Tamworth Country Music - book your bed now

If you’re heading to the legendary Country Music Festival in Tamworth this January and need to know where to stay, a few hints about places to rest your weary head when the singing’s done each day.

After all, with 2,500 events on offer, you don't want to worry about your base!

Rated among the world’s top 10 festivals, the Tamworth Country Music Festival is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and attracts people from all over Australia and around the world.

Although most of the hotel accommodation is booked out months in advance, camping, home hosting or staying in a nearby town are still viable options closer to the event.

“The friendly Tamworth community is always ready to welcome more people to join in the Festival fun and what better way than staying in a local’s home, or camping out beneath the starry country sky,” said Tourism Tamworth’s General Manager, Rebel Thomson.

Ms Thomson added that while Tamworth is always fully prepared to handle the influx of visitors each January, Festival-goers are advised to research their accommodation options well in advance.

Over 50,000 festival-goers take in 10 days of fun, music and memories, with many of them returning year after year with the event listed as a “must-do” on their annual calendars.

A comprehensive guide to Festival accommodation is available through Tourism Tamworth phone 02 6767 5300 or on the web at http://www.visittamworth.com/ (follow the links to the accommodation pages). You will need to contact each accommodation service direct to make bookings.

MOTELS/APARTMENTS

Ranging from two and half to five star, Tamworth boasts over 30 motels and apartments, all within easy distance of the Festival venues which are usually the first to be booked out. You may get in on a cancellation, but don’t rely on this option.

Accessibility to festival venues, restaurants, cafes, clubs and shops are the advantages with this choice but there’s nothing too far from anything in Australia’s Country Music Capital.

HOTELS

Many of the hotels in Tamworth also serve as Festival venues so you’ll be right amongst the live music action should you choose to stay in one of the great pubs. At the end of a night-time show, your bed could be as close as one flight of stairs away!

B & B’S/ FARMSTAYS

Always popular is either a bed and breakfast or farm stay.

There are over a dozen B&B choices in the Tamworth Region, ranging from youth hostel style up to luxurious five-star and unique dwellings. Farm stays are the quintessential Aussie experience and hold great appeal for families.

With several located within easy driving distance of Tamworth, you have every opportunity to ensure the kids are entertained from dawn to dusk. The obvious advantages for both are that breakfast is included in the tariff, the comfort level is on a par with home and your hosts are more than happy to share their local knowledge.

HOME HOSTING

As the popularity of the Festival grew and regular accommodation channels were at full capacity, the local Tamworthians opened their homes to visitors and now the Festival relies greatly on the local hospitality to facilitate the Home Hosting accommodation on offer.

Home hosting means you’ll get breakfast, home comforts, country hospitality and local information. There’s also the option of staying in a vacated home.

There are a few home hosting agencies that can help source a home stay, a farm stay, a vacated home or vacated caravan for you. Contact Tourism Tamworth for contact details.

HOME RENTALS

Real estate agents can source fully furnished homes for rental during the festival. These are usually houses vacated by the owners specifically for the duration of the festival.

HOME EXCHANGE

Some Tamworth residents choose to leave town for the duration of the Festival. If you want to swap your house with theirs, then it might pay to run an ad in the Tamworth newspaper, the Northern Daily Leader. Phone (02) 6768 1222 or email: classifieds.ndl@ruralpress.com

CARAVAN PARKS & CAMPGROUNDS

Camping or caravanning is the best pick if you’re booking late or if you’re on a small budget. The caravan parks in town offer the best facilities and always a friendly welcoming smile. A number of other venues open up specifically as temporary campgrounds for the festival, including the Tamworth Showground, the North Tamworth Rugby League Club, West Tamworth Leagues Club, McCarthy Catholic College and St Nicholas Primary School. If you don’t have your own camping gear, some places provide tents with beds, such as West Tamworth Leagues Club.

Outside town, there are other campgrounds available such as Attunga Sports Ground 20kms away); Lake Keepit (50kms away); and Kootingal Camping or Pony Club (20kms away). There are also temporary council campgrounds in: Attunga (20kms); Dungowan (20kms); Kootingal (20kms); Moonbi (25kms); Werris Creek (48kms) and Woolbrook (75kms).

Each caravan park and campground has different rules about bookings during festival time, so make sure you phone ahead and check before you leave home.

