"Such a sight will never be seen again..."
From a speech by Ron Chapman, 18 June 2009:
Before we discuss the impending threats to our local forests, I would like to present a brief overview of Jarrahdale's forest heritage and why it is so important to us. I will begin with two quotations. Jesse Hammond, who worked as a 16-year-old at Jarrahdale in the early days of the timber trade, recognised the beauty of the forest:
'I will never forget the Jarrah forest at Jarrahdale. I think it was one of the most wonderful natural sights I saw before the Wanliss Timber Company put their mill there and cut it all out. Such a sight will never be seen again in Western Australia.'[1]
In The Mills of Jarrahdale, published in 1972, V.G. Fall also gave his impressions of Jarrahdale's forests:
'Even at the present day, when it has been cut over for a hundred years, the forest at Jarrahdale is an impressive sight. A hundred years ago, before it had ever heard the sound of an axe or saw, it must have been magnificent. The great Jarrah trees rose a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet to the sky…"
The history of Jarrahdale's timber industry began in the early 1870s with a period of intense activity.
