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1HERITAGE November - December 2013

HERITAGENEWSLETTER OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION

OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE No. 30

An alternative crossing: Bells Line of RoadPart 1: Alexander Bell junior

by Ian JackIntroductionTHROUGHOUT 2013 there hasbeen a bicentennial preoccupationwith the genesis of the GreatWestern Highway over the BlueMountains.

The development of a viable roadalong the high ridges south of theGrose River to the plains beyondhad powerful consequences whichwere gradually realised over thedecades following 1813.

The recent and continuingcommemorations of Blaxland,Lawson, Wentworth, Evans, Coxand Macquarie have contributed toa welcome appraisal of the eventsof 1813 to 1815.

It is worthwhile, however, to recallthat another ridgeway to the north ofthe Grose gorge had also beenexplored by Europeans and wassurveyed as a viable road in 1823.

Bells Line of Road was a realenough alternative to the WesternRoad, although, for a variety ofreasons, it has always playedsecond fiddle to the southern route.

But when Archibald Bell and RobertHoddle created the alternative roadin 1823, the descent from MountYork was still a challenge for thetraveller on the Western Road andThomas Mitchell had not yet arrivedin the colony to make autocraticdeterminations about the best linesfor all three main roads, north,south and west.

Mount Tomah proved to be Bell’sMount York, but in 1823 thenorthern route promised much.

Whereas the southern route ranfrom the lower Nepean at EmuPlains, the new route started on the

upper Hawkesbury adjacent toNorth Richmond, climbed theescarpment through Kurrajong toKurrajong Heights with deviationsover the years, then descendedonto a singularly equable ridgelineuntil the great obstacle of MountTomah presented generations ofroad-users and road-makers withdangers and dilemmas.

Once over Mount Tomah, the roadfollowed the only practicableridgeline until it turned south at theDarling Causeway, where the GroseRiver had its source.

Halfway down the DarlingCauseway it turned west againdown a viable creek gully intoHartley Vale (the route still in usetoday as Hartley Vale Road).

Once safely down in Hartley Vale, itpassed the inn that Pierce Collettshad established in 1821 and joinedthe Western Road (Figure 1).

Aboriginal and earlyEuropean knowledgeThe Kurrajong hills had beenfamiliar to Europeans since theearliest days of the colony. CaptainWatkin Tench, Lieutenant WilliamDawes and Sergeant Isaac Knightwere the first Europeans known tohave climbed the Kurrajongfoothills.

They had no Aboriginal people withthem. ‘Stopped by a mountainouscountry’, they ended their foray ontop of Kurrajong Heights (or justpossibly Bowen Mountain) whichTench and Dawes named Knight Hillin May 1791 in honour of thesergeant of marines.1

Continued page 3 (For figure 1 seepage 3)

Ian Jack in this image of the Grose River gorge from Bells Linecaptures the immensity of the dividing line between the two roads the

Bells Line of Road to the north and to the south the Great WesternHighway as the routes are know today.


An opinion from the editor.......

John Leary, OAM -President, Blue MountainsAssociation of Cultural HeritageOrganisations Inc.

Contents.........HERITAGE

November - December2013

*P1 Alternate crossing: BellsLine of Road by Ian Jack

*P2 Opinion - Bushfires’ferocity touched theregion’s heritage by JohnLeary

*P6 A breathtaking floraldisplay of purple haze byJohn Leary

*P9 Woodford Academylaunches bicentenaryschools program

*P9 Bicentenary tribute toEvans and Cox

*P10 The Gully, officialyopened

*P10 British campaign endsgallery’s bid to buy historicanimal art

*P11 The making of a possumskin cloak by JanKoperberg

*P11 All about Evans*P12 Historic sharing culture --

Aboriginalcommemoration walkJummangundaNgunninga by JanKoperberg

*P13 Retrospection andcontinuity - the Cox’sroad journey by Joan Kent

*P14 Historian with song writingto his credit becomespresident at Kurrajong

*P15 Persistence wins museuma grant

*P16 Move to form Friends of theParagon

*P16 New strategy for Australianheritage

*P17 Sandstone the making ofthe Blue Mountains

*P18 ‘Our Jan’ honoured for workon Western Crossings

*P18 National Trust honoursawards 2013

*P19 Blue Mountains new plangoes on exhibition

*P19 NSW govt withdrawscontroversial planning bill

*P20 Blue Mountains HistoryJournal No. 4 now online

*P22 St Stephens ParishRegisters 1861 - 1902

*P23 ANZAC centenary grants*P23 New heritage network*P24 Utzon’s Opera House*P24 Landmarks*P25 Rome’s gigantic waste

disposal site

Bushfires’ ferocitytouched the region’s

heritageThe devastating bushfires whichripped through parts of the BlueMountains and Lithgow areasdestroying more than 200 urbanhomes is in itself a piece of historywhich students of cultural heritagein the future will ponder particularlyas to the effect on the communityat large.

The destructive force of the firesand the heroic efforts of thosevolunteers and professionals whofought the fires often at danger tothemselves, has been wellrecorded in the media and it is notthe intention to comment otherthan to add to the overwhelmingchorus of appreciation which hasrightly been showered upon thesemen and women.

Closer to home, a number ofthose associated with BMACHOwere under real threat and to themgo our sincere hopes that likePhoenix they will rise from theashes. Particularly our sympathygoes out to former president of MtVictoria & District HistoricalSociety, Robert Cameron who wasone of those to lose his home tothe flames.

With fire within two kilometers ofthe Valley Heights LocomotiveDepot Museum wise precautionswere taken to move off site andaway from the district somevaluable paintings housed in thecomplex. Members also tookappropriate action, rolling out firefighting hoses to ensure the sitewas adequately covered should anoutbreak of fire occur.

A little further west atFaulconbridge, up to 10 fire truckssurrounded the historic NationalTrust property of Norman LindsayGallery where priceless art workswere carefully packed up andmoved off the Mountains. Thedecision to move the treasuresdespite on-site fireproof storeroomwas made because of the ferocityof the fires and the weatherconditions.

Not so lucky was the Zig ZagRailway where members had beenworking tirelessly for some time tosatisfy the Rail Safety Regulatorand had genuine hopes ofresuming passenger servicestowards the end of this year. Thefire brought devastation mainly tothe Bottom Points depot complexwhere the destruction of theworkshop facility and officeoccurred. However, the societystill has enough rolling stock toresume passenger operations inthe future while the three stationsbuildings were not touched by thefire.

Clearly, it is a time for allmuseums and heritage propertiesto look to bush fire survival plans,because inevitable bushfire is oneof the prices we pay for living andworking in such a beautifulenvironment.

All too often the outstanding anddedicated work of our volunteersand those professionals withwhom they work , is overlooked.In the pages of this edition ofHERITAGE is recorded the awardsto a number of these people.

Firstly those individuals andorganisations who have workedtirelessly for the success of thebicentenary celebration of theWestern Crossing have beenhonoured by the Blue Mountains,Oberon and Lithgow Tourism.Secondly we have the NationalTrust awards where 5 out of thetotal of 20 awards this year havecome to the Blue Mountains.

BMACHO warmly congratulatesthose who have been recognisedwith an award and thanks bothorganisations for realising theworth of the volunteers and theprofessionals who work alongsidethem in the heritage sector

CONGRATULATIONS


Continued from page 1With the development of farming inthe Hawkesbury Valley from 1794onwards and the granting of land onboth sides of the river, there was anatural likelihood of further earlyexploration.

The only written account to survivefrom these first years is by MatthewEveringham, a First-Fleet convict,who set out from his Hawkesburyfarm in 1795 with two otherEuropeans ‘to cross the bluemountains of this country’, climbedup to Kurrajong Heights as Tenchhad done, though his exact route isuncertain, and then went beyond asfar as the eminences of MountWilson/Irvine or Mount Tomah.2

In 1804 the naturalist George Caleytravelled from Kurrajong Heights toMount Tomah and Mount Banks bya very difficult route, stillremembered by names such as theDevil’s Wilderness and DismalDingle (Figure 2).3

Because of their proximity to theHawkesbury River, the Kurrajonghills and the North Richmond areawere settled and developed quiteearly, including the Bell family’sBelmont in 1807.

James Meehan surveyed NorthRichmond in 1809 and Kurrajong in1811.4

Governor and Mrs Macquarie rodeup to Kurrajong Heights inDecember 1810 after visiting theBell family at Belmont, found nodifficulty in ascending the final hilland used an alternative route downto the north-west, already markedout by the same surveyor, GeorgeWilliam Evans, who was to surveyCox’s Road in 1813-1814.5

Although Aboriginal people knewthe route along the ridges fromKurrajong Heights to Mount Tomah,this does not seem to have been acommon indigenous way across theMountains.