NEIGHBOURING TOWNS

If you still can’t find a bed in Tamworth, then you’ll easily find accommodation in one of the neighbouring towns. Phone any of the following numbers in these towns for information:

Gunnedah: (77km from Tamworth) Visitor Information Centre (02) 6740 2230
Uralla: (91km from Tamworth) Visitor Information Centre (02) 6778 4496
Armidale: (112km from Tamworth) Visitor Information Centre (02) 6772 4655
Walcha: (97km from Tamworth) Council Tourism Officer (02) 6774 2460
Barraba: (141km from Tamworth) Visitor Information Centre (02) 6782 1255
Quirindi: ( 60km from Tamworth) Visitor Information Centre (02) 67461096

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

The Tamworth Country Music Festival runs from January 18 to January 27, 2015. For all enquiries, phone the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre on 02 67675300 or log onto http://www.visittamworth.com/. You will need to contact the accommodation provider direct to make any booking.

Closure of the Inverell Supercoat Petcare facility - 168 jobs gone

Many New England regional centres have suffered from major job closures. Often these go unremarked by the metro media. I was reminded about this by a story from the Inverell Times reporting on the closure of the Supercoat Petcare facility.

The story is simple enough.

Nestle Purina Petcare has announced it is closing the Inverell Supercoat Petcare facility and moving it to Blayney, about 650km away in the state’s Central West.

Nestle Purina purchased the business in March 2015 and general manager David Grant said since then the company has conducted a review of its long-term manufacturing and sourcing needs for its Australian pet care business.

“Since purchasing the business we have run it largely as we found it and we have been very pleased with the factory’s performance,” Mr Grant said.

“It was a very difficult decision to make but when looking at the review, our Blayney factory can make all that we produce at the Inverell factory.

“To put all our product into Inverell, however, would require significant capital investment. The factory in Blayney is double the size of this place.”

Mr Grant said the review had been ongoing and the decision was made at the end of last week.
“We then advised staff and suppliers as soon as possible,” he said.

Closure of any facility is always a difficult issue, more so when it is located in a regional centre.

At least in this case another regional centre will benefit, while Nestlé Purina will provide redundancy payments and financial counselling, job-seek training and career counselling.

New history of Inverell's Byron Arcade

Photo: Inverell Times. Inverell District family History Group Inc members Julie Regan, Joselyn Griffey and Muriel Resta talk about the new history of Inverell's Byron Arcade.

The Inverell Times reports that the Inverell District Family History Group Inc. has produced Our Place, a comprehensive and colourful account of the history of Byron Arcade on the corner of Otho and Evans Streets.

Construction of the magnificent building began in early 1902 and was built for George Cruickshank, MP for Gwydir.

Named after his property, Byron Station, the arcade cost 13,000 pounds Sterling to erect and included 32 shops. Over the years it has seen dentists, photographers, music teachers and a myriad of other businesses operate under its roof.

Our Place is available through the Inverell District Family History Group Inc at a cost of $30 and contains a full history of the building and every resident and business that has occupied it since its erection in 1902.

There are full colour pictures of the beautiful building and old black and white images taken around the time of its erection.

To obtain a copy of Our Place, contact the Inverell District Family History Group on (02) 6721 1487 or (02) 6722 1893.

Postscript

For those interested in Inverell's history, Inverell On-line has a very useful local history page.

Fossicking in New England

Photo: Fossicking, Inverell

Some time ago, I started a series of posts describing the Fossicker's Way, the New England road linking some of New England's best fossicking areas.

Google blogger is down just at present, so I cannot provide details of these posts. I will add links once the problem is sorted.

I did just the first two days in this series, leaving my travellers stranded at Nundle. Now the people from Big Sky Country have put together some useful material on fossicking in New England's Northern Tablelands' region that allows me to extend the series.

Moving from Nundle, visitors travel to Tamworth and then up the western edge of the Tablelands through to Inverell and Glen Innes. Here we come to some great fossicking country. Here the sapphires are plentiful but, they can also be really, really big.

A couple sifting through a pile of wash at Inverell’s 7 Oaks Fossicking Park, can attest to this fact, after discovering a 42.13 carat blue sapphire, the largest stone ever found by a fossicker on site.

According to 7 Oaks’ owner, Peter Black, the stone is “an absolute monster”.

While the size of this find was rare, unearthing gemstones in decent quantities from the region is not, say the resident fossicking experts of Big Sky Country.

Along with the royal blue sapphire, the region is prolific for its rich diversity of gems and minerals, such as aquamarine, emerald, fluorite, topaz, zircon, garnet and quartz.

Big Sky Country is the New England North West region of NSW, part of it intersected by the road known as – yes, The Fossicker’s Way. The best towns to stay in for a few good days of fossicking are Inverell and Glen Innes.

