Words and photos by Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I [/dropcap]f next year’s Warrnambool City Council election wasn’t already shaping up as intriguing battle, it has got a whole lot more fascinating with law graduate Ed Mahony stepping into local politics.

He joins Warrnambool businesswoman Raelene Ponting as two fresh faces who have declared they will be among the 2016 candidates, giving Warrnambool ratepayers plenty of time to find out who they are, what they are about and what ideas they might bring to the table. (Former councillor Jennifer Lowe has also confirmed she will run again.)

Ed, 25, has already established himself as what media commentators call “someone to watch” with his political savviness and dynamic approach to getting things done, rather than just talking about it.

A case in point was his setting up a popular pop-up Laneway Bar in Liebig Street over the 2013-14 summer.

It was, unofficially, the first of the laneway events that rolled out in 2014 and created a buzz around what might be possible with Warrnambool’s untapped alleyways.

“A lot of people said to me at the time, ‘this is what you see in Europe’, but I said, ‘it’s also what you see in Melbourne’, so why can’t we do it here?,” Ed said.

Ed was also integral to setting up a Young Professionals Network in Warrnambool – he couldn’t believe there wasn’t already one in place – to encourage young people to stay in the area as they built their careers.

“There is this whole untapped market of young professionals who move to Warrnambool but don’t stay, or who commute back to Melbourne for their social life because they feel isolated here,” Ed explains.

“We started YPN (the other founders are Jayson Ward and Angie Paspaliaris) to address this, to offer a social network for newcomers so that they could get a sense of community here.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] E [/dropcap]d was involved in both Young Professionals Warrnambool and the pop-up Laneway Bar while still living and studying law in Melbourne.

He grew up on dairy farm in Allansford, but moved away as a teenager to boarding school and has only returned home permanently last December after being offered a job at Dwyer Robinson law firm.

“It was the job that brought me back, but I love Warrnambool. It is a great place to live, an easy place to live and I see so much potential in this city,” Ed said.

Talking to Ed, his energy levels – even at the end of a working day – spark out of him: fingers tapping, eyes bright and a nimbleness in conversation that comes from travelling widely and, along the way, being mentored by some of the best in the business.

He explains how his winning a young entrepreneurs scholarship included the chance to work with two mentors and he already had his two in mind: Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons.

These two men, together with National’s MLC (Western Victoria) David O’Brien, have been a guiding force as Ed works out how to best utilise business and politics to build a better community.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] L [/dropcap]ike Doyle and Lyons, Ed is a member of the Liberal Party but more of the ‘wet’ Malcolm Turnbull variety – whom he often quotes – than the ‘dry’ Tony Abbott variety.

“I see myself as someone who likes to questions people’s beliefs,” he said.

“But within that you need to be open to talking, to having an informed discussion and finding the middle ground.”

There are many things a potential councillor needs to care about, but one high on Ed’s list is planning: a dry word, but one that ultimately determines the shape and feel of a city.

We talk about the urban creep of Warrnambool into the farming areas on its fringe, while the city heart beats ever more slowly and empty shops remain empty.

He has plenty of ideas on how to address this – “I am someone who always looks for opportunities rather than pessimism” – and these will no doubt form part of his election campaign.

Ironically, a few days after this conversation, Ed is in Geelong on one of the balmiest evenings in the south-west all summer. He is running a pop-up Laneway Bar (Darryn Lyons is licensee) and the place is jumping.

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By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] A [/dropcap]lmost 170 years after she was laid to rest somewhere in the Warrnambool sand dunes, Agnes Ruttleton – the “Granny” behind Granny’s Grave – is to get her name back.

The Warrnambool City Council has followed through on its plan to have a plaque recognising pioneer Agnes Ruttleton added to the famous Granny’s Grave site at the east end of Lady Bay and has installed it in time for March 8: International Women’s Day.

Until now, Agnes has been incorrectly known only as Mrs James Raddleston, “the first white woman buried in Warrnambool” and thousands of locals and tourists have walked past her memorial in the dunes not knowing anything more about her.

Last year, however, Bluestone Magazine ran a story on the research of local historian Jenny Fawcett that revealed so much more about the life and times of Granny Ruttleton, who died in 1848 at the age of 60. It remains one of our most popular stories and you can read it here.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] A [/dropcap]mong those inspired by Agnes’ story was Warrnambool textile artist Louise Parlour, who used the imagery of the Granny’s Grave bluestone headstone for her entry in the inaugural South West International Women’s Day Art Prize.

