Sandstone (another little town in Goldfields we visited) derives its name from the dramatic contrast of natural rock formations, known as breakaways, with the rust stained sandstone landscape.
The two such famous places, where the rocks display their beauty are the Old Brewery and London Bridge. The Brewery was opened in 1907 supplying many thirsty miners of Sandstone with beer. It was built on top of the breakaway 10-15 meters in height and was visible up to 20km away, being an attractive sight. The beer was stored in barrels inside the cellar, which was a massive tunnel carved deep into the rock with the hole bored through the ceiling of the rock, which allowed beer remain remarkably cool even in hottest weather.
The main attraction of Sandstone, for me, was beautiful rock formation with a romantic name London Bridge. It is quite amazing that someone has named the place London Bridge, although it bears little similarity to the original bridge in London.
London Bridge is part of a larger rock formation about 800 meters long and varying in height from 3 to 10 meters. It is believed to be about 350 million years old, while the underlying rocks of Sandstone area are thought to be as old as 2 billion years (considering that the planet Earth is about 4.5 billion years old!) The actual «bridge» is the result of erosion in hard and soft rock, which makes it thinner as years go by. Back in the yearly days of Sandstone’s founding (late 1800), the bridge was wide enough for a horse and buggy to cross. Nowadays, visitors are asked to refrain from climbing the bridge to preserve this natural beauty for the next generations for as long as possible (as well as for their own safety). So, if you do visit this place, please respect the rule and do not walk over the bridge.