Inverell justifiably goes by the title of ‘The Sapphire City’ because 70 per cent of Australia’s sapphires come from here, while Glen Innes boasts Minerama, one of the biggest annual gem and mineral festivals in Australia.

Here’s a basic guide to some of the fossicking options provided by Big Sky Country.

7 Oaks Fossicking Park, Inverell

This 300 acre property on Frazer Creek is family operated and has been producing sapphires since the 1960's. You can fossick on the natural creek banks, but the easier and most popular option is to sift through the piles of wash supplied to you.

Peter Black had only just bought 7 Oaks in April 2015, when a few weeks later, a couple from Port Macquarie found a 42.13 carat sapphire – the biggest find ever by a fossicking visitor at the park. The stone is estimated to be worth $5,000 to a collector.

Situated 19kms from Inverell, 7 Oaks is open for basic bush camping, with bush toilets, picnic tables and wood fire barbecues. Cost is $20 per day for adults and $10 for children aged 8 to 14.

http://www.sapphiresinverell.com.au/

Phone 02 6725 1582

Billabong Blue Sapphire Fossicking Park, Inverell

This park, 16km from Inverell, makes fossicking relatively civilized. You get to sift through the wash on benches at waist height and the owners, Rhonda and Bill, offer their professional advice should you need it. There’s a café, BBQ and picnic areas, water tanks and toilets.

Billabong Blue promotes itself as ideal for the first time fossicker or the seasoned expert, and guarantees every visitor will go home with some coloured gems in their pocket. Cost is $20 per day, or $40 for a family (two adults, two children).

http://www.billabongblue.fossickingpark.com.au/

Phone 02 6721 0500

Poolbrook Gems Fossicking Park, Inverell

Poolbrook is another private property where visitors can fossick for a day for a fee. Located at Frazer's Creek, 26 kilometres from Inverell, visitors must stop at Kottage Kiya Gallery, 8 km from Inverell on the Nullamanna-Emmaville Road, to pick up sieves and get directions from Louise Walburn, one of the park's owners. Louise also gives first-time fossickers some helpful hints. Cost is $10 per day, children under 12 free.

Phone 02 6722 2781

Free Fossicking Sites in Inverell

There are three free areas to fossick around Inverell: Pindaroi Lake, Bukkulla; Frazer Creek, Nullamanna and Swanbrook Creek, Swanbrook Road.

Stannifer Fossicking Area, Tingha

Many of Tingha’s streets are named after the gems found in the district. In this free fossicking area, you may find jellybeans (water worn quartz crystals) quartz and grass stone. Tingha is about 17km south of Inverell.

Glen Rest Tourist Park, Glen Innes

Resident caravanners and visitors to Glen Innes can enjoy the privilege of fossicking through a bucket or bag of soil, with equipment and tuition supplied, along with shaded picnic tables. Cost is from $10 per bucket.

www.gleninnes.com/glenrestpark

Phone 02 6732 2413

Wellingrove Fossicking Reserve, Glen Innes

A peaceful and secluded spot for a fossick, Wellingrove is 19km north west of Glen Innes where you can hope to find sapphires and zircons.

A permit is required from the Visitor Information Centre and it costs from $5 per person a day but children under 12 are free.

Boolabinda Holiday Homestead, Glen Innes

Fossicking is just one of the activities available at this farmstay. You can search for sapphires and zircons in Reddestone Creek for $8 per day, plus $3 equipment hire.

http://www.boolabinda.com.au/ (closed June July & August)

Phone 02 6732 2215

Bullock Mountain Homestead

Bullock Mountain is also a farmstay, where you can fossick through buckets of wash from a disused mine or try your luck in Reddestone Creek. Fossicking park buckets costs $15.00 (includes sieves) while creek fossicking is $10.

http://www.bullockmountainhomestead.com/

Phone 02 6732 1599 – please book ahead.

Three Waters High Country Holidays, Glenn Innes

Fossicking for sapphires, zircons in Reddestone Creek at $8 per day, with equipment hire $3.

www.gleninnes.com/3waters

Phone 02 67 32 4863

Guided Field Tours – Baptist Church Fossicking Club, Glen Innes

This is a group visit to private land sites that occurs most Wednesdays. The group leaves at 9am from the Baptist Church, New England Highway and travels in convoy. A small charge per person.

Other areas to remember for free fossicking around Glen Innes Severn Council shire include Kookabookra, Glencoe, and Torrington State Conservation Area.

