History & heritage

On the night of Thursday June 2, Quilpie Shire lit the way for Outback Queensland by staging special Platinum Jubilee celebrations for HRH Queen Elizabeth II at the spectacular Baldy Top lookout. The red earth of the renowned tourist destination turned purple as special purple coloured lights and fireworks were lit, along with several huge bonfires.   More than 250 locals and tourists alike gathered to pay respect to the Queen for her Jubilee.

Warwick O'Neill. Imagine you’re a young 20 year old bloke. You’ve just struggled across sixty miles of some of the toughest terrain on earth. You’ve had bugger all training, your weapons are obsolete because you’re “just Militia” and all the best stuff is being used by the Second AIF in North Africa. But here you are on the pointy end of the attempt to defend Australia from direct attack.

Fergus O'Sullivan, History Guild. The North African campaigns of WW2 were two years of back and forth action across Libya and Egypt ... When the end eventually came to this seesaw action at El Alamein in 1942, again it was Australians were integral to carrying the day. In this article we’ll see this pivotal battle through the eyes of veterans from rural and regional Australia.

The property known as Kurrumbede  was originally part of the Burburgate run, a vast pastoral holding in the 1800s. In 1905, this estate was subdivided into 58 blocks and sold at auction. Two of these blocks were purchased by prominent doctor and politician, Sir Charles Mackellar, Dorothea’s father, who completed building the homestead on the eastern side of the Namoi River in 1908.

Narrandera’s Narrungdera Earth Fest has been hailed as a resounding success by locals and visitors ... Mrs Powell was delighted that the program attracted hundreds of people to each event during the three days of festivities.

People anywhere in the world can now take a step back in time to what was making the news during our region’s Soldier Settlement years thanks to Mildura Rural City Council Libraries’ newspaper digitisation project.

The St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days have regrettably had to be cancelled due to wet weather and the condition of the grounds being unfit for the show.

On Monday, 22 April 1901, Maldon’s Chinese community gave a concert at the Temperance Hall (now the Community Centre) to help raise funds for the Maldon Hospital ... A highlight of the evening was the Chinese dragon, worked by Tow Yin, Ah Chong and George Ah Mi. The dragon performed an elaborate dance before miming the actions of eating a meal and bathing and then settling down and going to sleep. The performance was greeted with loud applause.

Mike Riley. The Naracoorte Swap Meet and Show n Shine had something for everyone last weekend. The Naracoorte Historic Vehicle Club was very pleased with the turnout after a break of two years. The number of sites was over 320 and there were plenty of buyers. Site holders were very happy with their sales and generally believed that the Meet was better than the 2019 event.

The first step in merging Noongar cultural burning practice with contemporary fire mitigation was taken last week with a trial burn along Wilson Inlet. A small area was selected along the Bibbulmun Track, adjoining Weedon Hill, for the demonstration trial in the big step towards more collaboration between traditional custodians and authorities in bushfire prevention.

“We’re off to the Landor Races” ... “Where is Landor?” ... “About a 12-hour drive away. The nearest town is Meekatharra, some 270 kilometres away from Landor” ... “So what’s at Landor?” ... “Nothing, just the racetrack.”

This timber reserve is located just west of the Boddington townsite , on the eastern fringe of the jarrah forest in Western Australia ... The infertile, lateritic soils that initially spared the MTR from clearing by farmers were its ultimate downfall ... An important question to ask is “How much bauxite mining is enough?”

The Australian Timor Leste Friendship Network was established in 2009, and in the same year, Mount Alexander Shire entered into a Friendship Relationship Agreement with the sub-district of Lolotoe, Timor Leste and Friends of Lolotoe Timor-Leste Incorporated. This friendship is based on mutual support and respect for each other’s culture. The Friendship group started work raising funds for school infrastructure, school resources, scholarships and gardening programs.

Raise money for the Cancer Council while enjoying a delicious morning tea at the beautiful, historic Plaistow Homestead this Thursday, 19 May. From 10am, there will be scones freshly cooked, bottomless tea and coffee, stalls with plants, quality knitting and handcrafts and continuous music from the Maldon based Platform Souls. Other musicians are welcome to bring their instruments and join in.

A push is on to rekindle interest in establishing a centre to honour one of Narrandera's most prominent figures from the past - Monsignor Patrick Hartigan ...better known under the pen name of John O'Brien, the legendary, internationally recognised pioneer poet ... Australian champion bush poet Noel Stallard took on the role of John O'Brien for 22 years in the annual John O'Brien Festival.

Narrandera has taken a step back in time this week as the town hosts about 80 vehicles featuring iconic names as Renault, De Dion Bouton, Maxwell, Triumph, Humber and more for the Veteran Car Club of NSW rally.

“The first brigade was established following the bombing of Darwin during World War II, making the NTFRS the only Australian capital city fire service to serve under enemy fire. At this present time, our thoughts are certainly with the courageous efforts of firefighters in Ukraine, their dedication and commitment is a true testament of what a firefighter is when protecting the community”: Chief Fire Officer Mark Spain AFSM.

The final drilling results from the first exploration campaign of diamond drilling at Maldon returned a high-grade interval of 0.6m @ 52.8 g/t gold. Overall, the results were encouraging and very useful in defining the mineralised trends within Maldon ... Kaiser Reef Limited (ASX: KAU) considers Maldon to be an under-explored and prospective prolific high-grade historic goldfield.

Joan de Bondt. Each year, the Agricultural Societies Council of NSW (ASC) recognises the excellence, dedication, resilience and innovation of agricultural show volunteers across the state. The joint winners of the ASC Dedication Award for 2022 are June Lowry and George Rathbone from Wakool Show.

Local fiddlemaker Martin Scuffins is a creative artist who loves the natural world and finds joy in the expression of life through music and art. He has a passion for fiddle making and a special interest in Norwegian Hardanger fiddles which are fitted with ‘sympathetic’ strings that resonate in harmony with the played strings.