The Pemberton Pool: A still, emerald stretch of water held by a concrete edge, framed by towering karri, with the forest doubled in the reflection. On a quiet morning like this, it looks exactly like what it is: a piece of the past that still belongs to the present.
The Pool was built in 1928. Mill workers put their hands in their pockets on pay day and donated five shillings each. By the end of the night, enough had been raised to dam a small stream running into the Lefroy Brook. A local doctor and the school headmaster did the engineering. By February the next year, children were swimming in it.
I’m learning that’s the Pemberton story in miniature. A community decides something matters. They fund it themselves. And nearly a hundred years later, it’s still here.
What I love about the Pool is that each generation has added something of itself. Trout fry flown in from Victoria in the 1930s. Swans donated for the school children to care for. Swimming carnivals, picnics, even a Royal visit. A sled ride that once ran straight down the hillside into the water. Today, 36 kilometres of mountain bike trails carved into the surrounding forest.
The whole asset — pool, park, and trails — remains community owned, managed by community representatives. The community built it, the community owns it, and with the help of volunteers, the community keeps it going.
Pemberton is a beautiful and unique place. Not because it has resisted change, but because it has welcomed it on its own terms.
Being Arthur 