IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR DRIVERS ... SEE notes at end of Description
This is a “ … where no cache has gone before …” Geocache. For an explanation of this see cache GCB8X5V
Details of the early history of Blairmount are a little sketchy, but it is known that the farm homestead was built in the late Victorian era. Among the early landowners were Clive and Victor Ducat (pronounced Duck-at). Victor served on Campbelltown Council.
However the Badgally Road property and homestead wasn't known as Blairmount in these early decades of the twentieth century. It was actually Belmont, and its boundaries extended considerably further than the modern-day suburb.
In 1923 the bulk of the property was acquired by Leslie Rouse, though the Ducats did hold onto some land in the area. Rouse employed Clive Ducat as manager of the property, and developed it as a horse stud. This aspect of the area’s history is reflected in park and street names in Blairmount, which are almost all named after breeds of horses.
A little known fact is the role the Ducats played in ridding Campbelltown of one of its worst-ever plagues … Prickly Pear. In the early part of the century, hundreds of good farm acres were being destroyed by the ugly pest, which had gone berserk across NSW and Queensland. Even chopping it down and burning it seemed only to drive the frenzy of growth.
A big reason for its success was the fact it had no natural enemies. Yet the unlikely saviours were tiny insects from South America - Cactoblastis Cactorum - which lived on the cactus and were introduced in 1925. Though many farmers scoffed at the idea of a small insect helping to bring the problem under control and refused to consider it, the June 1926 edition of the Campbelltown News reported that Vic Ducat had taken up the challenge. "Unfortunately for Mr V A Ducat, his farm off Badgally Road contains no small amount of prickly pear", reported the press "and although he’s used many methods to diminish its growth, fresh segments of the destructive pest put in an appearance." So ignoring the ridicule and claims the insects were "useless", Ducat contacted the authorities.
Soon, the front page of the News was hailing his efforts as "a huge success at little cost". It reported: "It is not 18 months since Mr Ducat procured a small supply of Cochineal insects and placed them on a few plants in the thickly-infected pear area, and today the results are conspicuous. This patch is now dying, and the insects have traversed 60 to 100 yards in every direction." With these results, other local farmers were soon following his lead.
Individual Prickly Pear plants can still be found here and there in the bush, but the happy balance struck with the little grubs from South America mean that its take-over of large tracts of good farming land is a thing of the past.
From … online resource - “Campbelltown City Council … Campbelltown’s Streets and Suburbs – a History”
DRIVERS PLEASE NOTE ... You cannot park in Badgally Rd. You need to use one of the side streets (Shetland Rd is by far the best for cache access). However, if approaching from the NorthWest (ie Gregory Hills direction) there is no break in the traffic island for you to turn into Shetland Rd. You need to continue another 50 metres or so to the roundabout, where you can do a U Turn.
‘Early bird’ Sweetmanda comes up with something better than worms. FTF congratulations ...