Following on from yesterday’s post about the historical farm buildings, here is an update on the hops that have now grown to the top of the wire frames.

Sheep graze amongst the hops to eat the base growth before harvest. It appears that they also eat the trees as willows and others look like they’ve had a “hair cut” to a specific level.

The harvested hops will be taken to modern drying facilities for use in beer production. But as we walked around this charming place we could image the thousands of families here, picking the hops by hand, over the generations.

Away from the precinct but still in the village of Bushy Park, other historical buildings stand out amongst the miles of hop fields.

The Water Race
A 3km water race brought water from the Styx River to water mill, which generated electricity for the kilns. It is debated whether Bushy Park had electricity before Hobart.

St Augustine’s Church
The church stands amongst the hop fields, beside the river. During floods in 1960, the water level rose almost to the guttering of the church.

Back at the precinct, the pond is home to various fish and very friendly ducks.