Student life: fun, festivities and foolery on campus
Creswick Forestry Football Club, 1946
Mounted photograph
Victorian School of Forestry
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1222
Plaque of annual football match of Social Club vs. School of Forestry, 1970-1978
Wooden plaque with metal plates with inscriptions
Victorian School of Forestry
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1450
Program for Gold of Creswick Creek, c.1952
Printed by Creswick Advertiser
Paper document, signed with autographs of cast and crew
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1053
Victorian School of Forestry team matches, 1947
Creswick Advertiser
Newspaper clippings
Victorian School of Forestry
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1313
Football was very popular with students playing nearby institutions each Wednesday afternoon. Some players were recruited by Ballarat teams. On the school bus on the way to the game they would sing:
Out we come, out we come, out we come today,
Just for the recreation’s sake to pass the time away.
Oh it’s lots of fun, heaps of fun, loads of fun today,
Creswick boys are hard to beat when they come out to play.
Students in the Victorian School of Forestry Museum, c.1940
Photograph
Victorian School of Forestry
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1452
During Edwin Semmens’ time as principal (1927-1950), he “believed in saving all items… of historical significance, to be held in trust for Creswick and district residents.” Alongside supporting the museum as a student resource, his enthusiasm to collect items that documented life on the campus have helped safeguard the history of the School for future generations.
Victorian School of Forestry Museum reference collection cards, c. 1929
Cards with printed text
Victorian School of Forestry Museum
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1265
Student magazines, published between 1920-2004
Sylvanite published by the Creswick Advertiser (1920-1926), and Every Week, Bairnsdale (1927-1930)
Tyalla published by Magazine Art Pty, Hampton
Document, magazines with paper pages
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1051
Student magazines detailed life at the Victorian School of Forestry and provided a means of communication and community in an otherwise isolated area. Sylvanite was published by graduates between 1920 and 1930, while Tyalla was first published in 1960 and continued until 2004
VSF students as “miners” in Gold of Creswick Creek,
c. 1952
Black and white photograph
Victorian School of Forestry
Creswick Campus Historical Collection, University of Melbourne
Cat no. 1075-2
VSF students cast as miners for the male chorus in the Gold of Creswick Creek, a musical play written by Amos Bracken with music by Halycyon Deppeler and L. Ormond Robinson. The musical was performed in the Creswick Town Hall in October 1952 to celebrate Creswick’s centenary.
Top photo, left to right (back): Leo Teller, Ross May, Bob Orr, Dave Anderson, Stuart Murray, Jack Opie, (front): Eric Bachelard, Phil Garth.
Bottom photo, left to right (standing): Leo Teller, Bob Orr, Ross May, Dave Anderson, (kneeling/sitting): Eric Bachelard, Phil Garth, Stuart Murray, Jack Opie
While students worked diligently toward forestry accreditations, life on campus was not all hard work. Students balanced study with exciting extracurricular activities, including social, educational and sporting ventures.
Sport was an integral part of student life. Upon beginning study in 1925, a student wrote home describing how Principal Carter invited commencing students to Creswick cricket practice to discover new talent. Sporting achievements were recorded in report cards and students’ participation allowed them to forge connections with the local community.
Additionally, the students were involved in running a campus museum. The School’s museum and herbarium were founded in 1912 and situated in Tremearne House before moving to the Old Hospital building in 1929. The collections flourished as well-utilised student resources and were a fundamental part of the curriculum until the 1980s, when the museum closed. In 2006, the collections were recovered and plans were activated to display the significant objects once again.
Life on campus was vibrant, as seen in student magazines published at the time. Tyalla (1960-2004)embodies the optimistic mood of the post-war era when students formed strong friendships through involvement in extracurricular activities on campus and within the Creswick community. Activities included performing in local concerts, attendance at school dances, playing football games and sneaking into local pubs. Students’ enthusiastic participation in local life firmly integrated the forestry school into the Creswick community and culture.