Welcome
to the Newhaven station
History Page
This page will contain the historical aspects of the people,
the station
and the horses and we invite your contributions and
comment.
Photographs taken from the video made by
Lindsay McComb
during his visits to Newhaven Station to purchase a number of Walers.
Newhaven Station, A History.
Newhaven station is approximately 2,626 sq. km’s in size. It is located about 300km north west of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is now one of the worlds’ largest private wild life sanctuary’s’ and is owned by Birds Australia.
Previously, Newhaven was owned by the Coppock family, run mostly single handedly by Alex. In the 1930’s Alexs’ father settled on Newhaven, after having originally lived in NSW. He had also lived on the stock routes in central Australia for a time, trading horses with stockmen who were moving cattle along these stock routes at various times.
Alex - Newhaven Station Owner
When the Coppocks arrived at Newhaven, there was no known water to speak of, and only limited bird and animal life. Sadly Alex’s father passed away after only having been at Newhaven a short time. Alex was to remain at Newhaven for another 45 years. It was Alex that sank all the bores on Newhaven station. It is a good hours’ drive to reach the bore closest to the homestead. It is a similar or in some cases longer travel time between all the other bores on Newhaven. As the water became accessible, the wildlife followed. Bore water tends to be sometimes slightly salty to the taste. The bores are powered by windmills. These pump the water up to tanks, and from here the water flows down into troughs, all the bores were man made, no natural springs in this sometimes harsh but beautiful land.
Alex resting on a rock
On the Tanimai Desert boundary, was Gurner station; this was managed by Alexs’ uncle for a time; it was on the northern boundary of Newhaven. This area was quite harsh, the land looked like most peoples’ perception of a desert landscape; very dry and arid with little vegetation, sandy terrain and rocky outcrops. The horses and cattle that lived in this region were generally in light or poor condition, but they still found feed and survived.
The rest of Newhaven station, although in central Australia, consisted of Gibber plains with lots of spinifex grass and smallish shrubs. Although in the desert region of Australia, the soil is red, and the land mostly flat, there are small sand ridges in some parts, although these are nothing like the giant sand dunes portrayed in movies; with low ranges that seem to almost surround the station in the far distance. The rainfall is erratic out there; station records note that the rainfall in 1962 was 250mm, and then 66mm fell in the next year.
Newhaven station does not have the big Aussie homestead so often portrayed by Hollywood. Alex's’ home was a simple yet cosy and serviceable affair. A small hut made of corrugated iron; it consisted of 3 or 4 rooms. The power was run on a 12 volt generator; if you had too many lights on at once they would dim out! The floor was originally made from crushed up old ant nests; it was replaced with concrete in about 1975. This might sound primitive to some, but practicality, not luxury is what keeps a large station going.
The town of Alice Springs is a good 3 to 4 hour drive from Newhaven; therefore not many people went out that way. Besides the occasional backpackers, or odd tourist, the local Aborigines would travel through the station to reach the Nyirribi community.
The Newhaven Brand
When the Coppocks’ first went to Newhaven in the 1930s’, they took the horses overland with them. These were used as station and droving horses. In the mid 1930s a chestnut stallion was introduced, although his breeding is not known, he was considered to be of ‘good blood’, and had come from another outback station. In 1970, an old style Percheron Thoroughbred cross was introduced; this horse had been bred in Australia and was not a recent import. Gurner station was amalgamated with Newhaven station after 1981, including the separate horse plant. It is from the Gurner horses, some of which had come from Billiluna station; that the coloured walers are thought to come from.
It was with sad regret that Alex made the decision to sell Newhaven station in 2000/2001. He had a deep love for the outback country, and the animals that lived there, especially his beloved horses.
A lot of the horses met a sad fate, however to date we have found approximately 200 that were lucky enough to find new homes. For those of us blessed to have one, or more, of these unique horses, I am sure we realize just how fortunate we are that these few escaped an ugly fate and now lead a better life.
A herd of horses being released from yards
Stallion & mares on station