The History within the Story!

The concept for The Sawmillers Daughter came to me in a dream, I vividly dreamt about Maggie and the characters in my story, but the setting of the Eastern Dorrigo Plateau is actually a real place. The Eastern Dorrigo Plateau is situated 64kms west of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and today consists of towns such as Dorrigo, Bostobrick, Megan, Ulong, and Lowanna, However, back in the day the Plateau had many more towns, the thriving sawmill towns and villages of Cascade, Briggsvale, Llyod Siding, and Leigh that are no longer there today.

The Sawmilling Industry was alive and well established in this part of the world from the early 1900's and housed and employed many workers and their families.

Timber getters used Bullock teams to transport logs to the various Sawmills.

With Red Cedar and hoop pine being in high demand, the plateau was a thriving metropolis for Sawmillers and Timber getters.

With over 100 Operating Sawmills from 1920 the villages were a hive of action.

Timber was carted down the mountain to Coffs Harbour for export, a steep and windy track that could take over two days.

Today there are only about five operating Sawmills in the Eastern Dorrigo Plateau, most of these being generational sawmilling families.

You can visit the old boiler ruins of the Cascade Sawmill in the Cascade National Park, the Sawmill closed down in 1998 a once thriving community is now overgrown by bush,

If you are interested in history and love a Sunday Drive, it is worth a look! Don't forget to pack your swimmers as there are many beautiful spots to take a swim!

Ulong also has a great little RSL that sells cold beer.

Old photo's Curtesy of Sharon Rewell.