Tours
Tours of Glen Davis Shale works
Every Saturday subject to weather, we run a tour of the works area starting at the front gate. The walk takes between 2 and 3 hours and covers most of the old relics of the National Oil Company. The first elevated levy bank which was build as a means to limit the flooding of Glen Davis which in the 1940’s was quite common. Here we can see some of the original Houses at Anderson Square which are now used for accommodation and some of the amenities block plus tennis courts bowling greens etc. As we view the works looking east we can see the extent of the tank farm that housed about 20 tanks ranging in size to accommodate the various components of refined and unrefined oils and by products. A few hundred yards further on we can see the skeletal remains of the General Office and Chemistry Laboratories. Further down the concrete road which was built by Concrete Australia we see all the remains of the Cracking and refinery works including the various stages of improving the quality of refined products.
The Power Plants
The first building built on the site was the workshop which is a solid structure and was used for making a lot of the equipment on site. behind the workshop was an area set aside for the storage of goods and equipment. Opposite the workshop are the power house and steam generators plants .
The remains of these buildings are quite impressive and stand over 100 feet. Some of the original wooden Louvre windows are still in place.
The Retorts A
Part of the reason to start processing shale at Glen Davis was that it provided an opportunity to built new retorts of an improved design. With the onset of war the emphasis was to build a plant as quickly as possible so as a short cut much of the retorts, indeed much of the infrastructure was transported directly from Newnes thus setting the death knell for an efficient processing plant. Most of the first bank of retorts are still standing intact except for the steel and pipe works. The second bank of retorts was destroyed in an attempt to make a film which demolished the retorts and from all reports the film was a bit of a dud as well’Chain reaction”
Exhauster House and New Products
From the initial distillation of the Naptha a building was built which used various mechanical and chemical processes to make new products. Behind this building you can see the quite substantial cooling towers and the adjacent footing for a number of pumps and agitators.
To the east of the retorts we can see the remains of the ash loading bays that transported the ash to a number of sites adjacent to the Capertee river. The ash was transported by an aerial rope way.
Sosme of this rope was later used in the construction of the Katoomba Scenic skyway.
Mine Portal and Surge bins
To gain access to these building we have to climb the hill behind the retorts although as we will be returning via the same route if you wish to miss out on the climb there is plenty to see around the retorts.
At the top of the hill (about a 10 -15 minute walk ) we first come across the remains of the bathhouse which shows there was quite a lot of available showers and washing facilities. Whilst a lot of the other building were half demolished in the effort to salvage steel and other hardware it is difficult to see why this particular building was destroyed as it contains some interesting chrome brick work.
Incidentally have a close look at the shay boiler at the bottom of the hill and the adjacent brick chimney which is a truly fine piece of masonry craftsmanship and thankfully undamaged. Next to the Bathhouse we can find two Mine Portals, a few machinery servicing sheds and a building for the service of mining lamps and associated equipment.
Standing adjacent to surge bins provides an excellent view of the works and the various components and well worth the climb to this great lookout.
Tours of the Ruins
Historical Tours on every Saturday @ 2pm
