WILLOW AND THE WOOL SCOUR
Thanks to Bob “Willow” Wilson, Australia’s last operable steam-powered woolscour stands proudly in Blackall as an enduring reminder of our pioneering history.
By: Sarah Hinder
History of the scour
In the wool industry’s heyday, the introduction of steam-powered woolscours was heralded a miracle of modern technology. An essential step in the manufacturing process, newly shorn wool must be cleaned and scoured to eliminate any impurities, residue, dirt and pesticides.
The traditional process — employed for centuries in Britain — involved washing sheep in local creeks before they were shorn. When this method was adopted in Australia, however, a short supply of clean water coupled with dusty paddocks rendered the process ineffectual.
By the mid-19th century, demand was increasing for a better system and by the 1850s, manual scouring processes were gaining popularity. Initially, shorn wool was scoured by stirring fleeces with sticks in cauldrons filled with hot, soapy water. It was a labour-intensive method that would phase out in the late 1880s when mechanised equipment was developed to use steam-powered machinery for scouring. Still in use today, the steam-driven system not only improved the appearance and purity of the fleece, it markedly reduced the total weight to be shipped, too.
Blackall legend
While a manually operated woolscour was built at Blackall in central Queensland in 1893 using water from a town bore, by the early 1900s a town consortium was formed demanding a mechanised woolscour to improve wool production. In 1908, both the steam-powered woolscour and railway were opened, marking a prosperous time for the residents of Blackall.
Now, the entire process of shearing and scouring operated under one roof, with two boilers burning local timber to power a single-cylinder steam engine of 45 horsepower, which drove all machinery. Sheep were shorn in a 20-stand shearing shed directly beside the scouring equipment, then fleeces were put into scouring troughs that contained agitating mechanisms that pushed the wool forward with forks. Rollers squeezed the soda ash water out from the wool once scoured, after which fleeces were passed through a dryer, before being pressed into bales and loaded onto trucks or trains.
An enduring success, the Blackall Woolscour performed two 12-hour shifts each day throughout the years following World War I, and it was one of the only woolscours in Australia to continue operation throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the plant was the last Australian woolscour to remain in operation until, in the 1970s, a downturn in demand coupled with government-imposed rail freight surcharges forced Blackall to close it down in 1978.
Restoration and revival
As the neglected woolscour began to decay in the following decades, the residents of Blackall banded together to preserve it. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its machinery was restored and an oil-fired boiler was installed to produce steam to drive the original engine. By 2002, the local community had entirely restored the original plant as a cultural and heritage site.
Today, the fully operable woolscour is a popular attraction headed up by owner and operator Bob “Willow” Wilson, who won 2017’s Vince Evert Award at the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards for his contribution to local tourism. Willow pressed wool for 24 years, using most of the old scouring technology, before ending his career on a power press. Along with his family and community volunteers, Bob now welcomes visitors to tour Blackall Woolscour in an authentic experience reminiscent of Australia’s wool pioneering days.
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