“The theme for the art prize was ‘Women and Place’ and I think the Granny’s Grave story fits that so perfectly,” Louise said.

“So many people walk past that site and never really stop to look. Plus (Agnes) is not actually buried there and they have her name wrong, so it is like she is invisible, despite being one of the first pioneering women of Warrnambool.”

Louise photographed the headstone and used this to create a template from dissolvable plastic. Around this template she freehand embroidered the headstone using the closest colour she could find to bluestone.

The work took about 50 hours and 10.5 km – yes, 10.5 km – of cotton to complete.

“I think I bought about every batch of that cotton I could get my hands on in Warrnambool,” Louise laughed.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he gravestone’s green lettering was then stencilled on to the work, some real lichen added from Louise’s roof at home and the whole thing covered with a thin coat of PVC glue to hold it together once the dissolvable plastic was removed.

The headstone itself is surrounded by sand and pussy willows, boxed by recycled fence pickets from a friend.

“I wanted it to look like I imagine it did when it was first erected, not with the modern handrails and things around it,” Louise said.

As part of sharing Agnes’s story with the public, Louise wrote a poem encapsulating what is known of her life and included this in her piece, tucked inside a piece of weathered marine ply.

“I want people to pick it up, read it and go away knowing a bit more about Agnes,” she said.

[learn_more caption=”You can read Louise’s poem here:”]

Where is this woman?

Laid to rest

Windswept dunes

Leaving no remnants

No trace……………

No photos to be found

Only our imaginations

Giving Granny a face.

A pioneer woman of her day

A township of 100 people

So they say…..

Makeshift homes set up

Enduring the wind and rain

On Flagstaff Hill

Where the sheep today roam.

So who is this Granny?

Encapsulated in time

A bluestone grave

Neither reason nor rhyme

Standing all alone

Standing the test of time……

Not much is known about Granny

And her pioneer days

Agnes sailed by sea

From Tasmania

Aboard the Essington

Wife of James

No record of children

The colony of New South Wales

Town of Warrnambool……

Worked hard for a quid

Odd jobs and selling crays

Headstone depicts wrong name

Should read – Mrs Agnes Ruttleton

Second white woman

To be buried in Warrnambool

First believed to be buried on an island

Off the Hopkins River

Granny was admired by one Richard Osburne

Known as a publisher and local historian

Paid for her burial

In the sand dunes……

Returning some years later

To no avail

Could not find her marker

And all efforts failed

Richard Osburne fought

Council decided to erect a headstone

The one that stands today All alone……..

Louise Parlour 2015

(I would like to acknowledge Bluestone Magazine and their article “Who is the “Granny” behind Granny’s Grave?” published February 9, 2014, and local researcher Jenny Fawcett who uncovered the story of the “real Granny”.) [/learn_more]

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he marine ply was found at Levy’s Beach where she occasionally walks with her father, who visits the area regularly in search of that other Warrnambool legend: the Mahogany Ship.

It is the first time Louise has entered her work in an exhibition, but unfortunately, after our interview, she learned that she had missed out in the selection process (the prize attracted more than 70 entries, of which only 50 could be selected).

Despite missing out, Louise remained upbeat, saying she had thoroughly enjoyed creating the work. We think Agnes would be pretty chuffed too.

In the meantime, the council plaque – which has been added to the viewing platform next to the grave – provides details about Agnes and her challenging life as one of the first non-Indigenous people to settle in the area.

A council spokesman said the full text of the plaque, which can be found at the end of this story, was developed with the assistance of Elizabeth and (the late) Les O’Callaghan and the Warrnambool Historical Society, in conjunction with historian Dr Helen Doyle.

[learn_more caption=”Read the full text on the grave plaque here:”] Who was Granny? Granny’s Grave marks the burial site of Agnes Ruttleton, who died in December 1848. Agnes Ruttleton, known as “Granny”, was recorded as “the first white woman to be buried in Warrnambool”.

Agnes arrived in Warrnambool with her husband James Ruttleton in the late 1840s (probably both ex-convicts from Van Diemen’s Land) and lived in humble conditions, occupying a tent or hut at the base of Flagstaff Hill. It is believed they made a living catching crayfish. Exposed to unpredictable weather and with few physical comforts, they would have had a tough life.

