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Latest News from Moggs Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Moggs Creek story teller, Vince Maskell, tells about 'The Fallen Woman'
 
Vince mostly lives in Melbourne: where his kindly humane observations provide him with many opportunities to comment on the soft and the harsh sides of life.
 
Vin has had many publishing successes with his writing. You can see some of them on his website,

 http://vinmaskell.wordpress.com

 

 

The Fallen Woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moggs Team Inspects Unknown Planet - Unexpected 'Spiritual' Discovery

 
 
The Moggs Astromonical Research Team reports the suspected discovery of a new spiritual gathering place on an unknown planet - see photo of planet and engraving on plaque, below.
 
We have only a little information as yet, said team leader Za Za Shakes, but distance is the problem. Distance means time, and we have to ask ourselves, will there be enough. It might take decades for the truth to be revealed.
 
Most importantly, said Professor Shakes, we must get it right, because we all know how many have got this delicate matter wrong in the past.
 

THE CHURCH OF SAINT SAM

WAS ALWAYS THERE

BEFORE TIME

BEYOND PRAYER

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation announces GROUP M AWARD FOR 2011

The winner of the Group M Award for 2011 is Andrew Chapman, founder of 'Many Australian Photographers' group or MAP.

The story of MAP group and its bold and successful efforts to cover the prolonged Australian drought, has been told earlier on Foundation News.

The certificate was accompanied by a cheque for $500 from the Foundation.

You can find out more about MAP, Andrew Chapman and Beyond Reasonable Drought photographs by opening the respective websites. Congratulations Andrew, Group M are delighted to have you in their 'company'.

 

 

The Group M Award is not given for photographic excellence. It is awarded for outstanding effort and leadership of a group committed to documentary photography.

We believe it to be a unique award in Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group M photos at Ballarat Foto Biennale

The Moggs prints of the 1960's are on show at the Ballarat Public Library, seen here in this photo. We are grateful to Michael Silver of the NewNorth Gallery for presenting these prints.


 

One of the prints on display at the Ballarat Library is this one below by Albert Brown. 

 

Albert visited the Lake Tyres aboriginal community in the early to mid 1960's and took a series of wonderfully expressive photos of everyday live at the settlement. In time, as we see in the comments below, the limitations on happy communal life were to be revealed. Albert photos documented the human problems which made life at Lake Tyres so difficult and in time made the community members so resentful, as this report by ABC journalist Jem Wilson shows.

Jem Wilson ABC News 8th March 2011

A group of Aboriginal women have blockaded the road to Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust in East Gippsland in protest against current administration arrangements over the site.

The women claim the current administration arrangements over Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust are akin to a "Northern Territory-style intervention."

 

Freehold title of the Lake Tyers settlement was transferred to Aboriginal people in 1970.
But the women want more community involvement in the Lake Tyres Aboriginal Trust, which is administered by the Department of Justice and Aboriginal Affairs Victoria.

 

Don't Miss it - Moggs Photos on Display at Ballarat in August-September 2011

Group M photographers will have their historic 1960's work on display at the Ballarat Foto Biennale. These are prints of the images recently purchased by the National Library of Australia. The prints were exhibited at the NewNorth Gallery in Fairfield late last year. At that exhibition the directors of the gallery honoured Group M with these words.

GROUP M

Developing out of the 1950s amateur photographic club the Moggs Creek Clickers, Group M was a forceful advocate for the exhibition and acceptance of social documentary photography in the 1950s and 1960s in Melbourne.

Between 1959 and 1966 they mounted an annual exhibition titled "Photovision", attracting entries from photographers worldwide. These were shown at the Museum of Modern Art, founded in Melbourne by John and Sunday Reed. Their 1963 exhibition "Urban Woman" documented the lives of Australian women from childhood to old age. The collection, represented by several images in this current show, was shown in Melbourne and afterwards in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. In 1968 it formed part of Australia’s cultural contribution to the Mexico Olympics. In the mid-60s, with some younger group members conscripted to the Vietnam war, four Group M members exhibited "A Time to Love". The works by John Crook, Albert Brown, George Bell and Roy McDonald, depicted bushfires, old people, handicapped children and the Lake Tyers Aboriginal mission. Images from that collection are included in this exhibition. John Crook’s archive was lost in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983. A reminder of the fragility of the important documentary work done by this group. One of Group M’s most important contributions to cultural life in Victoria was their significant involvement in discussions leading to the formation of the Photography Collection at the National Gallery of Victoria. At a time when the legitimacy of the medium was not fully recognised or appreciated by the arts Establishment, the quiet persistence of Albert Brown, John Crook and their colleagues was rewarded when the Photography Department opened at the NGV in 1967 and the value of photography as an art medium was established beyond further doubt.

