Meet Tony Maple, a local history enthusiast and amateur landscape archaeologist who is taking more than a keen interest in the proposed development for the former CSIRO Headquarters, adjacent to Campbell High School, near the Australian War Memorial.

While Tony, who lives in Campbell doesn't oppose Foothills, the Doma Group's proposed development of more than 100 apartments and 100 townhouses, he is concerned about a dragon-toothed shaped rock situated right in the middle of the site.

"I don't mind development per se, but I'm really worried about the future of this rock," explains Tony, who earlier this week asked me to join him on a visit to the site.

Dodging rubbish at almost every step (sadly, so Canberra these days) and a humpy amongst a copse of trees where someone is living rough, Tony makes a beeline for the rock.

But rather than walking straight up to the rock, Tony circles it, as if it's some sort of rare creature or scared site. In fact, it takes quite some convincing from your Akubra-clad columnist before he'll even contemplate sitting on it. So what's the importance of the rock?

To answer that question, Tony pulls out an early photo of Canberra from his satchel. It's a black and white photo of early Canberra from the Percy Sheaffe (an early 1900s government surveyor) papers.

"This photo is unique in that it allows people to appreciate the landscape as it was pre-capital city," Tony says.

"Apart from recognisable hills on the horizon, in the photo you can make-out features like the original Canberra Post Office, the Scotts Crossing Road and these very distinctive rocky features generically known as the Ainslie volcanics, including this very rock," he explains.

When Tony first noticed this particular rock in the photo a couple of years ago he wondered if it was still in situ, so he went in search of it. "I was really quite excited when I found it as it is one of the very few remaining distinctive micro features in the natural landscape still recognisable, the rest of Canberra has been planned back, filled-in, landscaped."

"To my mind the rock has significance to the history of when Europeans were first settling this area," explains Tony, who hopes "it is somehow preserved as a vestige of Canberra's pre-capital city past".

"Just think of what this rock has witnessed in the last century or so alone," says Tony, adding, "it was there when colonial settlers stripped the land of trees for sheep grazing and cropping, and in September 1915 the cortege of Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges (the only identifiable Australian to have been killed in World War 1 and interred in Australia) passed here on its way to his gravesite on Mt Pleasant overlooking Duntroon".

According to Tony, "the rock also witnessed the comings and goings of early Canberrans collecting their mail between 1880 and 1925" from the original Canberra (later called Ainslie) Post Office located just 150 metres or so from the rock on the site of the current Kanangra Court Flats in Reid.

"There used to be an historical plaque on the wall of the Flats, but it was pilfered many years ago, leaving absolutely nothing to inform anyone of the significance of that site," laments Tony, adding, "I just hope the rock doesn't disappear as well and that it is protected or at least acknowledged in some way".

While Jure Domazet, managing director of the Doma Group didn't respond to your columnist's specific question about the rock, he did advise that the first round of formal public consultation for the development of Foothills was run by the National Capital Authority NCA and closed on August 9.

"Once the NCA make a decision on the revised Development Control Plan and Concept Master Plan, we will then work on lodging applications for works approval for different stages of the project", he said.

"These will go to formal public consultation, again run by the NCA as well as preliminary consultation that we will carry out pre-lodgement."

So there's hope yet for Tony's rock.

Don't miss: On Sunday October 6 (from 9.30am), Tony is leading a one-hour walk for the National Trust (ACT) to his favourite rock, the old post office site and surrounds. Titled Posts, Rocks and Redemption the cost is $10pp and bookings essential via: https://postsrocksandredemptionwalk.eventbrite.com.au

Did You Know? Near the corner of Limestone Avenue and Allambee Street is an historic marker which curiously labels the location as Pialligo Avenue.

"This road has had a few names over the years", Tony says.

"It was first called Canberra Avenue, but after New Zealand didn't join the Federation, Wellington Ave off State Circle was renamed Canberra Avenue.

"This street was then named Pialligo Avenue until 1943 after which it was renamed Limestone Avenue".

