Sovereign Hill holiday program gives kids a touch of traditional trades

Ballarat’s most popular tourist attraction is giving kids hands-on experiences with traditional 19th-century activities this school holidays.

Coach builder Paul Richards at Sovereign Hill. Picture: Rob Leeson

As Victorian students get out of the swing of studying and into holiday mode, Ballarat’s most popular tourist attraction is offering visitors a touch of historical handicrafts.

This autumn break, Sovereign Hill is focusing on giving kids hands-on experiences with traditional 19th-century activities and trades.

Aside from other attractions, until April 23, an interactive apprentice trail will guide participants in the direction of various tradespeople from whom they can learn how things were done during the gold rush.

Sovereign Hill events and programs producer Lucy McNeil.

Events and programs producer Lucy McNeil said it was a chance to get involved with the knowledge and skills of the past.

“We’ll have a craft activity where you can become your own printer,” she said.

“We have our Ballarat Times which represents our newspaper from the 1850s. You can have a go at setting the type.

“We’ve got a pour-your-own candle activity. So our chandlers up there – which is the 1850s term for a candle-maker – will teach you some of their secrets.

“It’s about keeping these trades alive. Not just watching but being able to do some of our activities really engages people with what these trades are.”

Mr Richards at the wheelwright and coach manufactory.

Other opportunities includes ‘meeting the makers’, such as coach builder Paul Richards, who moved to Ballarat four years ago.

“Prior to that all my work in life I’ve restored antiques, made furniture,” he said.

“I got into particularly antique restoring because I loved using hand tools, loved using original tools and techniques.”

The workers at Sovereign Hill’s wheelwright and coach manufactory use period-accurate machinery, developed around the 1880s in Ohio, to mend the horse-drawn carts going about the living museum.

Mr Richards said he enjoyed doing as much as possible by hand in front of others and showing people the tricks of his trade.

“People still have horse drawn vehicles, still want wheels, and trades should be preserved,” he said.

“We want to be able to pass it on, we’d love to have more apprentices here to teach other people what we know.

“These skills, once you’ve lost them, they’re gone for good. You can’t revive them; you’ve got to keep them going.”

Sovereign Hill blacksmith Tim Bignell.

Blacksmith Tim Bignell, who puts on demonstrations at Sovereign Hill’s forge, said he wanted to show visitors that his industry was still around and that anybody could get involved.

“The number one thing is trying to convince people we still exist,” he said.

“People think it’s just something that has stayed in the Dark Ages or in the Victorian era but in actual fact it has progressed.

“You get people who are enthusiasts and know a bit more about it – that’s pretty rewarding to talk to those people.

“But the most satisfying thing is the young people, they’re usually just in awe of watching the hot steel. Some kids just want to sit all day an watch you work.”

He said that despite his own appearance, not all blacksmiths were men or had beards.

“If you Google ‘blacksmith’, you’re going to get someone like me,” he said.

“But in all walks of life, people do do it.

“You can actually be a blacksmith whatever your background is.”

Sovereign Hill CEO Sara Quon.

Chief executive Sara Quon said it was important for society to “care for its tangible and intangible cultural heritage”.

“When we think about that intangible heritage – the way we do things, our conventions, our recipes, the way we make things – we really believe in the rare trades area if we don’t act now to work together to perpetuate those trades, they’ll cease to exist in the future,” she said.

Bookings for Sovereign Hill over the holidays are recommended.