As a child in the 60's I can remember watching out of my parents kitchen window the great plumes of dust and sound of explosives coming out of the Mugga Lane Quarry.
Blasting days offered an interesting view from our Pearce vantage point. The Woden Valley actually thundered on blasting days.
Growing up we often passed the 'little red houses' all lined up in a row on the bottom side of Mugga Lane and only about 40 years later I actually found out what the little houses were. They are explosives huts, storage facilities for explosives. The huts are about 150 metres from the lane and evenly spaced at approx 100 metres apart. Each has explosives loudly marked above the doors.
The last time I visited the huts about a year ago they were in a very bad state of repair. (photo left) The perimeter gates had all been broken and the doors damaged when forced open. What people expected to find there I don't know, as if they would store explosives in them today.
I was pleased to see on this visit that the damage has all been repaired and the perimeter fences fixed. The ACT Government can be congratulated and whoever fixed the vandalism did a very good job. The buildings and area are very tidy. A nice place for a walk.
I was driving past today and spent 10 minutes to take some video of the huts and take a few pictures. It's part of the Canberra Nature Park so if your looking for a destination for a ramble...
WHERE
-
