Lovely Ellalong Lagoon - January

In this hot, hot summer the idea of diving into a clean, cool waterhole seems like a vision of heaven. One such spot, Ellalong Lagoon, is part of Cessnock’s swimming folklore. This beautiful, natural waterway was enormous and blessed with a continual flow of water.

Charles and Eva Jaggard are credited, along with many local young people, in developing the lagoon into a swimming pool. By the 1930s the lagoon boasted its own swimming club and its own organisation, the Ellalong Swimming Baths Committee, which charged an admission to swim in the lagoon.

The Committee even created a learner’s pool, by excavating part of the lagoon’s bank to form a shallow swimming area. This Committee was so organised that it arranged for a dedicated bus service to run from Aberdare to the lagoon every Sunday. It’s gala swimming and sports carnivals attracted competitors from premier amateur swimming clubs as far away as Newcastle.

Power was run to the lagoon from a nearby coal mine (possibly illegally), allowing lighting for night-time swimming events. A 6.7 metre tower with springboards was constructed for diving competitions and dressing sheds built. For entertainment the Bellbird Band played regularly on Sundays and sports days, creating a musical background for people picnicking in the landscaped grounds adjoining the lagoon.

In 1939 the Greta Army Camp opened and the following year a large contingent, estimated to be about 100 soldiers and officers, made a visit to the lagoon. The Secretary of the Ellalong Swimming Club, Charles Jaggard, was a former military man and so gave them a warm welcome. In patriotic solidarity he announced that any military personnel could use the lagoon free of charge whenever they wished.

Ellalong Lagoon was bought by Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) in 2012, purchased as an environmental offset for a giant T4 coal-loader. Under the terms of their acquisition of the lagoon and its surrounding lands PWCS is obliged to restore and enhance the area’s biodiversity features in order to boost migratory bird and fauna activity.

Here is a good drone view of the Ellalong Lagoon taken two years ago.

Sadly the lagoon has been badly hit by the drought and you can see a contemporary view of it taken this month.