Moonee Ponds Creek, 1915

Two boys at the Moonee Ponds Creek, Brunswick West, circa 1915. 

Courtesy Museums Victoria. MM 111126.

It's hard to visualise now, when the Moonee Ponds Creek has been reduced to little more than a concrete channel in places, but since the first land sales in the area in the 1840s the Creek has been an important feature of this western perimeter of Brunswick and Coburg (and beyond). 

Perhaps you've never thought about why it's called Moonee Ponds Creek but it was actually a series of marshy ponds when European settlers arrived and this area was a large floodplain. Near its entry to the Yarra River (in the area known as Batman's Lagoon) its salt water marshes were extensive and early next year this area will be the subject of a major exhibition at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. But more news on that later.

If you're interested in reading about the history of Moonee Ponds Creek, you will find more in Moreland Council's Thematic History of the area. You will find that here. It's a searchable document, so just search for Moonee Ponds Creek. There is much else of interest in this document, so beware - it's a bit of a rabbit hole!

The other resource you might find interesting is Moonee Valley Council's Our Moonee Ponds Creek website. You can look at that here. It doesn't just look back at the history of the creek, but outlines future planning possibilities and asks people to get involved. Well worth taking a look.

And if you'd like to read a little more about the saltwater lagoon I mentioned earlier, you could do no better than to seek out David Sornig's new book Blue Lake: Finding Dudley Flats and the West Melbourne Swamp. It's a terrific read and won the 2019 Judges' Special Prize at this year's Victorian Community History Awards. There's a bit of social history there, as well as the geographic. It's a neglected part of Melbourne's history and this book is a well worthwhile addition to your reading list. You can read more about the awards here. 

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