THE Dunkeld Sawmill Open Day is on again with plenty of family entertainment on offer at the Dunkeld Arboretum today from 11am-4pm.

This will be the first time the annual open day will be held since the pandemic, making it extra special.

Dunkeld has a long history of timber milling and visitors to the Open Day can expect a variety of vintage chainsaws and old tool exhibits, timber, post cutting, swing saw, and axe handle machine demonstrations.

Originally established in Victoria Valley in the 1930s, the sawmill eventually moved to Dunkeld in the 1940s.

This was so it was closer to the old reservoir to get water for the steam engines, but also so the many timber workers employed who resided in Dunkeld were closer to the mill.

Dunkeld Public Lands Committee vice president, John Smith, said Arthur Fitzpatrick started the first mill and then his son Bill took it over at its present site where it remained operational until 2000.

“After the second World War and the return of soldiers to soldier settler blocks, timber was needed to build homes making it a thriving commercial enterprise,” he said.

“In the 1930’s trucks weren’t available to cart logs.

“When the mill was up in the (Victoria) Valley, the men lived up there in huts.

“It would have been the biggest employer for many decades.

“Then there were timber-fallers and the log-carters employed also.”

Fortunately, locals appreciated the historical significance of the mill and the Dunkeld Public Lands Committee who manage the Crown land on behalf of the Victorian Government, was funded to fence the site.

Mr Smith said that in 2012, locals held a meeting to gauge interest to restore the “Fitzpatrick Sawmill”.

He said with many working bees later, and the return of vintage tools to the mill, the sawmill stands as a historical reminder of what was once a thriving local industry.

“The original idea was to set it up for tourists,” Mr Smith said.

“But boys will be boys and every Friday, a group of mostly blokes, still meet at the mill.

“We’re ‘Friends of the Sawmill’, I guess you could say.

“We still cut timber for a lot of community groups, we cut timber for sporting groups, we made bench tops for the caravan park, and cut timber for local men’s sheds - that sort of thing.”

Mr Smith said at the Open Day there will be running demonstrations of timber cutting and people can then walk through the old mill building and see how the sawmill operated from years gone by.

He said Geoff Inkster from Warracknabeal would return with the wood turning machine and give demonstrations.

“Local Alan Fort will give a demonstration on a swing saw,” Mr Smith said.

“Food and drinks will be available - the Dunkeld Museum will host a sausage sizzle.”

Gold coin donation to enter.