This is suggested by a story retailedin 1904 by a well-informedRichmond man, Sam Boughton,born locally in 1841.

According to Boughton, analtercation just before 1823between the local Belmont

Figure 1. Bells Line of Road as surveyed by Robert Hoddle in 1823,sketch-map used in 1831 by Surveyor Rogers. State Records NSW,

Surveyors’ Sketch-books, X751, item 206.

Aborigines and a group from PipersFlat near Wallerawang, who hadcrossed the Mountains viaSpringwood, led to the abduction ofsix Belmont women:

‘In about six days one of the ginsreturned alone, but from a differentdirection than by the way she wastaken off: and when questioned asto how she came back, she pointedto the Big Hill (Kurrajong Heights),saying, “that feller”.

‘This event caused some surprise,not only to the Bells, but to theblacks also, as it was thought therewas no other way over themountains than by Springwood.’6

This story does not imply that localAboriginal people did not know howto cross Kurrajong Heights, but itmakes it clear that they did notexpect to go to the Bathurst Plainsdirectly from Kurrajong .

The evidence of George Bowen,who lived at Berambing, near MountTomah, in the 1830s, is categorical:

‘The Aboriginal natives never livedin [that part of] the mountains, butthere was a tribe who wanderedover the neighbouring lowlands [i.e.the plateau between KurrajongHeights and Mount Tomah] andoccasionally paid me a visit.’7

The evidence strongly suggests thatthe Darug people had someknowledge of the area as far asMount Tomah, but that no regularAboriginal thoroughfare from theBathurst Plains to the CumberlandPlains existed immediately to thenorth of the Grose River.

Archibald Bell junior and histhree expeditions in 1823Archibald Bell junior spent almosthis entire early life in the Kurrajongdistrict.

Born in England in 1804, he hadarrived in New South Wales with hisparents and eight and a half siblingsin 1807.

Continued page 4

Macquarie rode up to Kurrajong Heights


His father, Archibald Bell senior, amember of the Rum Corps, wasgiven 500 acres [200 hectares] onthe north bank of the Hawkesbury atNorth Richmond by Governor Bligh,built his house of Belmont there,expanded his landholdings duringthe interregnum and underPaterson and, despite his complicityin the fall of Bligh, was in 1810confirmed in his acreage byGovernor Macquarie.8

Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarievisited the Bell family at Belmont inNovember 1810 and took tea on theverandah.9

Belmont was already a comfortablehome in 1810, and Archibald Bellsenior and his wife Maria developedthe property between 1826 and1834 into the delightful housedrawn by Conrad Martens in 1838and painted by Henry Fullwood in1892 (Figure 3) .10

Young Archibald was still living athome in 1823, a lad of nineteen.

Three years before he had beenstimulated by his elder brother,William, who enterprisingly followedJohn Howe’s newly blazed route to

Figure 2.Caley’s sketch-map of the area around Mount Tomah and MountBanks, which he explored in 1804. Historical Records NSW, vol.5, afterp.724.

The original ZigZag constructed probably in 1823-1824 by convicts underthe control of Archibald Bell senior was essential to the success of his

son’s 1823 road. Image Ian Jack October 2013.

The ZigZag descended the steep cliff leading from the top of Warks HillRoad at Kurrajong Heights down to the Cut Rock, which is now on therealigned line of road. The image is of the last Zag in the descent. Therock cutting is very clear. Further up the ZigZag there is also stone wallingto buttress the road on tricky stretches.

Archibald senior a member of the Rum Corps

the Hunter Valley via Bulga Ridge,but Archibald had been too young tojoin William on this expedition.11

In 1823, the incident of theAboriginal woman returning by anorthern route to Kurrajong andBelmont from her abduction by agroup from Wallerawang, inspiredArchibald to mount an expedition ofhis own.

He mustered his small party at thewater-mill on Little Wheeny Creekon August 1, 1823, and left with twosettlers, one of them the localblacksmith, William McAlpine.

In the diary which Bell kept while onhis expedition and carefully copiedout on his return in a notebookwhich luckily survived in the familylibrary, he makes it clear that hehad ‘Native Guides’ but does notidentify them.12

Sam Boughton, who knew two ofArchibald’s sisters, was quite surethat the abducted Aboriginal womanwent with Bell, while Alfred Smith,another local identity, claimed in1910 that on Bell’s first or secondexpedition there were only ‘twoblackfellows “Cocky” and “Emery”’,men who are known in otherdocumentation and were about 27years old in 1823.13

Continued page 5


suggested on his map a deviationthrough Kurrajong, the road knowntoday as Old Bells Line of Roadthrough the village.

Kurrajong Heights was named‘Bell’s View’ on Hoddle’s map andalong the relatively easy road toMount Tomah the surveyor marked,as instructed, places where therewere ‘plenty of water’, ‘good soil’and ‘fine timber’.

After the descent from the DarlingCauseway, Hoddle showed twopossible end-games once the roadlevelled out, with a preference forthe more easterly route, making abeeline for Collett’s Inn .

Otherwise the road as surveyed inOctober 1823 represents the routeestablished by Bell’s secondexpedition in the previous month.18

Archibald Bell was an able publicistfor his new route. Not only theSydney Gazette in 1823 but alsothe English Morning Herald of June21, 1824 compared the old and thenew roads and believed Bell’spropaganda about the new:‘Besides considerably reducing thedistance, the road will becomparatively level, and free fromnearly all the obstacles whichrender the bleak and barren onenow used so uninviting to thetraveller, and ill adapted for thepassage of carts and driving ofcattle.’19

But the advent of Thomas Mitchellas surveyor general, the continuingintransigence of Mount Tomah andthe building of the railway in the1860s ensured that Bells Line

Continued from page 4The first expedition reached MountTomah, but the horses were unableto proceed beyond because of theextreme hazards of the western exitfrom the mountain.

With a larger group Bell returned inSeptember, found a viable routehalf-way up Mount Tomah and wenton farther than Everingham orCaley had done, turned south ontothe Darling Causeway and thendown to Hartley Vale.14

When Bell returned to Belmont, hequickly spread the news of hissuccess and gained publicity for theargument that the new line of roadwas shorter and easier than theGreat Western Highway, with betterfeed for stock.15

John Oxley, the surveyor-general,was impressed and at once sent hisnew assistant surveyor, RobertHoddle, freshly arrived from theCape of Good Hope, to surveyBell’s route.

Hoddle was to describe the country,estimate the amount of cultivableland, climb every ‘remarkable’mountain and mark the direction ofevery creek.16

On October 6, 1823 Hoddle set outfrom Kurrajong accompanied byBell, two Aborigines, five Europeanmen and three horses. The field-book which Hoddle maintainedthroughout the fortnight taken toreach Collett’s Inn survives, alongwith the more polished account thathe sent to Oxley on November 4,1823.

Hoddle compiled a workmanlikemap, showing the whole length ofaround fifty kilometres surveyed.17

Hoddle shows that the existing roadfrom the Hawkesbury to Kurmondfollowed a line very close to themodern Bells Line, but this roadthen went north of what is nowKurrajong village: Hoddle

remained subsidiary to the WesternRoad for the rest of the nineteenthcentury.

(END NOTES)1 W. Tench, Sydney’s First Four Years,ed. L.F. Fitzhardinge, Sydney, 1979,pp.234-235, 324.

2 The Everingham Letterbook, ed. V.Ross, Sydney, 1985. This contains, inaddition to the text of Everingham’sletters which describe the expedition, anexcellent account of various attempts inthe early 1980s to reconstruct the actualroute taken.3 M. Hungerford, Bilpin the AppleCountry: a Local History, Bilpin, 1995,pp.9-17.4 State Records New South Wales[SRNSW], Surveyor’s Field-Book 70,Reel 2622, SZ 891, cover, pp.3-7,26-29. Meehan’s survey notes onKurrajong, although in his own list ofcontents, are missing from the volume.5 Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of NewSouth Wales: Journals of his Tours inNew South Wales and Van Diemen’sLand 1810-1822, Sydney, 1979, pp.24-25.6 ‘Cooramill’ [S. Boughton], ed. C.McHardy, Reminiscences of Richmond:from the Forties Down, Windsor, 2010,p.107.7 Quoted in Hungerford, Bilpin, p.35.8 Australian Dictionary of Biography,vol.1, pp.78-79; SRNSW, PrimaryApplications, 10/26656/7816, items 8, 9.9 Macquarie, Journals, p.24.10 Three dated stones survive from oldBelmont, evidence of building works in1826, 1830 and 1834. The Martensdrawings are now in the State Library ofNSW, PXC 295 fos.85-88, DL PX 27fo.72. One of the five Fullwoods is stillat Belmont Park, while a colourphotocopy of another is in the SmallPicture File of the Mitchell Library,mis-filed under ‘Newcastle Suburbs,Belmont’.