Three Creeks Gold Mine, Bingara

Three Creeks Gold Mine is a working mine that re-opened to the public in 2015 after a six-year closure. Owner Paul Myer guarantees that every visitor who pans will find some gold here, from a reef that has been mined since the 1800s. He provides full instruction on gold panning and equipment. Quartz crystals are also dominant here. Gold panning is $25 per day (this includes a mine tour), $15 for kids under 12 and under 5’s free.

There are a limited number of campsites available here as well as an on-site van.

Phone 02 6783 2224.

Iron Bark Creek and Woodsreef Fossicking Areas, Barraba

The Barraba area was known for its gold mines and mining villages in the late 1800s, and these areas are still most worthwhile for a fossick. You may find gold and other minerals such as copper, pyrites, jasper, garnets, zeolite, as well as opaque red, brown and yellow quartz. There are no facilities at Woodsreef Reserve but it is open for camping.

Phone 02 6782 1255

Further Information phone:

• Inverell Tourism: 02 6728 8161
• Glen Innes Tourism: 02 6730 2400
• Bingara Visitor Centre: 02 6724 0066

Both Inverell and Glen Innes Visitors Centres have their own fossicking brochures, which provide detailed information and maps.

Entry point for the Fossickers Way series.

University of New England's Mary White College celebrates 50 years

Hard to believe, but in October, the University of New England’s Mary White College will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The College has already heard from about 250 of its alumni from Australia and overseas who are interested in attending the celebration.

The College extended its search for ‘lost’ alumni during reunion events in Canberra and Sydney at the end of May.

“At those functions, we appealed for people to help us find our lost alumni,” said the College Principal, Mrs Barb Shaw. “It’s amazing how many people are starting to contact us as a result. We’ve not only received e-mails about lost alumni, but bookings for the anniversary celebration, and offers of photographs and yearbooks for display over the celebration weekend, 4-6 October.”

About 40 alumni attended the reunion event in Canberra, held at the Australian Institute of Sport, and about 50 attended the Sydney event at Macquarie University’s Dunmore Lang College. “They represented every decade since the College was established,” Mrs Shaw said, “from the ’50s right through to the current decade.”

Each of the events took the form of a cocktail party followed by an illustrated talk on the history of Mary White College comparing photographs from the ’70s and the present day. Jill Spilsbury (who was Principal of Mary White College from 1985 to 1998), accompanied Mrs Shaw on both evenings, along with College staff member Carolyn Coman-Jeffries and UNE’s Alumni Relations Officer, Jennifer Miller.

The program for the 50th Anniversary Celebration will begin on the evening of Saturday 4 October with a cocktail party at Saumarez Homestead, the birthplace of Frances Mary Fletcher White (Mary White). The White family was instrumental in the establishment of the New England University College (NEUC), the fledgling institution that developed into the University of New England, and Mary White was a member of the NEUC Advisory Council.

On Sunday 5 October there will be tours of Armidale, the University, and Mary White College itself, followed by afternoon tea in the gardens of “Trevenna”, the Vice-Chancellor’s residence, and a formal dinner in the evening.

“Mary White is the first of UNE’s current residential colleges to celebrate the 50-year milestone,” Mrs Shaw said. “Listening to the alumni at the recent events in Canberra and Sydney, it was obvious that they still feel a connection to the College after all those years. They made lifelong friendships here and, as it was the first experience of living away from home for many of them, they speak fondly of the College as the place where they learnt to be independent.

“The 50th anniversary will be an opportunity to celebrate the many Mary White College traditions that continue today, such as the formal dinners and the Saumarez Gardening Day.”

For more information on the Mary White College 50th Anniversary Celebration and a list of ‘lost’ alumni go to: http://alumni.une.edu.au/events/event_details.asp?id=9056.

Gwydir River - Kentucky Creek

Photo: Kentucky Creek at the point where the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) is reported to have been shot and killed by Constable Walker. And here.

As I write I am eating a piece of toast with some rather nice Gwydir River honey, gazing at a map of the Gwydir catchment area.

As I said in my introductory post on the Gwydir, it is one of New England's major west flowing rivers.

The Gwydir River catchment, covering 25,900 sq kms (10,000 square miles), is one of the major northern tributaries of the Barwon-Darling River. The river flows north-west from Uralla and Guyra in the east to Collarenebri in the west. Major tributaries drain from the New England Plateau in the east, the Mastermans Range in the north and the Nandewars in the south.

Most major tributaries join the main river above Moree. Downstream of Moree the river has the characteristics of an inland delta with important wetlands. In floods, water can flow to and from the adjoining river valleys. Another important feature is the Gwydir Raft, an immense accumulation of timber, debris and sediment which has been deposited in the former channel, forming a 30 km long blockage. It is assumed this formed during early European settlement due to tree clearance and subsequent erosion.

