Coronet Bay - Bronze Yarns Sculpture Trail
Bronze Yarns consists of five sculptures designed and made by the artist David Murphy that are based on local stories and events - these are all made in bronze, with one being in both bronze and aluminium. On a collection of large granite boulders there are also 15 small bronze sculptures made by the local school children about events and stories from the area of their own.
"I have recorded many stories as a result of this project from in and around Coronet Bay. People came forward offering all sorts of yarns from the area, and I also went looking for people of interest as I became aware of them too. Not all of the stories were appropriate to retell, or lent themselves to having a sculpture made of them - but they were all good to hear, and all helped in some way to shape the project. It's been a fantastic experience getting to know some of the people of Coronet Bay, and getting an insight into the yarns that make it the community that it is." - David Murphy, artist
1. The (flying) Elephant Shark
Callorinchus Mini is the scientific name for what most people in Coronet Bay call the Elephant Shark. It is named for its plough like snout. which it uses like a metal detector to locate shells and molluscs.
Whilst not much is known about the habits of these strange creatures. recent genetic sequencing of them has revealed that they are one of the oldest unchanged species of vertebrates (virtually unchanged for 450 million years). earning them yet another moniker - 'living fossil'. Incredibly graceful in motion, they use their large pectoral fins to 'fly' with. rather than their tails to swim with.
These fish are only found off the coast of South East Australia and New Zealand and spend most of their lives in the darkness at depths of up to 500m. However. in the summer months they come up into the light to lay their distinctive eggs in shallow bays - Western Port being one of their strongholds.
This 'yarn' was suggested by local identity Tim 'Dr. Mangrove' Ealey whose insistence that it be included meant that installation was postponed for six months due to lack of available specimens.
2. The Coronet Bay Mothership
In the Spring of 1969, a Coronet Bay couple and their daughter were on the back porch of their newly built holiday home. It was a still evening around 6.30pm. and all three were startled to see a strange aircraft approaching from the east.
It came down towards them, completely silent with lights flashing and windows visible around the top level. Figures could be seen in the windows looking towards them. The whole craft was silver looking with a slight glow to it and the lower section of it was spinning around slowly.
It came in to land on the vacant land to the east of their house about 200m away from where they were standing. "Quick, get my camera", said the daughter. so her father ran into the house to get the box brownie, turning on the back porch light as he went. As soon as the light went on. the craft took off at high speed and disappeared towards the west.
3. 1826 - The Bath House
Corinella was the site of the first Government House in Victoria. It was established on the 12 December 1826 and they were ordered to abandon it 15 months later on the 2 March 1828.
The settlement was located on the top of the hill now known as Jamieson Street; a good spot for keeping a lookout for French invaders. but not for fresh water supplies.
For water. they had to send bullock drays down to the 'Fresh Lagoon'. (now known as Coronet Bay's 'holding basin'), to collect the settlement's fresh water. It is 800m to the north of the Foreshore Reserve and still a beautiful place.
William Woods was a convict listed as 'labourer' in the settlements records, and most likely given the lowly task of collecting the water. He would have spent a lot of time there. in his own idyllic bath house and away from the oppressive regime that had sent him to Australia with a sentence of seven years for stealing a donkey.
4. So much for so little
During the 70s and 80s, a local resident and the unofficial 'Mayor of Coronet Bay', Fred Gration. started raising money to fund a community hall in Coronet Bay.
Of a Sunday night, he would load his ute up with his grandchildren and drive around town picking up the bottles and papers. He would stockpile them at his farm at Bass, and then sell them to the 'bottle-o', with the funds going into the hall coffers.
In the summer holidays, he and a gang of helpers would set up a 'trash and treasure', in front of the old general store.
They managed to raise $20,000 towards the cause this way, which Council matched and the hall was built. Fred almost lived to see his 100th birthday, and was also well known for single-handedly winning a battle against the developer and his lawyers to stop the clearing of the Banksia Forest to the north of the town.
5. Gippsland's Thylacines
Legend has it that a number of these animals were released on Wilsons Promontory in 1912 by a person or persons unknown, at around the time when it was heading for extinction in Tasmania. From 1915 on, there have been hundreds of reports from in and around Gippsland by people who have seen these animals. On the 16 April 2013 a woman watched an animal feeding on road kill on Toorak Road in Inverloch. "The front half looked a bit like a dog, but the back half sort of resembled a kangaroo...."
One of the 'hot spots' for these sightings has been around Grantville, but there are several from around Corinella and the outskirts of Coronet Bay. The artist has spoken to a number of witnesses from the Corinella area in the course of researching this project who have seen these animals in the paddocks just to the North of Coronet Bay, as well as on Agars Road.
6. Children's Yarns
David Murphy conducted workshops at the Bass Valley School with 10 students from Grades 4 through to 6. He asked them to make something that represents a story or experience they have had in or around the foreshore at Coronet Bay. Art works by: Emma Coward, Jasmine Crow, Sofa Hatzidakis, Liam Kelly, Connor Lyon, Lily Palmer, Maddie Palmer, Thomas Rawnsley, Mia Selby, Cooper Slavin and Alannah Smith.
Briochures are available from the Coronet Bay General Store.
Location
Cutty Sark Road, Coronet Bay 3984 Map
