The Old Sheep Dip

In the late 1800’s this sheep dip was companion to a shearing shed and sheep yards. A bluestone cottage nearby provided warmth and comfort for the Macleod family; owners of the well known estate known as Mac’sfield.

Despite the protests of locals and attempts at having the property heritage listed, their pleas were ignored and the sheep dips old friends met their demise by the machinery of Wallara Waters Estate developers in 2011.

But armed with arsenic from the chemical base compound used in the sheep dip which had seeped into the surrounding ground, it proved a too formidable opponent and remains as the sole survivor.

The dip laments for the good old days, to watch the magical work of the sheep dogs as they rounded the sheep up and towards the race where it could provide an honest days work. Gone now are the bleats and sounds of the sheep as they dove head first into the dip, swam to the end and clambered out up through the steps. Gone are the golden days.

Once, the 8 Macleod children looked on, learning from and and admiring the work of their father, William. And as the surrounding hills to the west cradled the sun in their bosom at the end of a long day Anne Macleod would call from the bluestone cottage that dinner was ready; a hearty meal prepared as reward for a hard day’s work.

Such day of our pioneers are now victims of the hands of time, and it is inevitable that this sheep dip will too disappear in the near future. Until then it remains as the sole survivor of the once busy and vibrant Mac’sfield estate.