Woolwash Memories

Almost without fail, everyone remembers the Woolwash as being the best, and favourite swimming spot in Campbelltown. Kids would walk, ride their bikes, or be dropped off, to spend a glorious summer day at this lovely spot on the Georges River.

Swimming, however, was not the only entertainment on offer at the Woolwash.  With great ingenuity, kids created their own forms of fun. Homemade canoes were constructed of tin and wood. These were mainly made of a sheet of corrugated iron bent down the middle and nailed to a piece of timber on each end. Apparently these home made canoes spent a fair bit of time on the river bed! Luckily, they could be retrieved by means of a rope tied to one end of the canoe, and the other end attached to a floating four gallon kerosene tin.

A homemade corrugated iron canoe sinking at the Woolwash in 1940 - photo courtesy CAHS and Col Braithwaite

Jimmy and Frank Lappin were brothers who were born and grew up in Campbelltown. Jim had a canoe he had made from flat iron, which he towed to the Woolwash behind his pushbike.  Frank created a home-made diving helmet, enabling him to walk along the river bed! Using a five gallon oil drum, arm holes were cut out of the drum and a glass viewing panel fitted. By attaching his Dad’s garden hose to the top of the drum, and the other end to a motor car tyre pump, he was able to create an air supply. The pump was operated by a person sitting in the canoe.  All this would work fine until the canoe sank!! Then the helmet had to be abandoned and the diver swim to the surface!

On one occasion, Frank complained that the operators of the pump were “a bit bloody scarce with the air”!!!

Luckily, no one was ever injured during these escapades!

Written by Claire Lynch

 Sources:

Grist Mills

Vol. 13, No. 2 “More Reminiscences of Old Campbelltown by Alf Cooper” by Verlie Fowler

Vol 16, No. 1 “Around the Woolwash in the 1930s and 1940s” by Col Braithwaite

The Woolwash

Whenever I ask the older generation of Campbelltown where they swam as children the answer is almost always at the Woolwash. The area known as the Woolwash is 4km east of Campbelltown and is a deep gorge along the Georges River around its junction with O'Hare's Creek. Although rumour has it that the Woolwash was at one time used for washing wool, there appears to be no evidence to support this story. In the early days people used the water for their own purposes, and also to water their cattle. But it was as a swimming hole in the searing summer heat of Campbelltown that the Woolwash gained its reputation.

It was during the 1930s that the Woolwash began to be the town's most popular swimming and picnic area. Many Campbelltown residents of that time remember crowds of about 100 people sitting and sunbaking on the sandy beach on the eastern side of the river. Unlike the muddy water hole at Bow Bowing Creek, the Woolwash water was normally very clear, unpolluted and nearly always flowing. It became so popular that in 1946 a kiosk was built and leased by Fred Lower. In 1955, council constructed a parking area near the top of the Woolwash road. Prior to its construction there were often up to about 50 cars parked along the road down to the turning area on a good weekend. A second car park was constructed in 1969 along with a kiosk and dressing sheds.

The area around the Woolwash was very popular for boy scout camps between the two world wars. Two camping areas were established in the 1930s about 200 metres up O'Hare's Creek, one on either side of the creek.

According to local resident Col Braithwaite, broken glass bottles were a major hazard in the area. People drank the contents of the glass soft drink bottles, threw the bottles into the water, then proceeded to throw stones at the bottles until they broke and sank. Many children often received bad cuts to their feet. Still, this was a small price to pay for a day at Campbelltown's charming piece of paradise.

Four unidentified children of the Denison family at the "The Woolwash" A. Denison Collection

Sources:

"Around the Woolwash in the 1930s and 1940s" by Col Braithwaite in "Grist Mills" vol 16 no 1 p26

Written by Andrew Allen