Wilson Vineyard | NEWS AND TRIVIA FILE

The Mount separates Polish Hill River from nearby Mintaro, and is only a few metres lower than Mount Horrocks which is the highest in the Clare Valley.

When travelling between the two centres, the road via Mount Rufus is slightly longer, but is one of the more scenic in the Valley. For the present, visitors to the area must take it at their peril, particularly if travelling from Mintaro, for there is no signposting. We have made submission to have that matter rectified.

In the early morning one can expect to see kangaroos grazing on the slopes close to the road.

There is a "bald patch" near the top on the Mount, that is associated with an intriguing story.

In 1867, South Australia was full of excitement about its first Royal visit, by Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. At that stage Clare and Burra were the limit of the telegraph in the north-east sector of the State, and to convey the news of the Duke's arrival to those further north, a series & giant beacons was established, the first on Mount Rufus, then Mount Bryan north of Burra, and so on along the range.

When the Mount Rufus bonfire was lit, the others followed in quick succession, and many outback patriots set out for Adelaide, only to discover that they were a week early, and that the telegraph message had not been sent to Clare.

Decades later, an old Mintaro resident confessed on his deathbed to the premature lighting of the Mount Rufus beacon.

From the Advertiser, 2 November 1867
COUNTRY NEWS.
(From our Country Correspondents)
MINTARO, OCTOBER 30
This morning the news came of the arrival of the Galatea, and immediately flags were hoisted all over our township. Several are preparing to start for town immediately, but not nearly so many as would. have gone had it been a week or two sooner, on account of the bay harvest. I mentioned in my last that we were to have a bonfire, but some mean scoundrel set it on fire on Friday night. As soon as it was seen several tried to put it out, but without success.

The early Polish settlers of Polish Hill River were tough and shrewd. Joe Baxter, now in his eighties has childhood recollections of his great-grandmother, Granny Nykiel, and recounts some of the stories that were passed down.

Mary Anne Nykiel, nee Rucioch, was born in Gros Dammer in Western Poland about 1840. She came to South Australia in 1856 and married Jacob Nykiel in 1861. They occupied land in Polish Hill River near what is now known as the Blue Cutting. Each day Mary Anne would milk the cows and make butter, and would regularly walk into Clare with the butter to sell. When meat was required she would slaughter a calf and personally attend to all aspects of preparation.

Granny Nykiel also made wine, and in quantity in excess of the family needs, requiring the surplus to be sold. The local constable was determined to make an arrest on the matter, and tried to trick her into selling him some wine, but succeeded only on procuring a free taste and a firm reassurance that although some wine was given away, it was never sold!

For many of her later years, Granny Nykiel lived in what is now Walnut cottage in Sevenhill, so that her winemaking activities probably took place around the 1880s.