Fun Facts

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​Days of extreme weather?

• Hottest - Friday January 25th 2019 = 45.9C.

• Coldest - Wednesday 21st July 1982 = -6.8C.

• Wettest - Tuedsday 6th February 1973 = 155.2mm.​

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Black Panther?

• Stories of sightings, with no names so as to protect the storyteller.

  • Circa 1990: "Found a horse's rug had been torn to shreds overnight. Black hairs found on the rug were analysed and determined to be feline. The horse was OK". Anonymous.

  • Circa 1990s: "Watched it sniffing and hunting around the riverbank past the north end of the common. It was huge. Before mobile phone cameras, so just watched it for minutes". Anonymous.

  • Circa 2020: "Walking the dog on the north end of the common, I saw something run from the old bonfire site to and into the riverbank. It was the size of a retriever, the colour of a wallaby, and moved like a cat". Anonymous.​

• ​Have you seen the Shelford Panther?

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First bridge in Victoria?

• The Leigh River at Shelford is the site of the first constructed bridge built in Victoria, five years before the Yarra was spanned in Melbourne.

 

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Well-funded road maintenance?

• In the mid 1800’s the Shelford District Road Board collected tolls from passers-by. A standard horse-drawn wagon would have cost 1 shilling. In today’s money that comes to over $100.

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Hidden gold?

• There are stories of prospectors travelling through the area and burying their gold to keep it safe, only to never return. These tales have fueled local legends of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. What do you think?

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Three schools?

• At one time, Shelford had three primary schools operating.

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Longest straight road in Victoria?

• The southern section of the Shelford-Mt Mercer Road runs dead straight for over 16km.

• It was once closed off to allow a rally car event to run at full speed.​

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