09/07/2024
Allan Taylor writes:
'Attached is an old photo from the State Library of SA. It shows Wentworth at the corner of Sandwych Street and Adams Street in the very early days.
In the foreground , the buildings have been replaced by Fisher's Store and the pharmacy. The street running from left to right is Adams Street.
On the left-hand side of Sandwych Street was Rendlesham House which is still there. On the other side of the street is now the Military Museum, Service NSW and other shops in the Adams Street shopping complex.
At the top right is the Methodist Church which had to be demolished because of cracks in the walls caused by movement in the clay ground. The clay top-soil is, virtually, floating on a deeper sandy sub-soil. This was caused by the various floods of the two rivers that deposited various layers of silt and sediment over many years.
Curlwaa's soil was constructed similarly by the surrounding Murray River and Tucker's Creek. A lot of tree deaths resulted from the water-table (and accompanying salt layer) under the clay-loam topsoil rising during the 1956 flood and staying high after the floodwaters receded.'
