place

York Road, Western Australia

Greenmount, Western AustraliaHistoric trails and roads in AustraliaRoads in Western AustraliaUse Australian English from September 2011York, Western Australia
Junction Old York Road and Great Eastern Highway
Junction Old York Road and Great Eastern Highway

York Road (currently known in parts as the Old York Road) was the main road connecting Guildford and York, in Western Australia, during the 19th and 20th centuries. Its origins in a talk in 1929 claim an earlier name King Dick Road, and the first settlers usage of the route being on 6 September 1831.It became, in the 20th century, portions of the Great Eastern Highway, and the portion of the road traversing the Darling Scarp at Greenmount was named the Old York Road. The re-aligned Great Eastern Highway removed some of the problems of the steep grades along the old alignment. The road name was also a truncation of the usage of the name Old York-Perth Road. The York Road had convict era sites along its traverse. In the metropolitan area, Chippers Leap, Bilgoman Well, Mahogany Inn (still operating), and other sites have connections with that era, and the remaining original section on Greenmount Hill is still named Old York Road.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article York Road, Western Australia (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

York Road, Western Australia
Old York Road, Shire Of Mundaring

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: York Road, Western AustraliaContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -31.899577 ° E 116.062557 °
placeShow on map

Address

Old York Road

Old York Road
6070 Shire Of Mundaring, Greenmount
Western Australia, Australia
mapOpen on Google Maps

Junction Old York Road and Great Eastern Highway
Junction Old York Road and Great Eastern Highway
Share experience

Nearby Places

Chippers Leap
Chippers Leap

Chippers Leap, formerly known as Chipper's Leap, is a granite outcrop on Greenmount Hill in Perth, Western Australia. It is located at 31º54'S 116º04'E, on the northern side of Great Eastern Highway, near the border between the suburbs of Swan View and Greenmount. Chippers Leap is named for John Chipper, who jumped from the rock on 3 February 1832 while trying to escape an attack by a party of Noongars. Chipper and an 11-year-old boy named Reuben Beacham had been driving Mr Leroux's cart from Guildford to his property in York via the York Road (now Old York Road) when they were attacked by Noongars. Chipper was speared once in the side before turning around to escape. A second spear pierced his shoulder as he jumped from the rock in order to save himself. Chipper, in his statement dated 5 February 1832, states "I heard him scream out, and I looked back, but did notice him; but perceiving a number of the natives gaining ground upon me, I turned short round the shoulder of the same hill, and ran off at my utmost speed". Chipper ran for approximately 4 miles before eventually reaching Governor James Stirling's house at Woodbridge. In the early 1930s the Main Roads Board planned a realignment of the York Road that ultimately resulted in the construction of the present Great Eastern Highway. The original plans had the road passing through Chippers Leap. After representations by the Western Australian Historical Society, the plans were changed to allow the road to pass close by the rock, thus not only preserving the rock but also increasing its visual effect and exposure. The road itself was not constructed until the 1960s. At 8:30pm on 3 February 1932, the centenary of Chipper's leap, the Western Australian Historical Society dedicated a plaque in memory of the event. Around 200 people attended a dedication ceremony at the rock. The plaque reads: ON THE 3RD OF FEBRUARY 1832. JOHN CHIPPER AND REUBEN BEACHAM A BOY OF FOURTEEN, WHILE DRIVING A CART FROM GUILDFORD TO YORK, WERE ATTACKED BY NATIVES NEAR THIS SPOT. BEACHAM WAS KILLED BUT CHIPPER ALTHOUGH SPEARED, ESCAPED AND LEAPED FROM THIS ROCK, NOW KNOWN AS CHIPPER'S LEAP, AND EVENTUALLY REACHED GOVERNOR STIRLING'S HOUSE AT WOODBRIDGE NOTE: Reuben Beacham was not 14 years of age. Reuben was born in Barnham Sussex and baptised on 20 September 1820, making him 11 and a half years old.For most of the 1960s through to the 1980s the rock face just west of the plaque featured an item of graffiti in white paint, reading "All have sinned" Towards the end of the 1990s it was replaced for a short time by "Please Turn Over". For at least the last ten years now it has been painted out and graffiti free. The plaque is adjacent to a very busy highway with no facilities for pedestrians, so it is not recommended as a stopping place at any time of day or night. A small section of parking area on the highway is available 100 metres to the west, just before a new sign "Perth Hills". It is listed on the Places Database of the Heritage Council of Western Australia, but is not afforded legislative protection. There are plaques at other sites from the same year placed by the Western Australian Historical Society, one can be found at the Round House in Fremantle There are similar granite outcrops in this area of the Darling Scarp in John Forrest National Park to the north, and to the south Darlington, and Boya, Western Australia

Greenmount National Park
Greenmount National Park

Greenmount National Park is a national park in the locality of Greenmount, Western Australia, 22 km east of Perth. It is one of the smaller national parks along the Darling Scarp and is a component of the Darling Range Regional Park. Due to its proximity to John Forrest National Park, which used to be known as Greenmount National Park until 1928, and relationship to subsequent reserves to the south it is a vital scarp wildlife corridor. Bus tours were available from Perth in 1933 with Hill's Bus Tours offering passengers a tour around the park on Sundays in September. Beam Transport Ltd. offered a similar service through the Park to Mundaring Weir in 1937.As a feature adjacent to the Helena River Valley it has significance in Aboriginal folklore, and also featured very early on in early European settler's diaries. Mountain Quarry is one of several blue stone quarries located within the park, popular with rock climbers and walkers. Vehicle access to the quarry site is restricted; however a car-park and picnic facilities including toilets are within walking distance of the main site, which is completely accessible on foot. There are several panels containing historical information about the site spread around as part of the popular Railway Reserves Heritage Trail, which runs close to the quarry. The Boya/Koongamia leg of the Railway Reserves Heritage Trail, also known as the "Bridle Trail", curves around the south-western edge of the park, crossing through the Mountain Quarry car-park and picnic area. In the early 2000s significant bushfire damage occurred on the southern slopes of this park. Large fire-breaks bisect the park, serving as popular walking routes among locals. The western and northern slopes, visible from Great Eastern Highway, have extensive Watsonia infestations. In late 2005, the government authority in charge of the national park was taking steps to prevent vehicular access along the top of the ridge to the lookout due to vandalism and issues with residents adjacent to the park.The park is situated along the side of Greenmount Hill and has views over the Swan Coastal Plain below and Perth to the west. The dominant vegetation in the park is eucalypts such as marri and wandoo along with an array of wild flowers and heathland along the northern slopes. The hill is steep and contain several breakaways and rocky outcrops.