Emeritus Surveyor (Ret’d) Gerry Bell is a generational surveyor. His forbear, George Phillips, both surveyed and engineered the Croydon to Normanton Railway in the 1880s, and Gerry himself has worked on many surveys around Queensland, including the watershed on Cotherstone in Queensland’s Central Highlands. Consider the life of the chainman on that job as Gerry describes his role in this AV interview.
This interview was recorded on 28 May 2024 – Gerry describes the occupation of a chainman and a cadet surveyor.
One of Gerry’s major surveys in the Caloundra area was the site of the Caloundra State High School in the early 1960’s. Photo 1 shows Gerry, aged 91, armed with his trusty tomahawk, stands beside the marked tree across from Caloundra State High School in May 2024; photo 2 shows the shield taken from that tree; photo 3 shows the scar where it had been cut over 60 years ago.