In Warrnambool’s early days many settlers experienced similar hardship and made meagre incomes from fishing and beachcombing. In an 1850 census, eight men gave their place of residence as ‘at the jetty’, another five were described as ‘Fishermen at the Hummocks’.

Upon Agnes’ death in 1848, a group of leading Warrnambool citizens, including Richard Osburne, who would later publish The Examiner, Gilbert Nicol, Mark Nicholson, John Hollins Craig, John Moffat Chisholm and Thomas Denny, rallied to provide a decent burial ceremony for her.

Rev. Thomas Slattery, the Catholic priest from Belfast (Port Fairy), was brought across to officiate at a ceremony held at the sand hummocks and to consecrate the ground where she was buried. [/learn_more]

[box]The South West International Women’s Day Art Prize will be launched Thursday March 5 at 6pm at The Artery, 224 Timor St, Warrnambool. Live music. Judging by internationally recognised Portland artist Carmel Wallace.[/box]

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By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] L [/dropcap]eah Ponting and Nathan Shanley might appear to be like any other young couple renovating an almost 100-year-old home they share in Warrnambool, but in fact they are not partners, just great friends.

And their home at 40 Lava St is not their first renovation project together, but their second in four years – even though they are both only 24 years old.

As Leah explains, the productive partnership began when her aunty, Jenny Ponting, passed away suddenly in 2011 at the age of 49 and left Leah a small inheritance.

“Jenny was a strong and independent woman and so I decided that I wanted to do something meaningful and worthwhile with the money she had left me,” she said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] L [/dropcap]eah, a business development officer, was already friends with Nathan, who has worked as a builder since he was 15, and knew that he was interested in taking on a project of his own, so the pair decided to combine their skills and tackle a renovator’s delight – or perhaps it could be better described as a blank slate.

The property was the former Pretlove’s nursery at 43 Wentworth St and was not so much a home as “a concrete slab and some walls,” Leah said.

“Nathan and I loved working on that one together – we had so much fun for about 12 months, transforming it from a derelict building into a three-bedroom home that we could live in,” she said.

High on the success of Wentworth St, Leah and Nathan applied to be part of the television reality renovation show, The Block, and even though they were not accepted, they still thought the time was right for another renovation challenge.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] L [/dropcap]eah had spotted an old weatherboard cottage at 40 Lava St that had been on the market for about a year and decided it was the one.

“It was one of those places that you have to see past the superficial to see its potential: a lot of people don’t see the beauty behind what is a bit run down,” Leah said.

The property was previously the home of one of Warrnambool’s characters, Lottie Bowman, who died in 2013 at the grand age of 104. Ms Bowman’s mother lived in the house before her and little had changed inside.

“It’s such a lovely story behind this house and it is wonderful to be able to make it into a home again,” Leah said.

“These days there are so many homes that are built as one-size-fits-all, but this place has such character and I love bringing it back to life.”

The pressed metal ceiling in the lounge room was of particular interest to Leah’s friends: “they had never seen one before”.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] N [/dropcap]athan has a similar philosophy toward the old house, which dates back to at least the 1920s.

“In my job you can build 50 houses a year, but with most of them I don’t drive past and say ‘I built that’, like I would with this place,” he said.

The pair started with a “fast and furious” renovation so they could live in 40 Lava and work on it at the same time. Up came the carpet, then the lino, then some more lino (layering was popular in the old days) and finally sheets of newspapers from the 1920s.

Nathan framed one page from a 1924 evening edition of the Herald that espoused the virtues of asbestos as a “the building material of the future”.

The original fireplaces were restored, walls painted (with the help of Leah’s father John Ponting), fire surrounds relocated and repainted, and the rooms redecorated by Leah with help from her mother, Raelene Ponting, from whom she inherited the styling gene.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] W [/dropcap]hen undertaking such a venture, it certainly helps to have several generations of timber and hardware experience behind you, as the Ponting family does in Warrnambool.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t the occasional “renovation-frustration” between Leah and Nathan.

“Sometimes, when it has been a particularly long day, we go to our respective bedrooms without saying a word to each other,” Leah laughs.

Mutual friends marvel, however, at their ability to work together and share the financial risk and stress of buying and renovating houses without being actual partners.

