the photo is what is known as a “pig pen” (a temporary bin to take the overflow once the main bin was full).
To the left in the picture are the fuel depots. To the right of the train and in front of the bin can be seen the little semi circular shaped “beetle” which was supposed to be the accommodation for the men working at the wheatbin. Most of them preferred to sleep in a swag in the open. The tall elevators on either side of the bin were used to load the wheat to the top of the stack.
Another shot of the trucks in the queue to unload their wheat. Farmers would try and get to the bin early in the morning to unload their harvest from the night before. After unloading they would return to the paddock to begin the days work. It was quite common at the end of the day once harvest was done and the truck was full to bring the truck to the bin and leave it in line overnight. It was therefore necessary to make sure to be there on time to shift it in the morning.
Early morning during the wheat harvest of 1998 at the Beacon wheat bin with trucks lined up ready to unload into the stack. Trucks generally carried between 8 to 12 tonnes of grain for delivery.