Don't eat the dirt

When I'm out running I often find myself drawn to things that strike me as unusual. I probably should be focusing on running but let's be honest - part of why any of us run is to enjoy being outside and to take our surroundings.

I've come to realise that there's a good reason why many of the things I'm drawn to don't seem to fit - they are often of another time. 

Cue the "accidental historian"...

What do you reckon this is?  It looks like a handful of old stumps of wood, surrounded by unkempt grass, cordoned off from the rest of Chermside by a slightly-less-old ranch style fence... (well that's what it is, right?).

Turns out it's a throw back to Brisbane's former farming days. There was a public dip there where livestock was treated for ticks from its opening in 1908 through to the 1950s.

According to records kept by both the Chermside District Historical Society and the National Library of Australia, the media reported that at its opening event cattle were plunged into a "mysterious liquid"

Turns out that "mysterious liquid" was arsenic laced water, according to signage erected to mark the historical area. The sign also carries a warning to observe the exclusion zone due to high levels of arsenic still present in the earth.

So if you're in the area... don't eat the dirt!