Hoddle wasto climb every‘remarkable’mountain

Figure 3 Henry Fullwood’s watercolour of the Bells’ Belmont, paintedin 1892, just before the house was demolished. Photocopy of sale

catalogue, in State Library of NSW, Mitchell Library, Small Picture File,mistakenly filed under ‘Newcastle Suburbs, Belmont’. Courtesy of

State Library.

Continued page 6


A breathtaking floral display of purple hazeby John Leary,OAM

The blooming Jacaranda and to its left the branches of the Cedar ofLebanon enhance the picturesque Frazer Memorial Church inSpringwood. Photograph by Jan Koperberg, November 2013

WALKING OR DRIVING throughthe main thoroughfare ofSpringwood, Macquarie Street,locals and visitors are at this time ofyear, struck by the breathtakingfloral display of purple hazesurrounding the Jacaranda tree(Jacaranda mimosifolia) at theFrazer Memorial PresbyterianChurch.

Its vivid lilac-blue clusters oftrumpet shaped blossoms appear inlate spring and early summer, laterfalling to the earth carpeting thechurch grounds with a mass ofcolour and spilling over to thepedestrian footpath alongMacquarie Street.

It is said that if you are walkingunderneath the Jacaranda tree andone of the trumpet blossoms fallson your head you will be favouredby fortune.

Jacarandas are used world wide asa decorative ornamental treecommonly used to line avenues.

Their history and significance hasbeen extensively documented fromthe famous annual Grafton festivalin Australia to Pretoria, theJacaranda City, (located 50 kmsnorth of Johannesburg) noted forit’s 70,000 plus flowering Jacarandatrees.

Jacarandas have richly figuredtimber that is rarely cut, as itsornamental value is high. Theinteresting leathery seedpods followflowering.

But it is not, as is so often said tobe, a native of South Africa, but ofthe mountain deserts of Brazil.

Although considered to be ofsignificance in Blue Mountains CityCouncil’s LEP 2005 and listed onthe State Heritage Inventory it isanother tree which has a muchmore interesting origin — a fewmetres east of the Jacaranda in thechurch grounds.

This tree is older than the 20th

century plantings of both theJacaranda and Illawarra Flame Tree(Brachychiton acerifolius). It is avery mature cedar of Lebanon(Cedrus libania) which is marked bya plaque: ‘This tree was grown froma seed brought back from Lebanonby Mrs John Frazer in 1890s’.

These giant, beautiful, evergreentrees grow in mountainous regions,at altitudes of 3,300-6,500 feet(1,000-2,000 m).

They can be found in Lebanon,south-central Turkey, and Cyprus.They produce cones which grow ontop of the branch.

The trees can attain a height of 100feet (30 m) and the trunk may reach6 feet (2 m) in diameter. Comparedwith the trees of Israel, the cedar isindeed a mighty tree, and it is highlypraised in Scripture.

BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCECommonly referred to in scriptureas the cedars of Lebanon, thisaromatic, durable wood was highlydesirable for building in Iron AgeIsrael.

David used it in building his palace(2 Sam 5:11; 1 Chr 17:1), andSolomon used it in the constructionof the temple and a palace forhimself (2 Chr 2:3-8). He was saidto make the cedar as plentiful inJerusalem as sycamore-fig trees inthe Shephelah (2 Chr 1:15). Thesecond temple was alsoconstructed from cedars (Ezra 3:7).

The NSW Environment & Heritagein the SHI’s statement ofContinued page 7

11 A. Macqueen, Somewhat Perilous:the Journeys of Singleton, Parr, Howe,Myles & Blaxland in the Northern BlueMountains, Wentworth Falls, 2004,p.117.12 R. Else-Mitchell, ‘The Discovery ofBell’s Line, 1823: a Note and aDocument’, Journal of Royal AustralianHistorical Society [JRAHS], 66, 1980-1,pp.92-3. The manuscript notebook isnow in the Mitchell Library, ML MSS1706 Add-on 1071, pp.5,,7.13 ‘Cooramill’, ed. McHardy,Reminiscences of Richmond, p.106 ; A.Smith, Some Ups and Downs of an OldRichmondite, Emu Plains, 1991, p.27;Hungerford, Bilpin, pp.19-20.14Hungerford, Bilpin, pp.21-23.15 Sydney Gazette, 9 October 1823, p.2.16 J. Jervis, ‘Robert Hoddle, firstSurveyor-General of Victoria, and hisEarly Work in New South Wales’,JRAHS, 23, 1937, pp.42-45.17 SRNSW, Surveyor’s Field Book 258,Reel 2626, 2/4894; Surveyor-General’sIn-Letters, 4/1814 pp.109-114 (partlypublished in Hungerford, Bilpin, p.24);Map SZ 422.18 SRNSW, Map SZ 422.19 Cutting from Morning Herald, 21 June1824, in Miscellaneous Papers collectedby H.F. Garner, Mitchell Library, ML1493, reel CY 907, p.390b.

Bells Line ofRoads

Continued from page 5


Continued from page 6significance describes, ‘The FrazerMemorial church as a strikingexample of Victorian philanthropy,financed entirely from thegenerosity of a prosperousPresbyterian businessman inSydney and his widow, ElizabethFrazer.

‘It reflects significantly the rapidgrowth of the Scottish and NorthernIrish Presbyterian community in theLower Mountains in the last years ofthe nineteenth century.

‘The design of the Frazer MemorialChurch is a tribute to the importantarchitectural firm of Slayter andCosh, later known as Spain andCosh; Spain, Cosh and Minnet; andSpain, Cosh and Dods.

‘The Frazer Memorial Churchfeatures high quality stonework inits handsome Federation gothicdesign.

‘The design of the church iscompleted by the fine sandstonetower with the tall copper spire.

‘Its spire and its location in thecentre of the commercial centre ofSpringwood make it an importantlandmark in the town.

‘The trees associated with theFrazer Memorial Church, the Cedarof Lebanon (Cedrus libani)Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)and the Illawarra Flame Tree(Brachychiton acerifolius) are ofhigh aesthetic significance at a locallevel for their value as individualspecimens and for their contributionto a complex of considerable valuein the streetscape of Springwood.

Historical notes attached to theState Heritage Inventory listingindicate ‘The funds to build thisstrikingly beautiful church derivefrom the bequest of £500 and the

gift of 1.4 hectare (3.5 acres) incentral Springwood made by JohnFrazer, who died in 1884.

‘Frazer was a successful Sydneymerchant. Born in co Down in 1827to an artisan Presbyterian family, hehad come from Ireland to seek hisfortune in Australia along with threesiblings when he was fifteen yearsold.

‘After a period working in the bush,followed by a clerical position inSydney, Frazer opened a wholesalegrocery business in 1847 and neverlooked back, leaving an estate of£400 000 pounds on his death.

‘The firm of John Frazer and Cowas under John Frazer’s controluntil his early retirement due to ill-health in 1869, but his partners inthe business were able men, abrother and two brothers-in-law ofElizabeth Ewan, whom Johnmarried in 1853.

‘In the 1870s, John Frazer resumedhis interest in the business and tooka larger role in public life, as amember of the NSW LegislativeCouncil from 1874 until his deathten years later and as aphilanthropist.

‘Two fine fountains, one in HydePark, the other at the entrance to

the Domain, are survivingmemorials to his generosity to thecity; the University of Sydney, wherehe hoped to fund the chair ofHistory, still awards the Frazerscholarship in History; and he isremembered in the Presbyterianfoundation, St Andrew’s College,within the university, as a foundingcouncillor in 1870 and the donor offunds to assist candidates for thePresbyterian ministry studying atthe College. (Maddock, 5-13; ADBIV 218-9 )

‘Frazer’s connection with the BlueMountains began in earnest whenhe built Silva Plana at Springwoodin 1881.

