MARY’S MOUNT HISTORICAL WALK
Station L – The Rosary Garden and Timber Adventure Playground
In 2005, declared the Year of The Rosary by the Pope, a new Rosary Garden was created at Mary’s Mount. Each class and staff member planted a rose, and students prayed the Rosary outside, especially in October.
A Timber Adventure Playground, built by parents in the 1970s, provided various play opportunities. It included two cement tanks, known as “dunny holes,” which were popular among students. By 2006, the playground was replaced with safer equipment, but the dunny holes were preserved in the 2017/18 Nature playground, Loquat Grove.
Loquat Grove, the site of the old Cricket Pitch, evolved into a potting shed and later into imaginative nature play areas with worm farms and vegetable gardens.
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The Pope declared 2005 the Year of The Rosary. To encourage students to pray the Rosary more often it was decided that we try to pray it outside in class groups at least once a week with a decade each school day. A new Rosary Garden was created out the front and to the left of the administration block. Each class from KK to 7 plus Staff planted a rose, one for each Hail Mary of the decade and the P& F planted one for the Our Father. Classes can come out, especially in October, Mary’s month and pray a decade of the Rosary while sitting on the lawn.
Just opposite the 1987 administration and staff room building was a Timber Adventure Playground that was built by parents in the 1970’s and provided great opportunities for climbing, swinging, digging and balancing as well as tree hugging and insect discovering. There were also two cement tanks for crawling in and out and for climbing as well as areas for cubbies made from the many branches and sticks that fell from the pines and gum trees. The two tanks became “the dunny holes” and it was a race to the dunny holes for class playtime or lunchtime ownership. These were the best places for setting up honky nut ammunition to keep others out. Tree cubbies became class owned and woe betides anyone who destroyed or set about dismantling one. Gum tree bark splinters were common but if you left your “fort” for First Aid you might let the team down and lose a “dunny hole” or a cubby to another class.
Sadly by 2006 the rough sawn timber had deteriorated and the Timber Playground was demolished to make way for a bright, colourful and safer set of slides and climbing frames.
But the well loved dunny holes survived for another generation of children when they were placed in the 2017/18 Nature playground named Loquat Grove and have become great places for hiding, chatting and tunnelling. Loquat Grove is the site of the old Cricket Pitch from the 70’s, which later became a potting shed around 2010 when mulch and compost were stored there for class vegetable gardens. This led to the development of worm farms, raised vegetable gardens and fantastic, imaginative nature play areas established in 2017 and onwards.
