Historian and President of Maldon Museum and Archives Association Derek Reid delivered a paper at the Australasian Mining History Association conference in Broken Hill on Wednesday 3 September. His presentation, called ‘The Beehive Mine Chimney: Maldon’s Mining Memorial’ was reportedly well received by attendees and delegates, who expressed concern about heritage and maintenance in relation to the chimney.

Derek spoke to the TT [Tarrangower Times] about his presentation and its reception in light of the fact that scaffolding has been erected around the chimney in the past week, sparking continued conversation locally and online about the planned restoration works by Parks Victoria.

“People came up to me and said they really enjoyed my talk and the way it raised concerns about the heritage at risk,” Derek said. “And that there’s so much of this sort of thing that we don’t hear about until it’s too late.”

He explained that his talk highlighted that the Beehive Chimney doesn’t exist in isolation, saying that numerous threads can be drawn together when looking at its history, including the steel chimney that stood before the current brick one was built; the brickworks in Tobin Street where the bricks were manufactured; plus the influence of David Drape, notable local architect and painter.

“Heritage groups should draw intangible and tangible issues together so that when something like the chimney comes up as an issue you are not scrambling to convince governments (of its relevance),” Derek said.

Keeping local heritage issues front-of-mind continues to be important, according to Derek who said: “Attitudes around history and heritage have changed, and a lot of the people who used to fight for heritage have died or moved away.” He remains concerned that the process around the current works at the Beehive Chimney resulted in a compromise of time and cost; not necessarily the optimum outcome. “If you change something here, what effect does it have on something there?”

Derek encourages local people to stay informed about heritage issues. “Some battles have already been lost,” he said, pointing to Carmans Tunnel, and the Union Hill kilns that were demolished in the 1990s. “You don’t always know what’s happening until the planning permit leaves you with 28 days to scramble the information together.”

There are no current plans for Derek to repeat his presentation locally but if this is of interest to you, send an email to: secretary@maldonmuseum.com.au.

This article appeared in Tarrangower Times, 10 October 2025.