Group M members included : Albert Brown, George Bell, John Bolton, John Crook, Fred Mosse, Roy McDonald, Cliff Restarick, Richard Woldendorp, Harry Youlden.
 

New North Gallery would like to thank Albert Brown and John Crook for all their enthusiastic help in mounting this timely retrospective exhibition which honours the work of a group of passionate and committed Australian photographers. We stand upon the shoulders of giants.

Suzanne and Michael Silver (NewNorth Gallery)

Below, are some of the 50 prints taken in the 1960's by the Moggs photo-group, Group M. All 50 prints will be on show in Ballarat at the Foto Biennale in August this year.

 

 

SIR SAM on Wheels
 

 

SIR SAM on wheels. Yes, it's great news; there is a car with the number plate SIRSAM. Many mighty ships have been named after the great navigator, but only one car can have this 'number' in Victoria.
 

 

 

 

 



 
 

This Photo shows the car's owner, Sam Pritchard of Ballarat. Sam registered the car three years ago. He had no knowledge of the Sir Samuel Moggs historical claims.

 

 

 


 
Sam has an interest in historical re-enactments of famous past battles. He and his colleagues often give themselves nicknames from colorful periods in the past - that's how he acquired the nickname, Sir Sam. By training, Sam is a baker at a bake house in Ballarat.
 
We are grateful to Mr Pritchard for allowing us to photograph the car number plate and himself.
 
Who will be the first to have a car with plates named after Dame Minnie Moggs? 

 

Moving Clickers Screenings for 2011

 

10 Guineas for Three Prints. Moggs Photographic Competition in 2011

 

To mark the centenary of the 1911 production of Umochrome film, the Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation announces a continuation of the traditional prize for three black and white single theme photos taken with this splendid negative film, or its contemporary equivalent. Unfortunately the advent of cheap colour films after WWll caused a cessation of the competition and the disappearance of Umochrome. Enhanced awareness of traditional photo techniques has prompted the Foundation to again offer its once popular ‘Cluster of Three’ photo award.

 

Umochrome was a visionary product of the United Moggs Organisation (UMO) and had the well known Sir Samuel Moggs motto,

The Dark is Light Enough’ imprinted on each roll of film. It was often regarded as the most light sensitive film on the market.

Umochrome

The dark is light enough

 

Girls practicing hymn singing, Shantung Province, 1922’

 

 


Conditions of entry to the 2011 Umochrome photographic competition

1. Prints must be the work of the entrant

2. Prizes of ten, five and two Guineas (or their modest equivalent) will be made to the three winners

3. The winners must allow their clusters of photos to be displayed on the moggs.org.au website, and as prints, in a gallery

4. The winner will be the most seriously thoughtful cluster of three artistic B & W prints presented to the judges.

5. Individual prints should have an area not less than an A4 sheet

6. Further details given on this website in Jan/Feb 2011

7. Closing date: 31 September 2011.

 

 

Mystee Unwin's Bold New Experiment
 

 

 

Two years ago Mystee Unwin received a Moggs Foundation grant to help with her experimental art works. Mystee has continued to experiment and has recently returned from California where she studied Superadobe earth bag construction.
 
Driving the Unwin's actions is their attractive motto:
 
Be the joy that you wish to experience. Be the change you wish to see.  Be the love that you wish to receive.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Earth is shoveled into a long roll of poly propylene sacking, two strands of barbed wire are laid on top, and then another long roll of earth-filled sacking. And so it goes on till you get to the height you want. You might wonder what it will look like.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Here's Mystee on the completed domed construction. To give a water resistant and attractive finish the construction is covered with a smooth layer of earth and 15% cement mix. Mystee claims that these constructions are wonderful to live in and are resistant to earthquakes. This small dome was built near Cheltenham, Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Mystee also helped the Moggs Foundation by drawing the outline of a plan for an emergency building proposed to be made of moulded recycled plastic.
 
A couple of years ago, in an earlier part of Foundation News, we noted that an experimental building had been proposed for supply to those facing emergency situations which destroyed homes and other buildings.These were to be 5 metres in diameter and composed of clear acrylic tops (ex-soft drink bottles) with recycled milk 'bottles' as a base. Because of their lightness they can be helicoptered in to difficult terrains, in packets of  half a dozen.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Grahame Cook Caught on Camera.

 

 

 

 

 

Caught on Camera
 
In 1960 Grahame Cook attended the Clickers Convention at Moggs Creek. We have been seeking him ever since. Here you see him with his son Ian - two very successful commercial photographers.
 
