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Vale Ted Winter and Noel Luton

Ted Winter: Many of you would have heard of Ted Winter who recently celebrated his 100th Birthday earlier this year. He was one of the legends of the Snowy Mountains. The Attachment provides some information about Ted. Ted passed away this morning. His funeral is being held this coming Friday (June 5) at 2 pm at Leura Memorial Gardens. It was Ted who introduced me and many others to XC skiing around 1970. I also thoroughly enjoyed his poems. Many years ago I purchased a copy of his poems from the NPWS Visitors' Centre at Jindabyne. I don't know if his booklet of poems is still available. Ted was a remarkable person and I consider it an honour to have been a friend of his. There is a street in Jindabyne named after him (Ted Winter Close). Ted knew my father and mother when they were teaching in Parkes sometime between 1920 and 1930. Ted's daughter, Bronwyn, has requested that instead of sending flowers, donations be made to MS Australia. Bert Sheridan

Noel Luton: Noel was born in November 1931 and passed away in June 2009. He is famous as a grazier in what is now Namadgi National Park and as the owner and builder of Luton's Crutching Shed, a well known walkers resting point. He was the first son of (Charles) Morris Luton and Frances nee Clugston. Noel married Fay Murphy from Cooma and had three sons. In 1952, Morris of Roseview, bought Bobeyan Station from Dick Brayshaw and in the early 1960's for Noel and Greg (his brother). They expanded cattle grazing at Bobeyan to include sheep, and were the last landholders on the Bobeyan station before it was made into the Gudgenby Reserve in 1979.

Works Program -Pretty Plain Hut, Dr Forbes Hut

KHA and Megan Bowden of NPWS are seeking assistance from qualified persons to assist in the pre-fabrication of the new Pretty Plain Hut in winter 2009, for installation prior to Christmas. They are also looking for workers to assist in the re-construction of Dr Forbes Hut over Christmas 2009-10.

"Pretty Plain Hut We will be looking for volunteers who would like to work on Pretty Plain Hut from the 6th July - 2nd November to prefab hut at Khancoban NPWS Depot. People can stay in a rough NPWS house (basic kitchen, fridge, hot water, 4 walls & a roof bring own bed, food, cooking utensils etc). From November - March constructing hut at Pretty Plain, people will need to walk 3-4km but hopefully can help with gear to go in on quad bikes Looking for people with timber working skills Dr Forbes Looking for volunteers from September -December Looking for people with stone masonry & timber skills" Contact Megan on Ph 02 69477016

The New KHA Commitee
President - Carl Bazeley
Vice President - Clive Richardson (re-elected)
Secretary - Vacant
Treasurer - Peter Law (re-elected)
Publicity - Peter McGaghey (re-elected)
Newsletter - Vacant
HMO North - David Mitchell
HMO South - Ian Frakes (re-elected)
HMO Geehi - Jim Roche (re-elected)
HMO Namadgi - Richard Stanley (re-elected)
Committee - Lyn Sebo (re-elected)
Committee - Tim Geoghegan (re-elected)

Huts and History group update
Check the Projects page for KHA's History Groups
"Aims and desired outcomes" statement

From the KHA History Committee - Sound Files!

Following completion of the new Delaney's and Patons huts, KHA's Huts and History Sub-committee is working on updating the history associated with huts scheduled for rebuilding. To listen to extracts of interviews with the builders of Brooks hut click on the link below. The two attached sound files are

1) Bill Brooks speaking on the building of the hut, (3.40MB), and

2) Alan Reid on how Arsenic Ridge got its name (1.01MB)

3) Alan Reid on some of the tough times they had (4.23MB)

4) Alan Reid on the building of Brooks Hut (2.13MB)

Enjoy! If you like this material please tell us and we will build a whole lot more - thanks to Graham Scully and team!

The KHA Publicity Officer is Peter McGaghey who can be contacted via email at publicity@kosciuskohuts.org.au

NOTE ON EPIRB's - Emergency Positioning Radio Indicator Beacons, sometimes known as PLB's (Personal Locator Beacons) - the 121MHz system will be closed on 1 February 2009. Please replace your EPIRB with a 406MHz Device, available now!

The CORRECT and Latest version of the KHA Constitution is here in Word Format and HERE in HTML format, for those who wish to review it. Regulations are also being formed with the first draft in place.

To Join KHA - Go here!

Over 500 members of the Kosciuszko Huts Association work within the Kosciuszko, Namadgi and Brindabella National Parks to retain, restore and re-build the mountain huts and homesteads, that form a key part of Australia's cultural heritage.

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Outdoor Equipment Suppliers! Past Presidents

The Kosciuszko Huts Association was formed in 1971 and on May 26, 2001 celebrated its 30th anniversary at Sawpit Creek in Kosciuszko National Park. The first meeting was held there in 1970 by a group of concerned people, bushwalkers and skiers. Their greatest fear was the deliberate destruction of the vernacular huts and homesteads that lay within the Park Boundary. These structures were built by our pioneer graziers and gold miners, and suited their basic needs. Many of these buildings were aged and desperately needing conservation.

In the hard years, our committees and members struggled to hold onto the High Country huts, in an age before Government or Australians benefited from recognising and appreciating their history, albeit a short space of civilised history compared to the rest of the world. Now we share a partnership with National Parks and Wildlife Service that respect the huts and their heritage value.

Today, we recognise Australia's heritage in many ways from grooves in sandstone shelf near a watercourse to stockman's huts. The huts we help to conserve and caretake are a polygon of styles suited to the needs of pioneers, of grazing and goldmining. Basic structures mostly, but each one as any caretaker knows, imbued with the character of the scavenging capabilities or leanness of wallet of the builder.

There are huts still standing that seem to defy gravity. Over the passing years since grazing ceased, there are many which have succumbed; a pile of weathered timbers and corrugated iron. In some places is just a pile of stones, the remains of a crude chimney.

The remaining 100 huts have become a haven for safety from blizzards, a social centrepiece and a full dimension of history, a heritage of how people lived in the first half of the 1900s. They are not relocated to a "village" or reconstructed, they are maintained as close as possible to the original fabric, structure and method of construction as the owners built them.

Destructive fires in January and February 2003 destroyed more than 20 of the huts remaining at that time.

2003 Fires - A list of burnt huts is shown here. Also see the VHCHA website for details of those lost in Victoria.

Fire Photos - Set 1 - Huts Destroyed.

Fire Photos - Set 2 - Huts Saved.

Fire Photos - Set 3 - Fireys in Action.

The photo of Mackays Hut in snow, at the head of each page - © Klaus Hueneke 2000.

This Page last updated 9 June 2009