George Collingridge sometimes called himself the ‘Hermit of Berowra’. But far from being a recluse, Collingridge was a very active person, who achieved renown in a polymathic range of subjects. He was one of the early settlers of Berowra in the 1870’s to 1890’s.
Born in England in 1847 and trained as an artist in Paris, Collingridge migrated to Australia in 1879.
Collingridge was one of Europe’s leading wood engravers and he was commissioned in 1878 to go to Spain and illustrate the festivities for the wedding of King Alfonso XII of Spain. In 1879 he was the first artist to exhibit paintings of Berowra Creek. But as well as being an artist and engraver, George was a linguist, historian and cartographer, and his greatest passion was research on Australian maritime discovery.
In 1880 Collingridge took up 88 acres on the bend of Berowra Creek, which later became Collingridge Point, where his stone cottage ‘Capo di Monte’ still stands. His journeys to and from ‘Capo di Monte’ the stuff of legend. One trek recorded in the work Berowra & the Unsolved Mystery of its Amazing Ridge (1924). Sounds like he would have made a great geocacher. Towards the end of the century he moved to Hornsby. His stone cottage, ‘Jave-la-Grande’, is now a non-denominational chapel in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital grounds. Source
The Cache
The posted coordinates (Jan's Lookout) mark a cliff ledge overlooking Berowra Waters (amazing views!). Access is via the single track at the end of Alston Drive - see parking wpt. The track is a narrow one that heads up the rocks, not the access track for the power pole. There are some interesting Aboriginal rock carvings (2 small warriors) on a rock shelf about 200m in, on the LHS of the track (approx. WPT and photo). These pointed out by Yurt- thanks - please be respectful of these.
We think this is likely the path taken by Collingridge to access the northern railway from his home on Berowra Creek! At the posted coordinates (Jan's Lookout) is a celtic style engraving we think very likely crafted by our local Hermit on one of his treks to the big smoke*. Nearby and perhaps at a later date Mrs JC, Mr JC and Mis CL have left their mark and recorded the date of their visit...twice. The date that runs east-west is in the form A.B.CD. The cache is placed nearby at:
South 33 35. D|C+3|B-4
East 151 07. B|C|A
Follow the track then skip across the rock ledges to GZ. Container has a log book, pencils and space for small swaps and trackables. FTF gets first pick of the out of theme Bindis.
Your thoughts on the history and provenance of the symbol, its likely carver and identity of Mr and Mrs JC and CL, in your log would be appreciated.
Don't forget to visit the nearby cache "Boats Below" and other great caches on the Great north Walk.
YURT'S 100th FTF!...congrats
*Speaking with a local - likely the carving dates from the 1990s.