50 years after he designed and built the Moggs Creek memorial to honour the pioneers, Grahame Cook is still experimenting with novel ideas.
 
In this picture we caught him at the precise moment that he claimed to have perfected a Hydrogen gas expansion valve to increase the performance of vehicles with pre-1957 downdraught carburetors.
 
And as if that's not enough, Grahame can claim to be the first person in Australia to use his chemical engineering studies to manufacture commercial quantities of Tetra Butyl Titanate - Sir Sam would be proud.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Master's Four Wheel  Driving of Central Australia.

 

We have recently returned from a 6 week trip to Central Australia. Our objective on these trips is to find those secluded camp spots where we are away from crowded and noisy conditions. The bane of us campers are those folk who turn up with a noisy generator to power all their freezers, fridges and plasma TV's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oodnadatta Track after rain.

Treacherous and slippery. A few times I saw the TVan through my rear vision mirror trying to overtake the 4WD. The 'centre differential lock' stopped that effect. I often wondered what it was for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rig we have used the last 2 years. For you buffs, a 4WD Toyota 100 series, turbo charged diesel with electronic economy chip. We traveled across the Simpson Desert with this set up last year (in convoy with friends). All 1000km and 2100 sand dunes. Quite an introduction to four wheel driving, literally being thrown in the deep end.

 

 

Next to Lake Eyre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trapped in between flooded rivers on the Oodnadata track. This is a bleak spot but we camped with good company and our port wine really helped tolerate the cold and wind. (and this is a desert?)

 

Next day the river had almost dried up. However some folk a few rivers down camped too close to the dry river bed and were unlucky enough to be washed out. Their 4WD had to be retrieved down stream later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wash day, off the Gun barrel Highway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another magnificent sunset in central Australia. To sit in front of a fire with a glass of wine in a deserted location, nothing more peaceful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 'Breakaways'. Near Coober Pedy and on our way to the Painted Desert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another remote spot. The 'Painted Desert' simply amazing colours.

Note Venus and Mars chasing the sun. Our van's plumbing froze up during the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An ancient aboriginal petroglyph at Roma Gorge in the West McDonnell Ranges.

 

This was an 8 km trip in along a rough river bed. Only to be attempted with a high wheel clearance 4WD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Valley. Close to Hermannsburg. A wet and rough trip in.

 

The river crossings were quite deep and well above the car door bottoms. Water saturation of the carpets was a problem in the car. Interesting to note that if you keep up with the bow wave traveling in front of the car, water does not get in. On crossings where travel speed is reduced because of large boulders under the water, ingress occurs quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8000km traveled

 

 

 

Soon, Historic Moggs Photographic Group Exhibition

 
In a few months Group M, the 1960's photographic group based on Moggs philosophy, will hold an exhibition of its early work. This is the work that was collected by the National Gallery of Victoria in  1967 and sent to be hung on the walls of the Australian Pavilion at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games.The exhibition of 240 large prints had previously been shown at the Lower Melbourne Town Hall in 1965
 
It was tragic for the Moggs photographic group that rioters damaged the prints beyong recognition. Other pavilions were also damaged.
 
Equally sad was the fact that Group M's (M stood for Moggs) second large photo exhibition, titled. A Time To Love' was destroyed in one of the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. The work was originally exhibited at Melbourne's Museum of Modern Art in 1965. Fortunately, much of the work was reprinted and copied on to CD's in 1990 by Kodak. It is this work which will be shown in a few months.
 
We thank the MAP Group of photographers, their president Julie Millowick, and the NewNorth Gallery at Fairfield in Melbourne for their great assistance in this historic project. More details will be shown in a couple of months.

 

 

 

Beyond Reasonable Drought prints now in book form.

 

After the successful tour of several hundred prints in the 'Beyond Reasonable Drought' exhibitions around Australian galleries, the MAP Group has helped raise money for drought relief by sales of this thoughtful and well-produced book.
 
All praise to the group and the organisations that supported them. You are also invited to help by purchasing the book. You could call David Johns or Michael Silver at NewNorth Gallery in Fairfield, on 03 9018 3081
 
The Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation praises the MAP group for its prolonged determination to collect photos of the country-wide drought. We also praise MAP's contribution to the development of interest in purposeful documentary photography. This is an area of potentially great social importance - an area where Australian photographers could well devote more of their imagination and energy.
 
MAP's book was launched on 5 November. Some photos of the launch can be seen below the invitation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Click above pictures to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

30th Anniversary of Moggs Uprising

 

 

 

 

 

This amazing historical photo has just been discovered in official archives. It shows Margaret and Russell Mogg trying to proclaim that Moggs is spelt Mogg's.
 
