Tea Tree Gully

Adelaide's north-east is home to more than 100,000 people. If you know where to look inside the sprawling Tea Tree Gully City Council area, there are clues to how its suburbs began as tiny scattered villages. Hope Valley is the oldest village and lies on the upper part of Grand Junction Road. The 1880s school building is now the most visible sign of old Hope Valley. Settler William Holden built a butcher shop, store and residence in 1841, but saw them burn down in months. He felt "inspired by hope", however, and built them again. That is why he called the spot Hope Valley. Golden Grove began when Captain Adam Robertson took up 1,000 acres here in the 1840s and called his home "Golden Grove" after the last ship he sailed. Just out of reach of the latest subdivision, on One Tree Hill Road is the little church of the Scottish pioneers, and over the road sits the little Golden Grove Primary School from the 1850s. It started with 26 students. It closed in 1961 for the want of patronage - there were 27 students in the roll. Another clue to the area's origins is a Thai restaurant which operates from Kelly's farmhouse. Robert Symons Kelly built it of local stone and called it "Modbury farm" after his birthplace in Devonshire. He had started in the young capital, Adelaide, as a carpenter working on Government House before he took up land in the rolling hills. "Modbury Farm" is the oldest intact building in the area.

St Agnes is a suburb of the 1970s, but its name has a well-matured history. The St Agnes name dates back to a two storey stone cellar deep in a gully along from tea Tree Gully. "Brightlands" cellar was built in 1874 by Anglican Archdeacon George Farr, who came to Adelaide to become Headmaster of St Peter's College. His summerhouse a little further down the creek predates the cellar. The Archdeacon leased his wine cellar to friend and neighbour Dr William Angove who had bought a medical practice in Tea Tree Gully. His passion was winemaking and he named a brandy he distilled after his home in Cornwall - St Agnes. Dr Angove's hobby turned into a serious industry - the St Agnes winery on North East Road gave its name to the suburb. The easiest village to identify is Tea Tree Gully itself (Captain Cook first called them tea trees after his ship's surgeon made a brew of its leaves). The much expanded Tea Tree Gully Inn first opened its doors about the time that mailcoach passengers were on their way to the goldfields in Gumeracha in 1854. The shop over the road has been there since the goldrush days too. It served the community as Dunn's Cashstore for more than 80 years - now it's a restaurant. Only months after the Inn opened, the Highercombe Hotel opened its doors. Its tiny bar turned into a Post Office for the village up to the 1960s. It now houses a National Trust Museum, open weekend afternoons. For more information you can email info@postcards.sa.com.au