The community came to the fore to help meet the shortfall in funding required to produce the Barinia extension of the Clare Valley Riesling Trail.

“We had something under $250,000 to produce an extension costed at well over $300,000,” Riesling Trail Committee chairman Graham Mill said.

“Again the local community was to the fore with major in kind contributions from trail builders, Russell and Garry Sims of Clare Quarries, Paul Jenner of Clare Metal Fabrications and Trevor Mace of Mace Engineering Services.

“Vital to this was also the encouragement and support of adjoining landholders especially Roy Schaefer working closely with the Clare Quarry’s team.

“We even saw the removal of many feral pines much to the joy of Ryves Hawker.

“Most helpful also has been the native vegetation and weed survey undertaken by Jean Turner and Mick Higgins of the Clare office of the Department for Environment and Heritage.”

Mr Mill said the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council had always recognised the importance of the trail by nominating the Mayor – first Patricia Jacka and then Allan Aughey – to the committee.

Other important contributors had been the Clare Valley Winemakers who drove the original concept, Tony Brady of Wendouree and Evan Hiscock of Petaluma working with Leith Hughes of the Office for Recreation and Sport and Greg Carmody of Transport SA.

“We were stuck for almost a decade on the southern side of the Clare rail yards until expansion of Leasingham winery opened the way forward and in this regard the passion of Richard Rowe was at the fore,” Mr Mill said.

“Richard’s dream of a memorial garden for Mick Knappstein is a challenge still to be met.

“Much more remains to be done to furnish the extension and in this regard the continuing support of the Rotary Club of Clare and the Northern and York Natural Resource Management Board is most welcome,” Mr Mill said.

Former committee members Noel Kelley and Robert Bartholomaeus were announced as honorary members of the Clare Valley Riesling Trail in recognition of their contributions.

Once a bustling railway corridor:

Pedalling along the Clare Valley Riesling Trail today is largely a tranquil experience – a far cry from the days when it was a bustling railway corridor.

Former Clare and Gilbert Valleys Mayor Patricia Jacka, who grew up on her family’s farm at White Hut, brought an historical perspective to Sunday’s opening ceremony of the Riesling Trail extension to Barinia.

Mrs Jacka said the land in the fertile valley was bought from the Government by early settlers, most of whom came from the Victorian gold diggings.

“Settlement was first near the creek, later working man’s blocks were taken up along the eastern slope of the range (Blockers Road),” she said.

“The people built a Methodist church (Wesleyan Chapel) in 1860, which is still standing and is now used for other purposes.

“There is a cemetery at the back of the church where pioneers and settlers lay at rest – where wild mignonette, freesias and chocolate orchids grow in profusion and the fragraces fill the air.

“Among the names of pioneers at rest in the cemetery is that of Martha Hubbe, a teacher at the first school at White Hut.

“Her husband Dr Ulrich Hubbe was a significant contributor to the content of the Real Property Act 1858 which established the Torrens title system of land registration in South Australia, and now in use around the world.”

A school was built in 1861 and is still standing today, long closed but in good repair.

“I have many fond memories of that school – the school yard games and the high jinks there,” Mrs Jacka said.

When a railway line was put through to Spalding, a siding was established in Barinia where grain sheds and stock yards were erected.

“There are stories of the freight trains which ran three times per week that picked up cans of cream and transported them to Auburn to the butter factory, of carrying stock to Adelaide to the abattoirs, and the rail car (Bud car) that ran a twice-a-week passenger service to Spalding and could be used for travel to Clare,” Mrs Jacka said.

“The freight trains were coal-fired steam engines and could be heard chugging up the line away in the distance long before coming into sight – the wonder of it all, the smell of it all.”

Race horses were unloaded from the train at Kanipo, just north of Roach Road, and ridden over the hill to the racecourse at Stanley Flat.