Darkie Garnet – Rubyvale

Bill Darkie Garnet
Preparations at Rubyvale Flats
Wheelbarrow Derby start line
Wheelbarrow Derby finish line
Timber cutting competition
Peter Brown is congratulated by wife Eileen after winning the inaugral Ironman Wheelbarrow Derby

Like many others in the early 1900s, legend has it that William (Bill) Darkie Garnet arrived on the Sapphire Gemfields pushing his wheelbarrow loaded with all his worldly possessions. He went on to make, and lose, several fortunes before eventually leaving the ’fields to head north, again pushing his wheelbarrow, carrying all he owned.

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The fortune Darkie made from sapphires was spent on a lavish lifestyle. One tale has him travelling to Sydney and hiring a brass band to march behind him – just because he could!

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Wheelbarrow Derby 

Roll the clock forward almost 70 years to 1980. Inspired by the story of the fabled Darkie, local identity Mike Monteagle formed a committee to create the inaugural Gemfields Ironman Wheelbarrow Derby.

The derby, held during school holidays, was a gruelling 18.3-kilometre race starting outside the Anakie Hotel, with contestants pushing wheelbarrows, each containing a 10kg billy boulder, pick and shovel. 

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The only stop along the way was at Sapphire, where runners hurriedly discarded the boulders and shovelled a bucketful of wash into their barrows. Then they were off again over the last six kilometres, on rough, corrugated dirt road, arriving here at Rubyvale Flats, where family activities, live music and bonfires raged well into the night.

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Very generous cash and jewellery prizes were awarded to the wheelbarrow derby winners and placegetters. It was an event that became the highlight of the Sapphire Gemfields’ social calendar until the last race, held in 2000.

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Darkie – one man who pushed his own barrow! 

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