‘This country retreat on the eastside of Hawkesbury Road, on alandscaped site of 14 hectares (35acres) now partly occupied by theBuckland retirement village, wascharacteristic of the Mountainestates developed in the laterVictorian period by a number ofSydney businessmen, politiciansand lawyers, including friends ofFrazer’s such as Sir Henry Parkes,whose son Varney designed SilvaPlana.(Searle and Morony, 6, 32;Robinson, map of Springwoodc.1910)Continued page 8

An early

image of the

Frazer

Memorial

Church

showing the

ornate

sandstone

fence.

Photograph

courtesy

Springwood

Local Study

Collection.

...strikinglybeautiful

church builtwith a gift of

£500...


Continued from page 7‘Frazer survived only three yearsafter building Silva Plana, but spenta good deal of time there and wasanxious to provide a church for theincreasing Presbyterian communityon the Lower Mountains.

‘In 1884 Springwood had no churchof any denomination and Frazer,with the encouragement of hisfriend, the Reverend JamesCameron, a fellow councillor of StAndrew’s College, who had in hisearly years in the 1850s beenresponsible for the LowerMountains as well as his maincentre at Richmond, donated landhe had acquired from FrankRaymond’s grant in centralSpringwood, in a very long narrowallotment, and instructed histrustees to spend £500 on thebuilding of a Presbyterian churchthere. (Maddock, 7-19)

‘There was, however, a long intervalbetween Frazer’s death in 1884 andthe opening of the church in 1895.

‘This was caused by the reluctanceof his trustees to release the moneyuntil it was plain that there weresufficient Presbyterians in theSpringwood area to support aminister.

‘Despite the active interest of thePresbytery of the Hawkesbury,stimulated by Dr Cameron ofRichmond and Dr Clouston ofPenrith, the trustees were cautious.

‘In 1893 the first Presbyterianservices in Springwood were heldunder the turpentines on the landdonated by Frazer, just where thegreat cedar of Lebanon standstoday, then in the Oriental Hotel andfinally in 1895 on the verandah ofJames Lawson’s Braemar.Attendance increased dramaticallyfrom 25 to 50 to 100, and thetrustees were convinced, once thelocal people had guaranteed £60 ayear for the minister. (Maddock,20-8)

‘On August 17, 1895 the foundationstone for the church was laid by thesister of the widowed Mrs Frazer,who was abroad. At the same timememorial stones were laid by MrsFrazer’s sister, the widow of JohnFrazer’s business partner, WilliamManson; by Mrs Rayner, wife of the

Methodist storekeeper whosepremises were just across the road;by Mrs Ellis, wife of John Ellis ofValley Heights, who had signed thebuilding contract on behalf of thechurch; and by Mrs Flora Urquhart,the daughter of James Lawson, theScottish cabinet-maker who hadbuilt Braemar and the OrientalHotel, where services had beenheld in expectation of the building ofthe church. (Maddock, 26-7)

‘The church was opened only threemonths later, on December 8, 1895.(Maddock, 36, 55, 74)

‘Mrs Frazer returned from her trip toEurope and the Near East in 1896,bearing the seed from which thecedar of Lebanon grew beside thechurch, on the site of the grove ofturpentines where the first serviceshad been held.

‘Elizabeth Frazer was not satisfiedwith the church building, however,

Mrs Frazer sent her gardener to the churchas the Lower Blue MountainsPresbyterian magazine commentedin December 1945, Mrs Frazerimmediately had additions madeand the building beautified.

‘The present chancel and the porchand steeple were added. Further,she sent her gardener [from SilvaPlana] to lay out the grounds andplant the trees, which add to thebeauty of the surroundings.(Maddock, 35)’

REFERENCES1. A substantial portion of this texthas been copied verbatim from theNSW Environment & Heritagewebsite www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritage BlueMountains City Council LEP 2005.2. Maddock John The FrazerMemorial Church - A History, 1995,Springwood Historical Society Inc.

THE 2014 Blue Mountains HistoryConference being organised bythe Blue Mountains Association ofCultural Heritage OrganisationsInc, will be held again at TheCarrington Hotel, following thesuccess of the 2012 event in thisvenue.

The conference will be held onSaturday, May 10, 2014 andalready a number of speakershave been secured.

Associate professor Ian Jack, MA,PhD, FRHistS, FRAHS will give atalk on historical educationalbuildings.

Ian served as president of theRoyal Australian Historical Societyfor 11 years and is regarded as aneminent historian with numerousbooks and other publications to hiscredit. He has been described byone of his peers as a“consummate scholar”.

He is constantly being sought as aspeaker around the state andthroughout the nation.

Blue Mountains HistoryConference

Another speaker will be HectorAbrahams, a heritage architect andformer RAHS councillor, who willgive a talk on historical buildingsbuilt for religious activities includingchurches and schools.

Hec has a deep interest in thearchitecture of old places - therepair conservation and sensitivechanges to buildings and theaddition of new buildings within anexisting precinct.

He has worked on larger projectsincluding the new wings at St Paul’sand St Andrew’s Colleges at theUniversity of Sydney, and theSydney GPO.

He is very familiar with thearchitecture of many of the religiousbuildings in this region.

Final arrangements with speakers isexpected to be made in Januaryand information will be availablefrom Jan Koperberg [email protected]

The fee for the conference, morningtea and buffet lunch at TheCarrington will be $50.


WOODFORDACADEMYLAUNCHESBICENTENARYSCHOOLPROGRAMSeriously ‘Old School’In commemoration of thebicentenary of the crossing of theBlue Mountains 2013-2015, theWoodford Academy, a NationalTrust property, is thrilled to launchthe bicentenary school program.

The bicentenary school programprovides the opportunity for schoolstudents to experience first handthe Blue Mountains’ unique andintriguing colonial history within thewalls of the Blue Mountains’ oldestbuilding.

The bicentenary school programoffers a guided tour developedespecially for school children.

The tour, presented by skilledvolunteers in the tradition of oralhistories, tells the story of theWoodford Academy and itschanging uses over time.

Admission cost for the guided tourwill be $5/student for a 2 hourprogram (morning or afternoon) andis available from Term 1 of 2014 forgroups of up to 60 students plussupervising teachers.

The Woodford Academy is alsooffering free entry to teachers andtheir families (up to 4 persons) forthe museum’s monthly open days in2013-2015.

This special educational offer isintended to encourage and inspireteachers to devise their own ways inwhich they can use this richresource to teach curricula forhistory, the arts and technologies.

To be eligible for this special offer,interested teachers are requestedto complete the information form inthe new bicentenary schoolprogram brochure, which WoodfordAcademy volunteers havecommenced distributing to BlueMountains primary schools.

Costs for teacher initiatededucational programs will beassessed on application, dependingon requirements.

The bicentenary school programbrochure will also be available atthe door at the Woodford

Members of the Woodford Academy Management Committee (fromleft) Felicity Anderson, Ian Harman and Ken Goodlet with the newBicentenary School Program brochure at the Woodford Academy

Academy’s next monthly open day –or interested schools can contactthe Woodford Academymanagement committee by phone(02) 4758 8743 or [email protected] .

IN ALL the plethora of the 2013bicentenary celebrations of theBlue Mountains crossing scantattention has been paid to twoother important aspects of theevent.

Immediately after the threeexplorers’ trek, at the behest ofthe government, there was theprofessional surveying of theridge-top route by George Evans.

Next came the road-making itself,done in exemplary fashion byconvicts working hard underWilliam Cox, buoyed up by apromise of remission of theirsentences when the road wascompleted.

A small monument to GeorgeEvans (the road builder) hasrecently been moved from privateland.

Lindsay Green of Lithgow Branchof National Trust Australia (NSW)has advised that that themonument is now located on land

Bicentenary tributes to GeorgeEvans and William Cox

owned by Lithgow City Council nearwhere Evans had begun thedescent to the Fish River.

Meanwhile, Hawkesbury HistoricalSociety and a Cox descendanthave recently organised theunveiling of two plaques at theVisitor Information Centre,Clarendon.

These two plaques are abicentenary tribute to William Coxand George Evans, the twoHawkesbury men who were soinstrumental in bringing about theconstruction of the first road overthe Blue Mountains.

The ceremony at Lithgow andClarendon commemorated thecommencement of George Evanssurvey of the road on November 20,1813.

William Cox completed thesupervision of building the roadfrom Emu Plains to Bathurstbetween July 24, 1814 and January1815.


Britishcampaign endsgallery’s bid to

buy historicanimal art

THE NATIONAL Gallery of Australiawas “extremely disappointed” whenearlier this month it was blockedfrom buying two paintingsrepresenting the first knowndepictions of Australian animals inWestern art.

The 18th century works by GeorgeStubbs willl remain in Britain after a$2.5 million donation by billionaireshipping magnate Eyal Oferenabled the country’s NationalMaritime Museum to buy thepaintings of a kangaroo and adingo.

