Davies Run, or ‘The Run’ as it is referred to by the Davies family, comprises 250 acres, on two titles, at Emu Plains. Originally belonging to the Bramich family from the Sheffield district, The Run once boasted a modest two-bedroom house and a dairy in which the Bramich family milked cows and made cheese.

It is uncertain when ownership of the Emu Plains Run passed to Claude Davies who, at the time, lived at Lorinna, but he and his family continued to graze cattle in the area on an all-year-round basis. In those very early days, the land also had a good supply of standing timber which was harvested and milled at a sawmill nearby. Such was the quantity and quality of the available timber on the property, that, some time in the 1930s, a family friend, Arthur Wilson, split enough timber to build a post-and-rail fence for the entire run.

Claude’s son, Roy Davies, eventually took over the management of The Run and, together with Arthur Wilson, built a skin shed in the 1940s to accommodate Arthur’s interest in snaring. A few years later, Roy is known to have transported a ready-built hut from Lorinna and re-established it at The Run. The timber Hut was a single room with bunks at one end, an open fireplace made of stone and a tin chimney.

The hut was used initially by Arthur Wilson for his snaring exploits, and later Basil Steers used it extensively to also pursue his snaring activities. In 1980, the ABC produced a documentary for its ‘A Big Country’ programme, featuring the skills and lifestyle of Basil Steers and, despite the story bearing the title ‘The Paddocks’, much of it was filmed in the hut on Davies Run.

Sadly, the original house on The Run burned down, and some years later (possibly late ’80s) the old dairy and the hut were also completely destroyed by fire. The skin shed was spared from fire at the time, but has since fallen into total ruin, with just a scant pile of aged timber boards the only indication that a building ever existed. Nearby is the skeletal remains of the original post-and-rail fence.

The Run on Emu Plains remains privately owned by the Davies family.