Namadgi Huts

Year Built: 1960s

Alternate Name(s): Lutons Hut

Condition: Good

HMO: Namadgi

Lutons Crutching Shed

Lutons Crutching Shed is almost on the southern border with NSW. It is a good day walk up a grassy valley, with options to climb nearby peaks for the energetic.

Brief History

Lutons was built for Noel and Greg Luton "Muzzlebrook" at Shannons Flat, to be used for sheep crutching. The builders were Alan Robinson, Noel and Herb Dybal.

Sheep crutching is the removal of excess wool and dags from around the rear of the sheep to reduce the chance of fly strike, generally undertaken in March or April.

The shed makes a good shelter on a hot or rainy day.

Noel Luton was born in November 1931 and passed away in June 2009. He was the first son of (Charles) Morris Luton (1908-1987) and Frances Clugston (1903-1974) (Morris son of Walter and Alice nee Dwyer who had 14 children and two wives) He was brother to Greg Luton. Noel married Fay Murphy (born 1924) in Cooma and they had three sons. The Luton's had lived at Shannon's flat since the early 1870's (some say 1840's).

Morris bought Bobeyan Station from Dick Brayshaw (then 52 and living to 54 at Roseview) for Noel and Greg in 1952 and they paid for it over time, farming it until Bobyean was resumed in 1979 by the National Parks (Then the Gudgenby Nature Reserve).

Their activities included sheep farming, hence the construction of the crutching shed.

The area had originally been slated as an extension to the Gudgenby Pine Forest reservation.

Construction

The roof and walls are of corrugated iron, and part of the floor is timber or timber slats. The shed has had at least two major alterations, one in 1984 when the shed was proposed as a Rangers Base and the crutching board was surounded with corrugated iron. A water tank and piping was installed but later stolen.

Numerous sheep yards around the shed were removed by NPWS to make a single horse paddock for their later use.