Joseph Banks commissionedStubbs to paint the works after thenaturalist returned from CaptainJames Cook’s first Endeavourvoyage.

World renowned naturalist, SirDavid Attenborough, who headedthe British “Save Our Stubbs”campaign, said: “Exciting news thatthese two pictures so important inthe history of zoological discoveryare to remain where they werecommissioned and painted.

According to former Art Gallery ofNSW director, Edmund Capon said:“I can’t feel it’s a huge loss to behonest.

“You have to recognise the fact bothanimals were painted in Britain.They weren’t painted here. Theyhave never been her.” The SydneyMorning Herald.

The Gully, officially opened

AS PART OF the BicentenaryFestival of Walking, The Gully,Katoomba was officially opened onSaturday October 5, 2013, Theguest of honour was NevillePoelina, chair of World IndigenousTourism Alliance.

This event followed the verysuccessful ‘Ancestral Pathways’walk, organised by Auntie SharynHalls from the GundungurraAboriginal Heritage Association.

The aim of the walk was to showpeople the best way to knowCountry, by walking Country.

Members of the Associationtraversed the Blue Mountains fromwest to east, following Aboriginalpathways.

The walk included both traditionaland post-contact Aboriginalpathways, covering 67 kms ofCountry.

Participants were invited to do thefull walk over seven days and sixnights or join the group for sectionsof the walk.

The walk affirmed the ongoingpresence of Aboriginal people in themountains. It shows they maintainthe connection by walking theircountry, looking after it and utilisingit for cultural purposes.

Image above: GundungurraAncestral Pathway Walk -Dancers at The Gully historicsite, Katoomba. Photograph byDavid Hill, Blue Mountains,Lithgow and Oberon Tourism.

Wiradjuri Dance and Corroboreegathering at Bathurst

The WIRADJURIi WaganghaDance group featured in theWiradjuri Dance and Corroboreegathering in the vicinity of MtPleasant in the grounds ofAbercrombie House earlier thismonth.

The gathering acknowleded the200 year anniversary of the firstcontact between the Wiradjuripeople and the arriving Europeanexplorers which took place nearthis site of December 21 1813.

It also acknowledged the naming of

the Bathurst Plains and MountPleasant by surveyor George Evanson December 10, 1813.

The gathering also acknowledgedthat the last Wiradjuri Corroboree inthe vicinity of Mt Pleasant took place164 years ago in 1849.

The evening was organised by theWiradjuri Elders of the BathurstPlains together with BathurstHistorical Society and the Morganfamily to celebrate the enduranceand renewal of Wiradjuri culture andcustoms on the Bathurst Plains


The making of apossum skin cloak

By Jan KoperbergTHE GUNDUNGURRA Tribal Council and BlueMountains Cultural Centre invited the Blue Mountainscommunity to observe the making of a traditionalpossum skin cloak in the Cultural Centre CentralCourtyard in late September.

The Saturday of the three day workshop was windy andthe carefully laid out possum skins (from New Zealand)were being blown out of order. They had been laid outand numbered, as they were to be sewn.

Possum skin cloaks (Carreng Golangaya inGundungurra language) are one of the most sacredartefacts for Aboriginal people.

This workshop represented an important healing for theGundungurra, who worked with Auntie Maree Clarke,an artist and curator from Banmirra Arts and AuntieEsther Kirk, both from Victoria, with assistance fromAmanda Reynolds, the senior curator for the ‘Our Story’section of the new First Peoples exhibition at MelbourneMuseum. Amanda was a guest speaker at the recentRAHS State conference held at Katoomba RSL Club.

On the Saturday there were many observers, itching tohelp and Auntie Sharon Brown from the GundungurraTribal Council gave permission for interestedobservers to help with the sewing.

I was privileged to take part and enjoyed theexperience, working with the team. I was not able toreturn on the Sunday, but the cloak was finished andAuntie Maree and Auntie Esther showed the method ofapplying patterns and burning them onto the skin sideof the cloak.

I think the patterns were applied by Tom Brown,Sharon’s artist husband, and they are beautifullyfinished. Aunty Maree and Aunty Esther then headedback to Sydney airport for their flight back toMelbourne.

The possum skin cloak being held by KerrenO’Grady

Aunty Sharon Brown on the left, holding up thepossum skin cloak, showing the burnt patterns on the

skin side.

Never mind Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth; it’s

All about EvansFirst European explorer to cross the Great Divide and survey a

route to Bathurst

Tarella Open Day January 18 10am-4pmCrossings reading by Wendy Blaxland > Display ofthe 1814 lifestyle > Talk on Evans > Tarella cottagemuseum inspecton > Family friendly > no need to

book just come and explore > refreshments available

In the grounds of Hobbys Reach, the home of theBlue Mountains Historical Society,

99-101 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls


.

Historic sharing culture — Aboriginalcommemoration walk ‘Jummangunda Ngunninga’

The Aboriginal commemorationwalk ‘Jummangunda Ngunninga’(Gundungurra language meaning‘many belonging here’)was held atMt York and Bardens Lookout,Mount Victoria on Sunday October13, 2013. This was a historicsharing culture event.

The Gundungurra Tribal Council,the Gundungurra AboriginalHeritage Association and the BlueMountains Lithgow & OberonTourism invited people to attend aspart of the Bicentenary Festival ofWalking.

This walk was conceived by AuntieSharon Brown (Gundungurra elder)and welcomed representatives of allsix Aboriginal language groups fromacross the Greater Blue MountainsWorld Heritage Area, ( theDarkinjung, Darug, Dharawal,Gundungurra, Wiradjuri andWonnarua), locals and visitors.

This special event recognised theimpact of European settlement onAustralia’s first inhabitants, andallowed Indigenous people toproudly share their culture withothers ‘on Country’.

Aboriginal people and groupsproactively involved in thebicentenary organised this event sothat in 2013, the nature of what isrecognised and commemoratedincluded Aboriginal participation.

This demonstrated that communityattitudes and cultural awarenesshave evolved since centenary

(1913) and sesquicentenary (1963)events conducted at Mt York.

Blue Mountains City Council hascompleted an important upgrade ofthe Mt York precinct and it is nowtruly a world class interpretivehistoric site.

A ceremony was held at Mt York,where a plaque was unveiled,onwhich the text read as below.

The group then walked from Mt Yorkto Bardens Lookout, where anAboriginal smoking and healingceremony was held, along with thesharing of cultural performancesand stories.

During this ceremony the possumskin cloak was handed to Cr DanielMyles to be exhibited at the BlueMountains Cultural Centre.

The main Commemoration Walk‘Jummangunda Ngunninga’ tookplace from Bardens Lookout to MtYork.

‘Not how did they die, but how did they live.Not what did they gain, but what did they give.

These are the units to measure the worth,Of a people, as a people, regardless of birth.

Recognising the impact of European settlement on theSix Aboriginal language groups of the

Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area;

Darkinjung, Darug, Dharawal, Gundungurra, Wiradjuri andWonnarua.

Community Aboriginal Commemoration Walk,13 October 2013

Blue Mountains Crossings Bicentenary’

After lunch, I was lucky to betreated to an interpretive walk byKathleen Brown, the daughter ofTom and Sharon Brown.

We caught the shuttle bus from MtYork and alighted at the entrance toLawson’s Long Alley.

We walked from here to LucindaOval where my car was parked.

Along the way Kathleen showed mescarred trees (where bark had beenremoved to make items for use byearly Aboriginal people), showedme different plants and describedtheir uses, either for medicinal or forbush tucker.

I now know that a flour can be madefrom the seeds of the Lomandra.

She also showed me how the smallbanksia with very strong bristlescould be used as a hair-brush andwith softer bristles, how the end ofthe brush could be used forpainting.

Walkers prepare for the commemoration walk ‘JummangundaNgunninga’ walk from Bardens Lookout to Mt York.

by Jan Koperberg

Exhibtion of barkpaintings

Among the treasures of the NationalMuseum of Australia are more than2000 bark paintings created byIndigenous artists.

Later this year the museum willopen a major exhibition devoted tothe remarkable artists who madethese paintings.

The 122 paintings will include theworks of famed artists such asNarritijin Maymuru, Yirawala,Djunmal and Mawalan Marika.


As the Western Crossings commemoration activitiescome to a close for 2013, a period of retrospection isnecessary before the contemplation of plans for thecontinuation of the Cox’s Road journey begin.

