The canal at this location forms part of Sydney’s first inbound waterway. It demonstrates the booming industrialisation in the growing colony. Barely 90 years old the colony of NSW was already diverting the flood waters from its growing inner Sydney industrial and market garden area. The canal is these days surrounded by an ever busy and growing retail, industrial and factory outlet hub.
Beyond Bourke Road to the west of this spot this tributary joins Alexandra Canal so named after Princess Alexandra, who married Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1863. The suburb in which the canal begins its journey to the Cooks River at Tempe via St Peters, Mascot and the airport, was also named in the Princesses honour.
On an environmental side, Alexandra Canal was once a salt marsh known as Shea's Creek. Excavation began in 1887 to transform the marshland into a canal capable of carrying barges to transport goods from the nearby brickworks, woollen mills, tanneries and foundries, which displays the earliest impact of development on increasingly dwindling natural resource even in the early stages of industrial development in Australia.
On a positive note and historical interest during the excavation of the Creek in 1896, the remains of a dugong were found in the clay , plus stone hatchet heads and chopping tools which indicated previous use of the area by Indigenous Australians before European settlement
The Cache: is a small container with room for some swaps and TB if they are not too big. Please ensure that the cache is full closed upon returning the log book..
More historical content can be found at in the links below.
http://pastlivesofthenearfuture.com/2012/05/17/sheas-creekalexandra-canal-mascot-st-peters-alexandria-nsw/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Canal_(New_South_Wales)