Their friends called them noble opportunists. We in the Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation believe that their actions mounted to nothing less than a potential uprising.
 
By removing the Moggs Creek sign on the Ocean Road thirty years ago and replacing it with their own version they apparently sought to rewrite the true history of our area.
 
Public outcry meant that the correct sign was promptly replaced, and the claims made by their supporters to large sections of land along the creek were never successfully upheld.

 

 

Apologies to Margaret and Russell Mogg - our criticism was unjustified. Further evidence now shows that for a few years the local council did have a Mogg's Creek sign erected on the Ocean Road. In time, of course, that was corrected to Moggs Creek.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation supports documentary

photographer Maggie Diaz

 

An exhibition of the work of American/Australian photographer Maggie Diaz has been travelling around Victorian art galleries for over a year. The Moggs Foundation has purchased three of Maggie's prints and thus become a patron of the exhibition.
 
The photo shows Maggie on left, with curator of the exhibition Gwen De Lacy. Several of Maggie's photos are also shown. Maggie started in Australia in the 1960's and thus was contemporaneous with the Moggs Creek Clickers and Group M Photographers, but being a committed professional, Maggie did not join Group M and did not become involved in documentary series photography.
 
Here are four of Maggie's photos. In a future website update we will show more of her prints and tell you about her unusual background. We will also try to show the fine efforts of curator Gwen De Lacy and hopefully some of Group M's work from the 1960's for comparison.

 

 

 

American born photographer Maggie Diaz has worked as a photographer for more than four decades. A collection that has been hidden away in boxes for nearly all that time, has now been revealed in her first major retrospective: Maggie Diaz – Into the Light. This exhibition opened at City Museum, Old Treasury in the heart of Melbourne in 2007. It has travelled to many other Victorian galleries since 2007 and is still on show in mid 2009.

Influenced by Bresson and other photographers featured in Edward Steichen’s 1955 exhibition, Family of Man, Maggie looked for subjects on the streets of Chicago, where the children became familiar with her non-invasive presence.

This 1952 photo, sometimes called 'The Botticelli Girl', was taken while Maggie was documenting one of the poorest area's of Chicago. The area was subsequently cleared for new housing development.

 

 

 

 

In the late 1950s, Maggie married Clem Fraser – a charismatic Australian graphic designer. The marriage lasted three years and as a divorce gift Clem bought Maggie a one-way ticket to Australia "to meet his family".

Maggie arrived in Melbourne on the first voyage of The Canberra in 1961 and quickly established herself as one of the city’s leading artistic and commercial photographers at a time when there were few women working in the field.

In the 70s and 80s Maggie created a successful business in portraiture, actors’ composites, fashion photography, promotional work, technical work, newspapers and anything else that came her way. In the early 1990s Maggie became involved with Melbourne’s ‘fringe’ theatre scene, photographing scores of plays for La Mama, The Courthouse, and Playbox. This photo is for La Mama publicity.

 

 

 

 

 

                                          

 

 

 

 

Maggie calls this photo, 'The Real Australian'. It was taken in a Fitzroy hotel in the 1990's.

Maggie was commissioned to do night shots of the City of Melbourne and established herself as an expert in the use of available light in the publication "Printing is People." Maggie had studios on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, and later, Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. She became resident photographer for radio station 3AW, and produced powerful imagery for the 1962-63 Brotherhood of St Laurence annual report.

In 2004 Maggie Diaz celebrated her 80th birthday with a slideshow at the Carlton Courthouse. The sell-out event generated long-overdue interest in Maggie’s life and career, and a mention in Victorian Parliament for her contribution to Melbourne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titled, 'The Dancing Girl', this photo was taken by Maggie while she was employed by the City of Chicago in the 1950's.

After she won a handsome prize for her photography, Maggie was in soon demand and working for Chicago’s elite Tavern Club, where she captured millionaires and musicians on film and produced two books. At the same time, and in a strange juxtaposition of wealth and poverty that was to mark Maggie’s later work, she documented Lower North Center – a housing development for the underprivileged of Chicago. This photograph is from that series.

 

 

 

 

                                       

 

 

 

Twenty Secrets About The Great Ocean Road- Elizabeth Quinn tells all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We believe this young couple are training for the 'Inaugural Moggs to Nelson 400 km Beach Walk'
This walk can only be done when there are prolonged periods of exceptionally low tides.

The names Moggs and Nelson honour two of the naval greats of the past. It is mandatory to stay overnight at the spot where Sam's ship lies buried near Port Fairy.

