20-962: Pemberton Tramway Company operates as a tourist railway in Pemberton in Western Australia . The company controls the southern section of the former Northcliffe branch railway , from Lyall to Northcliffe . Trams ran south from the old WAGR railway station at Pemberton to the Cascades. Previously, tram services operated as far as Northcliffe, and steam-hauled train services, using WAGR V class 1213, operated to Eastbrook and Lyall. Pemberton Tramway ceased operations on 6 February 2023. Under new owners, it resumed operations in June/July 2023. 34°26′35″S 116°01′59″E / 34.442937°S 116.033001°E / -34.442937; 116.033001 This article about rail transport in Western Australia
40-455: A hall, store, staff accommodation, mill workers' cottages, and single men's huts, and two boarding houses. A more distinctive name was soon sought. The name Walcott was suggested but was rejected by the Post Office due to conflict with Port Walcott , also named after Walcott. William Locke Brockman, local farmer and son of early settler Edward Reveley Brockman, suggested Pemberton. The mill town
60-533: A series of low falls in the Lefroy brook. The road has been sealed and is accessible from the historic Tram, which departs from Pemberton twice daily. Pemberton has a Mediterranean climate , with warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Gloucester Tree The Gloucester Tree is a giant karri ( Eucalyptus diversicolor ) tree located in the Gloucester National Park of Western Australia . The tree
80-602: A suspension bridge, walk trails and visitor information. The Falls are the break between the Darling Scarp and the Scott River Plain and the tourist drive is sealed with caravan parking. The Yeagarup Dunes in the D'Entrecasteaux National Park are the largest land-locked inland dunes in the southern hemisphere. They are moving at four metres a year towards the Yeagarup Lake. Local 4WD tours are available. Lake Jasper in
100-657: Is 61 metres (200 ft) tall, and a major tourist attraction to the town of Pemberton . It is part of a group of karri tree towers open to the public, the other two being the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree and the Diamond Tree . It is the world's second tallest fire- lookout tree , second only to the Bicentennial Tree. It was named after Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester . In 1947, the Gloucester Tree
120-684: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pemberton, Western Australia Pemberton is a town in the South West region of Western Australia , named after original settler Pemberton Walcott. The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun people who knew the area as Wandergarup, which in their language meant 'plenty of water'. Following an expedition to the area in 1861 by Edward Reveley Brockman, his brother-in-law Gerald de Courcy Lefroy and his uncle Pemberton Walcott, in 1862 Brockman established Warren House homestead and station on
140-672: Is the Gloucester Tree , but there is also the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree , the tallest of the two at around 71 metres. The trees have metal rungs that allow visitors to climb them and reach the constructed lookout at the top. The former climbable Diamond Tree was closed for climbing in 2019. Other tourist attractions include the Pemberton Tramway Company , Yeagarup Dunes and the Bibbulmun Track . Tours include river cruises, hiking, canoeing and four-wheel drive tours of
160-588: The Warren River ; Walcott, after whom the town would be named, established Karri Dale farm on the northern outskirts of the later townsite; and Lefroy established a farm and flour mill on Lefroy Brook (the current site of the 100 Year Forest). Walcott remained until at least 1867. By 1868 he was at Dwalganup Station near Boyup Brook , and in 1872 Karri Dale was for sale, marketed as a "four-roomed brick cottage, stockyards, cattle shed, good garden - stocked with fruit trees and permanent running water". In 1913,
180-653: The 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism, particularly domestic, continues to play a key role. Log sawmilling was still the most active industry in 2005, occupying 12.8% of the workforce, despite the state government drastically reducing old growth logging in 2003. Rather than shut down, the mill switched to plantation Tasmanian blue gum and pine in addition to karri . Viticulture has become widely established, with many investment schemes buying up large areas of pastureland and converting to vineyards. Nearby, there are two climbable karri trees, each more than 60 metres (200 ft) tall. The most famous
