On track to farm
SOON after the Geelong Harbour Trust was established in December 1905 it surprisingly acquired a large parcel of land in Marshalltown next to the Barwon River with a view to establishing a model farm.
The model farm was named Sparrovale, causing some confusion about its spelling and leading to road signs having to be replaced when authorities understandably included a “w” in the name.
The property had been the first home of the Geelong Racing Club, but the proximity of the Barwon River had caused several winter meetings to be cancelled because of flooding.
The racecourse site was also seen as being too far from central Geelong, although a railway spur line was laid to the track soon after the line to Colac was opened.
The new racecourse was established at its present location at Breakwater, and in- volved moving a grandstand from the old showgrounds site north of Carr St across the railway line to the new site.
The first meeting at the new racecourse was the St Patrick’s Day meeting in March 1908.
Originally the Marshall- town racecourse was earmarked to be auctioned off, but the land was given to the newly formed harbour trust on July 1, 1906.
The farm itself featured dairy cows, pigs, horses and poultry as well as crops, but the first task facing the new owners was to drain the land.
Sparrovale Farm attracted its share of attention in its early years, including a glowing write-up in the Illustrated Guide to Geelong and District, published by the Geelong Progress Association in 1908 and written by George Brownhill, later an editor of the Geelong Advertiser.
The article started off by saying that no mention of the industries of Geelong would be complete without reference to the Sparrovale Irrigation Farm operated by the Geelong Harbor Trust.
“Sparrovale is proving of a great educational benefit to the farming communities of the state,’’ the article said.
The farm operated for almost 30 years and was eventually sold to a Bill Bailey for £10,500 in 1936. Contact: peterjohnbegg@gmail.com