I see that Alanis Morissette, the iconic Canadian singer who came to define a generation’s mood, has been wowing fans at the Glastonbury Festival, notwithstanding the blazing heat that has the United Kingdom in its fiery
grasp. I see that the helpful maps of the vast festival area indicate ‘hedgerows’, possibly for benefit of birdwatchers who need a little time away from the musical offerings. As it happens, famous bird-rich wetlands lie on the other side of Glastonbury from
the echoing fields of Pilton. You can take the ‘Bittern Walk’ to the Avalon Marshes Centre, past rarities like bitterns and Water Voles (the ‘Ratty’ of Wind in the Willows). James Austin was responsible for naming one of his Victorian holdings ‘Avalon’ before
he returned to the UK and acquired the freehold of Glastonbury Abbey, reputed burial place of King Arthur. The name was later applied to Avalon airfield, now part of a Ramsar site along with much of that section of the Port Phillip coastline. The below 1854
map, from the cited online reference, shows the bay shore from the ‘estuary of Little River’ (now familiar to WTP visitors, and the origin of ‘Little River Band’) to Limeburner’s Bay (aka Geelong Grammar Lagoon). Austin’s mansion was on one side of that inlet.
Identified with large type is the locality of the long-forgotten ‘Rothwell’, later to achieve fame as the site of a constructed village for the movie ‘The Dressmaker’, featuring Kate Winslet. The name ‘Austin’ is perhaps better remembered in Australia for
the introduction of rabbits to the continent by brother Thomas at his property near Winchelsea, on the other side of Geelong.
https://natureglenelg.org.au/what-do-saltmarsh-near-geelong-glastonbury-abbey-and-wild-rabbits-have-in-common-the-fascinating-story-of-james-and-thomas-austin/
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