Rainfall decreases across the catchment from an annual average of over 1,100 mm (43.3 inches) in the east to 500 mm (19.7) in the west. Rainfall patterns are significantly affected by the mountain ranges surrounding the catchment. Summer rainfall dominates the rainfall pattern, and much of this rain can occur in heavy storms of short duration.

Kentucky Creek lies in the far south-east corner of the Gwydir catchment south of Uralla (and here). This is traditional central New England Tablelands' country, with the creek flowing north-west through open grazing country including Kentucky Station, one of New England's original squatting properties.

Most people drive past Kentucky Creek along the New England Highway without even noticing it other, perhaps, than a brief glance at the attractive valley as they top the hill on either side.

I think that it's always been the case that the major north-south highways linking Brisbane and Sydney create a north-south orientation. That's a pity, because the east-west transverse contains some of the most interesting history and country.

In the case of Kentucky Creek, this is Thunderbolt Country. Now the bushranger Fred Ward, aka Captain Thunderbolt, roamed widely across New England from the Hunter in the south into the Queensland portion of the New England Tablelands, so many places can and do claim a connection. But he was shot and killed in Kentucky Creek, just north you can find Thunderbolt's Rock where he used to watch for the gold coaches, while Uralla cemetery is his final resting place.

As children, this was an area that we knew well because Aunt Kay and Uncle Ron had a property at Kentucky, the mixed orchard and grazing area to the east of the highway.

Driving down to Glenroy from Armidale we often played on the rock - it seemed very big to us kids - then south past the Kentucky Station drive, down the hill before swinging left onto the Kentucky road. Here the country changed as we went over the divide to the east, entering small farming country, then through the little village and on to the property. Memories.

Introductory post. Next post.

Hugh Frewen's "Imogene - an odyssey"

Hugh Frewen's Imogene an odyssey (Australasian Publishing Company) was published in 1944. In her forward to the book, Dame Mary Gilmore wrote that it was a record of impressions and reflections in verse during journeys across four continents and over many countries. It is also part of the story of a man.

I have written about the book and the history of the Frewens in Saturday Morning Musings - Hugh Frewen: a New England story.

Gwydir River - Introduction

Map: Gwydir River catchment.

I am not sure that the above map is goming to come out in any readable form. But you should be able to see the full map in bigger form by clicking on it. I won't know, however, until I load the post - it did, I see.

My last introductory post on Bingara reminded me that I had said very little about New England's western rivers, those rivers flowing west from the New England Tablelands. While these rivers carry less water than the better known coastal rivers, they are still major streams in their own right and form a significant part of the Darling River system.

The Gwydir River is one such, rising in the Tablelands to the south of Uralla. Over coming posts I will tell a little of the Gwydir River story.

Posts

Gwydir River - Kentucky Creek

Gwydir River - Rocky River

Catch a rainbow....trout!

Back in November 2006 in Secrets of New England - along the Fossickers Way Day Two I mentioned Nundle's Arc-En-Ciel Trout Farm. The Farm is now offering visitors the unique opportunity of catching their own Rainbow Trout and cooking it fresh on the barbecue.

Situated 20km outside the historic village of Nundle, in the beautiful mountains of Hanging Rock, Arc-en-Ciel has been providing Rainbow Trout to restaurants and gourmet food outlets around Sydney, the Hunter and New England North West NSW for the past 25 years.

On a guided tour, which costs $7 for adults and $5 for children, visitors can learn some trout breeding secrets and see how an aquaculture farm operates. They can then spend some time fishing at the dam. All fishing gear is supplied. There are barbecues available for those who want to make a meal out of their catch on the spot.

A limit of four fish per rod is applied. While a catch is not guaranteed, your chance of catching at least one trout is pretty solid, according to Arc-en-Ciel’s owner, Russell Sydenham. The fishing costs are $8 per rod and any trout caught is then charged at a rate of $15 per kilogram (they clean and gut and pack them for you, too).

Mr Sydenham said trout fishing is very popular among families with children, grey nomads and older teenagers. A family pass, which includes the tour and fishing for two adults and two children, costs $49. The farm is also open to bus tour groups, who usually take the guided tour, then relax with refreshments. A smoked trout and scrambled egg breakfast can be arranged for groups of 12 to 50.

There’s a coffee shop on site, where you can enjoy some delicious cake along with a hot or cold drink.

