BACKGROUND

Downstream from Johnston St was Hodgson's punt. Its exact position was at the foot of what is now Clarke Street, Abbotsford, alongside the Convent wall and the Collingwood Community Farm..

 

It operated from 1856 to 1862.

 

Among his other enterprises, John Hodgson  had taken up a  squatting lease in the Studley Park portion of Boroondara for depasturing sheep, and built a house for himself overlooking the Yarra.

 

Doubtless finding the isolation of the position inconvenient, he established the punt, which was also used by the inhabitants of the Kew district for several years as a means of getting wood and other produce to customers on the Collingwood side of the river.

 

The site of the punt is just off the Main Yarra Trail, marked by the remains of stone steps which formed part of the landing. It provided access to Studley Park, Kew.