When I was growing up on a farm in north-west Tasmania our fences were mainly barbed wire, supported by blackberries. I loved seeing the English style hawthorn hedges when we ventured further south, especially driving through sheep country in the Midlands. Here is an account of hawthorn
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The Blue Mountains town of Blackheath has always attracted visitors during the festive season. The following report appeared in the Lithgow Mercury, dated January 6 1899; BLACKHEATH – According to reports from different towns the railway traffic to the Mountains this Christmas and New Year has largely
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In 1903 there was a public vote to determine whether Mr F.H. Furner’s new hotel in the seaside Tasmanian town of Ulverstone should be granted a liquor licence. Surprise, surprise….the ayes were in the majority. The old Queen had died the previous year, but the design was
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Up by the railway station in the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath is the sweetest, most delightfully idiosyncratic gift and hobby shop imaginable…. the Old Tythe Barn. If that name conjures an image of a vast agricultural building (it did for me), then you are in for
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We all dislike our driving licence photo don’t we? I look like a terrified, but hard core criminal in mine. No, I am not going to display it here. Why on earth aren’t we allowed to smile in these photographs? Just a shadow of a grin would
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MID AUGUST 2020 – I was creating a new garden bed recently when I spotted a currawong gathering roots for its nest. A yellow robin on the look-out for worms was watching on with a wary eye. The currawong nest was constructed high in a eucalypt (local
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Winifred Julia Singleton (Winnie) was born near Ulverstone, Tasmania on November 29 1918, the first child of Arthur and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Singleton. Arthur Singleton was my great uncle. There is only one known photo of Winnie. It was taken in 1924, when she and her little sister
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Anyone growing up in rural Tasmania in the old days would be aware of the lunch basket, often taken out to the paddock by small children. And if a piece of cake or a biscuit disappeared on the way….well who could blame them? My farmer’s wife mother
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The picture shows a model (not to scale) of a very unique grandstand. The model is held in the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s museum, which opened in 2006. Sadly, the stand itself is long gone. THE BACK STORY OF THE GRANDSTAND The grandstand was designed by architect George
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Hello Peeps, Editor Des reporting. Well I had a Covid escape to Sydney from Blackheath a while back….OK, a LONG while back! 😨 Cities are strange places, did you know that? You could disappear from one completely in the proverbial puff of smoke, or something even more
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