Thorpdale is a town in the

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

area of eastern

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 ...

in the

Shire of Baw Baw The Shire of Baw Baw () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in 2021 had a population of 57,626. It includes the towns of Drouin, Longwarry, Neerim South, Trafalgar ...

. Famous for its

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es, it is located amongst the rich farmland of the

Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestle ...

. Thorpdale spuds are eaten around the country and also exported overseas. The name "Thorpdale" means "village in a valley". The soil in the area is particularly rich as the town is located in a former volcanic crater. It is administered by the

. At the , Thorpdale and the surrounding area had a population of 447.

History

The Thorpdale district, known at first as the Narracan district, was settled by Europeans in the 1870s. The first European settlers arrived from the old Melbourne – Sale Road via McDonalds Track, a stock route that had been surveyed in 1862 through the hills from

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and appeared at many leading concert halls. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Phi ...

to Morwell Bridge, but which later became disused and very much overgrown. Land selection began at

Narracan The electoral district of Narracan is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in Australia. It was first proclaimed in 1967 and has usually been held by the Liberal Party. The electorate covers the provincial Warragul–Drou ...

(near the eastern end of the track) in 1873, and progressed steadily along the track, reaching Narracan West in 1876. A Post Office opened on 1 October 1879 as Narracan West. It was renamed Thorpdale in 1884, Thorpdale South in 1888, and closed in 1968. The present town of Thorpdale (situated about 2 km north of the old town) was founded in 1888, following the opening of a branch railway line from Moe. A new Thorpdale Post Office opened in 1888 near the railway station. The railway line closed in December 1958. At its height, Thorpdale was a business centre for all the farming activity that surrounded it. Much of the old town was destroyed during the large

Red Tuesday The Red Tuesday bushfires occurred on 1 February 1898 in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combust ...

(20 January 1898) bushfire that ravaged Gippsland and the

Otway Ranges The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It conta ...

The Town today

Today, the Thorpdale township is becoming smaller and smaller as more farming families opt to live in larger townships such as

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

. The national decline in consumption of potatoes is making even farming difficult in the small town. 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

Mid Gippsland Football League The Mid Gippsland Football League is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Latrobe Valley and South Gippsland regions of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. History The Mid Gippsland Football League (MGFL) was founded i ...

Potato farming

In late 2008, the town was hit by the news that a potato disease (''

potato cyst nematode Potato root nematodes or potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are 1-mm long roundworms belonging to the genus ''Globodera'', which comprises around 12 species. They live on the roots of plants of the family Solanaceae, such as potatoes and tomatoes. PCN c ...

'') had been found among its crops. The disease is not harmful to humans but can significantly reduce crop yields. Thorpdale farms were quarantined and banned from exporting potatoes interstate and overseas. Interstate trade has since resumed.

Attractions

The township holds the Thorpdale Potato Festival every second year on the Sunday before Victorian

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

holiday in March, although it was not held from 2002 to 2015, after the insurance cost became too great for the small community to bear. The festival features potato sack races, Historic machinery, eating contests, market stalls, and much more. The lush farming surrounds give the town a peaceful rural atmosphere and there are several scenic sights nearby, including the Narracan Falls, Trafalgar South Lookout and Henderson's Gully.

References

External links

Thorpdale growers in talks with supermarkets
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of Baw Baw