Woodgreen Station, also spelt Wood Green and also known as Atartinga, is a
cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
located in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of Australia, to the northeast of
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, extending approximately . It was also known as (Mer) Athatheng by some of the
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
people in the area.
The first lessee of the
pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
created in 1918 was Bob Purvis Sr, who first ran it as a
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
and bred horses, before introducing cattle. The property was very degraded by the time his son, Bob Purvis Jr, took it over in 1960, mainly due to overstocking. Since then, Bob Jr has slowly but surely rejuvenated the property, making it a viable concern, albeit with much lower stocking rates of cattle, by applying some of the techniques of
regenerative agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, ...
and developing his own methods to improve the soil.
History
Before European settlement
Wood Green Station was established across the land of two
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
groups, most of it on that of the
Anmatyerre
The Anmatyerr, also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages.
Language
Anmatyerr is divided into Easte ...
, with the eastern border flanking the lands of the
Alyawarre
The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...
people. It has been referred to as Athatheng by Aboriginal people.
[ Before European settlement, the land had not been exposed to grazing animals with hard, ]cloven hoof
A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, go ...
s.
Bob Purvis Sr (1918–1960)
Robert (Bob) H. Purvis Sr had come out from England, and worked as a bush contractor[ before acquiring the ]pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
known as Atartinga in 1918.[ He had a brother named Lou Purvis. He survived a bout of ]tetanus
Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...
which lasted months, which he spent somewhere else. He was known as a very strong man with a huge appetite, eating a lot of meat and eggs.[ This earned him the nickname "the Sandover ]alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
", referring to the Sandover River
The Sandover River is an ephemeral river in the Northern Territory of Australia located in northeast Central Australia. It is the only major tributary of the Georgina River that does not rise in western Queensland. Instead it flows from the e ...
, northeast of Alice Springs. It was said that he could eat a whole leg of goat at one sitting.[PDF]
In the 1930s, Purvis Sr first bred horses (for the British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
as well as race horse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
s[) and sheep, and in the 1930s took on some cattle,][ changing it to a cattle station from around 1940. The property was expanded at some point, but as the government stipulated minimum livestock numbers, the land was ]overgrazed
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature rese ...
, and probably mismanaged, according to his son. The 1957 drought led to culling
In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...
and sale of many horses.[ The property had also been affected badly by drought in 1954.
Bob Purvis Sr was married to Adele Viola Purvis,] who was formerly a music teacher. She was also a keen local historian, and founded the National Trust of Australia (Northern Territory)
The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
.[ She published articles,][ and was also the first person to donate a box of papers to the Northern Territory Archives' Alice Springs office after it opened in 2003.][
]
Bob Purvis Jr (from 1960)
Bob Purvis Jr was born on the property[ in 1937, and went to ]boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
in Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. His father had got into huge debt by the time he took over ownership[ Includes a photo of Bob Purvis Jr.] in 1960, largely due to land degradation
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...
caused by poor grazing practices. This was partly due to the conditions of the least, which stated that thea minimum stocking rate was 3000 head for the property. The debts exceeded the property's value, and three quarters of the land was unusable.[
Bob Jr worked slowly over decades to improve the soil to make the property sustainable, using some methods which he had developed himself to reverse the damage.][ He has practised ]regenerative agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, ...
, which included measures such as reducing stock numbers (he estimated that a sustainable number is about 400[) and building banks to slow the flow of water and trap the topsoil.][ These ]ponding bank
Regenerative agriculture is a Conservation biology, conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil Soil regeneration, regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosyste ...
s have become commonly referred to as "Purvis banks".[ His labours have borne fruit, and ]perennial grass
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...
es have returned to the property, with topsoil
Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.
Description
Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...
in much better condition and more fertile. He has used fire for land management, adapted from Indigenous fire-stick farming
Fire-stick farming, also known as cultural burning and cool burning, is the practice of Aboriginal Australians regularly using fire to burn vegetation, which has been practised for thousands of years. There are a number of purposes for doing this ...