Suburban Secrets The original Canberra Post Office was renamed Ainslie Post Office after a new post office was established in Acton in June 1913. According to Tony, "in the same year, riflemen gathered at the site of the adjoining home of the Ainslie Post Office postmaster, to form Canberra's Rifle Club, the city's oldest surviving sporting club". The Ainslie Post Office was later demolished in 1925 to make way for the suburb of Reid.

While the future of the Campbell's rocky outcrop remains uncertain, a rare historic tree in one of Canberra's newest suburbs was recently spared the developer's bulldozer.

Surrounded by cyclone fencing in the fast expanding Gungahlin suburb of Throsby is a spindly old Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) that was recently added to the ACT Tree Register.

Canberra has a number of scar trees, dating back several hundreds of years which are of significance to Aboriginal people and also some marked in the last 150 years or so by European settlers. Remarkably, the Throsby Yellow box features scars from both eras.

On the northern side of the tree is a straight scar, believed to be Aboriginal in origin. Scar trees provide Aboriginal people with an important link to their culture. They can tell us where Aboriginal people lived and help us find other types of archaeological sites, such as scatters of stone tools. Trees that have had their bark removed for various purposes such as to make canoes, containers called coolamons, shields or temporary shelters are called scar trees.

Meanwhile, on the southern side is a triangular scar, indicating a survey mark of European origin. A spokesperson for ACT heritage reports "the survey mark was likely chiselled by an early European settler to mark the boundary of their property", adding "although not an official survey mark like those on along the ACT/NSW border, this historic marking is a reminder of a time when land now going under kerb and guttering was acquired for sheep and cattle grazing".

It really is great to see this tree protected, especially given the unfortunate recent incident where two Aboriginal scar trees in Wanniassa were felled and one later chipped.

Did You Know? Due to land clearing practices of early European settlers in our region, as well as natural attrition, scar trees are not very common and are protected by law, as are all Aboriginal cultural places in the ACT.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick.

Clue: One of our region's best-known abandoned buildings. (Extra clue: it's north of the ACT).

Degree of difficulty: Medium - Hard

Last week: For only the third time in this competition's 10 year history, last week's photo proved too tricky for anyone to correctly guess its exact location. Yes, even June and Ian Mackenzie, who between them have taken out the coveted prize on more than 20 occasions (maybe they could write a book about all the films they've seen thanks to their acute observations skills), were left stumped.

Closest to the prize were Maureen Marshall of Nicholls, Leigh Palmer of Isaacs, David Evans of Fadden and Roger Shelton of Spence who all correctly suggested it was near Nerriga, but none were able to narrow down the historic marker's actual location to what is now a paddock, in the grounds of the Nerriga School House Museum.

The clue of the old Wool Road referred to route between Braidwood and Nowra (hence the B and N on the marker), which was created in 1840's to transport wool from the Southern Tablelands to a wharf at Vincentia where it was shipped to Sydney and beyond.

The Nerriga School House Museum is open the second Saturday of every month. It is located on the outskirts of Nerriga, about a 120km drive from Canberra via Tarago.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday September 7, 2019 will win a double pass to Dendy - The Home of Quality Cinema.

Last week's reference to the lucky workers at the Yass Tribune who, in 1891, left work at midday for 'dinner' resulted in a bulging mailbag about what best to call the meal many of us enjoy in the middle of the day.

"Maybe you are doing the Yass Tribune employees a disservice when you are thinking of them leaving at midday and never coming back," reports Brenda Montgomery of Bega, explaining, "maybe their dinner, like mine when growing up, was in the middle of the day".

Meanwhile Ann Poole of Reid, who grew up in Melbourne, reports that her family called the midday meal, dinner or sometimes lunch, adding "the evening meal was tea". To muddy matters even more Ann reports, her grandmother in South Gippsland "called morning tea, lunch".

Not surprisingly when Ann married an Adelaidean, discussing meals was confusing. "We settled on lunch for the midday meal and dinner for the evening meal, and 'tea' now refers only to a drink," she reports.