Mansfield Alpine Four Wheel Drive Club Inc. (MAFWDC) is a small club started in 1987 by concerned people who wished to retain access to the Victorian High Country. The club later moved into a second phase where it, along with the CFA 4WD Club rebuilt Craig’s Hut in the early nineties. The club then organized seven annual black tie “Dinners at Craig’s Hut”. These were held as fundraisers to assist in the ongoing maintenance of the hut. Since the 2006/07 bushfires in which Craig’s Hut was burnt, the rebuild and maintenance of Craig’s Hut has been taken over by government bodies.
Craig's Hut Custodians
Mansfield Alpine 4WDC Inc,
&
CFA 4WD Club Inc.
Craig's Hut Custodians
21st December 2006
At approximately 1645 on Monday 11th December 2006, Craig’s Hut was discovered burnt to the ground. After going through the appropriate channels Dave and Neil boarded a helicopter and flew into Craig’s with a view to removing the bark from the roof of the hut and clean-up any other surrounding debris. Unfortunately, all that remained of the hut was debris.
This tragedy has brought to an end the hard work that began back in 1992 when the club (MAFWDC) spent twelve months in negotiation with the then Department of Conservation & Environment to rebuild the hut.
The hut was built in 1983 as a movie prop for the films “The Man from Snowy River” and “The Man from Snowy River 2”, and also used in the film “Cool Change”.
In January 1993, the filmset was demolished and then with the voluntary help of many people, the club co-ordinated the rebuild of the hut for future generations to see and understand the life of the mountain cattlemen and women. Within 3 short months the hut was rebuilt and on the 4th April 1993, The Honourable Mark Birrell officially opened the hut.
The club was then joined with permanent helpers in the form of the CFA FWDC and between us, we ran seven annual ‘Black Tie Dinners’ at Craig’s Hut to raise money for ongoing maintenance of the hut and its surrounds.
The Mansfield and CFA 4WD clubs have been the recognised custodians of the hut since it was rebuilt in 1993, and jointly have held regular meetings with the DSE to ensure the character of the hut remains true to its time.
It is a sad event for all of us involved in the hut rebuilding and ongoing maintenance over the past 14 years.
We appreciate that there are people keen to see the hut rebuilt again however we believe the priority at the moment is to wait until the threat of the current fire situation has passed and then to meet with the department to discuss our next steps.
We ask that all interested parties’ refrain from planning any action until an outcome from the proposed meeting is resolved.