Castleholme Farm.

[Keith]

This old farm is an hour's drive from where I live and has always fascinated me. It's drawn me back time and time again though I've always been reluctant to spent too much time snooping as you never know when some local is going to take you to task for trespassing ... it's happened to me before and it was no fun!

I recently discovered it's now owned by the Queensland Government and is heritage listed. Figuring that the only person who could actually tell me to get off the place would be someone from the said government I thought what the hell ... I'll have a good look and take some pics. I spent a couple of hours there the other day with my OM-1, 35mm Zuiko and a roll of Acros. The light was extreme and it was close to the middle of the day ... the Acros seemed to handle these conditions very well and these are some of the photos I took.

Also ... here is the information about the property take taken directly from the QLD Heritage Register.

Castleholme was established in the 1870s, following Hugh Conroy's selection and purchase of the then 257 hectare property in 1875. By 1916 a small cedar dwelling at Castleholme had became a rambling, fourteen-roomed house with wide verandahs. By that time the grounds included flowerbeds, shrubs and shade trees, and substantial outbuildings, and the principal activity was dairying. Castleholme remained in the Conroy family until acquired in 1978 by the Co-ordinator General, as part of the Wivenhoe Dam reclamation area. That part of the property not inundated was leased by the Queensland Institute of Technology for use as an experimental building station. The Castleholme homestead complex was identified by the QIT as a conservation area and the interwar cottage was renovated as caretaker accommodation. The QIT (now Queensland University of Technology) maintains the grounds, but not the buildings.

Castleholme consists of the remains of a homestead, slab barn, cottage, stables and associated farm buildings and stockyards with a number of mature trees. It is located in the Brisbane Valley on a northeastern slope, is visible from the Bryden-Crossdale Road and borders the Bryden Catholic Cemetery. The domestic structures are located in a group to the north with the outbuildings forming a southern boundary. Other structures include the remains of a timber laundry shed and a bakehouse, post and rail fencing, a calf pen and cow bails.

Castleholme is important for its association with the closer settlement of the Bryden area, its development as a dairying district, and with the Conroy family in particular. The place also has potential to reveal substrata evidence of the arrangement of a late 19th century dairy farm. It survives as a good example of the arrangement of a working farm in southeast Queensland, demonstrating over a century an evolution in function, building type, technology and material. Castleholme is significant also for the aesthetic quality of the group of timber buildings and grounds, and for its spatial association with the adjacent St Anne's graveyard.

 

[lynnb]

beautiful pics, Keith. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jesse1dog]

Interesting write-up and resulting photos go into a context.
Particularly liked the last shot posted - screaming for colour?

jesse

 

[Gerry M]

Great series and very well done. Thanks for sharing these.
Gerry

 

[Sparrow]

Do you like the results Keith? I keep returning to photograph an abandoned village and I've never been happy with the results ... I can't capture the feel of the place somehow

 

[farlymac]

Excellent write-up and photos, Keith. They give me a feeling of loneliness that one finds in abandoned places.

PF

 

[KenR]

Great series. Nothing like abandoned buildings in B&W. Did you use a yellow filter? Those clouds really stand out and provide a wonderful sense of the scale of the place.

 

[Keith]

Do you like the results Keith? I keep returning to photograph an abandoned village and I've never been happy with the results ... I can't capture the feel of the place somehow

Frankly Stewart ... not really! Or should I say ... I'm satisfied with the results photographically but the images didn't really capture the way this place makes me feel. It was the wrong time of day and I think it would be better early morning or late afternoon.

Although Australian history (white) is brief by comparison to many cultures there is a hardship in it that fascinates me ... the land, the lifestyle, the successes and failures are there to see when you look.

As Arnie would say ... "I'll be back!" 😀

 

[daveleo]

I like every one of these. Can't say that you "captured" how you feel about the place, but these look really nice all around.

 

[Sparrow]

Frankly Stewart ... not really! Or should I say ... I'm satisfied with the results photographically but the images didn't really capture the way this place makes me feel. It was the wrong time of day and I think it would be better early morning or late afternoon.

Although Australian history (white) is brief by comparison to many cultures there is a hardship in it that fascinates me ... the land, the lifestyle, the successes and failures are there to see when you look.

As Arnie would say ... "I'll be back!" 😀

It's often the history of places that simply won't come out in my photos either ... good luck, I did the morning/evening thing too ...

... maybe that hipstermatic thing would do it

 

[ChrisN]

I think this one comes closest to bringing out the character of the place. I know exactly what you mean Keith, and better light would certainly help.

But I do love this one - that beautiful old tree.

And this one reminded me strongly of Coolamine Homestead down here on the northern end of the Kosciusko national park.

 

[fotomeow]

Excellent write-up and photos, Keith. They give me a feeling of loneliness that one finds in abandoned places.

PF

I know what you mean, but this abandoned place has a beauty and charm that seems to thwart the loneliness aspect.

And I love the tonal dynamics, despite the midday sun. Keith and his kit really captured it nicely.
I wouldnt trade this pics for pics taken during the "golden hours".

 

[xxbutterflykiss3sxx]

Hi Keith

I came across your photos of the old castleholme homestead through a google search.
this farm is the property of my grt grt grandparents Hugh And Margaret Conroy.
it was sold of many yrs ago i believe because of the wivenhoe dam project but i have recently found out its now brought back by the conroy family.

Im in the process of trying to get more information on it.

 

[Keith]

Hi Keith

I came across your photos of the old castleholme homestead through a google search.
this farm is the property of my grt grt grandparents Hugh And Margaret Conroy.
it was sold of many yrs ago i believe because of the wivenhoe dam project but i have recently found out its now brought back by the conroy family.

Im in the process of trying to get more information on it.

Brilliant ... I would love to see that property back in the hands of the Conroy family!

Thanks for taking the time to update me on the progress of the property ... I can't drive past it without gazing. I love the place, it has a very special feel. 🙂

 

[yanchep_mike]

G'Day Keith,
Beautiful and perfectly executed, Acros seems to handle it very well.
good onya

 

[yanchep_mike]

Keith,
been looking at the pics again and again, and copmare to what i get out of Acros, would you please give some info on development and the scanner and or software, Please.
Thank You

 

[yanchep_mike]

Yours look so much better then mine.

 

[Keith]

Yours look so much better then mine.

Thanks Mike.

Nothing exotic I can assure you ... it was developed in Rodinal at 50:1 for whatever time the massive development chart recommended ... very liittle agitation though I might add. Scanned with my trusty Epson V700 and scanned tifs PPd with ACDSee Pro 6.

It's a great film for shooting in these sorts of conditions IMO ... I used to like Pan F for glarey light but I think Acros is better. Pan F can get hellishly contrasty!

🙂

 

[yanchep_mike]

Thanks for the info, will have to get the bottle of rodinal out of the cupboard again. Still have about 20 or so rolls of Acros left in the freezer, so will give it another go.

Thanks again.