, and sites once dominated by mulga have been transformed into open ghost gum Ghost gum may refer to a number of Australian evergreen tree speciesAustralian National Botanic Gardens http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/euclid3/euclidsample/html/index_commonname.htm#G including:
* ''Corymbia aparrerinja'', a central Australian ...
grassland with many species of grasses and forb
A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woo ...
s, which offer better nutrition for cattle. By 1985 he had paid off the debts, and was able to sell livestock in a hard season.[ He also improved the fencing, and introduced ]solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
and batteries to provide for its energy needs.[ Working with his wife, Marie, he has worked with fire for decades. This, along with ponding banks and lower stocking, had drought-proofed the property and improved productivity. He has also managed to keep ]buffel grass
''Cenchrus ciliaris'' (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass; syn. ''Pennisetum ciliare'' (L.) Link) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other na ...
under control.[
Purvis got advice from scientists, government representatives and others. However there was no one single answer; it was through his own experimentation that he found the best ways to improve his land, being unique in its own way. He used observation and his analytical skills to hone his methods. He believes that regulators' initial recommended stocking rate was three times higher than what he considers appropriate for long-term carrying capacity of Woodgreen. His property is manageable and productive, as well as being stable financially, with a productive herd and few stock losses.][ A 2021 article calls him a pioneer of the model of sustainably low stocking rates and maintaining high-quality beef, which caused him to be ostracised by some in the cattle industry.
The introduction of ]native title in Australia
Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
in 1993 also led to a change in the relationship between the Aboriginal workers and the Purvis family.[
]
21st century
Bob's son Jim has co-managed the property since some time before 2015.
In March 2020, anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
s' work was under way on both Woodgreen and Mount Skinner pastoral leases as the basis for any future native title claims, under the auspices of the Central Land Council
The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Te ...
. By 30 June 2021, the research had progressed.[PDF]
Parliamentary report
/ref>
Property location and description
Woodgreen Station, also known as Atartinga, covers approximately , and is located around north of Alice Springs, on the Sandover Highway
The Sandover Highway is an outback unsealed track in the Northern Territory between the Plenty Highway north of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory/Queensland border.
Description
The highway's name is derived from the Sandover River becau ...
. The homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
is known as Atartinga, and is in the locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...
of Anmatjere, local government area Central Desert Region
The Central Desert Region is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia, administered by the Central Desert Regional Council (formerly Central Desert Shire). The council's main towns are Ti-Tree, Yuendumu, and Lajamanu. Th ...
. It lies within the Simpson Desert
The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of .
The desert ...
.[
Atartinga is a subregion of ]Burt Plain
Burt Plain, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,[IBRA Ver ...](_blank)
, an interim Australian bioregion.
Woodgreen Conservation Reserve
Woodgreen Conservation Reserve is an NT protected area, under the ''Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international relations, international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extr ...
'' (TPWC Act) of about , or .[ Designated in 2014, the park is an ]IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Management Category V park.
There has been some mineral exploration in the park, as recently as 2021.[
The reserve straddles the Sandover Highway, with most of it on the western side. Its northeast corner is close to Atartinga homestead.
]
1935 plane emergency landing
On 6 September 1935, a General Aircraft Monospar
The General Aircraft Monospar was a 1930s United Kingdom, British family of touring and utility aircraft built by General Aircraft Ltd (GAL).
Design and development
In 1929, the Monospar Company Ltd was formed to pursue new techniques of desi ...
ST-12 operated by Australian Transcontinental Airways (ATA) suffered engine failure
A turbine engine failure occurs when a turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can fail, like ground-based turbines used in power ...
, and made an emergency landing on Woodgreen Station. Reports vary slightly, but the plane was said to be carrying the pilot J. Maher, with two passengers, Renfrey and Maloney, and a young crocodile that was being transported to Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. Renfrey walked for two days towards Ryan's Well, a watering hole on the Overland Telegraph Line
The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
around , to seek assistance. Three men (one of several search parties sent out to look for the men) motoring across the desert found him, and took him to Aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
telegraph station. In the meantime, Don Thomas from Alice Springs drove to Woodgreen to pick up Purvis Sr and two "blackfellows", one of whom managed to track down the plane based on the description of the location given by Renfrey. Maher and Maloney had only six oranges between them for food, but they survived until they were rescued by shooting and eating the crocodile.
