Friends dig deep for quarry

By Jim Mynard
BERWICK quarry workers created a “landscape” that eventually led to the creation of Wilson Botanic Park.
Back to Berwick Quarry Committee chairman Neil Lucas said this during a Casey mayoral dinner held on Saturday 28 March given to honour and thank former quarry workers.
He said the Friends of Wilson Botanic Park all agreed the history of the site was not sufficiently documented.
So they decided to stage a Back to Berwick Quarry project and gather as much anecdotal information as possible.
“This was an important time in the park’s history because the committee collected an enormous amount of information and it has been made secure,” Mr Lucas said.
“Many former workers supported our efforts and we have maps that show where things were in the quarry and all this information hopefully will go into a book or CD.
“People came out and told us how things were in those early days.
“This project has been a great success and I am confident information collected will appear during the next stage of the Friends project,” Mr Lucas said.
“We produced a small booklet with anecdotes from recorded interviews of people connected in some way with the quarry.
“I thank the people who made Wilson Botanic Park what it is today.”
The friends of Wilson Botanic Park hosted about 50 former workers to a lunch at the park on Sunday 29 March.
Some travelled from interstate to be at the function.