Our astronomers tell us that a suitable 10 day period of low tides will occur in late August 2027.

 

 

From the Herald Sun of 6 March 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Sam Wines - A New Idea for an Old Tradition

 

 

 

 

 

Looks good, doesn't it. And it is excellent drinking.The Sir Sam 2007 Late Picked Chardonnay is going to become one of the best wines ever produced under the auspices of the Moggs entrepreneur, Dan Mogg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



According to Dan - At a recent wine tasting in one of Melbourne's trendy inner suburbs, an estimated 17. 024% of people drinking wine chose Sam's 2007 Chardonnay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Photo shows Dan Mogg with his most successful wine. Considered by many as a viniculturist of long standing and excellent reputation, Dan hopes to have several other vintages ready in the near future.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Dan is the first to admit that his winery is neither sophiscated or well equipped. One wonders what this man will achieve when his enterprise is properly capitalised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Soon, Mr Mogg will ask readers to express interest in assisting his viniculture program. We anxiously wait - perhaps to be involved in one of the most remarkable wine growing experiments in the history of the mankind. Grape growing on sand dunes is difficult if you don't know how, said Mr Mogg.

Dan declined to tell us the percentage of salt in the 2007 Late Picked Chardonnay.

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Quinn

'Fairhaven writer Elizabeth Quinn ponders the significance of personal beach-side memorials bewteen Fairhaven and Aireys Inlet. Article courtesy of Elizabeth Quinn and The Sunday Age.'

 

 

 

When Top Gear AND Trioli give Moggs a mention, can fame be far behind?

 

The October 2008 edition of Top Gear Australia magazine featured a photo-story about what it's like to drive

The Great Ocean Road. While Sir Samuel Moggs didn't get a mention, Moggs Creek certainly did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In true Sir Sam logic, journalist VirginiaTrioli mentions Moggs Creek as part of a short article about her favourite Melbourne places, published in a longer profile of Trioli in the December 2008 edition of The Age Melbourne Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moggs Writer Vince  Maskell Has Sent Us This Historical Account Of Moggs In The Media

Truth or dare? Sir Samuel Moggs and the mainstream media

 

 

While much has been written of Sir Samuel Moggs in illustrious journals such as The Quarterly Clack, The Moggs Financial Times and The Daily Sludge, his story has only appeared in the mainstream media a few times, on those handful of occasions when journalists have taken the initiative and actually asked questions, rather than re-writing the press release of an under-worked over-imaginative public relations copy-writer.

 

If Sir Samuel had hired a PR firm to tell his story them there might have been all sorts of spin-offs – Hollywood movies, Broadway musicals, opp-shop tea-towels – but the true believers know that something very worthy would have been lost in the process. It would have been a less charming, less mystical story.

 

So, which newspapers have sought to tell the story of the late, great, premature explorer?

 

The first evidence is in the wonderfully-named Truth newspaper, which ran a brief news item on Saturday February 15, 1958 wondering where Moggs Creek was. The question arose from the sighting of a ‘Moggs Creek Forever’ sticker on a grey Holden in Richmond. The innocent query from Truth generated quite a response, leading to ‘Historic Moggs Creek. Back On The Map!’ (Saturday February 22 1958).

 

This article recorded some of the correspondence received, including John Crook pointing out that the grey Holden was actually an official Moggs Creek vehicle, ‘a 1958 plovered Chartreuse Cadillac convertible’.

 

The article concluded:

 

…there’s no doubt Mogg’s Creek exists in fact; but that a lot of hocus-pocus is and has been manufactured about it by a group of people with a highly-developed sense of humour. Originally members of a camera club and ski enthusiasts, they’re determined to keep the euphemistic stories about Mogg’s Creek alive forever.

 

…since The Goon Show is being taken off the air this week, Truth cordially recommends the ABC to replace it with an all-Australian Mogg Show!

 

Unfortunately the ABC did not take up this suggestion but in August 1974 The Age, which has a different reputation to that of  Truth, decided to enter the Moggs debate, running stories on the third and thirteenth of the month: ‘Moggrakers mass for historic coup’ and then ‘How Sir Sam sailed up Mogg’s Creek’.

 

These stories, by Peter Smark, appeared in the Ebenezer column, a column meant to be light-hearted but not entirely trivial. He quotes solid, reliable sources; namely The Moggs Creek Historical Society. Keen for a debate, Smark argues the validity of some of these society’s claims: “This is poppycock,” he says in one paragraph.

 

Smark goes into some detail about Sir Samuel Mogg’s private life, referring not only to Dame Minnie Mogg but also to Lady Mary Mogg, a former fishwife of Ipswich, Suffolk.

