Bridgewater On Loddon is a town in north central

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The town is located on the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway link ...

, north west of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, astride the

Loddon River The Loddon River, an inland river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Loddon Mallee regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters ...

. At the , Bridgewater On Loddon had a population of 326. The rural area which surrounds Bridgewater on Loddon is named simply "Bridgewater".e.g
Register of Geographic Names online mapping facility
/ref> The Loddon Shire covers an area of approximately 6,700 square kilometres making it the seventh largest municipality (in area) in Victoria. The Shire's population is approximately 8,600. The municipality is characterised by a number of small towns dispersed throughout the area
Loddon Shire Council
The Post Office opened on 1 January 1868 as Bridgewater-on-Loddon and was renamed Bridgewater around 1941. Bridgewater has a new swimming pool, a swimming hole and the river is about two minutes walk from the Loddon Bridge Hotel, opposite the Post Office. When reasonable water levels flow, the Mill Rapid downstream of the Calder Hwy bridge provides technical

whitewater kayaking Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport where a river is navigated in a decked kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles. River running; where the paddler follows a river and paddles rapids as they travel. Creeking usually involving s ...

of Grade 3 standard featuring a short fast run. This should only be attempted by kayakers with an appropriate level of experience and training and equipped at the very least with spray covers, buoyancy vests and helmets. Access is usually via local roads on the west bank. If approaching on the water from upstream, beware of entering the flour mill race area on the right (east) bank. Upstream of the Calder Hwy bridge kayakers and canoeists will have a pleasant paddling experience but may have to share the river with swimmers, fishers, and waterskiers. The town has an

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football team competing in the

Loddon Valley Football League The Loddon Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league based in Central Victoria. History The league was formed in 1903 by the Inglewood, Bridgewater, Newbridge and Arnold’s Bridge clubs. Inglewood and Bridgewater ...

. Golfers play at the Bridgewater-On-Loddon Golf Club on the Calder Highway.

Schools

In 2008 Bridgewater Primary School had around 32 students; four years earlier the enrolment was 70. In 2017 the students dropped to 23. This is due to parents working in Bendigo. In 2018 the Bridgewater Bakehouse was awarded first place for Australia's best vanilla slice.

References

Towns in Victoria (Australia) Shire of Loddon {{Mallee-geo-stub