Dale | |
---|---|
Etymology | Robert Dale, an explorer |
Location | |
Country | Australia |
State | Western Austria |
Region | Wheatbelt |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Darling Scarp |
• location | Boyagarring Conservation Reserve |
• coordinates | 32°18′56″S116°25′27″E / 32.31556°S 116.42417°E |
• elevation | 374 m (1,227 ft) |
Mouth | Avon River |
• location | west of Beverley |
• coordinates | 32°4′17″S116°50′2″E / 32.07139°S 116.83389°E Coordinates: 32°4′17″S116°50′2″E / 32.07139°S 116.83389°E |
• elevation | 189 m (620 ft) |
Length | 75 km (47 mi) |
Basin features | |
River system | Avon River |
[1] [2] |
The Dale River is a perennial river located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
Rising on the eastern slopes of the Darling Scarp, the river flow generally east by north, joined by six major tributaries including the Dale River South, Gibb Gully, Connelly Gully, Sherlock Gully, Flint Gully and Talbot Brook. The river reaches its mouth to join the Avon River approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Beverley near the Avondale Agricultural Research Station. The river descends 185 metres (607 ft) over its 75-kilometre (47 mi) course.
The Dale River was named in honour of Robert Dale, the first European explorer to venture into the Darling Ranges in 1829.
The Dale River has been a historically useful waterway for the Wheatbelt regions surrounding towns and cities. The Dale River's mouth connects with the Avon River which is 240 km (150 mi) in length and a significant tributary from the river Dale. The Avon River in turn is a stream running from the Swan River being a significant waterway of the city of Perth. The Dale River is overall an important ecosystem of Western Australia housing native flora and fauna and additionally maintains the livelihood of surrounding towns and cities.
The Town of Beverley is the closest settlement of the Dale River. It has been home to the Ballardong people for thousands of years. [3] The history of the Ballardong people has been marked through rock art around the region. The Ballardong people cultivated the land for food consisting of native foods.
The Noongar people are a large clan located along the South Coast of Western Australia and through the Wheatbelt region. They have been described as having a ‘sharing relationship’ and lacking an intense ‘competition for resources’. [4]
The Noongar people initially clashed with the early European settlers of the Avon River region. In 1886 an Aboriginal Protection Act was introduced as a means to uphold indigenous rights to a degree within Western Australia. [5]
Beverley is a small town 130 km (81 mi) east of Perth, Western Australia. Beverley was founded in the year of 1838. [6] It was deemed adequate for agricultural practices by English explorer Robert Dale who was the first European to explore the Darling Ranges of Western Australia and the individual who the Dale River was named after. [7]
The town of Beverley has been deemed an important historical agricultural town of the Wheatbelt region. The town relies on the surrounding waterways of the Dale and Avon rivers as a means to support its agricultural practices and human inhabitance. 6 km (3.7 mi) west of Beverley is the Avondale Agricultural Museum which displays historical agricultural equipment and artefacts that portray the farming past of the Wheatbelt region that is located amongst the Dale and Avon rivers. [8]
The Swan River is a river in the south west of Western Australia. Its Noongar Aboriginal name is the Derbarl Yerrigan. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city.
Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 337 kilometres (209 mi) south-east of Perth.
The Avon River is a river in Western Australia. A tributary of the Swan River, the Avon flows 240 kilometres (150 mi) from source to mouth, with a catchment area of 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi).
The Noongar are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. Noongar country is the land occupied by 14 different groups: Amangu, Ballardong, Yued, Kaneang, Koreng, Mineng, Njakinjaki, Njunga, Pibelmen, Pindjarup, Wadandi, Whadjuk, Wiilman and Wudjari.
Northam is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about 97 kilometres (60 mi) east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region. It is also the largest inland town in the state not founded on mining.
Dumbleyung is a town and shire in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 267 kilometres (166 mi) south-east of Perth between Wagin and Lake Grace on State Route 107.
Toodyay, known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-east of Perth on Ballardong Noongar land. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the townsite was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.
The Wheatbelt is one of nine regions of Western Australia defined as administrative areas for the state's regional development, and a vernacular term for the area converted to agriculture during colonisation. It partially surrounds the Perth metropolitan area, extending north from Perth to the Mid West region, and east to the Goldfields-Esperance region. It is bordered to the south by the South West and Great Southern regions, and to the west by the Indian Ocean, the Perth metropolitan area, and the Peel region. Altogether, it has an area of 154,862 square kilometres (59,793 sq mi).
York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, 97 kilometres (60 mi) east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land, and is the seat of the Shire of York.
Beverley is a town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 133 kilometres (83 mi) south-east of the state capital, Perth, between York and Brookton on the Great Southern Highway. It is on the Great Southern railway line.
Lieutenant Robert Dale was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia.
Avondale Agricultural Research Station or Avondale Discovery Farm is one of thirteen research farms and stations operated by Western Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food. In addition to its research, Avondale has historical buildings, a farming equipment museum and operates as an agriculture education centre specialising in introducing primary school children to farming, and teaching of its history in Western Australia.
County Peak, also known as Mt Quajabin or Quajabin Peak is located in the western zone of the West Australian Wheatbelt, about 120 km south-east of Perth.
John Nicol Drummond (1816–1906) was an early settler in Western Australia. He became the colony's first 'Inspector of Native Police', and helped to explore the Champion Bay district before becoming one of the district's pioneer pastoralists.
Yornaning is a small town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, on Great Southern Highway, between Pingelly and Narrogin.
The Shire of Beverley is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia about 130 kilometres (80 mi) southeast of Perth, the state capital. The Shire covers an area of 2,372 square kilometres (916 sq mi), starting 20 kilometres (12 mi) outside Armadale in the Darling Scarp and extending eastwards beyond the scarp into agricultural lands which support broad acre activities such as livestock and cropping. Its seat of government is the town of Beverley, which accommodates just over half of the Shire's population.
Westdale or West Dale is a small town located just off the Beverley-Westdale road in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 93 kilometres (58 mi) from Perth.
Clackline Brook is an 11.6-kilometre-long (7.2 mi) waterway in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. From near Clackline, it runs east-south-easterly towards Mokine, before turning north and ending near Mokine Hill. Clackline Brook joins onto Spencers Brook, with the name changing at the confluence with Corolin Brook.
Boyagin Rock is located 10 km (6.2 mi) south west of Brookton and 26 km (16 mi) north west of Pingelly in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, which is approximately 175 km (109 mi) south east of Perth. The Boyagin Rock outcrop rises 50 m (160 ft) above the surrounding land and is an crestal area of a granite inselberg within the geological Yilgarn Craton framework. The Boyagin Rock Nature Reserve that contains Boyagin Rock, is widely recognised as one of the few areas of original fauna and flora still intact on the Wheatbelt. It provides refuge for a variety of fauna including numbats, goannas, echidnas and Tammar wallabies.
Lake Yealering, also known as Yealering Lakes, is an ephemeral salt lake in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia located on the southern edge of the town of Yealering, 30 km (19 mi) north west of Wickepin and about 250 km (160 mi) south east of Perth.