“It’s true that a lot of people don’t understand it, but we have a great friendship and I have a lot of faith and trust in Nathan,” Leah explains.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he renovation of 40 Lava St is close to a spectacular completion, after which the pair will build two units on the large block of land at the back.

For now, 40 Lava is home, but is there another project on the horizon?

“As Nath says, ‘not another renovation, they are too much hard work’,” Leah said via an email.

“But then I say to him, no two houses are the same and that is what makes it so rewarding. We are creating something unique; a house filled with character that tells our story. So the answer is we will wait and see how this project goes, but potentially yes??”

[box]MORE photos: visit Leah’s blog on 40 Lava St here. More images of the 43 Wentworth St renovation can be seen at Nathan Shanley Carpentry on Facebook. Nathan was also involved in the renovation of 222 Timor St, as featured in our story here.[/box]

 [button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”heart” newwindow=”yes”]Bluestone is aiming for 500 subscribers in 2015. Please support what we do and subscribe here[/button]

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Analysis – Carol Altmann

I must admit that I thought it would have happened by now: that the Warrnambool City Council would have asked survivors of sexual assault what they thought should be done with the Rolf Harris mural at the Lighthouse Theatre.

Especially given that the council met last night (23/2) for its briefing – which is closed to the public – and was asked to adopt a recommendation at its meeting next Monday (2/3) that the mural be kept, but covered by black perspex, as it is now.

It is nine months since the council knew it had a problem on its hands, when Harris was convicted and sentenced in the UK on a string of sexual offences against young girls.

It is three months since his avenues of appeal lapsed.

But as of today, Tuesday February 24, only one person from within the entire council and its elected officials had bothered to contact the South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault or Emma House Domestic Violence Services to ask their opinion. (That was Cr Peter Hulin).

In the meantime, in light of his conviction, Harris’s works have been removed from public galleries around the world, his impromptu mural in a Melbourne paint shop has been painted over, he has lost his place in the Australian Recording Industry Association hall of fame, he has been stripped of a fellowship in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and, as of earlier this week, was no longer an Officer and Member of the Order of Australia.

In Warrnambool, however, the council has apparently made up its mind to keep the mural without consulting anyone.

We contacted SW CASA manager Mary Clapham today for her thoughts on the mural.

This is Ms Clapham’s written response in full:

“Previous comments by the South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault as part of the public discussion of whether or not the local mural painted by Rolf Harris should be removed, have highlighted the very real possibility of this mural causing significant additional distress for people who have previously been impacted upon by the sexual abuse of children by paedophiles.

Many people, if not necessarily a victim themselves, may have been a parent, brother, sister, friend or relative of a child who was sexually abused and bear witness to the devastating impact it has upon individuals and families.

With sexual assault being as prevalent as it is within most communities (1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men are abused before the age of 18 years), the community discussion currently being generated will include the voices of people who have been impacted upon by sexual assault and these are the people who have a right to be asked and listened to regarding the next steps for the Rolf Harris mural.

Regardless of the assigned artistic virtue of an art installation, an integral part of the public display of art is the honour associated with having that work displayed.

The Warrnambool City Council has rightly negated the honour previously afforded to Rolf Harris by covering up the Warrnambool mural. The South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault supports no community honour being afforded to any perpetrator of sexual violence against children, including Rolf Harris.”

We also contacted Emma House manager Pat McLaren to ask her opinion.

“We would like to see it painted over. It needs to be painted over so that it is obliterated forever, just like Frank Penhalluriack did in Melbourne without any problems whatsoever,” Ms McLaren said by telephone.

“This not censorship: this is about taking a stand against pedophilia.

“It is a piece of art on council property. It is not a piece of art that is bought and sold. Council needs to take a stand against sexual assault and grooming and all of the other things that Rolf Harris has been convicted of: these are not allegations, these are crimes proven in a court of law.

“The Australian Government has taken a stand, we need to do the same,” she said.

Ms McLaren said the council had quite rightly waited for any appeal before taking any permanent action, but now that the appeal had failed and Harris’s conviction stands, the council needed to renew the conversation about the future of the mural.

“It is not just a decision for the council to make, but one that the community must make. The council needs to be talking to people across the community.”

None of this matters, however, because the councillors, it appears, have made up their minds already.

The vote next Monday – and the arguments put forward – will no doubt be fascinating, but if anyone other than Cr Hulin claims to have consulted with those who support survivors of sexual assault in making their decision, they are wrong.

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