 

Whether friend or foe of Sir Samuel, Smark has some respect for the great man, saying in his closing paragraphs:

 

“In any case, it is common ground between scholars of The Age and The Moggs Creek Historical Society that the Airey’s Inlet area was the cradle of European civilization in Australia.

 

“The main purpose of the Mogg-minded must be to reach into the schools and set right the history books so that the cry of “Get Mogged”  will become a rallying cry for feats of valour and endurance.”

 

Over a decade later, in March 1987, The Age ran a short article (with a large photo) about the Sir Samuel Moggs memorial on the Great Ocean Road., ‘Mystery man adds color to a memorial quest’.

 

The article began: ‘Someone recently painted Sir Samuel Moggs blue. Bright blue.’ The new colour of Sir Samuel wasn’t the main point of the story, though. The bust had been recorded as part of a survey of monuments and memorials by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

 

The  Age journalist John Schauble described our great hero as a ‘peripatetic knight’. Schauble then had the temerity to suggest that the bust might have been part of a “ a long-running practical joke by members of the Melbourne University Camera Club.”

 

The next day, March 10, The Age ran a follow-up story in its News diary column, ‘Monumental mystery solved’. The article quoted a former Moggs Creek Clicker, Tom Gilhooley of Clayton. “We were all mad. We’d spin off all these crazy groups like the Moggs Creek Movie Makers, and we had stickers saying ‘Moggs Creek Forever’, and we even had a post office box at Aireys Inlet.”

 

Much more recently Moggs Creek has popped up in the media, courtesy of Top Gear Australia magazine, and Virginia Trioli.
With 2009 being the 250th anniversary of Sir Sam landing on the Moggs Creek sand there might be a little more media.
 

 


Cricket - The Great Debate.

The Moggs beach cricket team is undefeated in the 5 day/night version of  this ancient and honorable sport - but does that mean we should venture into the 20/20 version?


 

 


 Moggs Creek beach.


High tide on the famous patch of sand. Scene of dozens upon dozens of Moggs victories.
 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 


 It has been claimed that these fine old auto's conveyed the visiting cricket team from Anglesea, to face the Moggs team, soon after the opening of the Ocean Road in 1922.
 

 

 

 

 

 



After the Moggs Creek victory this wonderful old flag appeared above the Moggs pavilion. Since the Moggs team outplayed its opposition in the moonlight of the third day and night's play, the term, 'The Dark is Light Enough' has since been crafted into Moggs history.
 

 

 

 

 

 


 Old Jimmy led the victorious Moggs team. In his long captaincy his fearsome face is recorded as having a decidedly deleterious and demoralising affect on opposition teams. One can imagine, on a moonlight night, this face peering at opposition batters from very close silly mid-on.
 

 

 

 


All this leads us to open the great debate: Should Moggs enter the 20/20 world and risk losing its impeccable cricketing record?

Our cricket advisor has examined the Rees-Mogg argument and tells us.

In an article in The Times in April of this year, Lord William Rees-Mogg suggests that cricket is a good game which is being ruined. He claims that the traditional match is dying - and being replaced by something far less interesting.

Lord Mogg considers that:

"The history of cultures is a bell-shaped graph. There is the gilded morning of discovery and delight; there is the classical centre period, the Augustan age of the culture; there is the afternoon, with cucumber sandwiches at tea-time; there is the evening when the night is coming on."

He continues:

"A rather obscure 18th-century clergyman, the Rev James Bramston, described the process in lines of poetry far above his usual standard. Indeed it had been suggested that they were supplied to him by a poet of genius, Alexander Pope. "What's not destroy'd by time's devouring hand? Where's Troy, and where's the Maypole in the Strand?"

Thus he argues that:

"The culture of cricket now seems to be going the way of Troy, or indeed of the Roman Empire. The glory of cricket, with its intelligence and the complexity of the interplay, is sinking into the past; we are moving, surprisingly rapidly, into the dumbed-down cricket of Twenty20. Cricket first developed on village greens such as Hambledon; it looks as though it may come to an end at Bangalore."

It is difficult not to agree with some aspects of William Rees-Mogg's criticism - thus:

"I also find it offensive to see cricket becoming part of a culture of instant gratification. "We want sixes and we want them now," is a poor spirit in which to watch as subtle and flexible a game as cricket."

Subtle indeed, you might say - but Lord Mogg concludes on a firm note:

"I do not wish Twenty20 well, though I welcome new funds for cricket and cricketers. I think Twenty20 is a decadent, dumbed-down, third-rate formula for sub-prime cricket. I would not therefore welcome its success."

