History & heritage

In the lead up to the 150th Anniversary of the first telegraph being sent from Australia, the Royal Australian Mint has released a unique $1 coin that depicts the Overland Telegraph Line running through the centre of Australia, from Port Augusta to Darwin.

On the 15th November 1897, the first students rocked up to the new Nobby State School, signalling the start of one of the most successful small schools in the local area with students still achieving at the school in 2022. As well as having a good academic record, Nobby is a school that knows how to turn on a great event for its community so locals are looking forward to the celebration.

Emma Pritchard. After celebrating his 100th birthday earlier this year, Clarence Valley resident and World War II veteran George Smith enjoyed another distinguished occasion on July 29 when he was presented with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) commemorative memento to honour him as an RAAF centenarian. Born in Strathblane, Tasmania, on March 1, 1922, Mr Smith grew up on his family’s dairy farm and joined the RAAF as an 18-year-old following the outbreak of WWII.

Ian Hutton. As Curator of the museum, I get a lot of requests via email ... However, in May of this year, I received a most unusual email. A journalist from New Zealand contacted me asking if I considered the photo of a stuffed white bird seen in an antique shop there was the long-extinct flightless White gallinule of Lord Howe Island.

The Retired Railway Employees Association celebrated 100 years last week, with a visit to Maldon on the Victorian Goldfields Railway ... The group meets monthly and has regular social outings, but this year it was considered appropriate to celebrate the past 100 years by travelling on a steam train.

During Jumpers and Jazz the Allora and District Historical Society organised an amazing Military Display which was held in the Community Hall last Saturday. A piece of equipment that was exhibited created a lot of interest as it could not be identified.

Geoff Helisma. Translated from the Yaygirr dialect (historically spoken near the mouth of the Clarence River) these words are: ‘Hello there, how are you; this is Yaegl country. I remember my Elder men and Elder women.’ On Friday July 22, as part of the NAIDOC Week exhibition of Yaegl Elders portraits at the Yamba Museum, a book was launched, Keeping our Stories - Stories from Yaegl Country.

The countdown to the historic 140th anniversary edition of the Birdsville Races is on, with just over five weeks until the ‘Melbourne Cup of the outback’ reignites the tiny desert town on the edge of the Simpson Desert with thousands of revellers for an outback party and race carnival like no other ... From the Birdsville Cup’s’ first ever female winners and ambassadors to race-stopping outback deluges, horse flus, Prime Minister visits and a global pandemic – here are some memorable moments from 140 years of the Birdsville Races.

Wayne Winchester’s love of surfing began in his early teens and he’d live for the weekends when he could head to the coast to spend hours in the surf. He never dreamed that his hobby would lead to a lifetime career and the creation of a world class surfboard gallery. “I started fashioning my own boards when I was a teenager and I then started making them professionally in the mid 1970s,” Wayne says. “It was an exciting time as I shaped all sorts of boards just to see how they performed.”

As you drive on the Caves Road between Margaret River and Augusta, you will pass a magnificent forest of tall karri trees called the Boranup Forest. It is an extraordinary place – the furthest west that karri grows.

After a two year wait the Laura Geitz Statuette was finally unveiled on Saturday with the help of Tracy Dobie who was Mayor in 2020. A gust of wind arrived just as the unveiling was about to happen, hence the fun photo. The super coach and local Allora hero Wayne Bennett sat by in his comfortable arm chair.

Rodney Stevens. A band of adventurous brothers have unearthed what they believe could be remnants of a shipwreck on Yamba's Main Beach. Simon Vertullo said his family, who regularly holiday at Yamba, were at Main Beach on Thursday, June 7, when the inquisitive trio of George 9, Ted 6 and Joseph 2, decided to go exploring.

For a look back at Noosa's history, be sure to check out Council's Heritage Noosa website. You'll find historical images as well as a wide range of other digital heritage items such as maps, ephemera, digital stories, oral histories, videos and more.

Serena Kirby. Denmark Senior High School students are making progress with the restoration of one of Denmark’s iconic wooden boats, Tiki. The restoration began last year after now-retired teacher, Pete Logan, suggested it as a project for the school’s recreational pursuits course.

Chris Oldfield. Six pipers, a drummer and dancer recently stirred spirits and awakened the old stone walls and wooden floors of the Naracoorte Hotel – and its patrons. With music almost loud enough to reach the old cemetery, where our Scottish settlers rest, some talented pipers and a drummer had also travelled from Mount Gambier for a Toast to the Tartan.

You can be a part of this history making event at the Allora Sports Museum from 11.30am. Laura Geitz and Wayne Bennett will officially open the park that has been dedicated to them.

Lynne Mowbray. The old concrete pump station in River Street Maclean has been given a facelift over the weekend, with a mural painting depicting one of our prominent Yaegl Elders. Highly respected Yaegl Elder, Uncle Ron Heron of Yamba, has had the artwork created in his honour, to celebrate NAIDOC week.

A new work of history that seeks to unmake mythologies of pioneers, pastoralism and possession in the Northern Territory. 'A rare and wonderful book ... Unmaking Angas Downs is a profound act of listening, and a dazzling piece of historical scholarship.' Billy Griffiths

You may or may not have guessed, but the Australian involvement in World War 1 is my personal area of interest. And the next three articles will focus on a series of battles from 1917 which, in my humble opinion, were the battles which cemented the reputation of the AIF on the Western Front. Sure, the previous years had shown that they were resilient, hard fighters and men who could be trusted to get the job done. But these three battles showed them to be among the best, if not the best, assault troops in the Allied armies.

Narrandera's Dr Stanley Grant Senior AM has won the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022. Dr Grant is an elder and a warrior of the Wiradjuri people who grew up in Griffith and spent time with his grandfather Wilfred Johnson (known as Budyaan) who spoke seven languages and taught Dr Grant the Wiradjuri language.

Joan de Bondt. Percy Grainger was a composer and pianist born in 1882 whose legacy is generally associated with his piano arrangement of the folk dance tune ‘Country Gardens’ ... Percy Grainger was a cousin to Bruce’s great grandfather. A wedding photo of Bruce’s grandfather, Stewart Hamilton Grainger, is attached to a photo of Percy at about the same age and the resemblance is unmistakable.

Rachel Kennedy stood out on a wild frontier dominated by men ... her extraordinary and unputdownable pioneering story is told for the first time ... Rachel Kennedy was a colonial folk hero. Born in the wild and remote Warrumbungle mountains of western New South Wales in 1845, she was described by Duke Tritton of The Bulletin as Australia's greatest pioneer woman of them all.