200-654: The Department of Environment and Conservation, links the tourist attractions with sealed and unsealed roads. Forest attractions include Big Brook Dam in the Pemberton State Forest, 6 km north on the Bibbulmun Track . Facilities include bird hides, jetties, barbecues and a sandy beach. There is a 4 km sealed walk trail around the lake. Beedelup Falls in the Beedelup National Park are 30 km north along The Bibbulmun Track. Visitors can explore via
220-499: The D’Entrecasteaux National Park is a natural freshwater lake that covers an area of about 450 hectares. It has no inlets nor outlets, is 10 metres deep, and accessible only by 4WD. Further west is Black Point, in the far north-western part of the D’Entrecasteaux National Park between Augusta and Windy Harbour. The black Basalt columns were formed about 135 million years ago. Local tours are available. The Cascades are
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#1732870043595240-577: The area around the tree is still open to the public. The possibility of a permanent end to climbing the tree has not been ruled out by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions , but regional manager Tim Foley has said that it was something they were not keen to see. This was opposed by Louise Kingston , the Nationals MP for the South West Region , who called it "unacceptable" for
260-642: The national parks. The three-day Southern Forests Festival (formerly the Pemberton Autumn Festival/Marron & Wine Festival) is held in May. Pemberton is recognised as one of the premier cool-climate wine regions in Australia, and hosts many wineries in the region. Pemberton is surrounded by karri forest with five national parks within 20 minutes' drive and has plenty of rivers, streams and dams for recreation. The Karri Forest Explorer Drive, developed by
280-474: The new government-owned State Saw Mills began construction of twin sawmills, No 2 and No 3, at the location then known as Big Brook , to supply half a million railway sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway . The mill site was in a valley to ensure the mills had a regular supply of water and because it was easier to roll logs down hill to the mills. Big Brook became a thriving private mill town, with
300-411: The site and watched the pegging of the tree's ladder and the lopping of branches for the lookout. Prince Henry also participated by using a wood auger to bore holes in the tree for the climbing pegs. The tree and national park are named in his honour. The wooden lookout cabin was demolished in 1973 for safety reasons, and was replaced with a steel and aluminium cabin and visitors' gallery. The climb
320-524: The tree and the need to negotiate through limbs from 39.6 metres (130 ft) up. Jack Watson, a Gallipoli veteran, was also Superintendent of Kings Park in Perth, and retired from that position in 1962. Another forester, George Reynolds, pegged the ladder and lopped branches to facilitate climbing the tree, and a wooden lookout cabin was built 58 metres (190 ft) above the ground. The Governor-General of Australia , Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, visited
340-605: The trees to be closed ahead of the summer tourist season. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), there were fears among business owners that tourists would skip or spend less time in Pemberton due to the tree's closure. Before its closure, visitors could climb up 53 metres (174 ft) to its lookout. Those who climbed up were provided with no harnesses, which the ABC described as being "unique in
360-419: Was done by stepping on 153 spikes that spiral the tree. In 2023, maintenance work on the Gloucester Tree was carried out to improve the tree's safety. The work included repegging so the public could climb up to 42 metres (138 ft), although the tree remains closed due to work being needed on the tree's top and upper platform. Along with the Bicentennial Tree, it has been closed since November 2023. However,
380-467: Was selected by foresters as a fire-lookout tree. It was one of eight lookout trees built in Western Australia's South West between 1937 and 1952. The suitability of the tree as a fire lookout was tested by forester Jack Watson, who climbed the tree using climbing boots and a belt. It took Watson six hours to climb 58 metres (190 ft), a difficult climb due to the 7.3-metre (24 ft) girth of
400-663: Was well established but by 1921 there was community agitation for a government townsite to be declared. Community pressure resulted in lots being surveyed in 1925 and the Pemberton townsite was gazetted in October 1925. During the 1920s the area was a focus of the Group Settlement Scheme and following the Second World War the War Service Land Settlement Scheme , but with only moderate success. During
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