Hartley Court House - 1837 to 1937

8 HISTORIC GLENROY, COX’S RIVER.
of December 8 it was finished, the thin timber facilitating the
work.
B r i d g e B u i l d i n g a t G l e n r o y .
Of the early bridges west of the Blue Mountains, those at
Glenroy were the first built. December 9, 1814, dawned fine
there, with a west wind blowing. All hands were at work
before breakfast at the bridge over the River Lett. At nine
o ’clock all hands were taken to the second bridge, that over
Cox’s River above the junction, and before dinner one of the
side pieces, forty-five feet long, was got about one hundred yards
down the river and fixed in its place. The other side piece was
got by falling a tree across the river, about sixty feet long, and
securing it in position. After dinner the men were served with
a gill of spirits. Several who seemed “ inclined to give in and
shirk work ” were given a “ reproof in earnest ” which Cox
thought would make them all well by the morning. Next day
the bridge over the east branch was finished. It measured
twenty-two feet long by thirteen feet wide, and the “ carpenters,
etc., made a good, strong job of it ” . The remains of a bridge,
possibly Cox’s, are still to be seen at this point on the River
Lett, and the old road m ay be followed along a ridge leading
down to it.
December 11 was a Sunday, and at 6 a.m. six men were
sent back to complete the road down the mountain while Cox
himself rode forward, making for the Pish River, to examine
the ground. N ext day men were at work getting timber for
the second bridge, and were obliged to bring most of it down the
river by their own labour. Six of them who were in the water
nearly all day were given a gill of spirits each. During the
succeeding days while men worked well at the bridge and
causeway leading to it, the pass at Mount York was nearing
completion, and at one o ’clock on December 15 it was reported
finished. This marked the completion of the Blue Mountains
section of the road made b y Cox, and after inspection of the
pass six married men were discharged and allowed to return to
the Nepean. A t two o ’clock on December 16 the second
bridge was finished. Measuring forty-five feet long by fourteen
feet wide, it was a good, strong job, with a causeway on each side
filled up with stone and covered with earth.