Walking around Coleraine

Bryan Creek

Bryan Creek was first known as Koroite Creek. It was renamed after John Bryan who explored the area in 1837 and established a sheep station. I grew up on Bryan Creek. Then, the water was pure and the sand white. As teenagers we would swim, play cricket, or 'keepings off', with the boys. We would swing off a rope tied to the tree and there was also a flying-fox. Down at the creek was THE place to meet your friends. I remember when the circus came to Coleraine in the 1970s. The kids would make a beeline for the oval. Sometimes you could pick up a job and get paid for feeding the horses. They would water the animals at Bryan Creek. The elephants were a sight, wallowing in the water.

Val Spong and Kay McCann

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Bryan Creek was first known as Koroit Creek. It was renamed after John Bryan who explored the area in 1837 and established a sheep station. I grew up on Bryan Creek. Then, the water was pure and the sand white. As teenagers we would swim, play cricket, or 'keepings off', with the boys. We would swing off a rope tied to the tree and there was also a flying-fox. Down at the creek was THE place to meet your friends. I remember when the circus came to Col-rain in the 1970s. The kids would make a beeline for the oval. Sometimes you could pick up a job and get paid for feeding the horses. They would water the animals at Bryan Creek. The elephants were a sight, wallowing in the water.

This story was told by Val Spong and Kay McCann