Bulla is a small township with rural surrounds, immediately north-west of the Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine, and 25 km north-west of central Melbourne. The township is on Deep Creek, a tributary of the Maribyrnong River, and the creek has carved a sinuous course through a valleyed landscape. Search and Stay has plenty of holiday accommodation in and around Bulla.
An early settler in the Bulla township area was William ‘Tulip’ Wright, former Chief Constable of the Melbourne township. He built the ‘Settlers Home’, later the ‘Bridge Inn’ near Deep Creek in 1843. In the same year, the ‘Woodlands’ homestead was built by William Greene, to the east in Greenvale. It is on the Victorian Heritage Register, along with stables and outbuildings, situated in the Gellibrand Hill Park.
The name is derived from an Aboriginal word of uncertain meaning. A church and a government school were opened in 1854. Anglican and Presbyterian churches were opened in 1858, and the township also had a store and post office (1850), a flour mill, brickworks and pottery works based on the local kaolin reserves.
In 1857 Walter Clark built a Classical Revival homestead, Glenara, south of the township. His son Alister was the founder of the now famous Moonee Valley Racing Club and was a noted rose breeder. Alister Clark roses were nearly lost to horticulturists during the postwar years, but rose growers have found them in out-of-the-way country places and reintroduced them for rose collectors. You can now visit the Alister Clark Memorial Gardens. The Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden is the most complete collection in Australia of the surviving roses of the great Australian rose breeder.
The township is in a valley and the surrounding land is extremely suitable for dairying. The name was given to the Bulla Cream Co. In 1910, Thomas Sloan established the Bulla Cream Company in the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds. Thomas pioneered a new method of thickening cream, which involved pasteurizing in open cans in wood-fired copper. Thomas’ brother, William, supplied the milk from his dairy farm in Bulla, and together they created the famous thickened cream and distributed it into Melbourne CBD by horse and cart. Bulla Dairy Foods is one of Australia's oldest family dairy companies and has been producing products of the highest quality since the early 20th Century. Today, using the knowledge gained over six generations, the descendants of the company’s founders play an active role in carrying on their legacy.
Passing motorists cannot fail to notice the narrow heritage-listed bluestone bridge (1869) at the bottom of the steep road through the township. A short distance away from the bridge is School Lane, the accessway to the bluestone State School (1870). Beyond the school, there was a suspension bridge (1872) over Deep Creek, with tracks fanning out from it over the hillsides, along which children journeyed on foot for over 100 years. The remainder of the township has St Mary's Anglican church, the general store and some houses. The Presbyterian (now Uniting) church and the cemetery are further east, near Woodlands and the flight path for the Melbourne Airport.
On the third Sunday of the month, you can ride behind the mini steam or diesel locomotives around the scenic 1.5km track of the Bulla Hill Railway. The ride takes approximately 10 minutes and during the ride, you will pass over bridges, and through cuttings with scenic views of Mt Macedon in the background. During the trip, you might even see a dinosaur or two!
You can find holiday accommodation in Bulla on Search and Stay. Try the very spacious and modern Leoman's Lodge, perfect for family holidays
source: VictorianPlaces.com.au