Tim the Yowie Man: On the hunt for historic concrete troughs

Try telling that to the increasing number of travellers obsessed with hunting them down in country towns, in particular "Annis and George Bills" branded cast-concrete troughs, which, in recent years, have become curious tourist attractions.

Haven't heard of them? Neither had I until Gary Poile of Collector sent me scurrying down the rabbit warren of seeking out these relic receptacles, many hidden in long grass on roadside verges or tucked away at the back of museums.

"During the late 1800s and early 1900s, businessman George Bills travelled around Australia delivering mattresses," reveals Gary, "and so when he arrived in country towns, a good supply of fresh water for his horses was important."

According to Gary, "Apparently Bills always appreciated it when a town's trough was filled with fresh water, so when he died in 1927, squirrelled away in his will was a generous trust fund from which over 700 troughs could be built and distributed to country towns 'for the relief of horses and other ... animals'."

The troughs, each emblazoned with the name of George Bills and his wife Annis, were made of pre-cast concrete with a curved pediment.

"With the uptake of motor vehicles, ironically soon after they were distributed, demand for the troughs declined dramatically and production ceased in the mid-1940s," explains Gary.

Over time many of the roadside vestiges have been destroyed, moved to widen roads, broken, or simply discarded as obsolete, but there are still several hundred scattered around south-east Australia.

And just as devoted twitchers like to tick different birds off their list as they spot them, 'troughers' like Gary criss-cross backroads of the countryside in a desperate bid to tick yet another 'Annis and George Bills' water trough off their list.

"It's a great way to get out and explore our region," says Gary, who before he embarks on a road trip always checks first if there are any Annis and Bills troughs along the route. "I just love looking for them, it's such a quirky bush story.

"Sometimes they move around, or are hidden under piles of grass ... so it's not as easy as you first think," explains Gary, who laments "there's only a handful left within a couple of hours drive of Canberra".

Of these, Gary's favourite is on Robertson Street, Crookwell, outside the local council chambers. But you won't find fresh water in this trough - it's been repurposed as a flower pot.

"Ours wasn't received until well after the motor car became common in 1940, which makes it one of the last troughs to be installed in the state," reports Vivienne Flanagan of the Crookwell and District Historical Society. "It really shows the importance of and return of the horse during the war years."

Jenny Painter, also of the historical society, remembers "her grandfather riding his horse around town and him bringing the horse around here to have a drink of water".

"Eventually the water become quite stagnant, so filling it with flowers allows us to retain the history of the trough and for it to continue to serve the community," explains Vivienne.

Members of the Crookwell community are keen to heritage-list the trough, to protect it for future generations.

"We can't lose this, it's part of our tangible history," says Vivienne, who believes that a number of replica hitching posts ought to also be placed between the trough and the road to prevent it being accidentally damaged by a car.

Meanwhile, out at Captains Flat there's another Bills and Annis trough which unlike the Crookwell trough is still used for its original purpose, with one minor modification.

As the trough's wobbly old connection to the village's water supply isn't well-maintained, to ensure it always contains fresh water, members of the Captains Flat Rural Bush Fire Brigade, including Christina Steele and John Gough, regularly flush it out as part of a training exercise.

Two locals who especially benefit from the fresh water are Copper, a 15-year-old thoroughbred mare and Pippi, a 13-year-old paint mare - horses that locals Jo Brissenden (she's the one on Copper) and her niece Claire Hall (on Pippi) regularly ride into the village.

"Since I could first ride at about the age of five, I've been riding down to the trough every week," reveals Jo.

"I've only seen a couple of troughs elsewhere, so we are very lucky to have one here, it's part of our history which we need to keep alive."

There is a list of Annis and George Bills troughs at this website which details the following troughs within a two-hour drive of Canberra.

While the vast majority of the precast concrete water troughs were erected in NSW and Victoria, some were also installed as far afield as England (George's homeland), Japan, and even Switzerland.

Did You Know: George and Annis were both keen supporters of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and as a vocal advocate for animal welfare, George was appointed a life governor of the RSPCA in 1924.

If you are aware of any other Annis and George Bills troughs in the Canberra region, please let me know, as yes, I've caught the trough bug. Blame Gary.

Last week's photo of the former Atlantic Garage in Captains Flat sparked a bulging mail bag.

Bruce McIntyre, formerly of Captains Flat, and who has been "thawing out" in Port Macquarie for the last 28 years, reveals the garage was his father's (George McIntyre) "pride and joy" and that the photo "was taken by his older brother Barry in the early 1960s".

"Dad ran that garage from the end of the Second World War until the early 1970s," explains Bruce, who when he left school worked at the garage for several years "pumping up tyres before graduating to panel beating and welding gates for farmers out the back".

A few readers attempted to guess the ice-cream flavour that the two men in the passing car, identified by Bruce McIntyre as the late Claude Ryan and Keith McDonald, appear to be enjoying. "I reckon they were Peters Drumsticks," claims Brian Surin, while Gwenda Williams thinks the two mates were more than likely indulging in "a single scoop of vanilla ice cream".

"Knowing those two blokes, they would not be ice-creams at all, I'd suggest they were cans of beer," laughs Bruce.

MORE YOWIE MAN:

Rose Higgins of Kambah was one of many readers more enamoured by the architecture than the ice-cream (or beer!) flavour. "Love that curvy deco style," she says. "Is it still there?"

Sadly, it's not. The site, located on the corner of Foxlow Street and Wattle Avenue, is currently cleared, vacant and for sale.

As to the Atlantic brand. Andrew Maher says the Exxon Oil website states that in 1962 Atlantic was broken up under anti-trust laws in the United States. "One half was rebranded as Esso, while the other half became Mobil."

Meanwhile, John Green recalls another Atlantic servo, behind what is now the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra. "Locals always referred to it as Hunts Garage and it was also the first 'authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer' in the ACT."

Rating: Easy

Cryptic Clue: Likely a supporter of the NSW State of Origin team

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday May 13 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.

Last week: Congratulations to Brendan Haverfield of Sutton who was first to identify last week's photo as the exterior of the chemical store at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at ANU. "The chemical store was completed in 2011 as part of the stage 3 project," reveals Brendan, who should know as he was site manager on the job. Oh, and in case you are wondering "the chimneys are fume cupboard exhausts".

While recently walking along the Thredbo Valley Track, about thee kilometres downstream from the Skitube bridge across the river near the Lake Crackenback Resort, David Hatherly noticed this dead tree. "It's trunk looks like everybody's favourite grandfather," he muses.

Meanwhile, on a recent family trip to Tidbinbilla, Bob Gardiner of Isabella Plains noticed "this loving brolga teaching her baby to forage", adding "they weren't too concerned about me." I bet they weren't.

CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601

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