Rail travel to remote NSW was available long before cars and petrol stations became commonplace. However, the railways weren’t built for sightseeing or leisure; they existed to haul goods from the small towns that grew up around industries like farming and mining. The pace of travel was sedate, and large stretches of countryside were the […]
From the late-1900s the small settler community at Iluka promoted the village as an idyllic spot, to locals and other leisure seekers. The earliest holiday accommodation provided was at John Rush’s North Head Hotel, built in 1874. By 1916 the Hotel underwent an upgrade to meet expanded demand for either the weekend get-away, or a […]
Owned and operated by ‘Bill’ Hickey (William 1886–1973) from the 1910s to 1955, the timber launch known as Beryl was used to transfer people, goods, and the mail, across the Clarence River from Yamba to Iluka. She ran this route in tandem with her sister motor-launch the Phfrane (pronounced Fray-nee), also owned by Bill. Europeam […]
In 1965 the machines on the factory floor of Mercury Print at Maitland habitually clanged and whirred, as they printed the pages of this booklet, Historical Buildings of Maitland and District. It was just another print job for the busy local printer, who had been tasked with producing it for Maitland City Council, but the […]
On arriving back to home to Coniston in the 1940s, Doris Grace Hall (née Garrad) (1909-2001) likely took this fine bone china sugar bowl and creamer jug from her suitcase, carefully shifted other pieces around in her china cabinet, and proudly placed them on the shelf. Perhaps they always remained there, never to be filled […]
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We pay respect to them as First Nations people with a continuing connection to land, place, waters and community
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