Broad(ford)ly speaking ...

Nick had driven through Broadford, en route to Murchison a couple of weeks ago. 

He thought it was worth a better look, so we drove there today and poked around a bit.  The Broadford & District Historical Society  maintains a number of buildings on the site.

We were most intrigued by the giant silver ball! And now that we know what it is, we want to know more about how it worked!



The silver ball is a "straw boiler digester"!

"The silver ball is a straw boiler digester. One of 12, it was operating in the town’s paper mill from the 1890s to make paper from straw and other materials.

These materials included the sails and rigging from the sailing ships that brought people and goods to booming Melbourne town and the Victorian goldfields."  How about that?!  The signage inside the fence had a diagram to explain the process but I wasn't able to get a clear shot through the wire.

Seemingly the museum is housed in the Broadford Courier building and is open to the public on Wednesdays.  We might have to go back for another look!