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Fascinating Historical Facts - Mornington Peninsula
Woolley's Cool Room - Woolley's Beach Crib point

The fishing industry around Hastings and Cribb Point was a lucrative industry in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Western Port was considered to be the ‘great rendezvous of fishermen south of Melbourne’ according to aurthor Horace Wheelwright in 1861. He claimed that the large volume of ships entering Port Philip Bay had disturbed the fish too much where as Western Port had no harbour for shipping, making it a good fishing ground.

He was obviously correct because a correspondent of the ‘Mornington Standard’ newspaper wrote in 1889 that on a recent visit to Hastings he was ‘somewhat surprised to learn of the magnitude of the fishing industry there. There were 60 – 70 fishermen carrying on operations there and the amount of money received weekly by the fishermen was around £300 - £400 ($600 - $800).’

Oberon Class Submarine at anchor off Woolley's Beach

We heard there was an old ‘cool room’ at Woolleys Beach where, at the turn of the century Bill Woolley stored his fish prior to sending them to Melbourne to be sold. So off we went on another adventure with rather vague instructions (as usual!). If you are traveling from Hastings along the Hastings Flinders Road (as we were), take the Crib Point/Stoney Point turn off and a short distance along on your left is Woolleys Road. Turn onto Woolleys road and follow this around past Jacks beach and the old BP refinery and terminal. Woolleys Road now becomes The Esplanade (a common thing in Victoria where one road can have many names. Quite confusing for the visitor!) By the way, when you pass the BP refinery, keep an eye out for the Oberon Class Submarine (the last one in existence) at anchor in the bay, rusting away due to ‘red tape’ on the part of the Victorian Government who claim it is not worth preserving.

Sign at the entrance to the car park

There are 2 car park entrances on your left for Woolleys Beach. It is the second entrance where the ‘cool room’ is located. If you are approaching this from the other direction, it is the entrance on the right not far past Disney Street.

The ‘cool room is surrounded by a security fence at the north east corner of the car park. A sign is attached to the fence that says ‘This cement cool room was built by Mr Bill Woolley in the year 1903 to store his fish on weekends. Blocks of ice were packed in the with the fish awaiting transport to Melbourne by train on Monday mornings.’

The remains of Bill Woolley's 'Cool Room'

The 'cool room' was once an old brick pit or cellar according to Graeme Butler, the aurthor of the Hastings District Heritage study. It has concrete walls that are reinforced using old tram line sections.

Woolleys beach is not very attractive, especially with the oil refinery jetty in the foreground. However, you may see some majestic black swans on the water. There is a walk that goes between the 2 car parks if you are up for some excersize.