The communities west of the plains were treated with afascinating array of events and activities acknowledgingthe first recorded crossing of the Blue Mountains byEuropeans in 1813.

Some were formal civic events which reflected thechanges wrought on the landscape, whilst othersattempted to capture the cultural and social atmosphereof the mountains and valleys to the west two hundredyears ago, involving the present population in aspectsof colonial life not now often contemplated.

The Hartley Valley folk focussed on bringing the historyof the local area to the present population, some ofwhom had previously had little interest in the past - inthe process bringing to life an era which has often beenculturally blinkered and romanticised.

The commemorative activities involved guided walksalong the route of the original Cox’s Road, nowsubstantially located within private land holdings – notending at Mt York so often believed as the terminationof the original trek, but at Glenroy, the final campsitealong the route.

These walks have proven so popular that requestshave been received to make them an annual event.

A horseback version was well into the planning processwhen an infectious equine disease brought this to anabrupt halt.

Again it is planned to revive the activity in the future.

Also enormously popular was the exhibition ‘A Momentin Time’ displayed in the Old Hartley School Hall, oftenattracting the descendants of many former residents ofthe Hartley area from all over the state and even someoverseas visitors.

So warmly was the exhibition received that themembers of the Western Crossings Trust, theadministrative body supporting the Hartleycommemorations, were persuaded that a lastingmemoir of the events should be produced and so theprinted version of ‘A Moment in Time’ came into being,despite the exhaustion of the dedicated band of localvolunteers.

Expanded from the exhibition, the book of the samename was produced by a trio of professionals, withresearch and text by historian Joan Kent incollaboration with internationally renowned theatredesigner Michael O’Kane and graphic artist KayleneBrooks, all of whom are local residents.

RETROSPECTION AND CONTINUITY- THE COX’S ROAD JOURNEY

A village discovers its past

The book begins with a consideration of the rich andancient geology of the landscape into which the 1813explorers intruded and moves on to examine manyaspects of the ‘crossing story’, from the originalinhabitants whose country was being traversed, to thedevelopment of the Bathurst Road and the firstEuropeans in the Bathurst region.

It closes with the life and achievements of some of theearliest European settlers in the Hartley Valley whobegan their new lives there in the early 1820’s.

The book was formally launched in October at theLithgow Learning Centre by internationally acclaimed‘plein air’ landscape artist Warwick Fuller, also a localresident of Hartley Valley.

Warwick’s great great grandparents settled in the valleyin 1839, raising twelve children who attended theformer Schoolhouse Creek School in Kanimbla Valley.

Warwick was recently a member of the Royal Visit Partyat the personal invitation of His Royal Highness PrinceCharles, who now has four of Warwick’s landscapes inhis private collection. Poet George Clark recited hispoem ‘A Moment in Time’ from the book, inspired byGeorge’s visit to the Images Exhibition in May andJune.Continued page 14

Historian and author, Joan Kent autographing acopy of ‘A Moment in Time’. Image courtesy Carolyn

Piggott, Lithgow Mercury.

by Joan Kent


Historian with song writing to his credit becomespresident at Kurrajong

STEVE RAWLING AM, (pictured) the newly electedpresident of the Kurrajong-Comleroy HistoricalSociety, was a founding member of the society, andhas been a member of its committee at various times.

His initial interest in local history was sparked by thediscovery that the property he has lived on since 1996in Kurrajong Heights is part of the larger propertyonce owned by Louisa Atkinson, “the botanist of theKurrajong” and pioneer woman writer.

He has contributed a number of articles about Louisaand on other topics to the society’s newsletter TheMillstone, as well as speaking about related topics tothe society and to other community groups in theHawkesbury.

He has written a suite of songs which was producedas a CD and songbook entitled “Memories ofKurrajong – History in Song” which was presented atthe National Folk Festival in Canberra some yearsago.

He was also a founding member of the HawkesburyBranch of the National Trust, having been a memberof the National Trust of Australia (NSW) for more thanforty years. He has served as chair and secretary ofthe Hawkesbury Branch.

Steve has spent almost all his working career in theuniversity sector, including periods at the universitiesof Sydney, Oxford and Wollongong, and the AustralianNational University.

He now has a part-time consulting role at theUniversity of Western Sydney.

He was made a member of the Order of Australia in1992 for services to education.

He has also been involved as a director and chairmanof an environmental consultancy run by his wife, Judie,and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of CompanyDirectors.

All proceeds go to the WesternCrossings Trust, the charitableentity established by the HartleyDistrict Progress Association topromote consideration of theconsequences of the crossing of theBlue Mountains by Europeans in1813, and the acquisition of items ofmoveable cultural heritage relevantto the Hartley Valley.

Donations to the Western CrossingsTrust are welcomed and are taxdeductable.

The question now underconsideration for all with an interestin the history of the Europeansettlement of the ‘New Country’ is

‘Whither Goest Thou?’

Careful thought must be given tothe continuation or otherwise of thepresentation of the crossings storiesto the wider public, and indeed thelong-term storage, preservation andextension of the products of the2013 commemorations toencompass the progress of the‘Journey to Bathurst and beyond’over ensuing years.

This article was contributed byprofessional historian and curator ofthe outstanding exhibition, AMoment in Time Joan Kent officiallyopened and acclaimed by theGovernor of NSW Professor MarieBashir.

The exhibition was the major plankin the Western Crossingcommemoration activity of theHartley Valley District ProgressAssociation.

The question of promoting thecrossing stories to a

wider publicContinued from page 13The pleasant evening concludedwith the mayor of Lithgow,Councillor Maree Statham cuttingand distributing ‘The Moment’ caketo those in attendance.

The book is available at $29.95including postage, Perfect Bound,200x260 in full colour from BarbaraWheat at [email protected] Joan Kent [email protected].

A deluxe hardcover full colouredition, 290x320 is available fromBlurb Books at $131 plus postagefrom the US at http://blur.by/

1cpKjKp.


Persistence wins museum a grantPERSISTENCE and a change ofideas about its museum’s collectionhas seen the Mount Victoria andDistrict Historical Society recentlybeing successful in receiving aCommunity Heritage grant for$4686 from the National Library ofAustralia.

The Community Heritage grant isfor a significance assessment to becarried out on some of thecollection of its museum.

Roy Bennett the curator applied forthe grant which is to fund theservices of an assessor and thesociety’s president, Jean Winstonattended the workshop in Canberraorganised by the National Libraryand other federal bodies to gainmore insight into the meaning ofsignificance and to learn moreabout conservation.

The society had been unsuccessfulbefore but Roy thought on thesecond try that he had portrayed thehistorical associations of thecollection in a better way.

The collection has to be of nationalsignificance.

Other criteria required are historical,aesthetic, scientific/research orsocial/spiritual.

An important part of the collection isshowing the opening up of the BlueMountains and lands to the west byroad and rail.

The actual tools used by the earlyland holders are on display.

Memorabilia and exploits of theexplorers, surveyors and roadmakers, including convicts, formpart of the collection.

The museum itself is housed in thesandstone railway station opened in1868 and still operating.

The railway brought tourists to thearea and local hotels catering to thetourists who are depicted inphotographs and memorabilia.

Notable people have lived at MountVictoria: Sir Henry Parkes and theFairfaxes had grand houses built inthe coolness of the mountains.

At Blackheath a unique girls schoolOsborne Ladies College, run onnaval lines, had boarders and daygirls. One room at the museum isdedicated to memorabilia from thatschool.

Roy detailed these unique eventsand showed how the museumcollection told the stories of whathad happened locally.

Community groups will have agreater capacity to preserveAustralia’s heritage with theannouncement of the 2013Community Heritage grants.

A total of 78 grants worth $426,000will go to 77 community groups andorganisations, with the History Trustof South Australia, the recipient oftwo grants.

Recipients also attended a three-day intensive preservation and

collection management workshopheld at the National Library ofAustralia, the National Archives ofAustralia, the National Museum ofAustralia and the National Film andSound Archive in Canberra.

Director-General of the NationalLibrary Anne-Marie Schwirtlich saidthe CHG program showed thecommitment by the National Library,along with its partner institutionsand the federal government, toassist communities to care for thenation’s heritage, in the cities, thecountry or out in remote Australia..

The Community Heritage grantsprogram is funded by the Australiangovernment through the NationalLibrary of Australia; Ministry for theArts, Attorney General’sDepartment; the National Archivesof Australia; the National Film andSound Archive; and the NationalMuseum of Australia.

Ms Anne-Marie

Schwirtlich, director

general of the

National Library of

Australia presenting

the grant documents

to Mrs Jean Winston,

president Mt Victoria

and District

Historical Society.

