A tragic accident at a local quarry, forgotten by most over time, has been brought back to prominence in two ways – with the unveiling of a plaque at the new Minnamurra Bike Skills Park (in the disused Eureka quarry) and through a song by local band, The Water Runners.

One of the songs on their much anticipated third album, Further Down the Road, tells the sad tale of the Eureka Quarry disaster of 1912 when a premature explosion killed five men immediately, one a week later, seriously injured three more, and maimed several.

And in a tragic epilogue, Ganger Eyles, who was one of the men in charge of the explosion, threw himself under a train at Minnamurra station about two weeks after the accident.

Songwriter John Littrich says: “We love the bluegrass style genre, but I always wanted to write about Australian stories, preferably local, rather than writing about the Mississippi, ’cause that’s not who we are.”

He read the story about the Eureka tragedy in the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage Museum near the Blowhole and in 2006 his wife Jane had been part of a Roo Theatre production called Quarry written by Gordon Streek.

The Water Runners at Bombo Quarry

“I thought it was such a sad story and Bluegrass is often about telling sad tales – my dog has died and my woman has done left me!,” says John. 

“Local people know a lot about our shipwrecks but not much about our industrial history.

“We forget that Kiama was semi-industrial at one time, with four to five quarries in Barney St, Bombo, Minnamurra and at the back of the Leisure Centre where the sports fields now are.

“Largely these quarries provided gravel for the railways in NSW including the South Coast rail line.

“Back in the early 1900s, to have six men killed and several injured in a small town would have been a horrific thing.”

Listen to the song here

The Broken Hill newspaper The Barrier Miner published an article on Friday, 31 May, 1912, part of which reads: “On receiving news of the accident, all the quarries in the district suspended working operations, and flags are flying at half-mast. Many harrowing scenes were witnessed at the railway station when relatives and friends of the killed arrived.”

Recorded in Sydney by renowned country music producer Matt Fell, The Water Runners’ new album includes songs by John and Neil McCann.

Its launch on July 9 will see the full band reunited, a rare thing as violinist Danita Harris has started teaching violin at the Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga and drummer Dom Littrich regularly plays with his band Pacific Avenue.

The new album will be launched Fri July 9 at the Kiama Leagues Club, 7pm. Book at www.thewaterrunners.com/shows