The guide, based on Norman Lindsay’s novel Redheap, consists of a hardcover box containing 20 picture cards portraying how the town would have appeared to the novel’s protagonist, Robert Piper. 

The box contains a map of Creswick on its inside front cover to guide readers around the town. 

Each picture card identifies a place as it looked in 1896 and includes an excerpt from the novel pertaining to the action that takes place at the location described in the novel. 

Bell said what initially interested him was that the places Lindsay described were recognisable.

“We used to have family holidays here when I was younger. I was really fond of the place and so bought a property here a couple of years ago,” he said. “When I came back I bought my sister’s copy of Redheap.

“It was written in the 1930’s by Norman Lindsay and is basically about teenage years in Creswick, which he has renamed Redheap after the mollock heaps left over from the mines.

“I was amazed at how recognisable the places described in the book were. You can still see half of them here today,” he said. 

“I thought it would be interesting, for readers of the book, to actually see the places Lindsay is talking about. I thought it could make an interesting version of a guide.”

As two guides already existed in the town, Bell thought he would create his as a series of picture cards.

Once he had decided on undertaking the project, it took him about a year of research to find photos of all of the places and buildings listed in the book. 

He sourced many of the photos from Melbourne University’s archives as well as Creswick’s research centre and museum. 

Lindsay wrote Redheap in his late 30s. The book was the first Australian novel to be banned due to its salaciousness. 

Bell said it was most likely banned as the characters described in the book were too easily recognised as real people in the town, such as the famous Peacock family. 

The guide is available at Creswick Visitor Centre, Post Office and at Ballarat’s major book shops.