Governor to open Valley HeightsLoco Depot museum

The Governor of NSW, ProfessorMarie Bashir has agreed toofficially open the Valley HeightsLocomotive Depot on January 31,2014 as the first event of a year-long centenary of the depot.

Her Excellency will beaccompanied by her husband SirNicholas Shehadie.

For further details of centenaryactivitieswww.infobluemountains.net.au/locodepot/centenary.shtml


New strategy for Australian heritageIDEAS and suggestions for anAustralian Heritage Strategy arebeing requested by the federalgovernment.

Minister for the Environment, GregHunt said he wanted to hear fromheritage practitioners and expertsacross Australia.

“The Australian Heritage Strategywill provide a common frameworkand priorities for Australia’sheritage and help ensure ourheritage is recognised andprotected for future generations,”Mr Hunt said.

“A draft strategy will be releasedfor public comment in AustralianHeritage Week next year.”

He said the government’s planwas to develop partnerships andprovide initiatives that enabledpractical local actions andsolutions to protect and manageheritage places.

“We are providing $1.4 millionover three years for small-scalecommunity heritage projects forthe conservation, protection andinterpretation of local heritage.

Grants of up to $10 000 will beavailable to local heritage groupsand historical societies,commencing in the 2014-15financial year,” Mr Hunt said.

“Under the Community Heritageand Icons program we will invest$1.5 million on vital restoration workat Port Arthur’s World Heritage-listed penitentiary building, one ofAustralia’s most significant heritageicons.”

Mr Hunt said the government’sGreen Army would also play a keyrole in the protection of localheritage.

“Green Army projects will focus onthe conservation and refurbishmentof significant local heritage whilecontributing to a skilled workforcefor heritage-focused business andindustry,” he said.

Greg Hunt MP

Friends of the Paragon formedSTRONG SUPPORT has beengiven to the formation of theFriends of the Paragon.

At a recent meeting in the heritageParagon Restaurant, Katoomba itwas decided to form a group toensure the conservation of thisheritage icon.

The lessee of the premises RobynParker told the meeting that helpwas needed to ensure this piece ofheritage did not disappear.

The general objectives, to beproperly defined in due course in aformal document, include:1. research into the history ofthe Paragon and the Simos family2. assisting in tours of theParagon for groups3. assisting in the preparationof a renewed nomination of thebuilding and its contents to theState Heritage Register4. public advocacy5. approaches to the Greekcommunity (and others) in Australiafor support6. creating a program ofpublic events in 2014 to raise theprofile of the Paragon7. establishing a ParagonFoundation in the hope that theproperty can be purchased.

The meeting heard that research isunder way by Robyn Parker and IanJack and that Doreen Knox (who isa fluent speaker of modern Greek)will use her Greek connections.

Two people present at the meeting,Doreen Knox and RobertTrenchard-Smith, have volunteeredto be tour guides and Ms Parker willorganise a training session for themboth in the near future.

Ian Jack said he will take carriageof a nomination for State listing andwill talk to members of the listingteam at the Heritage Division of theOffice of Environment and Heritage.

Doreen Knox, has subsequent tothe meeting, documented theexistence of the KytherianAssociation of Australia, in whichGeorge Poulos is a prominentmember.

Since the Simos family and manyother café-owning families camedirectly or indirectly from the islandof Kythera, this flourishingassociation is of the greatestinterest.

A short program of events is beingfinalised by Robyn Parker.

The Kytherian Association may be akey to the establishment of theParagon Foundation.

The next meeting of thoseinterested in the project isscheduled for Thursday February20, 2014, at 6 pm in the Paragon.

Contributed by Ian Jack whorepresented BMACHO at themeeting.

.

Paragon cocktail bar

Paragon wall pieces


Sandstone the making of the Blue MountainsBlue Mountains City Council has agreed to a round ofsmall grants to assist owners of heritage listed buildingsor places to carry our sympathetic repairs orrestorations.

NSW Heritage Branch will provide a grant of $8500 andthis has been matched by council to provide a fund of$17,000.

Applications closing on December 20 have been invitedfrom owners of listed heritage buildings or from ownersof a building within a heritage conservation area orperiod housing area.

The grants are targeted at small projects ready for animmediate start and which must be complete by midApril 2014.

The program is being managed by council with supportfrom the heritage advisory committee.

The committee has suggested that one of the grantpriorities is sandstone repair and restoration projects,but a range of other projects will be considered.

These could include repainting of exteriors ofresidences and shops, repairs o decorative externaltimberwork or joinery, repairs of shop fronts, awnings orrepairs to streetscape or wider community benefit willalso be considered and should be discussed withcouncil staff and the heritage adviser beforehand.

Applicants must confirm that their project cancommence early in 2014 and can be completed by midApril 2014.

A copy of the standard LHF guidelines and applicationforms can be downloaded from council’s website or bycontacting council on 4780 5740

Traffic lights are now planned toallow pedestrians to cross the GreatWestern Highway oppositeWoodford Academy.

Road and Maritime Services (RMS)has scrapped its proposal for apedestrian refuge island on thewidened highway near Arthur Streetin favour of traffic lights.

Woodford Academy chairman IanHarman said it was fittingpedestrian safety would be boostedbefore the highway widening projectwas completed through Woodford in2014, given the tragic

circumstances of former WoodfordAcademy resident and principal,John McManamey’s death on thehighway in 1946.

John McManamey establishedWoodford Academy in 1907 as a‘young gentleman’s school’.Woodford Academy closed in 1925and McManamey used the buildingas a private residence.

He reopened the school for localchildren in 1930 it closing in 1936.

In 1979 his sole surviving daughterGertrude donated Woodford

Lights to be installed opposite Woodford AcademyAcademy to the National Trust ofAustralia (NSW) on condition shecould live there until she died. Shedied in 1988 having left the property2 years earlier.

National Trust received a $1 millionCentenary of Federation grant fromthe Australian government in 2001.

REFERENCE:Leary, Nanette, A brief history ofWoodford Academy, 2005,Friendsof Woodford Academy.

The Nepean District HistoricalSociety is the latest to join as amember of BMACHO.

The society has its home in theArms of Australia Inn Museum atEmu Plains the gateway to theBlue Mountains.

The inn was once a staging post fortravellers making the trip fromSydney over the Blue Mountains toBathurst and the goldfields.

Built in two sections, the first in1826, it is one of the oldestbuildings in Penrith, if not theoldest.

Nepean Historical Society joins BMACH0


NATIONAL TRUST HONOURS AWARDS 2013

Amanda Trevillion

Jean ReynoldsElizabeth van Reyswoud Sandra Luxford

Helen Glad

‘Our Jan’ honoured for work on Western

FIVE OF THE 20 people statewideto be honoured with National Trustof Australia (NSW) awards at theTrust’s annual general meeting onNovember 30 are associated withTrust properties in the BlueMountains.

Top honours go to the grand-daughter of Norman Lindsay, MsHelen Glad who becomes anhonorary life member of theNational Trust and the managerNorman Lindsay Gallery andMuseum, Amanda Trevellion whohas received the staff distinguishedservice award.

Those to receive the voluntaryservice awards were Mrs Leonie Fry(Friends of Norman Lindsay

Gallery), Mrs Jean Reynolds(Friends of Norman LindsayGallery) and Mrs Elizabeth vanReyswoud (Friends of Evergladesand National Trust -Blue MountainsBranch.

Mrs Sandra Luxford of the Friendsof Everglades received the Trustcommendation award.

AMONG the individuals to recentlyreceive a Blue Mountains, Lithgow& Oberon Tourism Award ofExcellence 2013 for contribution tothe Blue Mountains bicentenary,was BMACHO’s hard working andpopular secretary, Jan Koperberg.

Jan has also been the minutessecretary of Western Crossingscommittee since its inception.

INDIVIDUALS to receive the awardwere: Auntie Sharyn Halls, BobKemnitz, Clr Daniel Myles, Dr Anne-Maree Whitaker, Dr Siobhán LavelleOAM, Jan Koperberg, JessicaBlaxland-Ashby, John O’Sullivan,Ken Goodlet, Melissa Mylchreest,Meryl Butterworth, Philip Hammon, Professor David Carment, RandallWalker, Sandy Holmes, TanyaLoviz, Tom Colless OAM, Trevor

Lloyd, Uncle Graeme Cooper andWendy Blaxland.

BMACHO member organisations tobe recognized were the BlueMountains Historical Society andHartley District Valley ProgressAssociation.

