A few years ago, I was researching the named waterfalls near the towns of the Blue Mountains and came across this short article in the Blue Mountains Echo (7 March 1919, page 3) –
Speaking at Leura on Wednesday, Mr J. H Bloome stated that the Douglas Falls Trustees were inaugurating a system of constructing concrete steps. The idea had originated from Mr Burrell.
I wondered about this as I had never heard of a “Douglas Falls”. There are a lot of waterfalls close to Leura and some of them are obscure. But if a waterfall has a track to it with concrete stairs then it should be well known. I thought it could be a well know waterfall that may not have an official name – perhaps the one in Lyre Birds Dell or the one at the Pool of Siloam. I have always called these “Lyre Bird Dell Falls” and “Pool of Siloam Falls”.
Lyre Bird Dell Falls
I could not find any more references to “Douglas Falls” or a “Douglas Falls Trust” on Trove. The only reference I could find was in the Blue Mountains Geographical Encyclopaedia, which simply quoted the above news report and stated “location unknown”. The author, Brian Fox, speculated that the falls could be named after World War One leader, Sir Douglas Haig.
I did find this article in Trove, it is also from the Blue Mountains Echo and was published a short time after the one above (28 April 1919)
Anzac Day was celebrated in Leura in a very fitting manner by the trustees of the Gordon Falls reserve by the planting of seven trees. Mrs. J. Burrill planted the first tree, dedicated to Marshal Foch. Mrs. J. H. Bloome planted one to perpetuate Sir Douglas Haig, and Mrs. A. Sinclair one to honor General Birdwood.
So the conjecture that the falls could be named after Sir Douglas Haig may be valid. In that area of Leura is “Lone Pine Avenue”.
Another interesting article can be found in a piece titled “Leura’s Neglected Asset” also in the Blue Mountains Echo on 10 April 1925. The main point of the article, which seems to be an editorial or opinion piece and with no named author, was that the named “Leura Falls” were closer to Katoomba than Leura, and so they should be renamed “Central Falls” and that “Gordon Falls” should be renamed as “Leura Falls”. This was at a time when there were separate councils in Katoomba and Leura and they both competed for tourists. But the article also mentions a “concrete stairway” from the “Memorial Park” to “Lyre Bird Dell”, so perhaps the waterfall in Lyre Bird Dell is the “Douglas Falls”? The “Memorial Park” here is at the “Memorial Gates” off Lone Pine Avenue, and the start of the track down to Lyre Bird Dell. Lyre Bird Dell was part of the Gordon Falls Reserve and would have been administered by the Gordon Falls Trust.
The author of that article also wanted a track constructed from Lyre Bird Dell to the Pool of Siloam, and it seems that a track was constructed around 1932 as suggested by this letter to the editor (The Katoomba Daily, 20 August 1932).
Pool of Siloam Falls
I am not sure when the track down to the Pool of Siloam from the Gordon Falls carpark was constructed. The Pool of Siloam is not mentioned in the 1908 Mountaineer, Illustrated Tourist Guide to the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. Nor is it shown on the 1909 Map of Katoomba and Leura. The earliest reference I can find on Trove is to an accidental drowning in 1925. See this reference. (the Blue Mountain Echo, 10 Apr 1925, page 4). A young boy drowned in the pool, which was named then. A search party that had earlier herd screams, “scrambled” down to the pool and found the body. So perhaps there was no track in those days? Or perhaps just a rough track if the pool was then named.
Now back to Douglas Falls and the Douglas Falls Trust. I think it is too much of a coincidence for there to be a Douglas Falls Trust with members Mr J H Bloome and Mr Burrell and a Gordon Falls Trust with wives of members that planted the trees – Mrs J H Bloome and Mrs J Burrill. I think the “Burrell” in the first article should be “Burrill” (the name is spelt that way in other reports), and the “Douglas Falls Trust” should be the “Gordon Falls Trust” in the first article. There are plenty of references to a “Gordon Falls Trust” and only the one to a “Douglas Falls Trust”. So to conclude, I think it is likely that there is no Douglas Falls Trust and probably no Douglas Falls.