ABC Rural

Reunion inspires memories of the town that refused to die

ABC Rural Charlie McKillop and Miriam Hall

It's been 40 years since they built the town that inspired the song penned by Stan Coster and made famous by the great Slim Dusty.

Greenvale may be relatively young when compared with other historic towns around far north Queensland but considering its tumultuous history, it's a milestone locals certainly feel is worth celebrating.

The iconic song 'Three Rivers Hotel' was inspired by the wet canteen at a construction camp that existed when a railway line from Townsville to Greenvale nickel mine was being built.

The township was established to house workers and their families, and in its heyday the population of Greenvale swelled to 650.

But once Queensland Nickel closed the mine in 1993, there were fears the town would go with it.

Henry and Sue Atkinson's families had been among the first to open up the north to cattle grazing.

The Atkinson's were asked to help select a site for the fledgling town and Henry remembers well the difference it made to the pioneering cattle district.

They said 'right we're going to build a town'. You know the country, we want a little creek and a hill and some gum trees.
Henry Atkinson, Lucky Downs Station

"When the mine came we got a road from Charters Towers and all of a sudden we had a school and a medical centre so things really looked up and we got on well with the town folk."

"Actually when they first came there, they said 'right we're going to build a town'. You know the country, we want a little creek and a hill and gum trees.

"So, I went down to Greenvale country. I selected three places for them and they put it beside the highway where it is now."

Sue Atkinson recalls a town "appearing" in the middle of the remote grazing district, particularly the opportunity of sending children to the school which was built in 1972 at the construction camp.

"Vern Jack who still lives on Magnetic Island was there as the teacher and I remember driving down there just before Christmas and asking 'will you have any of the children or only the ones on the railway line?' and he welcomed them.

"And our children had so many friends in Greenvale and so much more company - and so did I."

"It was a wonderful life."

Kerry Fannamore came to Greenvale in the 1980s to make money in the mine and to raise his four children; he still remembers 34 children growing up in his street alone at the peak of nickel production.

But unlike the thousands of workers who passed through the town, Mr Fannamore stayed.

Even after the mine closed, he was the care and maintenance officer and later started his own electrical contracting business as well as purchasing the service station.

During that period Greenvale became a ghost of its former self. Houses were empty and for a time the only permanent jobs, apart from those employed on surrounding cattle stations, was publican, policeman and principal.

"It was a big change but we handled that... now the town's back to thriving (again). It was quite special to be one of 15 residents in the town," he recalls.

Ian Neal was one of those children growing up in Greenvale at a time when people were moving in as quickly as the houses were built.

Mr Neal would like to see the momentum of the Back To Greenvale reunion used to establish a permanent museum to showcase the colourful and important place of Greenvale in Queensland's history and to further develop the tourism potential of the area.

He now runs guided kayak tours and says tourists now willingly pay for what was freely available to him and his mates growing up on the banks of the Burdekin River.

"People love it. Out there with nature, see wild pigs, deer, catch fish, scenery, all the birds."

"We used to go down there for family events, fishing comps, ride horses down there, pushbikes even. A tin of baked beans and off we'd go," he says.

It was quite special to be one of only 15 residents in the town.
Kerry Fannamore, who stayed after the nickel mine closed in 1993

Today, about 160 residents call Greenvale home.

Helga Phillips moved in eight years ago with her husband, Greg. She says when they came for a look, they were struck by the neat, orderly streets and somehow "it just felt right."

As a member of the Greenvale Progress Association, she and others started talking several years ago and soon enough, a committee was formed and the call went out across the land for people to come "Back To Greenvale". 

"Forty years is a big milestone for a township, particularly for Greenvale considering the fact it was to be bulldozed down after the mine was shut. It was only through the purchase of an astute investor, Chris Delios, that the town was saved and for that reason we're just celebrating that we're still here today. We survived!"

On the weekend the population of Greenvale swelled again to accommodate the many people who have travelled great distances to return.

Stan Lester came to Greenvale in 1971 and was part of the first exploratory team assessing the value of the nickel deposits.

"I saw the whole operation grow from nothing, saw the town develop, saw the mine develop. I was here for 16 years all up and loved every minute of it."

"Everyone was close, everyone had the same interests. For kids growing up in Greenvale and people living here, we never wanted for anything and that was totally supported by the mine."

"We went and built a speedway track here, we had a ski club, clay pigeon shooting club, archery club, golf club, everything you could want and I think that's what made it so great for kids to grow up.

"They really probably had more opportunities than a lot of kids in town would."

I had a few tears when I left, driving out, I hated leaving here.
Mick Cox, worked at the nickel mine from 1980 to 1985

Michael and Deb Cox also recalled it as a time they regarded as the "best of our lives" where people worked hard and partied harder.

"This place was built for us," Mick remembers. "It was a young town, everyone was young, we just fitted in well. There was probably only 400 or 500 people, that was it."

"I was here for five years, I saw a lot of people come and go.

"Then we heard around the table that she was going to go, that's why we got out and I went down to the coal mines. I had a few tears when I left, driving out, I hated leaving here."

And while there is a certain sense of transience about the town and the industry it was set up to service, it's clear many people hold fond memories of the time they spent here. 

Just as Slim famously sang: 

"When this job is finished, we'll pack up and go.

To another construction still chasing big dough

But wherever I wander my memory will dwell

On those happy days in Three Rivers Hotel."

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