History & heritage

The Ivanhoe Dry Times 2022 Truck, Tractor, Car and Bike show attracted not only Wilcannia residents but a truck which started its working life in Wilcannia ... As well as trucks, the show attracted a good number of veteran, vintage and modern cars.

Kim Woods. Retired station cook and fruit picker Di Looker has battled her way through flood water to make a two and a half month trip from Bendigo to Barellan in a horse drawn drover’s cart. Di, of Lockwood, Victoria, with her Blue Heeler Rhonda and Jack Russell cross, China, has made the trip in an old drover’s cart pulled by her nine-year-old Clydesdale Harry.

Jocelyn Kellam. St Paul’s Anglican church in Naracoorte is staging major exhibition of artefacts from biblical and church history, including coins that were in circulation in the Holy Land during Jesus’ life. ... “But the coins are only the first part of the exhibition... ": Keith Dalby, the Bishop of the Diocese of the Murray.

The Alexandrina Council owned Paddle Steamer, PS Oscar W, is a major drawcard for locals and tourists to our region and will soon feature in its very own short film series following the amazing slipping and maintenance journey of our Friends of the Oscar W volunteer group. The PS Oscar W has just undergone its biennial slipping and maintenance to inspect and restore the historic paddle steamer and is a fantastic example of regenerative heritage in action.

You may have seen a bunch of military-style vehicles tooling around Maldon on the weekend. The cars in question are Austin Champs, a British army jeep-like vehicle that was manufactured in the 1950s.

Jeff Hanson. Harness racing lost a legend last week, with Colin Pike passing away in his home town of Temora on Thursday at the age of 90 ... Pike's first horse, Rayjen began racing in 1956 and she was his first race drive ... Rayjen went on to produce one of the greatest pacers this country has ever seen. Paleface Adios (Deep Adios x Ray-den) started 240 times winning 108 races ...

The Old Days Festival set a new single day attendance record and one of the nation's biggest gatherings of draught animals as it roared back to life over the holiday weekend after a two-year hiatus ... The most experienced teamsters in the country assembled to showcase horses, camels, bullocks, donkeys and goats all in harness and hauling wagons, ploughs, water carts, buggies, sleds, sulkies and timber jinkers.

At its Ordinary Meeting Southern Downs Regional Council recognised Joan Cronin for her significant contribution and dedication to the region as a volunteer at the Allora Regional Sports Museum ... “Joan is a shining example of an ordinary citizen delivering an extraordinary service to the community and I am pleased to recognise her years of selfless service”: Mayor Pennisi.

When English historian, Derek Neville, was researching letters written by David Blackburn, navigator and ‘master’ of the First Fleet vessel Supply, he was disappointed to discover that the small island in the Lagoon at Lord Howe had lost its original name – ‘Blackburn Isle’. This name had been given to it by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball in March, 1788, when the very first landing was made at Lord Howe.

In the last quarter of 2021, MainFM’s Queer and Now successfully produced a nine-part podcast titled ‘Pride Across the Ages’ ... the series is an incredibly moving, challenging, heartfelt, funny, honest and raw collection of stories from the LGBTIQA+ community ‘across the ages' who call Central Victoria and the towns of Mount Alexander Shire home.

The historic Harrow Homestead between Cambooya and Southbrook has been sold for $18,803,300. The expansive property on Cambooya Felton Road covers 1568 hectares or 3874.6 acres.

The current Allora Golf Course will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, with a golf day and BBQ planned for Sunday 2nd October. We say “current” because this golf course is actually the third one in Allora. The first Allora Golf Club was formed in June 1927 and the course opened in August 1927.

We have many events and competitions including horse, sheep, dog, fleece, sheaf toss, cooking, horticulture, art, craft, photography etc.

We are having an entertainment day to promote our district and local community.  

Anyone wanting to sign a condolence book for Queen Elizabeth II in the northern suburbs can do so at Chocolate Drops in the Yanchep National Park. Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts, who arranged for the condolence book to be at Chocolate Drops, said those wishing to sign the condolence book could do so between 9.30am and 2.30pm until Sunday, September 25 and then between 9.30am to 4.30pm during the school holidays.

The topic I want to raise is one that in the last few decades has grown to become an Australian norm, performed at major and minor cultural, political, and sporting events. Unfortunately, this new norm is at risk of being overused by zealot government bureaucrats, attempting to force reconciliation through repetition, instead of accepting slow community adoption.

Chris Oldfield. Richard Downward remembers the magical glamour, pomp and pageantry of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 because he was there. Just 14 years old at the time, he and fellow Naracoorte High School student Geoffrey Arthur (deceased) were selected to join The Advertiser Sun Youth Travel Coronation contingent.

A mural depicting the history of fishing on the Fraser Coast has been painted on the side wall of the Urangan Fisheries cold store which faces Fishermans Park ... “It links the Butchulla and European history of fishing in the region,” Councillor Zane O’Keefe said ... Watch the video.

I was unexpectedly, and in the end pleasantly, surprised to find a story that is as much about 1950s and 1960s Australia as it is about one young woman’s experiences. It is the north-west Western Australia of Aboriginal missions, of cultural clashes, of extremes in temperature and of distance, of hardships tempered by moments of joy, of connections made and still treasured more than half a century later.

Kendall Jennings. Residents around the district supported the Kerang Orchid Show blooming in the Kerang Basketball Stadium over the weekend, hosted by the Mid-Murray Orchid Club. After a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions, judges from Melbourne travelled to Kerang to award displays designed by local growers.

Emma Pritchard. A much loved and time-honoured tradition which celebrates the beginning of the Jacaranda season, the crowning of the famous Grafton Clocktower was brought forward by several weeks this year at the request of Clarence Valley residents in honour of Queen Elizabeth II ... Shortly before 6am on September 14, the iconic crown was carefully guided into place as a small crowd ... gathered in Prince Street to watch.

A Blue Plaque has been installed for the first time ever in NSW as part of the popular NSW Blue Plaques program, which recognises extraordinary people and events from our State’s history. Minister for Heritage James Griffin said the Caroline Chisholm Blue Plaque in the suburb of East Maitland was the first of 21 Blue Plaques so far to be installed.