The Murtoa Stick Shed is introduced by David Grigg the Secretary of Management of the Stick Shed and Bob Petschel who worked in the Stick Shed in the 1960’s. The Stick Shed contains 516 Mountain Ash poles from the Dandenong Ranges, which run from ceiling to floor. The highest one in the centre is 19 metres tall. The Stick Shed was a massive grain repository from the 1940s. Grain was emptied from nearby grain silos by rail trucks, and once at the Stick Shed site were loaded onto a hopper via a large bucket. The grain was poured into the shed and reached the top of the walls. Now it is out of commission, but at one time the Stick Shed could hold 92,000 tons of grain – give or take a foot. Up to 70 men were employed in the Stick Shed at the height of its production. Now the Stick Shed is empty but the concrete floors, beautiful Ash poles, diagonal ropes from ceiling to floor, and ambient lighting highlighting particles of dust, are all evocative of past times.
Film & edited by Max Schleser @MaxMobile
Contact the Smart Storytelling Consortium: MSchleser@swin.edu.au | HDavis@swin.edu.au