Other people
Topsy Glynn was born around 1916, the daughter of a "half-caste" stockman called James Glynn and an unnamed Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
woman. She was later described by the authorities as a " three-quarter-caste aboriginal". After Topsy's mother was killed, around 1919, Ron Purvis Sr persuaded the NT police commissioner Robert Stott
Robert Stott (13 July 1858 – 21 April 1928) was a constable and later police commissioner in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Early life
Robert Stott was born in the blacksmith's croft at Nigg in Kincardineshire, Scotland, the son ...
to put Topsy in to the "Half-caste Institution Alice Springs" (The Bungalow
The Bungalow was an institution for Aboriginal children established in 1914 in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It existed at several locations in Alice Springs (then called Stuart), Jay Creek and the Alice Springs Telegr ...
, then at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station
The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages be ...
), although she was not technically "half-caste", on condition that Purvis employed her on Wood Green Station as soon as she had completed her schooling there, which he did. Glynn gave birth to two daughters on Atartinga /Wood Green. The first of these daughters was Rona Glynn
Rona Ellen Glynn (24 September 1936 – 4 January 1965), also known briefly as Rona Schaber after marriage, was the first Indigenous Australian school teacher and nurse in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. In 1965 she became the first ...
, born in 1936, whose father was Ron Price. She went on to become the first Aboriginal teacher and nurse in Alice Springs. The second daughter was Freda Glynn
Alfreda "Freda" Glynn (born 24 August 1939), also known as Freda Thornton, is a Kaytetye photographer and media specialist. She is known as co-founder of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association Group of Companies, which incorporate ...
, born in 1939, whose father was Ron's brother Alf Price.[ Freda became a media specialist, who co-founded the ]Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association
The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in A ...
(CAAMA), and is the mother of filmmaker Erica Glynn
Erica Glynn (born 1964) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker, known for directing, producing and writing documentaries and other films.
Early life, education and family
Glynn was born in 1964. She is the daughter of photographer Freda Glynn, ...
.
Topsy was again admitted to The Bungalow on 12 Sept 1939, When Freda was just three weeks old, as there were health issues to be attended to, the authorities were trying to determine who Freda's father was, and owing to "the promiscous manner in which Topsy was giving birth to half-caste infants at Wood Green station it was...considered to be in the girls best interests for her and her children to remain in the Institution". Topsy was not keen to return to the station, as she was employed by Purvis "as housemaid and cook and had also done stockwork and windmill repair work around the station and in return had only received clothing and rations", and was happy working as a laundress
A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant.
Description
As evidenc ...
at the institution. However, by November 1940, Topsy was again working for Purvis at Wood Green under an agreement similar to that which governed the employment of halfcaste girls in the township.[ Following the ]bombing of Darwin
The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...
in February 1942, there were military orders to evacuate The Bungalow, so Topsy took her girls to New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
to find work there.
Artist and cultural leader, Anmatyerr woman Hilda "Cookie" Price Pwerl (–2019), worked for rations at Woodgreen (known to her as Athatheng) and other stations in the area when she was young.
Lorna Petyarr Purvis, who married Alexander Donald (Pwerle) Ross (1915–1999; known as Don) in 1938, was Bob Purvis Sr's niece, and they met at Woodgreen. She was a "half-caste" Western Arrernte
Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...
woman, who had had a hard life, growing up in The Bungalow. Don Ross was a senior Kaytetye man, who owned a cattle station called Neutral Junction Station, near the Barrow Creek Telegraph Station
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
, between 1947 and 1952.[
J. R. Purvis was another son of Bob Purvis Sr.][
]
Footnotes
References
Further reading
*
*{{cite book, first=D. , last=Walsh, date= 2009, title=A maximum sustainable stocking rate system in central Australia: Woodgreen Station, NT. , series=DKCRC Working Paper 54, The Central Australian Grazing Strategies project Working Paper Series. , publisher= Desert Knowledge CRC, Alice Springs, isbn=978-1-74158-139-3 , issn=1833-7309
External links
Photo of Bob Purvis on his horse outside the Stuart Arms Hotel
, 1922">Stuart Arms Hotel">Photo of Bob Purvis on his horse outside the Stuart Arms Hotel
, 1922
Stations (Australian agriculture)
Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory
1918 establishments in Australia