Travelling to Lorne

Travel to Lorne by Coach

Travel back to the late 1800’s and you will see what a struggle getting to town really was. Hours of jolting and swaying had to be endured over a dusty track from the railway station at Winchelsea, endured in the tight packed company of a dozen or so others jammed inside or on top of a coach drawn by horses. The ‘road’ followed part of the track the enterprising Mountjoys blazed when they first brought cattle to graze on their run by our bay in the 1860’s. Some of the inclines were too steep for the horses and everyone save the driver had to get off and walk, or in extreme cases, push. Six hours or more after boarding, the weary travellers could alight in Lorne, some clambering from the roof via a ladder.

c1898, Coach at Erskine House (Photo LHS 840)

This photo shows a typical coach load of travellers at Erskine House. It wasn’t only people coming on the coach. The town’s mail came this way as well. The Mountjoy family had their own stables in Smith Street and grew food for their horses in Lorne.

Coach for Birregurra outside Post Office, mail bag drop, c1919

(LHS photo 2593)

 The famous name of Cobb & Co also ran coaches over the Otway ranges from Deans Marsh, and had stables behind the Pacific Hotel. They had to transport feed for their horses to Lorne and so were at a competitive disadvantage to Mountjoy coaches.

Lorne, Oscar Mountjoy at Mountjoy Stable (LHS photo 8543)

The coaches collected Lorne-bound tourists from the Winchelsea Railway Station. After 1891 passengers were transferred at Birregurra onto a smaller train to travel a branch line to the new Deans Marsh Station. The Mountjoys built more stables at the rear of the new station, and before the trip to Lorne, the travellers were taken to the Deans Marsh Hotel where they were served huge three course meals for only eight pence.

The horses struggled with up to 26 passengers plus luggage. You can imagine how relieved the horses were when all the men got off on the hills to do the pushing. When descending a slippery steep section of the roadway during the wet weather, the driver would sometimes have to drag a large log of wood behind the coach on the way down the hills to slow down.

Coaches had to use a ford to cross the Erskine River before the bridge was built in 1898. Photo from Museums Victoria Collections.

Boiler moved by horse to Erskine House 1910 by John Smith (LHS photo 2277)

Benwerrin Refreshment Rooms

In 1889, the Deans Marsh Railway Station opened but a coach was still required from the station to Lorne, passing through Benwerrin. It was uphill from Deans Marsh to Benwerrin, then downhill to Lorne, a trip taking about four hours. The coach stopped at the Benwerrin post office and soon refreshment rooms opened to cater to the passing tourists.

James and Mary Henderson ran the refreshment rooms for many years in the early 20th century and were the last owners before it closed in 1927. The closure was put down to falling clientele brought about by the increasing number of motor cars and the opening of the Great Ocean Road to the east of Lorne in 1922. Also, James had died in 1925 and Mary must have been in failing health, as she died only months after the refreshment rooms closed.

Travelling by Car, Bus, Train

Once the Great Ocean Road and the Deans Marsh Road were completed, before car ownership was common, travellers to Lorne had a few ways to travel to Lorne. Travellers to Lorne could leave Melbourne by the afternoon train, disembark at Geelong, then take a car via the Great Ocean Road arriving at Lorne about 9 pm. Alternatively you could depart from Spencer Street Station, Melbourne, at 6:30 am and travel to Birregurra by train. Then take a car and do the trip over the Otways to Lorne. At Benwerrin, the half-way house on the ranges at an altitude of about 1500 feet (457 metres), people could stop for refreshments, before travel to reach Lorne at sea level arriving around noon.

1910, Benwerrin (LHS photo 8951)

The Benwerrin Refreshment Rooms was a popular place for tourists to break their coach trip to Lorne, and sample strawberries and cream. The Benwerrin Post Office inland from Lorne opened in 1886 and William Mountjoy was awarded the contract to run a mail coach between Birregurra and Lorne via Dean’s Marsh and Benwerrin.

Travelling by Sea

Before the opening of the Great Ocean Road, visitors to Lorne could travel by boat and land at the Lorne Pier.

Manawatua and passengers at Lorne Pier 1910

A tall pole was erected on Bald Hill, above the pier at Pt Grey, upon which a flag was raised to alert passing vessels such as the Manawatu and the Moonah sailing from Warnambool to Melbourne to stop and pick up passengers. Henry Gwynne’s daughter Gracie was a regular passenger to Melbourne or Warnambool, apparently mostly for shopping. Gracie was often seen standing at the helm of the Moonah in her sou’wester and was affectionately known as ‘Sailor Gwynne’. The Gwynnes were keen travellers and it was on a trip to California that they were inspired to build their elegant American style Grand Pacific Hotel in 1879 next to the Lorne pier.

Moonah at Lorne Pier

Sources:

• Lorne Historical Society Collections
• Lorne Independent March 2025 page 17, IT’S NEVER BEEN EASY GETTING TO LORNE by Chis Cairns
• Western District Families