Volunteers’ hard yacca sustains popular reserve
Eyre Peninsula’s first arboretum, nature-based learning and popular recreation spaces mingle with precious remnant bushland at one of the National Trust’s most popular reserves, writes natural heritage manager Alex Emmins.
If you’ve not had the chance to explore stunning Eyre Peninsula, you’re certainly missing out! Not only does our State’s west coast offer spectacular national parks, beautiful beaches and tempting eateries, it is also home to Brinkworth Reserve.
Popular with locals and visitors alike, Brinkworth Reserve is a recreation and picnic area at Winter Hill on the outskirts of Port Lincoln, with free barbecues, a nature-based playground and an important pocket of remnant vegetation. Officially opened to the public in 1998, it was gifted to the National Trust of South Australia by Ken Brinkworth, who ran a few sheep there. The small shearing shed he once used has been restored and houses an interpretive display.
Today, the reserve covers 7.74 hectares of partially revegetated farmland, as well as the beautiful and rare remnant patch of drooping she-oaks (Allocasuarina verticillata) and mixed eucalypt woodland with ancient, densely-growing grass trees or yacca (Xanthorrhea semiplana ssp tateana). This species was at one time harvested so its gum could be processed to make varnishes, dyes, shoe polish and explosives. Walking through the area at certain times of the year, you will be surrounded by gorgeous native butterflies, feeding on many of the plants.
The reserve is supported by an active and dedicated group of volunteers who have undertaken several major projects along the way. These amazing volunteers are also responsible for substantial and ongoing fundraising efforts to ensure the reserve is maintained and accessible to the community year-round. In recent weeks, new signage has been installed identifying tree species as part of a major project to develop Eyre Peninsula’s first arboretum. A grant from Bendigo Community Bank covered the cost, and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and a local native plant expert helped identify the species, which come from across Australia as well as overseas and were mostly planted by Ken. The volunteers have also created a nature-play space and upgraded the toilets, and are about to build a new shelter to cater for the increasing number of larger groups and organisations that use the reserve. Funding for this project has so far come from the Lincoln Auto Club, an endowment fund set up by Ken and Friends of the Brinkworth Reserve.
Brinkworth Reserve is a fantastic ‘multi-use’ space with areas for play, pleasure and nature-based learning. The small but spectacular remnant bushland area is a reminder of what we have lost on Eyre Peninsula, but also of what is left and needs protecting and conserving for future generations to enjoy.
The man behind the name
Brinkworth Reserve is the legacy of a community-minded farmer who developed a passion for native plants. Kenneth Neville Brinkworth was a descendant of the family after whom the Mid North town of Brinkworth is named. In 1926, at the age of 23, he bought a scrub block at Yeelanna, about 80 kilometres north of Port Lincoln, and moved to Eyre Peninsula. About 13 years later Ken leased the farm and acquired land at Winter Hill, where he became interested in planting native trees and shrubs.
A foundation member and patron of the now disbanded National Trust branch at Port Lincoln, he made a gift of 1.6 hectares (four acres) at the western end of the property to the organisation in 1968, primarily to preserve its grass trees. Then in 1986 he donated another 4.8 hectares (12 acres), where he had planted many more species. He also established an endowment fund of $50,000 to help maintain the reserve for years to come. “I’d rather see the money go to the reserve than the taxman,” he said.
Made a life member of National Trust of SA in honour of his contribution, Ken also helped to form the Southern Eyre Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants, which continued his work planting trees at the reserve. He devoted many years serving on the board and fundraising for the Eyre Peninsula Old Folks Home, where he was cared for in his final days.
Ken died at the age of 94, in February 1997, about two years after his wife, Eva. Their only child, Kay, had died at the age of nine. In an obituary published in the Port Lincoln Times, Ken was described as “a man with very little schooling who became a man of great knowledge, understanding and wisdom”.
The remnant bushland with grass trees, she-oaks and eucalypts (photo by Alex Emmins).
The nature-based playground (photo by Alex Emmins).
Ken and Eva Brinkworth handing over the reserve to National Trust vice president Len Alexander (left), with Port Lincoln branch chairman, Doug Barnes (centre) in August 1969 (courtesy Port Lincoln History Group).