If you haven’t got the energy to catch a trout yourself, the Arc-en-Ciel farm shop sells fresh and smoked trout, whole or filleted, trout caviar, as well as smoked trout pate and gravlax, a cold-cured trout. Arc-en-Ciel’s Rainbow Trout Gravlax won a bronze medal at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show this year.

The farm is open 5 days a week from 10am to 4pm. It is closed on Saturdays and Tuesdays.

For further information, please phone 02 6769 3665 or visit www.rainbowtrout.com.au

Big Sky Tourism's Aboriginal Heritage Tour

I was pleased to see that the Big Sky Tourism people have put together material outlining some of the Aboriginal attractions across the Northern Tablelands and Western Slopes.

I have long argued that we need more thematic tourism material to make New England's attractions more accessible to visitors. I think that this is especially important in making our indigenous heritage available to both locals and a wider audience.

New England's Wild Weather

Photo: Sydney Morning Herald. The bulk carrier Pasha Bulker forced aground on Newcastle's Nobby Beach. Story.

On the morning of Friday 8 June, Tamworth's Northern Daily Leader reported on a discussion that if no water flowed into Chaffey Dam, Tamworth's businesses would be forced to close in nine month's time. The Chaffey Dam, Tamworth's main water supply, lies on the Peel River whose headwaters are a short distance away in the south-western edge of the New England Tablelands around Nundle (and here).

Later that day, a low pressure cell off Newcastle unleashed cyclonic conditions and torrential rain on Southern New England.

Conditions since can best be described as chaotic.

Heavy rain led to flooding. High winds created chaos during which the Pasha Bulker was driven ashore on Nobbys Beach. Two other bulk carriers just escaped. In all, an interesting experience after drought.

Whether this storm will be sufficient to solve Tamworth's water supply problems is unclear. Rainfall data is not yet available and in any event follow up rain will be required. Still, signs are now encouraging that the drought that has gripped the western side of New England is coming to an end.

Postscript 16 June

I did not write a full post on the impact of the wild weather on the Lower Hunter itself because it was so fully covered elsewhere. I was surprised, however, at the scale of the damage.

Major Hunter floods are not uncommon. Yes, this was the biggest downpour for thirty or so years, but even so. I was left wondering about changes in the human especially built landscape over the last thirty years, including things such as changes in the electricity distribution system.

Was it just a case of localisation, very bad weather in a narrowly defined location, or did changes in settlement patterns contribute to the scale of damage?

Returning to Tamworth, I see from the Northern Daily Leader that the weekend rain nudged Chaffey Dam's storage up from 13.9 per cent to 14.9 per cent.

Chaffey Dam's storage level had reached an all-time low of 13.9 per cent last week – prior to 2015, the lowest previous level was 19 per cent in 1995.

The dam's volume has not reached 100 per cent since 2002. When it does reach full capacity, water covers an area of 542 hectares and can reach a depth of about 30 metres. It now sits at about six metres at its deepest point.

TAS (The Armidale School) Band - 1901

Another photo from The Armidale School photo archive. This one shows the school band from 1901.

The school was then seven years old.

Australia was just becoming a nation. The Great War, a war in which many former students would lose their lives, was thirteen years away. A great drought affecting many of the boy's families was still in full swing.

Today Armidale is known for its trees. Then the imposing main school building stood bare and still raw in open, tree-less ground on the outskirts of the small city.

Wing Hing Long & Co - Tingha

This photography of Wing Hing Long & Co letterhead, 1927 was taken by Stephen Thompson and forms part of the NSW Heritage Branch on-line exhibition on the store.

The exhibition provides a window into one thread in New England's story, the hisroty of New England's Chinese community.

New England Australia's Chinese - Reference Post provides an entry point to various posts linked in some way to New England's Chinese.

Death of Armidale's Dr Harold Royle

My thanks to Gordon Smith for drawing my attention to the death of Dr Harold Royle who died on 21 March 2015 aged ninety.

I did not really know Dr Royle. I remember him as a good looking, almost patrician man, who built a large new house in a then new area of Armidale on South Hill overlooking the city. As is so often the case, his obituary in the The Armidale Express provided insights into Doctor Royle and his role that were simply unknown to me. The obituary also provides insights into the evolution of medical services in the post war period.

The story starts by noting that the much respected Dr Harold Royle who died last week would be remembered by Hunter New England Health staff as the man who started pathology services in Armidale and effectively promoted the medical library service.

Retired pathologist Dr Arthur Beresford said Dr Royle was regarded as a leader and senior doctor by his colleagues.

