Great Southern Roller Flour Tunnel

In June 1921, while the Great Southern Roller Flour Mills was building its North Fremantle mill, the company planned a tunnel under Bay Road, now Rule Street. The tunnel was to give the mill access to the deep-water channel at Rocky Bay. Flour could then be loaded onto barges and taken downriver to overseas ships berthed in Fremantle Harbour.

 

The tunnel was mentioned again when the mill opened in March 1922. The opening report said arrangements had been made on the river side for a tunnel and road access so flour could be barged to ships in the harbour. The 1921 report describes provision for construction, while the 1922 report describes the arrangements in place by the opening. No plan showing the route or any records can confirm the tunnel was built or used. Nor does the mill’s 2008 heritage assessment make any mention of it.

 

From a small Narrogin mill to an export mill

A group of Narrogin farmers formed the Narrogin Co-operative Flour Milling Company in 1903 and had a small mill built. In 1904, they leased it to W. C. Harrison and Co. of Port Adelaide, which ran it for three and a half years. The co-operative appointed Connor as manager in December 1907 and ran the mill until it was sold to Great Southern Flour Mills Ltd in 1912. The company kept the Narrogin mill after expanding to North Fremantle and also supplied Narrogin with electric light and power.

 

In late 1919, shareholders agreed to form a new company so they could raise capital for a second mill. On 9 February 1920, they resolved to form Great Southern Roller Flour Mills Ltd with capital of £30,000 and take over the existing business for £20,000. The North Fremantle site was close to the Perth-Fremantle railway and the main road, now Stirling Highway. The new mill was being planned for export trade and the riverside route would have given it another way to get flour to the port.

 

Building the North Fremantle mill

By June 1921, work was well under way next to the municipal tram terminus. The site covered about 2½ acres. An 18-chain railway siding, about 360 metres long, connected it to the state railway and could handle 34 wagons at a time. Wooden bins were being provided to hold 24,000 bushels of wheat, with silos to follow once bulk wheat handling was in use in Western Australia. The company expected the mill to be running by the end of 1921.

 

J. F. Allen of Allen and Nicholas designed the four-storey brick mill. E. Coombe of Guildford took on the first stage for £12,978. In September 1921, his £5,216 tender for the packing room, part of the flour store and an awning over the railway siding was accepted. The company also approved moving its head office from Narrogin to an existing cottage on Thompson Road.

 

Opening day and the first milling equipment

Governor Sir Francis Newdegate officially opened the North Fremantle mill on 28 March 1922. The mill manager, Mr Connor, welcomed him on the roller floor, where the governor set the milling machinery in motion in front of about 200 guests.

 

The machinery installed at the opening could produce two tons of flour an hour, with room in the building for enough equipment to produce four to five tons an hour. Thomas Robinson and Sons supplied the milling and wheat-cleaning machinery and the firm’s engineer, Mr Graham, installed it. The mill ran on electricity from the government powerhouse in Perth. Charles Atkins and Co Ltd supplied the motors and transformers. Civil engineer W. H. Shields oversaw construction of the railway siding and R. C. Jefferies supervised flour milling. The mill, land, machinery and siding cost about £50,000.

 

How the mill expanded after opening

The company bought more land in 1923 and completed a second railway line and siding in 1924 for £363 9s. 10d. Roofs went up over two wheat stacking areas in 1922-23. Floors were added in 1924-25, replacing the sleepers on which the wheat bags had been stacked, and the sheds were enclosed with iron walls in 1928. A conveyor was installed in late 1926 for £675. The following year, builder R. Rennie extended the flour store and its mezzanine to Thompson Road to provide more space during busy periods.

 

The Narrogin co-operative had registered the Dingo name and red dingo trademark in 1908. Flour from North Fremantle was sold as Dingo Flour, while flour from Narrogin was sold as Henco. The company painted the trademark on the mill’s rooftop water tank in August 1925. The large dingo facing Stirling Highway came later, in 1940. The mill was entered on the State Register of Heritage Places in October 2008.