History & heritage

Narrandera Shire Council will discuss with the Federal Member for Farrer Sussan Ley MP and the Federal Government the possibility to reinstate the Narrandera to Tocumwal Rail Line as a supplementary line to the planned Wagga Inland Rail Route. Cr Jenny Clarke said a previous Council had lobbied vigorously for the Narrandera to Tocumwal line to be reinstated, but unfortunately all the progress achieved had been basically forgotten by the current Council.

Australia’s oldest woman, Lorna Henstridge, was born a Paterson and grew up on a Willamulka farm with her parents and two siblings ... Turning 110 last Thursday, June 6,Ms Henstridge was born in 1914 in Adelaide and lived on Yorke Peninsula until 1921.

In this review, John O'Donnell explores 19 town and city bushfire disasters, ranging from bushfire impacts of the early settlements in the 1851 Victorian bushfires to bushfires in 2021, a period covering 170 years. Readers can assess bushfire preparation in relation to their own and other towns and cities and consider if bushfire preparation is well managed, has improved after earlier bushfires and if it has improved since the 2019/ 20 bushfires.

Robert Onfray. Any Hollywood film producer needing a blockbuster script should look no further than New South Wales and the aerial culling of brumbies. It is a highly polarised issue and has been for many years. After all, the concern about culling brumbies is not matched by concerns to kill other feral animals or pests, such as deer, pigs, rabbits, foxes and cats. In one corner ... the brumby haters. In the other corner are the brumby lovers ...

Shane Smith. This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the greatest operation undertaken during World War 2. Operation Overlord the invasion by allied forces at Normandy France 6th June 1944 ... Four members of the RAAF from Naracoorte were directly involved in this invasion to free the people of France and Western Europe from Nazi rule.

John Williams. There are over 15 thousand names of towns, suburbs and regions in Australia. Below is a list of place names in the Nhill region along with an explanation of how they were christened by European settlers ... Albacutya ... Goroke ...Nhill ... Tarranginnie ... Aboriginal word for man with sore feet ...

Maureen Donnellon. Part 2 will acknowledge the many old Palm trees, Jacarandas, Moreton Bay Fig trees, Peppercorn trees and plantations. One of the best known and most significant varieties of trees in Birchip are the palm trees, the most noticeable to locals and travellers being the four large date palms in the median strip of Cumming Avenue.

Jenny Pollard. Like-minded motoring enthusiasts showed their support as the Charlton “Wheels on A79 Car, Truck and Tractor Club” was launched at the Traveller’s Rest last Sunday morning. The multi-vehicle and highway-defined title has been a deliberate attempt to embrace as wide a range of participants as possible – not just from the local areas, but also to include locations from along the Calder Highway route, with Charlton providing the nucleus of the operation.

Robert Onfray. While researching for my three-part series on the truth behind the rainforest wars in New South Wales, there was a constant theme in the historical account of utilising one species of rainforest timber. While the cutting of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) was undoubtedly very extensive in New South Wales, the scale of utilisation in Queensland was even more significant, and one of its primary uses was for butter boxes.

Serena Kirby. The Denmark Historical Society is in the process of erecting information signage along the Denmark - Nornalup Rail Trail. The 38 signs provide historical background about the origins, significance and role that the old Elleker-Denmark-Nornalup railway line played in opening up the surrounding areas for grazing and settlement.

John Williams. Being a Nhill townie, getting to and from High School was a quick bike ride for most of us. Some put boiling water in the handlebars for the chilly Winter ride to the cattle pit gates ... A few took the George Merrett blue and silver town bus, either the GMC or Chevrolet.

This month, book fair volunteers have started sorting through the collection of Vintage, Antique and Classic Books. Sorting vintage and antique are easy. Any hardcover book printed between 1918 and 1978 can be called vintage and any book printed before 1918 can be called antique.

The Kaniva District Hospital Ladies Auxiliary marked their 100th Anniversary on Wednesday, 22nd May ... Chair Katherine Colbert expressed gratitude for the Auxiliary’s century-long support and highlighted its importance to the Kaniva community.

As they stood in the shadow of the heritage 1960s 621/721 class rail motor at Grafton City Station, volunteers from the Rail Motor Society reflected with heartfelt pride and passion on the unequivocal diligence and resoluteness of their ongoing work which enabled local railway enthusiasts to experience the sensation of travelling in historic style over the weekend.

As part of a Connecting Country event held last Sunday, Mulga Urban Landcare (MULGA) Secretary Bev Phillips took a group of Landcare colleagues on a tour of some of Maldon’s oldest trees. This included trees located at the Bill Woodfull Recreation Reserve, the Police Reserve and Maldon Primary School.

After many years of planning by DownsSteam, the engine "Pride of Toowoomba" made its first official trip to and from Wyreema on Saturday morning. After waiting for many years, steam train fans were not going to miss out on the chance to ride the rails aboard carriages hauled by the refurbished "Pride of Toowoomba" ...

FLTLT Kristi Adam. The tiny town of Nhill in the Wimmera region of far west Victoria, was once home to Executive Officer of 100 Squadron, Squadron Leader Samuel da Graca Costa, who recently returned representing Air Force at the Nhill Air Show - flying the CA-25 Winjeel.

No-one ever said preserving and restoring a silo complex would be easy. A passionate group of volunteers is working hard towards this goal, spending dozens of hours every month fixing floorboards, replacing rotting wooden posts, and applying for grants.

Sarah Herrmann. With a crucial bid looming to have our unique Moonta Mines precinct World Heritage Listed, more work is needed to improve the safety of the site. Safework SA inspectors have visited Hughes Enginehouse in Moonta Mines as part of ongoing inquiries into an incident that occurred earlier this month.

The excitement was getting a little too much at times. Not only for the team at Victorian Goldfields Railway (VGR) but also for locomotive J549 (J) ... And last Saturday at 12.30pm, an excited driver Paul McDonald brought J home to Maldon, with around 90 passengers equally excited to be part of the ‘chuff-chuff, woo-wooo’ journey.

This Saturday and Sunday, John Reis and Steaming on the Downs are presenting their spectacular vintage and steam-driven farm machinery on-farm exhibition at Lilydale, near Meringandan. More than fifty working machines, plus bush poetry, camp oven damper-making and a sausage sizzle are just some of the attractions.

This past weekend, Kaniva Leeor United (KLU) hosted the Leeor Premiership reunion of the 1974 A Grade team. The event, held during KLU’s home game against Pimpinio, drew a large crowd of supporters, including former players and officials from the victorious 1974 team.