| Happy Valley Adelaide, South Australia |
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Western end of Windebanks Drive |
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| Population: | 11,531 (2006 census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 5159 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 20 km (12 mi) from Adelaide | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Onkaparinga | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Fisher | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Kingston | ||||||||||||
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Happy Valley is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide.
Within the suburb is the Happy Valley Reservoir accompanied by South Australia's largest water treatment plant, responsible for supplying water to much of the Adelaide metropolitan area.
Formerly a rural village now situated underneath the reservoir, the town of Happy Valley was moved some 4 km east of its original location (now considered part of Aberfoyle Park) during the construction of the reservoir from 1892 to 1896.
Myths abound that the spire of the original church steeple protrudes from the water when the reservoir's capacity is low, and that the town exists, submerged in the depths. This is incorrect, as all buildings were demolished and all salvageable materials — primarily fruit trees and vines — sold off before the area was flooded.[1] Staff responsible for the site at the time of the rumoured church sightings explain that a pump frame was then installed in the location in question which was visible at low water. At any rate, maps of pre-reservoir land parcels show that the location of the original church was not next to the 'scour' tower, but rather under the present dam wall, opposite the current church at the Candy's Road/Chandler's Hill Road junction.[2]
Although it is now encompassed by suburbs, it still retains a relatively semi-rural character due to retention of native flora and vegetation surrounding the Happy Valley Reservoir, as well as parklands and golf courses along its border.
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The Happy Valley CFS established in 1939 is currently located on Glory Ct just off of Education Rd in Happy Valley. It is an entirely volunteer based brigade With a mixture of active fire fighters, cadets and auxiliary fire fighers and members. On average Happy Vally CFS will respond to over 250+ calls per year ranging from Fixed Alarms and Structure Fires to Major Bushfires and Strike Team Deployments. The suburbs primarily covered by the brigade are Happy Valley, Woodcroft, Onkaparinga Hills, Aberfoyle Park and Flagstaff Hill. Also Happy Valley respond into Metropolitan Fire Service area's to assist with any Emerganices they may need assistance.
Three fire appliances are maintained by the brigade, One 2000 litre Two wheel drive Urban Pumping truck used for Urban Emerganices and One 3000 Litre four wheel drive Rural truck supplied by the State Government and a smaller 280 litre quick attack vehicle that was purchased by the brigade.
In November 1844, Daniel George Brock recorded in his diary details of a journey south from Adelaide. On his third day he rode past Thomas O’Halloran’s farm, on the hill noting that the land had little running water and was suitable for wheat farming. Some few kilometres to the east he came to Happy Valley. There, he noted, were ‘several substantial stone buildings, among which is a neat little chapel’.
Happy Valley, a source suggested, was given its name by Edward Burgess, one of the first settlers in the area. Burgess, a staunch Methodist, arrived at Holdfast Bay on 20 January 1837. At some time during the next two years, Burgess made his home at Happy Valley and began farming. He was not alone: the South Australian Company had also purchased significant amounts of land in the area and was offering it to the settlers.
By 1866, Happy Valley was described as ‘an agricultural settlement lying near Dashwood’s Gully, a good district road connecting the two places. It lies near the postal village of O’Halloran Hill. There is a public pound and a Forester’s court in this place.’ By this time, too, wheat farming had been joined by wine grape growing. The settlement itself, although spread over a fair distance, incorporated an array of trades, a licensed school and chapel.
Within another twenty years, there had been a large increase in the area planted to vines and in the production of wine. The Douglas family, for example, were important grape growers in the area. They and others like them witnessed the formation of large wineries such as Horndale, Vale Royal and Mount Hurtle, that were funded by significant investors. Richard Cholmondeley, for example, helped fund the growth of Vale Royal and Horndale cellars.
However the area was about to be subject to dramatic change. Between 1892 and 1896 the construction of the Happy Valley Reservoir was undertaken, and although it was a source of local employment, it also inundated a large number of the area’s farms and buildings. Undaunted, many of the local farming and grape growing families moved to other nearby landholdings and continued their work. In 1959, the name Happy Valley was first applied to a subdivision of Section 501, hundred of Noarlunga. By the 1970s, the pressure of further subdivision was beginning to erode the area’s heritage. In 1983, the City of Happy Valley – formerly the District Council of Meadows – was created.