WITH heritage buildings providing a sense of identity and continuity in an ever-changing world, the late Alison Doley made it her mission to preserve the place and buildings in which she grew up.
In 1965, following the passing of her parents, Arnold and Clarice Rudduck, Ms Doley and her husband, John, took over her family's farm, Koobabbie, in the Mid West.
Near Coorow, in an area that produces wheat, barley, lupins and canola and has a population of 170 people, Koobabbie has been in Ms Doley's family since 1906, with some of the property's oldest buildings dating back to 1910.
The Doleys restored and maintained Koobabbie's buildings over the years and when Ms Doley, a former president of the Coorow Heritage Group, passed away in February 2019, her sister, Wendy Leget decided to donate the family's heritage buildings to the group.
"Alison left the old farm machinery to the local historical group and my family inherited the farm, so we thought it would be wonderful to preserve and share the old buildings with everyone in the local district, as they aren't able to be used for modern farming," Ms Leget said.
Coorow Heritage Group president Jan Muller said Ms Doley was a passionate advocate for preserving items of the past and researching the history of the Coorow district.
"Alison and John Doley were amazing people who deserve to be recognised for what they have done to preserve the history of this area," Ms Muller said.
"Alison treasured the old farm machinery and buildings and she collected other bits and pieces on behalf of the Coorow Heritage Group over the years."
The group, which aims to keep the region's history alive, is proposing to move four of Koobabbie's heritage buildings 24 kilometres to a site on Main Street in Coorow, along with some old farm machinery that had been donated by Ms Doley, to create the Koobabbie Precinct.
An extremely delicate process, when taking the Koobabbie buildings apart, the heritage group will number each piece of the structures, to ensure they are built exactly the same as before.
Ms Muller said the Shire of Coorow had already provided much assistance towards the Koobabbie Precinct project, purchasing the block of land on Main Street and promising the group more funding towards the project.
However, with the project estimated to cost around $300,000, she said further funding would be required to get it up and running.
"We have approached various people with our portfolio asking for financial help, and we are seeking grants from Lotteries West and other outlets as well," Ms Muller said.
"We are hopeful that members of the public will also donate to the cause, to help us achieve our amazing goal."
The heritage buildings to be included in the Koobabbie Precinct are the farm's main stables, oat bin, maids room and Leo's camp - named after the last workman who lived in the building.
With all of the heritage building's original materials obtained from the farm itself, the farm's main stables were constructed in 1914 and made from bush timber.
Re-roofed in 1982, the complex originally contained a large hay shed and chaff room that were lost in a fire.
With a track running down the middle of the main stables for a trolley that could come through to place chaff into the feed troughs, Salmon Gums were used as posts and gimlets and as rail fences around the building.
Ms Leget said the main stables displayed how timber was used in the early 1900s and the history of the region's pastoral area.
"There really are no other buildings in the area of that sort of vintage left, and the stables really show how magnificent the timber was back then," Ms Leget said.
By July 1918, the stables housed a total of 56 horses, which included 21 Clydesdales, 24 young horses and nine riding horses.
Until 1949 the Clydesdale horses were used to crop the farm's paddocks, while the other horses were used for stock work until 1961.
Ms Leget said the main stables had been used up until the 1970s when the farm still had riding horses, but the rest of the heritage buildings hadn't been used by the last generation.
Silos replaced Koobabbie's oat bin in the late 1960s, which was the first bulk storage for grain on the farm, holding up to 27 tonnes, or 500 bags of oats.
A loaded wagon, pulled by horses, would pull up alongside the platform of the oat bin, with the bags carried up the steps and emptied through a door at the top.
Once full, the oats could then be bagged up again from a partition inside the door.
Improvements were made to the oat bin over the years, with Arnold Rudduck installing a 'creep bag loader' in the early 1950s which carried bags up the side of the oat bin using a small motor to reduce the amount of manual labour required.
Leo's camp was built in 1922 and was made out of weatherboard with a jarrah ceiling.
The single men's quarters were used for Koobabbie's workmen, and were very simple, with only a single bed, fireplace, chair and table inside.
To help preserve the heritage building and stop termite damage, it was placed on railway iron.
The maid's room consisted of two small rooms, one for the maid herself, and the other mainly used for storage.
