Adjoining the Café is “The House Gallery” . The House Gallery is a celebration of two local artists Ray Ellis and Joyce Hopwood-Knights. It is an informal space that Joyce uses to paint in and store her impressive library of art books and magazines. The Gallery also houses the “Mia Mia Redesdale Commemorative Quilt” This quilt was made by the local community to celebrate our beautiful old bridge turning 150 years old.

The Redesdale Bridge

The Redesdale Bridge is one of the oldest iron lattice-truss bridges in Victoria. The Redesdale Bridge is a wrought iron and timber bridge with bluestone pillars and lays over the Campaspe River between the communities of Mia Mia and Redesdale.

The bridge has an interesting story even before it became to be in Mia Mia and Redesdale. In 1859, a ship carrying wrought ironwork was sitting in Hobson’s Bay after arriving from England. The ironwork was destined to become a bridge crossing the Yarra River at Swan Street to connect the suburbs of Hawthorn and Richmond in Melbourne. Unfortunately the ship caught fire and so to save the dock it was situated at, it was towed out to sea and sunk in the bay. The materials were eventually salvaged and became The Redesdale Bridge. The Bridge was officially opened on January 23, 1868.