Here I am in Charters Towers. Gold was discovered here around 1870. In almost no time at all, a little village turned into a huge town as a result of the gold rush. By 1890, the town had many hotels and theatres, four newspapers and a stock exchange which called the price of shares three times a day - more times than any other stock exchange in Australia at that time. The town became so wealthy and had so many attractions that people began to call it The World. Some people still call it that today, as you can see.
Can you see a blue blob in the distance behind me? Here it is up close:
You can just read that it says, 'The World'. It is written on a huge water tank on the hill behind the town. This hill gave Charters Towers it's name. A man called Charters was the Commisioner for Gold in Australia at the time gold was discovered. Tor is a Cornish word for hill and there many Cornish miners emigrated to mine gold in Charters Towers. Over the years, people stopped saying 'Tor' and started to say 'Towers' instead.
As you know, I'm a bear with a very little brain but I found all this information at the Charters Towers tourist information centre. They've got a models of the world there. Here's a picture of me feeling on top of the world!
Just behind me you can see a picture of one of the fancy hotels they built during the gold rush. All the waiters are waving from the balcony.
There was also a model of a poppet. That's what they call the pit head in Australia.
There were some interesting photographs and displays in the information centre.
This display is about the people who set up mills to extract the gold from the rocks that the miners brought to the surface. The photograph shows a big posh house that E. H. Plant, one of the men who set up the Venus Battery, built for himself. It's still in Charters Towers but it is part of a school now. We're going to visit the Venus Battery another day. It's called a 'battery' because they had heavy machinery there that battered the gold out of the rocks.
This photograph shows a much smaller house!
This is the kind of shack that the first miners built for themselves when the gold rush first started. It's a good job it's warm in North Queensland!
Here I am in the arcade next to the information centre. This display is about some of the scams that went on in the gold rush. People would sell shares to set up a mine and then just run away with the money without even trying to dig up any gold. 'Rort' is another Australian word. It also means 'scam' or 'swindle'. I know Year 4 are learning some Australian. Good on ya, Year 4!
Here's a better view of the arcade - with your favourite bear adding a touch of class. It looks a bit like the County Arcade or the Thornton Arcade in Leeds, doesn't it? Well, it's not surprising. It was built at around the same time and the people of Charters Towers were keen to show that whatever could be done in the old country back home could be done in Australia.
It made all their hard work seem worth while, I guess.
Every hour, on the hour, there is a re-enactment of the calling of the price of You can see some more information about Charters Towers here:shares on the stock exchange, which took place in this very arcade. It's that time again - here it is!
A door beside the information centre opens and out comes a tableau.
Can you spot today's special guest?
Here's the outside of the Stock Exchange Arcade.
I hope you enjoyed your first visit to Charters Towers. There's lot's more to come. We're going to Venus Battery next. I wonder if I will see some gold?
Hooroo!
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