Healesville and District Historical Society president Bryn Jones, left, marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Maroondah Reservoir with the family of dam engineer E.G. Ritchie. Present were, from left, Mr Ritchie’s daughter Kathleen Batchelor, great grandson Euan, great granddaughter Primrose, grandson Richard Doery, grandson James Doery, great grandson Sam Doery and granddaughter Celia Beeton.By Paul Pickering
KATHLEEN Batchelor was just seven years old when the first water flowed through into the Maroondah Reservoir, yet her memory of the event is extraordinarily vivid.
Ms Batchelor’s father, E.G. Ritchie, was the chief engineer on the dam project and brought his daughter along for the official opening in 1927.
“It was a long time ago, but I remember standing on the bank as if it was yesterday,” Ms Batchelor recalled last week.
“I remember the clapping and cheering and hearing the water coming through from the Watts River.”
Last Sunday, Ms Batchelor and her family returned to the dam to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the Yarra Valley’s greatest feats of engineering.
They were joined by a steady flow of patrons who walked the dam wall and explored a photographic display compiled by the Healesville and District Historical Society (HDHS).
HDHS secretary Alma Mitchell noted that the most popular aspect of the display was a silent movie produced during the construction of the dam.
“The children found it particularly interesting to see how it was done in those days,” she said.
But for Ms Batchelor, who lived through those early days, the event was more than just a nostalgic journey.
Having grown up with stories of the complications and triumphs of the construction process, she described the experience of standing atop the 41-metre-high dam wall as “very moving.”
“I had occasion to feel very proud of my father,” she said.
“He was an extraordinary man.”
Ms Batchelor now lives in Blairgowrie and says that while she has only visited the dam a few times, it remains a special place for her family.
