WOOD shavings from Dwyer's Sawmill may be all that remains on site in the coming months, but the dedication and commitment of the four generations of the Dwyer family to the timber industry will never be forgotten.
Dwyer's Sawmill in Leonards Hill began operating in 1942.
Before then, the Dwyers had been logging for 15 years, taking the mill to logging sites in various parts of the Wombat State Forest.
Jim Dwyer, the fourth generation of the family to run the mill, remembered his father, Jack Dwyer, running the mill on behalf of his sister-in-law.
"All the men died early and so it was run by women," Mr Dwyer said.
"Mum (Anne) had a one-year-old and had to run the mill."
Mrs Dwyer said you would never see a woman out in the mill.
"You did what had to be done and didn't think about it," Mrs Dwyer said.
Jim Dwyer started working at the mill as a 21-year-old, stacking palings, which was considered the safest job.
In the past 10 to 12 years, Mr Dwyer invested $1.5 million in the mill which won awards for best timber for kiln drying in 1997 and 1998.
"It was a huge investment," Mr Dwyer said.
"In 2000 we produced the best timber in Victoria."
Using timber from the Wombat State Forest, Dwyer's Sawmill would cut the logs and let it air dry for two years. Then the timber was kiln dried for two weeks.
The mill used the barrel of the tree for timber and the other two-thirds of the tree was sold as firewood.
Timber from Dwyer's Sawmill was supplied to The Woodshed Gallery in Daylesford, and timber yards within the district.
Things were going well for the mill until the State Government cut the logging area in the Wombat State Forest from 40,000m3 to 8600m3.
Mr Dwyer said some of his workers decided to hang up their boots after the mill's production was cut by 40 per cent.
"We managed like this for two or three years and then we were in no-man's land," he said.
In 2002, the State Government offered the mill a package but the Dwyer's weren't interested.
"Production was cut to half capacity in two years we were two years behind logging."
Throughout the changes to the timber industry in the Wombat State Forest, the Dwyers said the Department of Sustainability and the Environment was supportive.
"DSE were wonderful. The government isn't the DSE, they didn't support their own department," Mr Dwyer said.
"The government didn't want to let the mills start logging because they didn't want any trouble. There was no need to get rid of the timber industry."
Mr Dwyer said the industry could still operate in the Wombat State Forest without affecting the forest.
With six employees at the mill, Mr Dwyer said there were mixed reactions when they heard about the closure.
Jim's cousin, Mick Dwyer, 58, started working at the mill as a young boy. His father and grandfather also worked there.
"I've got no idea what to do now. I don't want to work for anyone else," he said.
Wayne Cowan started work at the mill when he was 15-years-old. He said he did not know what he would do when the mill finally closed.
"It's disappointing. There was no reason to shut the mill down," Mr Cowan said.
"In the future everyone will be screaming for timber."
The mill has about three or four months of timber left before it closes as the last timber sawlog licence in the Wombat State Forest.
Email a friend