Aerial views - Historic images - Walkaround : Metcalfe / The Cascades : Victoria Australia

Metcalfe is a town in Mount Alexander Shire, Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 105 km (65 miles) north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. Its name probably derives from Baron (Charles) Metcalfe, Governor-General of India and later of Canada, who died in 1846. The town lies on the Coliban River, downstream from the Malmsbury reservoir. Metcalfe was mainly developed during the central Victorian gold rush period, from 1851 to 1865. It is reported that, in 1851, when the first miners arrived on the Mount Alexander goldfield near Castlemaine, gold nuggets could be picked up without digging. Nearby reserves still show the scars of mining activity, including deep shafts and adits. In 1861, the Metcalfe Road Board was established, and in 1865, the Shire of Metcalfe was declared, with the shire hall built at that time. The former shire hall still contains records of councillors and mayors until the dissolution of the shire in 1995. For most of its history, the major economic activity has been grazing. At times, Metcalfe had a school, a post office, a pub, and various other businesses, but all are now closed. However, the town does have a recreation reserve with a tennis court and playground. After the opening of the Calder Freeway, traffic travelling between Kyneton and Bendigo via Metcalfe decreased significantly. The Metcalfe post office initially opened on 13 December 1866. Nearby, at the "Cascades", just west of the town, the Coliban River flows over and among huge granite boulders and outcrops, creating many rock pools of varying sizes. It is popular for walks, picnics, and swimming. Metcalfe hosts the annual Metcalfe Vintage Tractor Pull, a popular community event held on the third Sunday in September at the Metcalfe Recreation Reserve. This event features competitive tractor pulling and woodchopping competitions that attract participants and spectators from across Victoria, raising funds for local township initiatives. Credits and References: State Library – Victoria https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ Photographers and contributors; Department of Crown Lands and Survey Collins, John T. (1907 – 2001) Carter, George Levi (1828 – 1923) Geological Survey of Victoria Churches Australia https://www.churchesaustralia.org/lis... By Mattinbgn - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf... ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We welcome you to comment, click the 'thumbs up' or 'like' button if you enjoyed the content, and please subscribe; subscribing is completely free and supports our channel. We aim to keep this channel family-friendly and suitable for kids as much as possible, but we also encourage viewers to share their positive feedback or constructive criticism. Suggestions or ideas for new drone locations, places to visit, or topics to research, such as historical subjects, are warmly welcomed in the comments—even to promote a business or location! If you need an aerial video for your business or location, we are happy to give it a try. We are non-profit and do this as a hobby we enjoy. Please send any inappropriate comments, offensive language, or links to your own content to our email address to prevent others from having to see or us having to delete them from the channel. The same applies to political, religious, discriminatory, or racial remarks. Urban Aerial Explorer can be contacted via email, c/o Ludwig or his son Alexander, at email : [email protected]. Facebook -   / urbanaerialexplorer   Postal address: 2-18 Davisons Place, Melbourne 3000, Victoria, Australia.