Memory banks opened at butter factory open day

Vince Bell's treasures of a long-gone industry in the Maranoa were on display at the Roma butter factory.

BYGONE ERA: Vince Bell, formerly of Gunnewin, grew up on his family's dairy farm, which supplied milk to the Roma Butter Factory. Picture: Jorja McDonnell

THE Maranoa once had a thriving community of dairy farms but when the Roma Butter Factory shut down, all kinds of equipment was left to rust.

That is exactly where Vince Bell found his butter churn and cream separator, which he brought out of the shed for a rare display at the Roma Butter Factory open day on Saturday.

"Back in the horse and buggy days, we had our farm about 23km west of Gunnewin,” Mr Bell said.

"We did dairy right up to about 1957 or 58 when they took the railway line away.

"I was about 18 when we finished up dairy and moved in to cattle but I still remember milking, shovelling the muck and feeding the poddy calves.”

Like most relics of the region's dairy industry, Mr Bell's equipment was found abandoned in a paddock.

"There have been a lot of these left on properties and if you just know where to go you'll find something,” Mr Bell said.

"Most places had a separator and most were just left in the paddock or in the sheds when they stopped milking.”