The maid was in charge of feeding the farm's workers and in the 1920s the maid at the time, Irene Dee, also helped to care for Samuel Rudduck, the owner of the property who had tuberculosis and was an invalid for many years.
It was Samuel Rudduck who was the original founder of Koobabbie in 1906, after it being disregarded by the Midland Railway Company due to its salt lakes and sandy soil.
Mr Rudduck purchased and developed a farm on the property, deciding to keep the Aboriginal name for the locality, Koobabbie.
By 1916 Mr Rudduck was running more than 2600 Merino sheep.
Mr Rudduck and his wife, Alice, farmed Koobabbie until the end of 1948 when they retired to South Perth.
Mr Rudduck's son, Arnold, married and settled on 1091 hectares which had been part of Koobabbie farm, naming the property 'El Cala'.
Arnold also developed 1011ha to the east of El Cala which he incorporated into Koobabbie when he took over the farm once his parents retired.
Arnold and his wife, Clarice, moved to Koobabbie and sold the El Cala portion of the farm to the Hogbin family in 1949, which they renamed 'Wandoa'.
Employing six men to help them work the farm, the couple had two children, Alison and Wendy, and when Arnold and his wife died within two years of each other in the early 1960s, Alison Doley took over the farm with her husband.
Ms Leget said their parents were very involved in the local community, with their mother a member of the Country Women's Association and their father heavily involved in the co-operative movement in WA and a director of Westralian Farmers Co-operative Limited.
"When both our parents passed away I knew Alison would take over the farm, as she had always wanted to be a farmer and was very passionate about the land," Ms Leget said.
"We had a wonderful childhood growing up on Koobabbie, each with our own pet lambs, horses and the freedom to roam.
"Our parents instilled in us the values of conservation and preservation from a young age, so I think that's why we both grew up with a great passion for history and taking care of things."
This passion was demonstrated when Ms Doley was awarded the Order of Australia in 2017 for her involvement in the conservation of the environment of WA through revegetation.
Over the years the Doleys expanded the farm to 7173ha, buying back Wandoa and incorporating it into Koobabbie.
Cropping wheat, lupins, barley and oats, the Doleys also had a Merino flock, prime lambs, and a few beef cattle.
Since Ms Leget inherited Koobabbie after her sister's passing, she has regularly been in residence there.
"It is still a fully-functioning property that is being farmed by Jan Muller and her husband, Vern who was a long-term employee of my sister, along with Billy Smith who was also Alison's stock manager for seven years and the help of a few others," Ms Leget said.
Ms Muller said the Koobabbie Precinct project was also a personal endeavour for her, as the Doleys had been like family to her and her husband.
"The Koobabbie Precinct is very important to me as I have known Alison and John for over 27 years," Ms Muller said.
"We were neighbours all that time and my husband worked for them for over 34 years as well, so we miss them both dearly."
She said the group would get the project up and running as soon as they had enough funds and hoped to have it finished in time for next year's wildflower season, usually between July and October.
The wildflower walks around the Coorow Farm, just one kilometre out of town and owned by the local community, is another tourist attraction in the region.
Host to a variety of wildflowers including everlastings, orchids and natives, the ruins of the homestead of the town's original settlers, William and Sara Long, is also on the farm.
The Longs settled the area in 1862, raising sheep and horses.
Ms Muller said the Koobabbie Precinct would help keep the small town buoyant by providing another attraction for people to visit.
"The location on Main Street is a perfect position for the precinct, with it located almost opposite the Coorow Hotel that was built in 1929 and the old Coorow Co-op building, which the Coorow Heritage Group also helped to restore," Ms Muller said.
"People can drive up Main Street and see these amazing old buildings and then they can see what else our small town has to offer."
With Ms Leget planning to sell the Koobabbie property, she said her sister would have been thrilled that the farm's heritage buildings would be preserved and shared with the community.
"I think she would be very proud," Ms Leget said.
If anyone would like to donate or want more information on the Koobabbie Precinct project they can contact the president of the Coorow Heritage Group, Jan Muller by email: coorowheritage@
hotmail.com or phone 0408 950 766.
The Coorow Heritage Group is made up of eight people and has a Facebook page called 'Lost Coorow' which features some of the past and present colourful characters of Coorow.