Dr Beresford recalls the efforts of Dr Royle in developing pathology services from scratch and his keen interest in library services and ongoing medical education.

“In the years of the late 1950s to mid-1970s he was emeritus pathologist, campaigning to have me appointed as a specialist pathologist in 1975.

“Dr Royle was heavily involved in medical education and actively promoted the development of a medical library service.

“A basic library was established but was without the presence of a qualified librarian until the 1980’s on a part time basis.” The library was named in Dr Royle's honour in 1987 in recognition of his services.

Carol Higginbottom, practice manager at Dr Royle’s old practice, in her research of Dr Royle, found he graduated from Sydney University in 1941, married Joan Zouch a theatre nurse in 1942 and signed up for the Army Medical Corps, serving in both New Guinea and Singapore.

On his return he ran the dermatology ward at Hearne Bay Military Hospital in Sydney and moved to Armidale in 1946, where he worked primarily as a GP until poor health demanded his early retirement in 1988.

“Dr Royle started a pathology laboratory at the Armidale Hospital on August5 , 1946 with a bit of glassware acquired from Hearne Bay Hospital and his student microscope,” Mrs Higginbottom said.

“In November 1946 he gained a pathology assistant and eventually in 1953, a full time technician was appointed.

“He continued helping at the weekends with blood work and started the first blood donors’ club in Armidale, often having to drive to the blood donors’ homes to take blood.”

When I looked at this short obituary I was struck by two things.

The first was the presentation of a picture I have so often seen before, the way in which so many people improvised to get things done. This held not just in the immediate post war period, but in fact over most of Australian history. The second was the continuing role of the individual in achieving change.

My thoughts are with his wife Joan and his children Margaret, Anne, and David.

New England Tablelands scenes - Gordon Smith's Grass Trees in the Mist

I thought that this photo by Gordon Smith, Grass Trees in the Mist, captures one element of the New England Tablelands rather well.

The mist that sometimes shrouds the Tablelands creates a very different feel. The landscape softens and becomes mysterious.

Enjoy.

Emmaville Mining Musuem

Photo: Foley's General Store, Emmaville

I have so far carried two stories on this blog referring to Emmaville or Vegetable Creek. The first post introduced the story of the Chinese in New England, the second story dealt with mining, arsenic and the New England pastoral industry.

In both stories I forgot to mention that Emmaville has a mining museum located in the old Foley's general store. This has a major collection of minerals and photographs providing an interesting picture of Emmaville's past.

Wollomombi Falls

Photo: Gordon Smith, Wollomombi Falls after rain.

I see that Gordon Smith has started a new photo essay on New England's Gorge country. The starting link is given above.

Wollomombi Falls lie to the east of Armidale on Waterfall Way, the road between Armidale and Urunga on the coast. As he has done in other cases, Gordon has walked down into the gorge itself, taking photographs along the way.

I do enjoy his photo essays. Long may they continue.

Armidale-Kempsey Road - pretty but difficult

This photo by Gordon Smith shows the main road between the central New England Tablelands and the Macleay Valley.

The road is very pretty, but for some obscure reason most people take the longer, more roundabout, route. The distance between Kempsey and Armidale is not great, but I would not recommend trying the road at night.

New England Australia film: Nundle's Japanese western - Koya No Toseinin (The Drifting Avenger) 1968

Many years ago on my first visit to Nundle, I stopped to have a beer at the local pub. Sitting outside on the shady verandah, I was struck by a movie poster on the wall, a Japanese western apparently shot in Nundle. All these years later, I have finally got round to tracing the film.

Made in 1968, Koya No Toseinin (The Drifting Avenger) stared Ken Takakura,, an actor known for his brooding, stoic, style.

Known, in IMB's words, as the "Clint Eastwood" of Japan, Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa zankyo-den (1965) in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai.

One commentator on the IMB site described the movie this way:

While in the US Air Force and stationed in Japan, I had the opportunity to be an extra in this movie. I had understood it to be an Australian movie where the indoor scenes were shot in Japan. However, maybe it was just a low budget American film with the outdoor shots made in Australia and the indoors shots in Japan. It was about a Japanese family settled in the old west and a group of stagecoach robbers sought refuge in the Japanese family house. The young son hid under a bed and the bad guys killed his parents. He therefore became the Drifting Avenger. I would like to get my hands on a copy as in one scene my image filled the sliver screen!

