This was an important location
during the gold mining era in the Teviot Valley.
The evidence of
that very early 1860s mining in the Teviot district has now long
disappeared. Cultivation for farming and orcharding has, mostly,
healed the havoc created by those early gold miners. In the late
1890s through to the early 1900s a dredging boom had gold dredges
working the Clutha River from above Coal Creek to Horseshoe Bend,
below Millers Flat. The number of dredges reached its peak of 30
for a brief time at about the end of 1902.
Pinders Pond is
an old hydraulic elevation pond, and is about the only major
evidence left from the second gold rush period that the public has
easy access to.
This pond was
formed as a result of the hydraulic elevating sluicing work done by
the Teviot-Molyneux Gold-Mining Company. John Ewing was the
managing director of this company. He embarked on what he described
as "the hydraulic mining enterprise of my dreams". His aim was to
mine the reputedly rich auriferous ancient beds on the east bank of
the Molyneux(Clutha) River on Andersons Flat, below Roxburgh. He
entered into this venture in 1907 and suffered many setbacks. The
work came to an end in August of 1922 when John Ewing died of
prostate cancer.
The Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust has produced a much more
detailed account of John Ewing's colourful life. If you would like
to obtain more information I suggest that you contact them in
Alexandra, New Zealand.
Some further and well presented information about the period and
about the district may be found at this
Web Page
The container is an 880ml clear,snaplock.
When hidden it contained:
- Log Book, Pencil and
Sharpener.
- Stash Note
- Pkt 10 Mini Felt Tips
- Roxburgh Postcard
- Mini Sellotape Dispenser
- Aussie, "Melbourne", 1964
Penny