Local Hero; George Morris & the Lithgow Stove

Local Hero; George Morris & the Lithgow Stove

Engineer  George Morris arrived in Australia in the 1890s. He settled in Sydney, marrying Priscilla Walker in 1903.  The couple then moved to Lithgow, in the Blue Mountains, where  George was  initially employed at the town’s blast furnace. In 1910 he left, to open a foundry in

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CHRISTMAS IN BLACKHEATH

CHRISTMAS IN BLACKHEATH

  CHRISTMAS IS NIGH As Christmas approaches I love looking back at seasonal celebrations in my  Blue Mountains village of Blackheath. The following is from The Lithgow Mercury in 1909; There was very little stir here during Christmas, and everything passed off quietly. On Boxing Night a

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THE LITHGOW PRAM PUSHERS

THE LITHGOW PRAM PUSHERS

Dave McSorley was a  local barber in Lithgow. He was also a heavy-weight boxer, and consummate showman. He once wagered that he could clean shave  1,000 men without a break. In the end he ran out of  bristling chins, but still managed 420 shaves in 54½ hours,

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LITHGOW BLAST FURNACE; STEEL IN THE HEART

LITHGOW BLAST FURNACE; STEEL IN THE HEART

BLAST FURNACE SPELLS START OF THE STEEL INDUSTRY On May 13 1907, the Lithgow Blast Furnace , built by William Sandford Ltd., was officially opened by the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Joseph Carruthers. It was essentially the birth of Australia’s steel industry, and a day

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SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL PARK, BLACKHEATH

SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL PARK, BLACKHEATH

During World War One, seventy seven  men from  the small Blue Mountains community  of Blackheath, NSW   volunteered to serve.  Their names are engraved on the local war memorial. Six were killed in action; H. CULLEN, R. MURRAY, J. SKEEN, D. SPRAGUE, J. STEENSON, & R. THOMPSON.

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The Waratah – history and folklore.

The Waratah - history and folklore.

The spectacular  waratah (Telopea)  is the state emblem of New South Wales, and  so much a part of the beautiful  Blue Mountains, where I live.  The plants flower  both in our gardens and in the local bush. They are part of our identity. In 1912, an article

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THE BLACKHEATH BROOM MAKER

THE BLACKHEATH BROOM MAKER

In 1918 an article in The Sydney Morning Herald reported on brooms being hand-made in the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath; The brooms are manufactured under the most primitive conditions, the machine for binding them together being home-made, and it is contended by the maker that with

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FIRE, & A MYSTERY ‘EPIDEMIC’ AT LITHGOW

FIRE, & A MYSTERY 'EPIDEMIC' AT LITHGOW

Fire created havoc in the Blue Mountains and Lithgow during the summer of 2019/20. The heat was extraordinary.  I am a firm believer in climate change, even though our beautiful Mountains have suffered very badly in years gone by. THE FURY OF FIRE The summer of 1952

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THE SHOOTING OF DONALD BUNYAN

THE SHOOTING OF DONALD BUNYAN

On  the afternoon of August 18 1937, Mrs Dorothy Bunyan  of Lithgow attended a  funeral. It was a particularly  sad occasion; the child of Mr Brown,  of one of the  local  school teachers, had died. She hurried  home  because her nine year old son Donald was due home from primary school. 

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