The Coal River Valley in located in the City of Clarence, Tasmania and is a primarily agrarian area to the west of the city, located between the townships of Cambridge, and Richmond. It is nestled between the Meehan Range, Pitt Water and the Pontos Range.
The Coal River Valley was one of the earliest areas used by the first British settlers outside of Hobart, and the nearby town of Richmond dates from 1823, when a bridge across the Coal River was constructed. The name Coal River comes from the abundant natural source of coal in the area. The first British settlers used the valley as a mixture of grazing, pastureland and crop growing.
Its primary land usage is as vineyards and produces very high quality slow maturing cool weather grapes.
The Coal River Valley is sheltered from the city lights of Hobart by the Meehan Range making it an ideal location for the University of Tasmania's Mount Pleasant radio telescope observatory.
Famous quotes containing the words coal, river and/or valley:
“... gathering news in Russia was like mining coal with a hatpin.”
—Mary Heaton Vorse (1874–1966)
“In order to get to East Russet you take the Vermont Central as far as Twitchell’s Falls and change there for Torpid River Junction, where a spur line takes you right into Gormley. At Gormley you are met by a buckboard which takes you back to Torpid River Junction again.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Jugful of milk! It was yours years ago
when I lived in the valley of my bones,
bones dumb in the swamp. Little playthings.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)