Bridgewater On Loddon is a town in north central

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, 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 li ...

, north-west of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

, 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 341. The rural area which surrounds Bridgewater on Loddon is named simply "Bridgewater". The Loddon Shire covers an area of approximately 6,700 square kilometres, making it the seventh-largest municipality in Victoria by area. The Shire's population is approximately 8,600. The municipality is characterised by a number of small towns dispersed throughout the area. The Post Office opened on 1 January 1868 as Bridgewater-on-Loddon and was renamed Bridgewater around 1941. The railway serving Bridgewater was opened from Eaglehawk in 1876. It was booked out of service in 2007. 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 Highway bridge provides technical

whitewater kayaking Whitewater kayaking is an outdoor adventure sport where paddlers navigate a river in a specially designed kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles: river running, creeking, slalom, playboating, and squirt boating. Each style offers ...

of Grade 3 standard, featuring a short, fast run. It 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 Highway 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 football 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

team competing in the

Loddon Valley Football League The Loddon Valley Football Netball League (LVFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league based in Victoria (state), Central Victoria. History The league was formed in 1903 by the Inglewood, Bridgewater, Newbridge and Arnold's Bridge ...

. 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 had been 70. In 2017, the number of students had dropped to 23, 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 (state) Shire of Loddon {{Mallee-geo-stub