| Halbury South Australia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Western entry sign, Halbury | |||||||||||||||
  Halbury | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°05′0″S138°31′0″E / 34.08333°S 138.51667°E Coordinates: 34°05′0″S138°31′0″E / 34.08333°S 138.51667°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 363 (2006 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5461 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Region | Mid North | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Goyder | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
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Halbury is a former railway town in South Australia, west of the Clare Valley, halfway between Balaklava and Auburn. At the 2006 census, Halbury had a population of 363. [1]
Halbury is situated in the Hundred of Hall, named after politician George Hall. [2]
Halbury was a stop on the Port Wakefield railway line, an isolated narrow gauge horse-drawn railway [3] connecting to the port at Port Wakefield from Balaklava and Hoyleton. Halbury was where this railway crossed the Gulf Road from Auburn and Burra to the port. [4]
The Gladstone railway line ran from Hamley Bridge through Balaklava to Blyth and further on into the Mid North of the state. The line was originally narrow gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), but was converted to broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) in 1927. [5] Due to various reasons, this particular line became obsolete and the tracks were dismantled in the late 1980s. After Halbury, the railway line veered to the north-east, travelling on to the towns of Hoyleton, Kybunga and further north to Blyth. [6]
The railway siding at Halbury was opened in 1870 and closed to all goods and parcels traffic in 1981. [7] Station brand: "HY". Station code number 1274. Railway distance from Adelaide: 74 miles, 1 chain. [8]
The former Halbury to Balaklava railway line was re-opened as a 12 km low-gradient cycling trail in 2016, named after elite junior local cyclist Shamus Liptrot who died in 2011, several years after suffering serious injuries in a cycling accident. The trail extends from Balaklava to Halbury, Shamus's home town. [9] The trail is the central link of the 26 km Copper Trail, which extends from Leasingham in the Clare Valley, to Port Wakefield at the head of the Gulf St Vincent. [10]
In 2022, to commemorate the railway history of the area, a group of Christian railway enthusiasts reinstalled an exact replica of the original Halbury railway station sign.
The text on the plaque affixed to the sign reads: "This is the site of the Halbury railway siding, 74 Miles, 1 Chain. 1870 – 1981. Sign made and reinstalled Easter 2022 by J. Leigh and E. Green, Railway Infrastructure Services. This sign would not be here if not for Lorraine Zaharuiko, 1984-2021. John 3:16-21." [11]
The township of Halbury in the west of the locality is in the Wakefield Regional Council local government area. The hillier east of the locality is part of the District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys.
The rail network in Adelaide, South Australia, consists of four lines and 89 stations, totalling 132 km. It is operated by Keolis Downer under contract from the Government of South Australia, and is part of the citywide Adelaide Metro public transport system.
Wakefield Regional Council is a local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat is at Balaklava.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854.
The Division of Wakefield was an Australian electoral division in the state of South Australia. The seat was a hybrid rural-urban electorate that stretched from Salisbury in the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide at the south of the seat right through to the Clare Valley at the north of the seat, 135 km from Adelaide. It included the suburbs of Elizabeth, Craigmore, Munno Para, and part of Salisbury, and the towns of Balaklava, Clare, Freeling, Gawler, Kapunda, Mallala, Riverton, Tarlee, Virginia, Williamstown, and part of Port Wakefield.
Owen is a rural community in the heart of the Adelaide Plains. Owen is 46 metres (150 ft) above sea-level and receives a reliable 416 mm of rain annually and was first settled in about 1865. It is about 80 km north of Adelaide in South Australia and is approximately 40 minutes by road to the nearest main regional centre of Gawler. It is in the Wakefield Regional Council.
Port Wakefield is a town at the mouth of the River Wakefield, at the head of the Gulf St Vincent in South Australia. It was the first government town to be established north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Wakefield is situated 98.7 kilometres from the Adelaide city centre on the Port Wakefield Highway section of the A1 National Highway.
Hoyleton is a former railway town in South Australia, west of the Clare Valley, halfway between Leasingham and Halbury. At the 2006 census, Hoyleton had a population of 283.
The town of Balaklava is located in South Australia, 92 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Mid North region. It is on the south bank of the Wakefield River, 25 kilometres east of Port Wakefield.
The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region.
Blyth is a small town in the Mid North of South Australia, located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west of the renowned Clare Valley. The town is located on the lands of the Kaurna people, the indigenous people who lived there before European settlement. It has a population of 306, the farming community spanning the plains between the Clare Hills and the Barunga/Hummocks ranges. Altitude is 189 metres (620 ft), and rainfall is approximately 400 millimetres (16 in) per annum.
Bowmans is a locality in South Australia's Mid North. At the 2006 census, Bowmans had a population of 203. It is named after R and C Bowman who were "pastoralists in area."
Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction.
Wooroora was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian colony of South Australia.
The Hamley Bridge-Gladstone railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It extended from a junction at Hamley Bridge on the Roseworthy-Peterborough line through Balaklava and Brinkworth to Gladstone.
Kybunga is a locality in the Mid North of South Australia. It was on the Gladstone railway line 87+1⁄2 miles (140.8 km) north of Adelaide on the plains to the west of the Clare Valley. Kybunga school opened in 1881 and closed in 1988. The former Methodist and Uniting church opened in 1886 and is now a private residence.
The Balaklava-Moonta railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It ran across the top of the Yorke Peninsula.
The District Council of Hall was a local government area in South Australia from 1878 to 1935.
The Hundred of Hall is the cadastral unit of hundred on the northern Adelaide Plains centred on the town of Halbury. It is one of the 16 hundreds of the County of Stanley. It was named in 1860 after parliamentarian George Hall (1851-1867). The main localities in the hundred are Halbury and Hoyleton with parts of Balaklava, Stow, Watchman and Kybunga also within the hundred bounds.
The District Council of Blyth was a local government area in South Australia from 1872 to 1987 seated at Blyth in the Mid North.
Media related to Halbury, South Australia at Wikimedia Commons