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Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Beaconsfield Gold Mine Shaft

Took this photo in 2007 when I visited The Beaconsfield Grubb St Historical Gold mine Museum.

I liked the old rustic look of the wall and the window arches.

The Grubb Shaft Gold and Heritage Museum is adjacent to the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, which you can see from a viewing platform.

This is the site where, in April 2006, a rock fall trapped three miners one kilometre underground. Miner Larry Knight was tragically killed, and the subsequent rescue of Brant Webb and Todd Russell, who remained trapped for 14 days, became known worldwide as the ‘Great Escape’.

The Grubb Shaft Gold and Heritage Museum is located at Beaconsfield, northern Tasmania.

The Museum is located within two restored heritage buildings on the site of the 19th century Tasmanian gold mine. The rich Tasman reef was discovered here in 1877, and until its closure in 1914, the mine produced gold worth AUD450 million in today’s value. The museum features an extensive collection of mining memorabilia, artefacts and machinery.

Explore the Grubb Shaft Mine; see the iron smelter, water wheel and working model of the mine's dewatering pump, one of the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. You can also visit the miner's cottage, local store and the old Flowery Gully School.

Beaconsfield is a 30-minute drive north of Launceston (43 kilometres/27 miles) in the Tamar Valley.

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