Bluey Blundstone'S Blacksmith - Melrose

Last week Postcards visited Melrose at the foot of Mount Remarkable, a town which played a pivotal role in opening up the rugged interior of South Australia. Melrose was the first town established in the Flinders Ranges. Anywhere north of here and you were on your own as the local constabulary knew only too well. The troopers here covered a beat stretching all the way across from Broken Hill to Ceduna and right up to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The standard method of travel back then was by horse, and that's why a bloke like Steve Webber would always have been in demand.

Steve owns Bluey Blundstone's Bed and Breakfast and when he's not hammering away at the anvil fashioning pieces of furniture for the coffee shop, he's out in the back garden firing up the barbecue for guests. Here nothing goes to waste and Steve used Old Blue Blundstone's original tiling ring, used to mould metal rims to the wheels of old carts. Back then such skills were commonplace. "There was a lot of people a hundred years ago who were actually doing blacksmithing because it was a necessity, it was a part of their life".

And when you visit Bluey Blundstone's you realise just how handy these old-timers were with a forge, hammer and anvil. William Frederick Blundstone, seen here dressed in a black suit, established his own blacksmith shop in Melrose in 1865 and continued to service the needs of the local community until 1911. And as you browse through this classic piece of Australia's outback history you get a sense of how this would have been a hub of activity in what was once one of the most remote towns in the State.

"This was the last area of jurisdiction, church, commerce all those things that hold a town together. It was pretty well uncivilised from here on in".
"And one of the last places at which you could get some work done for your horse or your wagon or cart of whatever".
"Yes..other than that you'd rely on homesteads that may or may not have blacksmiths' equipment".

Bluey Blundstone's, in its present state, is a credit to Brenda and Steve Webber and the blacksmiths former owners, who had the courage to take this on back in 1983.

"What really captivated you when you first say this?"
"Well, it was so different".
"Yer, that's the word I would use too - different".
"It's not gyprock walls and white paint and everything nice and square - you see as you walk through the low doorways can be a bit of a pain sometimes, in the head literally, bit it just has a certain feel with pug and pine walls - you know, there's a certain atmosphere, you don't need anyone here and it has a certain atmosphere to the building, and once people come in it warms up - it's just a nice cosy place".

Out the back there's the old barn which has been converted into bed and breakfast accommodation with a stunning early morning view of Mount Remarkable. And as you look out the barn window onto the courtyard below, you can almost hear Bluey hammering away as he did for almost fifty years.

The coffee shop at Bluey Blundstone's is open daily except Tuesday. While a night's accommodation costs $87.00 a double and includes a continental breakfast.

For details contact 8666-2173 or you can email: info@postcards.sa.com.au