History & heritage

Restoring the Nhill Silo isn’t a small endeavour, nor is it a cheap or an easy one. Nevertheless, a passionate group of local volunteers is committed to making it happen. The Nhill Silo Heritage Project was incorporated in 2021, following the purchase of the structure on behalf of the community.

Patrick Goldsmith. Celebrations have commenced to mark the 2023 Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival, now in its 50th year. Locals and visitors will have the chance to soak up traditional Cornish events and displays throughout the week (Monday to Sunday, May 15-21).

A joint Consortium Agreement has been adopted to help progress Moonta Mines’ world heritage bid. The Australian Cornish Mining Sites World Heritage Consortium will enable Copper Coast Council, Regional Council of Goyder (encompassing Burra) and the National Trust of South Australia to work towards their final step in gaining World Heritage Listing.

A commitment to preserving and celebrating the heritage of the Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail (NRRT) has been acknowledged with an award at the prestigious National Trust Heritage Awards. The Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail took out first place in the Conservation – Landscape category of the Awards at a ceremony in Sydney on Friday 12 May.

Birchip, Nullawil and Donald will host the first Royal Historical Society Victoria   (RHSV) seminar held in rural Victoria in 2023, between Friday, May 19, and Sunday, May 21, incorporating visiting presenters, local speakers from the different societies telling their experiences, and lots of opportunities to enjoy the Wimmera-Mallee.

Michele Waddington. This is the first part of a series on Maldon’s application for listing by the Australian Heritage Council as the outstanding 19th-century Australian Goldfields central precinct ... Part 1 claims that Maldon’s authentic and integrated streetscape was the impetus for heritage protection in Australia.

Sunday, May 7 saw a strong crowd gather at Myall for the unveiling of the Myall Historical Timeline and Myall Remembers service personnel honour board. The day was the fifth attempt to hold the event since 2019. With the pandemic behind us and the flood water receded, attendees braved the frigid conditions to soak up the rich recent history and live music.  

On Sunday the Upper Murray Historical Society conducted a Corryong Pioneer Cemetery Walk, the first since 2018. The society was well-pleased with the community support with attendance estimated in the high 40s. Six early pioneers were remembered on the walk. The first grave visited was that of Elizabeth Playle, one of the founding members of Corryong.

Many years of day in, day out toil by Evan and Gayle Jones and their team at Rudd’s Pub in Nobby was highlighted last Wednesday at an all-day event celebrating the opening of a new outdoor area and Steele Rudd Memorial.

The Classic is being held at the Toowoomba Aerodrome on Sunday 21 May ... The day attracts some 400 vehicles and 30 to 40 aircrafts with some 4,000 people attending. The mix of classic vehicles and warbirds make for a unique atmosphere and this year the Jensen Car Club will hold its Club National Rally.

The patriarch of one of Riverina’s best-known families has been given a photograph of his mother he did not even know existed taken 120 years ago after the precious portrait nearly ended up in a Central Coast rubbish tip. Former Narrandera resident Don Durnan, 92, was overjoyed when the beautiful old image, called a carte de visit, was handed to him by Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack.

“Bula.” That was Louisa’s greeting to everyone at the Lions’ Club monthly meeting on April 27 – “Hello” in Fijian. “Welcome”. This welcome was an invitation to all gathered, an invitation into Fijian culture, shared through meals and memories.

Around 1000 people gathered at first light for Naracoorte’s Anzac Day Dawn Service where a special haka performance enthused the crowd. The performance has since gone viral via various traditional and social media platforms.

Serena Kirby. After a stormy night, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared for this year’s Anzac Day Parade in which participation numbers were down from previous years. An estimated 150 spectators attended the mid-morning street parade and service.

Kaniva is celebrating the coronation of King Charles III and all royalists are invited to view Kaniva's royal mob of main street sheep. The crowns are works of art and have been custom-made for this historic royal occasion by Kaniva Puppet Shop proprietor Julie Finch.

Residents and visitors totalling 55 attended the Anzac Dawn Service in Baker Park, and for the first time since the wet morning in 2017 the kookaburras missed the Dawn Service. This years commemoration was attended by two serving Army personnel, Sergeant Matt Devereaux and Corporal Michael (Mick) Elliott, son of Bill Elliott, from the Air Support Unit, RAAF base in Richmond.

A development application is currently on public exhibition for a new portrait of Yaegl elder Uncle Ron Herron to be painted on a Maclean pump station after it was graffitied last August in what was described as a ‘kick in the guts for our mob’. The colourful portrait of the widely respected Yaegl elder on the River Street pump station, by street artist Austin ‘Nitsua’ was painted over in white paint over the weekend of August 7 and 8, 2022, with the perpetrator still unknown.

Planning is underway for the nation’s largest gathering of harnessed draught animals, The Good Old Days Festival, at Barellan in southern NSW on September 30-October 1, 2023. The committee is putting together a full program of authentic heritage events ... Barellan Working Clydesdale Committee member Bruce Bandy, and Aleks Berzins, of Exeter, will drive a team of over 20 heavy horses pulling a wool wagon around the arena.

Matthew Retmock. Today is a sad day. Today is not a day for shallow nationalistic chest-beating. Today is a day when we remember the victims of war and express our gratitude to the brave few who made the ultimate sacrifice.

As a young theatre director and teacher Peter Derrett travelled to the 1973 Aquarius Festival ... He took his camera with him and the resulting collection of images  provides a comprehensive documentary account of this landmark event in Australian cultural history ... offer valuable insights into what happened at the Festival and sum up many of the ideologies that surrounded it.  

Carly Brisby of Yanchep was among those to attend the Anzac Day service in the Yanchep National Park earlier on 25 April 2023. “My grandfather fought in World War II and was a prisoner at Changi I believe so I’m just here to remember him and the other soldiers that fought in all the wars" ... In his Anzac Day address Yanchep Two Rocks RSL president Bill Jones said in the very early morning 108 years ago the landing of allied troops took place along the rocky shores and headlands of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.