Blue Mountains History Journal Issue 3

Blue Mountains Historical Journal 3;
“ ... , who was 65, died when he fell 1,000 feet down Govett’s Leap at Blackheath on Saturday.”
(Anonymous 1957g).
But Katoomba is definitely an incorrect location and Govetts Leap is only an approximate position.
Moreover, the electronic version of a recent article (Higham 2011) has a misleading map on which the
marker implying the site of Childe’s death has been placed on Darling Causeway at the head of the Grose
River Gorge, whereas the stated location of Govetts Leap is c.21km distant along the river systems
and on an entirely different water catchment. *
Writing nearly half a century after the incident, Thomas (2003, pp.211, 220, 221, 230 & 270) also
maintained that the death occurred below Luchetti Lookout. But some details do not fit the location of
that seldom visited lookout (Figure 2) which is between Govetts Leap and Evans Lookout, and the Cliff
Top Track between those sites is pretty rough and steep in places, particularly in the eastern part. But
Luchetti Lookout was accessed by an even more rough side route, c.100 m long, which descended down a
steep slope and then ascended a short distance to the cliff edge. For many years the side track to that
location has been overgrown and now, because of the need to bush-bash to get to it, there are few people
living who have been to Luchetti Lookout. It seems unlikely that a taxi driver in his normal work attire
would have walked those rough tracks.
Map data ©2012 Google
Figure 2. Govetts Leap Lookout, Barrow Lookout and Luchetti Lookout.
Under oath, driver Newstead stated that the distance to the location where Childe’s coat was seen was 1.5
– 2 miles (2.4 - 3.2 km) from the end of Govetts Leap Road (Thomas 2003, p.224). That range is
unbelievable for the distance from the car park at the end of Govetts Leap Road to Luchetti Lookout is c.
0.9 miles (1.46 km), and the distance all the way to Evans Lookout is only c.1.8 miles (2.9 km)!
* Govetts Leap Brook flows over an escarpment to create the famous waterfall and then the Brook joins the western bank of Govetts Creek
about midway along Govett Gorge; in turn, Govetts Creek flows northwards and joins to the Grose River well to the SE of its headwater.
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