The Moggs 20/20 cricketing foundation has replied with this comment.

Lord Rees-Mogg's excellent reputation as a cricket analyst is well known and well justified. In this case, however, he has allowed his judgement to be overwhelmed by his own particular historical experiences and, if I may say so, his religious biases.It is well-known that Lord Mogg is a devotee of formal Christianity, and in our opinion this respect for tradition is indicative of his unwillingness to give adequate respect to new and vivacious forms of the game.Tides are a menace for five day beach cricket and have resulted in postponements of important matches or the inconvenience of transferrence to the Aireys Inlet Lagoon. We must not let the attractions of 20/20 cricket  be cast aside, merely on the grounds of respect for Lord Rees-Mogg.

JC, on behalf of the Moggs 20/20 Cricket Foundation

 

A Little Story of the Past. The Tour de Moggs by Vin Maskell

Dad's leather bike helmet was part of the garage, along with his boxing gloves, the table-tennis table, the paint tins, the jars of nails and all the other bits and pieces that a garage accumulates.

It was a light brown helmet, with tufts of grey stuffing poking from the splits in the old leather. There was a thin strap to go under the chin and a small, rusted buckle. By the time I noticed the helmet in the garage, in the early 1970s, it probably hadn't been used for 20 years.

I can recall my father's helmet, but none of his bikes. They were before my time. Before any of the six children. The late 1940s and early 1950s.


Apparently Dad enjoyed road-racing. He might have done the Melbourne to Warrnambool  race on at least one occasion. Or some legs of it, maybe. There is a small black and white family  photo that shows a man at a starting line in a country town, about to be push-started.  Hamilton, I think.

The details are sketchy because Dad  took his memories with him when he died eight years ago. But I remember that brown leather helmet, sitting there in the garage of the family home in Geelong, collecting dust. Maybe Dad saw it there too and remembered a former life, a youthful life of sport and energy before the responsibilities of family and work.
 

 

 


His life-long passion was horse-racing. His father had been a trainer and Dad had part-owned a few horses that galloped around country tracks. By day, Dad earned a living running a TAB.

He came back to cycling much later in life. Not on the scale of his youth, but cycling nevertheless. Dad and Mum retired to Moggs Creek  in the late 1980s and Dad used an old knockabout re-built bike to get him down to the beach and around to the neighbours.  It was called a 'Commuter 2200': a very futuristic name given that the bike was probably made in the 1970s.

Dad fashioned a seat stem of quite some height, even though he was not a tall man. He would sit up high in the saddle, his arms easily reaching the 'angel-wing' handle-bars, and then roll down the gravel road, perhaps recalling much longer rides from the distant past.

The neighbours knew my father for many things - his friendliness, his garden, his alone-ness after Mum died . And they knew him for his blue bike and his plastic yellow helmet. (The old brown leather helmet had long disappeared - probably in the big shift from the family home to the beach-house.)

At my father's funeral we had a display of mementoes of Dad - family photographs, a few golf balls, some horse-racing memorabilia, several bottle of home-brew (later opened and enjoyed). And the blue Commuter 2200.

The bikes at the beach-house have multiplied since Dad died. There's a pink women's metro bike with one good derailleur (the back), a kid's foot-brake bike from the early 1980s, and a purple mountain bike with plenty of gears - it's great for taking the back roads to Aireys Inlet. (A mate of Dad's saw me on this bike once and joked that my father would not have been impressed with such a fancy machine.)

Sometimes I hop on the old blue bike. It's a nice feeling up on that high seat, the scent of eucalypt filling my nostrils, the bush blurring by, and the small wheels rolling over the gravel, taking me to the beach. You don't even have to pedal, until the return journey.

 

Grant Awardees Progress - MAP and Mystee have success.

A Moggs Foundation grant was made to MAP documentary photographers. They have had notable successes. Some dozen of their photos, showing the drought throughout Australia, have been purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and their 80 print exhibition will be on show in galleries throughout Australia over the next 3 to 6 years.

We have been invited to the opening of the exhibition at Old Parliament House in Canberra on 8 July '08. Cheers to you MAP and thanks also for your offer of one of your impressive prints.

Below, is the MAP story - remember you can look at their photos on www.mapgroup.org.au

“Many Australian Photographers Group,” known as MAP Group, is a non-profit association of around 40 photographers who share a passion and commitment to high quality, independent documentary image making. Our photographers range from emerging to well established, many of whom are recipients of national and international awards.

The photographers of MAP Group are currently completing a nation-wide philanthropic project documenting the drought and its impact on Australia’s water resources. We have called this project “Beyond Reasonable Drought”. This ambitious project aims to record the impact of the eleven-year drought on the land, the people and the psyche of the nation.

