Manning Machinery Madness
You are looking for a camoed nano. This cache could send you round the bend, round the twist and a little nutty. The cache is located on a collection of old machinery, situated outside the Manning Park Machinery Musuem. If you don't like getting your hands a little dirty, this may not be the cache for you.
Car access is restricted to daylight hours. There is a caretaker's residence located at the North West area of the park, so torches at night may draw attention.
Manning Park has a large grassed area and a varied amount of play equipment for the little ones. The machinery can be played on as well. This maybe a good cover while you look for this beasty.
Ground Zero
Manning Park
Manning Park Reserve is one of City of Cockburn's natural conservation reserves situated near the coast. The reserve encompasses Manning Lake and the limestone ridge to the west of the wetland.There are a wide array of plants and animals which inhabit the bushland areas.
Plants of Manning Lake Bushland range from the wetland dependent vegetation such as Freshwater Paperbark (Melaleuca rhapiophylla and Baumea juncea) to the upland vegetation such as the Chenille Honey Myrtle (Melaleuca huegelii) and Parrot bush (Dryandra sessilis).
Native fauna found in Manning Lake includes a range of frogs, reptiles and birds. These include examples such as the Motorbike Frog (Littoria moorei), Western Bluetongue (Tiliqua rugosa rugosa) and Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica).
The close proximity of this natural area to the community provides opportunities for Cockburn residents and others to enjoy this natural asset in their backyard. The community can play a role in the management of this area, and have an input in the development of the Coastal Works Plan which will provide direction for the future of the area.
History
The Manning family connection with Western Australia began in 1840 when Henry Manning, a London merchant, purchased several large areas of land in the developing colony. Most notably was the area around Mount Henry in present day Salter Point, Lot 24, in the Town of Armadale and a further lot across the river from Castledaire. In that year Henry also purchased a considerable number of lots in and around Fremantle as well as 200 acres marked as Location 3 in the Cockburn Sound District. The latter property was purchased from Mr. J.W. Davey. It is not known whether Henry actually came to the Swan River Colony but purchased his land via agents in the colony. This was most likely Mr Davey himself. Davey had set up business as a colonial and shipping agent in Fremantle, and he began to act on Manning’s behalf in the Colony.
After Davey’s death in 1852, Henry Manning decided that the prospect of the Colony merited more direct management of his interests and made plans to send one of his younger brothers to Fremantle.Charles Alexander Manning arrived in 1854. He had spent many years in Peru supervising the family’s estate and commercial interests, especially export and silver mining pursuits. Fourteen (14) of his twenty one (21) children were born to his first two wives who were the daughters of the Governor of Peru, a Spanish Grandee named Calero. After his arrival in the Colony, Charles married for the third time to a young girl named Matilda Burkett in l855. This marriage produced seven (7) more children. Connection with Manning Park began in 1856 when Charles established a farm. This first farm was at the north end of what eventually became known as Davilak Lake, and was known as the Old Farm. The purpose of this farm was to provide some of the necessities of life. Approximately ten years later he started to develop the land to the south of the lake and built a larger home in a Spanish hacienda style and named it Davilak.
The size of the estate can be measured by today boundaries stretching from Rollinson Road to the north, the coast to the west, Hamilton Road to the east and south as far as Christine Crescent in Coogee. During this time Charles purchased a number of lots in Fremantle town and developed the family business interests in the Colony. In 1859, he built a large and pretentious headquarters called Manning Hall in Fremantle, on the corner of Short and Pakenham Streets. It was a two storied building with a flat roof and an observatory on the top so he could pursue his hobby of astronomy. The building became known as Manning Folly. Charles died in 1869 and his wealth passed to his son Lucius who further expanded the family business.
Lucius married Florence Augusta Bickley that same year. His first two children were born at his residence in Fremantle before he took up residence at Davilak. There were seven children- Alfred, Azelia, Olivia, Florence Juanita, Lucius Charles, Victor and Xanthorina ‘Dottie’. Lucius developed Davilak into a big farm, extending the house and gardens and planting an extensive vineyard surrounded by stonewalls. He continued the family business in Fremantle, and in addition went into partnership in cattle and sheep stations in the Kimberley. At Davilak he bred cattle and horses.After his death in 1888, his son Alfred took over the family business until his death in 1924. Lucius’ wife, Florence Augusta was only thirty eight (38) years old with seven children ranging in age from two (2) to eighteen (18) years old. She remarried ten years later to a Mr. C. Strode-Hall, a magistrate, and in 1897 went with her husband to live in Singapore until about 1911. She returned to ‘Davilak’ in l918 after residing in England until the end of the First World War. Davilak gradually declined, particularly after Alfred died in 1924, and Florence, (fondly called Granny Hall), continued to live there until her death at ninety seven (97) in 1946. The family interests then passed to Alfred's brother Victor who died in the late 1930s.
The property was inherited by Victor's son Colin who decided to sell Davilak. Various business activities took place on Davilak Estate until the late 1970s when the property was resumed by the State Government and developed into the current recreation park.
Aknowledgement: http://library.cockburn.wa.gov.au/azelialeymuseum/history.html