LEGENDARY stories have been passed down through generations of Bathurst campers, retelling yarns of buried booze on top of The Mountain to flout alcohol restrictions implemented in the 1980s.
However, campers this October might have something more valuable to dig for, with V8 Sleuth uncovering a report of the discovery of gold at Mount Panorama – albeit 88 years ago, when the circuit was originally being constructed!
Bathurst was the home to the New South Wales gold rush, which started in a billabong near the central western New South Wales town in 1851.
Over the next decade, tons of gold would be recovered from the area, with the nearby town of Hill End home to the largest single mass of gold ever discovered.
The gold rush was long gone when the Great Depression took hold in the 1930s, with a range of measures implemented to combat unemployment, including the construction of a scenic road on the Bald Hills near Bathurst.
‘Relief’ workers were tasked to build what would become the Mount Panorama circuit – construction kicked off in mid-1936, with the inaugural meeting being the 1938 Australian Grand Prix.
Midway through the build of the track, numerous newspapers across New South Wales reported on the gold find at the end of July 1937.
The stories noted that a number of workers engaged in the construction of what would go on to be Mount Panorama had uncovered stone containing “five to six pennyweights of gold to the ton”.
In modern terms, that would equate to approximately 9 grams of gold, which in today’s currency translates to around $1,540.
VIP V8 Ute Falcon has huge head-on smash at Bathurst
Big Gun Racing driver Brad Patton emerged OK from his VIP Petfoods V8 Ute after this nasty smash exiting the Chase at Bathurst in 2011.
The various reports also stated that it had not been decided whether the workers would be allowed to keep the gold.
Sadly, the reports neglect to mention which section of the circuit the precious metal was discovered.
The legacy of Bathurst’s golden past can still be found today, including at the Bathurst Goldfields Resort, which is located just outside Forrest’s Elbow on Conrod Straight.
At the heart of the venue is a gold-rush education centre, which for decades has been teaching visitors about the area’s rich history.
The venue has recently changed hands and is currently undergoing a refresh.
So, this October, your camping essentials will include a swag, spare underwear, a metal detector and a gold pan!
Seton and Miedecke collide in Bathurst TCM at high speed!
Aussie racing legends Glenn Seton and Andrew Miedecke collide in this high-speed, huge accident on Conrod Straight at Bathurst in 2013 in Touring Car Masters.