Participating photographers have made hundreds of road trips throughout Australia to document what they see and to record the stories they hear. To date, the photographers have travelled many thousands of kilometres and worked thousands of hours, in their own time and at their own expense.

Another Moggs Foundation awardee, Mystee Unwin, is in the US. Mystee has recorded her impressions of the Australian drought in a series of  small paintings which at present are being curated by Foundation chair, John Stanley.

At present Mystee is working on illustrations for a US television mini series - the title of which must be kept secret. Oh mysterious Mystee!

 

Moggs Valley Discovered

Following reports that a member of the glorious Moggs family had been honoured with a significant valley being named after him, the Foundation sent its chairman to explore almost unknown areas of Northern New South Wales.
 
Setting out from Armidale, on the icy New England Plateau, and at an elevation of some 1000 metres the possibility of discovering a deep warm valley, a sort of Shangri-La, seemed remote.

 

 

 

Photo shows John Stanley boldly crossing the Sara River in flood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANCIENT MAP FOUND
 
Fortunately a secret map suggested that the verdant; indeed, lush countryside might be nearby, as shown by the State and National Parks.
 
This map is now available on the Internet, thanks we believe to representations made to Google by the Foundation.

 

 

 

 

FORTUNATE FIND
 
After being lost for days and sidetracked through minute towns with the unlikely names of Backwater, and Wards Mistake, we discovered an old house with knowledgeable local occupants.
 
Photo shows the local farming family giving advice about how to find the beautiful Moggs Valley.They do not wish to be named. People in the area are few and do not want to reveal the hiden riches of the Moggs Valley.

 

 

 

 

SUCCESS FOR EXPEDITION.   

After many hours of effort we discovered this old decrepit sign. Clearly designed to discourage public interest in the Shangri-La nearby. It should be noted that the sign is slightly misspelt - there should be no apostrophe in Moggs. 
 
A larger investigative expedition to uncover the hidden riches of the Moggs Valley is planned. As you can see in the distance, the land is beautiful and probably holds significant historical value.

 

 

 

 

 Moggs Foundation Grants MAP Group Photographers and Mystee Unwin.

The Foundation has awarded a grant to the MAP group. This collection of first-class Australian photographers are, at their own expense, recording the damage which the drought has done to the Australian landscape and those who rely on farming for their livelihood.
 
The following two photographs are by Andrew Chapman. You can see many more excellent photographs of the MAP group's work on www.mapgroup.org.au.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is great for the inheritors of the Moggs photo tradition to once again be working with a group of top-notch Australian documentary photographers.

 

 

 

 

The Foundation has also awarded a grant to painter Mytstee Unwin. Mystee has just completed her  Creative Arts degree, with honours, at Melbourne University.

 

 

 

 Mystee has made a series of miniature paintings which express the dramatic and at times sorrowful landscapes so characteristic of drought-ridden Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mystee's friend David adjusts the Sam Moggs cap while she displays the Award notification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concern with the social consequences of the drought was emphasized in November 2007 when environmental groups organised the Walk Against Warming, in Melbourne. About 15,000 people joined the march, including many children who were encouraged by their parents and their school to become involved.

 

 

The photo shows marching parents displaying the art work of their young children.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In front of the Victorian State Library, many thousands of March supporters loudly voiced their approval of the proposal that Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocols.

 
(These two photos are courtesy of the Moggs Free Press)

 

 

 

.........................

 

Moggs Foundation Award Research Grants to Writer Vince Maskell and Corrie Bussem.

The Sir Samuel Moggs Foundation has awarded research grants to writer Vince Maskell and to historical student Corrie Bussem. Their valuable work will appear on this website in due course.

 

 

 

Corrie Bussem is researching the history of the Valentine Nott Mogg family who lived in the St Arnaud area of Victoria from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's.

It is possible that during times of drought in the Western District this Mogg family grazed sheep in the area now known as Moggs Creek.

As Early as the 1890's writers to the 'Geelong Advertiser' referred to the area west of Aireys Inlet as Moggs Creek.

 

 

 

For the moment, we invite you to open 'Sporting' to discover the other side of Vince Maskell - his cricketing prowess.

Do not miss the valuable historical insights shown under Research.

 

Contacts

Chairman:

Dr John Stanley,

c/o Vince Maskell,

48 Boyd Ave,

Moggs Creek,Vic, 3231

 

 

email:

President

Chairman

At Moggs    

Webmaster

Correspondence:

John Crook (President)

PO Box 341,

Werribee

Vic 3030

Phone 03 8742 0250

 

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