It's been a labour of love for author Richard Gilbert writing his new book A Thirst for Gold.
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Visiting local pubs to unearth their history, talk to publicans and customers and of course sample some of the beers hasn't exactly been a tough job for the Victorian who has run a pub magazine for 15 years.
Mr Gilbert teamed up with friends Hugh Wayland and Tess Brady to shine a spotlight on 10 operating hotels throughout the Central Goldfields region, around Maryborough.
Many were built during the gold rush and survived the Victorian government's liquor licence reduction board, who decided which hotels would be allowed to continue operating and which would be closed down. The board's operations peaked in the region between about 1916 and 1920.
The pubs featured in the book, launched in March at the Clunes Booktown Festival, all have their own rich histories as vital community meeting points and more.
The trio visited 10 pubs, taking trips to Talbot, Lexton, Waubra, Learmonth, Ascot, Creswick, Kingston, Smeaton, Campbells Creek, and their home town of Clunes, to compile the guide which they hope will spur visitors to travel widely across the region.
"The hotel at Waubra, the Springs Hotel, was dormant for many years and reopened but that's the only one I'm aware of in our research that reopened after a period of closure - the others have been trading right through," Mr Gilbert said.
But the Lexton Pyrenees Hotel, which is profiled in A Thirst for Gold, recently closed and a community campaign is underway to organise a buy-out of the pub and reopen the much-loved institution.
"These pubs still represent a town gathering place," Mr Gilbert said.
"They have been used for years as places of public meeting, where miners and farmers discussed latest news in early times, they have been used as entertainment venues, law courts, bank agencies and as a town meeting place."
The book delves into the history of the Central Goldfields district, the reason the town and pub were established in that location, and the history of the pub. Some started as little more than tents before more permanent structures were built.
Many were built because of the towns that sprang up during the gold rush, others as railway towns, some in the days of Cobb and Co horse-drawn transport.
Mr Gilbert has previously published four books on the history of tramways and railways in Victoria.
A Thirst for Gold is available in paperback and published through Clunes Neighbourhood House, www.clunesnh.org.