This led to a follow-up comment:

My uncle was "Mike the boy" in this movie alongside the very famous Japanese actor Ken Takakura. The movie itself is okay, but I too am trying to get my hands on a copy of this movie simply because my relative was in it. The movie was originally shot in English and then dubbed over in Japanese. Although I have the Japanese version, I am trying to get a copy of the original. The National Film and Sound archive in Australia has a copy, but Toei, the Japanese company that produced the movie is refusing to give permission to make a copy for personal use. Anyhow, any help would be greatly be appreciated. A Japanese western? Can't say that there are too many of these. Can't say there would be any reason for Japanese to be dressed as cowboys, except that someone thought that it would be fun to ride horses and shoot people.

This is as much as I know at present. I, too, would like to see the film. It was apparently never released in Australia.

New England Film Entry Page

You will find the site entry page on New England film here.

New England's Chinese - Introductory Post

Photo: Chinese miner testing wash for tin, Great Britain Mine, Emmaville, 1899. By 1899 tin mining in the Emmaville (Vegetable Creek) district had passed its peak and the number of Chinese had dropped from around 1200 to 200. The posed photograph was a conscious commemoration of the Chinese role in tin mining.

Growing up as a kid, I used to play in the Armidale cemetery. There, in the "other denominations" section I found a number of Chinese graves. I was curious because I knew no Chinese. Later I found out that the Chinese had played a significant development role in New England.

According to the Australian National Museum's Heritage Scroll, a small number of Chinese settlers arrived quite early. Numbers then increased significantly after transportation ended in 1840 as Chinese were brought in as labourers. According to Geoffrey Blainey's Tyranny of Distance early people movements were facilitated by a quite complex web of trading and shipping links between Australia and China.

From the discovery of gold, Chinese numbers increased very rapidly. The Chinese immigrants referred to the Australian gold fields as 'Xin Jin Shan', or the New Gold Mountain as compared to the now declining California fields, as 'Jiu Jin Shan', the Old Gold Mountain. By 1861, 38,258 people, or 3.3 per cent of the total Australian population had been born in China, a number not reached again until quite recently.

Chinese diggers quickly appeared on all the new New England fields from the Hunter to the Queensland border. As other minerals and especially tin were discovered, the Chinese moved there too. Those visiting Uralla should visit McCrossin's Mill Museum which has a major Chinese display, including the pictured Joss House.

The rapid increase in immigration caused tensions and resentments among the European population There was intermittent violence against the Chinese, including the famous Lambing Flat (now Young) riots of 1861 when, in the worst outbreak, 2000 European diggers attacked the Chinese, injuring 250 and destroying their possessions.

I know of no equivalent violence on the New England fields, although that may simply mean I haven't found it yet.

The pressure of public opinion against the Chinese caused the New South Wales Government to pass the Chinese Immigration Restriction and Regulation Act in 1861 to restrict the numbers of Chinese in the colony.

As the level of mining dropped, some Chinese returned to China. Those staying could not bring in wives from China because of immigration restrictions. Some found local girls, others died alone far from family.

Many Chinese went into retailing if which Inverell's still surviving Hong Yuen business is an example.

By 1900 there were at least 5 Chinese owned stores in Inverell - one of these was Hong Yuen. Hong Yuen began its life in the 1890s as a small business trading from a wooden shop. By 1899 the adjoining land had been bought and in that year the first part of the store as it is now known was built.

The first town outside of Inverell where Harry Fay established a venture was Moree in 1926, which began as a general store. In Texas, Harry Fay was encouraged by the local community to open a store and by 1932 he had a thriving business up and running. In 1936 a store in Warialda was to follow. Harry Fay also set about expanding his business back in Inverell.

When he originally purchased the store it consisted of a grocery section. To this he added a drapery department and showroom in 1925. By 1935 a men's and boy's wear department were also established.

Hong Yuen has always been a family owned and run business. Most members of the family have done their fair share of work. Two of Harry Fay's brothers were employed in the business, his children and grandchildren have also played their part. In 1974 Harry Fay died, and his sons became the governing directors (the business was already jointly owned by the eight Fay children).

Two years later, a massive fire destroyed all but the oldest part of the building in Inverell. Despite the tragedy, the community effort which went in to helping the cleanup reaffirmed that Hong Yuen was there to stay

Photo: Gordon Smith, Emmaville Post Office undergoing repair from hail damage.

Today some of the once thriving mining settlements in which New England's Chinese once lived are ghost towns, others sleepy settements.

Today Vegetable Creek, now Emmaville, north of Glen Innes has a total population of around 350 as compared to a peak Chinese population of 1,200. Yet the village still retains links to its Chinese heritage.

Postscript

New England Australia's Chinese - Reference Post provides a list of posts on New England's Chinese along with some supporting references.