ORGANISATIONS to receive theaward were: Blaxland & DistrictsChamber of Commerce andIndustry, Blue Mountains CityCouncil, Blue Mountains HistoricalSociety, Blue MountainsInternational Hotel ManagementSchool, Blue Mountains Lithgow &Oberon Tourism, Chamber ofCommerce and Industry Lawson,Falls Wines, Garden Clubs ofAustralia, Gundungurra AboriginalHeritage Association, HartleyDistrict Progress Association,

Crossings Committee

Katoomba Theatre Company,Lithgow City Council, Penrith CityCouncil, Royal Australian HistoricalSociety, TAFE Western SydneyInstitute, Wentworth Falls Chamberof Commerce and WindowrieEstate.

Jan Koperberg with her award


A PLANNING document to guideland use and development in theBlue Mountains went on publicexhibition earlier this month.

Blue Mountains City Council’s DraftLocal Environment Plan (DLEP)2013 has been the subject of longnegotiations with the stategovernment.

Blue Mountains mayor MarkGreenhill said the council’s DLEP2013 has been prepared inresponse to the NSW governmentrequirement for all councils in NSWto prepare a new plan based on astandard template.

“The DLEP 2013 is essentially aconversion of council’s existingplanning document into a singlecomprehensive LEP for the city thatcomplies with the NSWgovernment’s standard format whilemaintaining the key provision in ourcurrent LEPS,” he said.

“In doing this, council has made aconsiderable effort to ensure the

Blue Mountains new plan goes on exhibitionDLEP 2013 is a ‘best fit’ with thestandard LEP, providing theplanning framework that aims toprotect our unique environmentwhile permitting appropriatedevelopment in the future.

“All residents will notice that thezoning of their land will have a newname, and the permitted land usesmay have changed, but for the mostproperties in the Blue Mountains thechange will be minimal the mayorhas said.

The public exhibition period for theDLEP 2013 started on December 4and will conclude on March 4, 2014.

For further information on the DLEP2013 and to have a say visitwww.bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au/draftlep2013

Mayor Greenhill said, “councilacknowledges the commitment ofthe public exhibition in December isnot the ideal time to engage thecommunity on a significant planningproposal, however council is

Mayor Mark Greenhillrequired to adhere to the directionof the NSW Government.

In recognition of this, council hasextended the closing time of theexhibition to March 2014 to ensureadequate time for the community toget involved.”SOURCE:Blue Mountains GazetteDecember 4, 2013 - Shane Desiatnick

NSW Government withdraws controversialplanning bill

Liz Vines, OAM

THE NSW government haswithdrawn the proposedcontroversial planning legislation;the planning minister, Brad Hazzardindicating it could not accept theheavy amendments imposed by theupper house. .

Elizabeth Vines OAM president,Australia – International Council ofMonuments and Sites (ICOMOS)

has said the state government’slandmark planning reforms are nowunder serious threat after the NSWupper house blocked key parts ofthe new laws.

“Community groups say thechanges are an ‘immense win’ thatwill give residents a voice on what isbuilt in their neighbourhoods.

“A new, streamlined developmentpathway known as ‘codeassessment’ was stripped from thebill.

“Under this system, if adevelopment in high-growth areasmeets agreed requirements, suchas building type, heights andenvironmental standards, it wouldhave needed to be approved by acouncil within 25 days, and thecommunity’s right to object wouldbe limited.

“The government has nowannounced that it cannot accept theamendments and has withdrawn the

legislation while it considers itsresponse, and is likely toreintroduce the legislation in March2014.

“Notwithstanding the amendmentspassed in the NSW upper house, anumber of aspects of the proposedchanges have not been amendedand remain of concern to AustraliaICOMOS and the many otherprofessional and community groupswith an interest in the issue.

“ What is also of concern is that theminister and organisations with avested interest in removing many ofthe current heritage safeguards areportraying those who have lodgedsubmissions against aspects of theproposed legislation as a minority ofextremists.

“However, A-ICOMOS will continueto monitor the situation and makefurther presentations as required toget the best possible outcome forthe care and management of ourcultural heritage,” Ms Vines said.

BLUE MOUNTAINS HISTORY JOURNAL No. 4NOW ONLINE

The Blue Mountains History JournalNo. 4 now online and also availablein bound hard copy of six papersand one note is the largest editionso far since the Blue MountainsAssociation of Cultural HeritageOganisations (BMACHO) decidedon such a publication.

President of BMACHO, John Learysaid editor of the Blue MountainsHistory Journal now in its 4th year,Dr Peter Rickwood deservesconsiderable acclaim for the workhe has done to promote interest inlocal history and heritage throughthis medium.

He has sought out and encouragedauthors to publish refereed materialin the Journal the result being avery high quality of papers.

Dr Rickwood in his editorialprovides an interesting overview ofthe papers which have beenpublished.

In this edition Peter writes: ‘twopapers deal with explorations of theBlue Mountains before the 1813crossing, the bicentenary of whichis being commemorated this year.

‘Three papers have pioneeringindividuals as their subject, oneeach inr elation to Blackheath,Medlow Bath and Lawson.

‘The sixth paper focuses on thevarious ways by which the NepeanRiver has been crossed near

Penrith - the main gateway to theBlue Mountains.

‘The first two papers have beenwritten by Andy Macqueen, and theydeal with different aspects ofGeorge Caley’s explorations.

‘They are complementary to eachother, the first focussing on Caley’sobsession to find a route across themountains and his regret that he didnot achieve that before he left thecolony.

‘The second of Andy’s papersrelates to the curious names thatCaley used for various features inthe Blue Mountains; it not onlyreveals where some have becomeattached to features that Caley didnot intend but it also deals with thepossible origin of the names givento somewhat similar features inYorkshire.

‘In the third paper Ron Brasier hasbrought together much of hisextensive research on OsborneLadies’ College that had its finalchapter in Blackheath.

‘But the principal, Miss Gibbins,commenced on a career ineducation up in Queensland andthe sequence of schools that shestarted has been traced.

‘Ron reveals many fascinatingaspects of this enigmatic characterand his paper is illustrated by agenerous collection of photographs.

‘Medlow Bath is one of the smallestof the villages of the Blue Mountainsbut it too has had its characters.

‘The fourth paper discusses the lifeof one Cornwallis Wade-Brownewho started out in a military careerin England, became a stockman inQueensland and ended up settlingin Medlow (as it was then called)and having a peripatetic life movingbetween a farm on what is nowWater Board land and a holidayhome in Bay View.

‘Fifthly, Brian Fox has revealed whathe has been able to find out aboutanother pioneer of Lawson.

‘In our first issue (2010) he tackledJoseph Hay and now it is BenjaminRoberts - both at one time beingowners of large parcels of land inLawson.

‘The one feature that is common toall who have contributed to thehistory of the Blue Mountains is thatat some time they, or theirancestors, had to cross theNepean/Hawkesbury River by somemeans in order to gain access tothe Blue Mountains.

‘Patsy Moppett has researched thismost important aspect of travel tothe Blue Mountains and in the sixthpaper she provides the chronologyof the ways by which the NepeanRiver has been crossed near toPenrith.

‘That location needs to be stated forthe crossings of the HawkesburyRiver near to Windsor andRichmond await another study.

‘All of the papers in Issue 4 havebeen independently reviewed andrevised as a consequence ofsuggestions.

‘The final contribution is a shortpostscript by Christine Cramer whohas been able to confirm some ofthe conclusions published in Issue3 relating to the death of ProfessorV. Gordon Childe in 1957 and thebones discovered at the same sitein 1959.’

Dr Peter Rickwood, editor theBlue Mountains History Journal


Blue Mountains History JournalIssue 4, October 2013, can now bedownloaded and viewed in .pdf onthe BMACHO website http://www.bluemountainsheritage.com.au/imagesDB/wysiwyg/BMHJ41Elec.pdf

This issue, has once again beenedited by Dr Peter Rickwood anddesigned by Peter Hughes and isalso available in hard copy.

It is a large issue, over 100 pageson quality gloss paper and can bepurchased for $30, with postageextra. It cost almost $30 to print, soBMACHO is not making a profit.

To purchase a copy, please email:The Secretary, BMACHO1/19 Stypandra PlaceSPRINGWOOD NSW 2777 and itwill be sent to you with an invoice.

Postage varies from post code topost code, so postage will be addedto the invoice when it is paid at thePost Office. Alternatively it can becollected from Jan Koperberg atSpringwood.

BLUE MOUNTAINS

HISTORY JOURNAL NOW

AVAILABLE

Ray Christison winscoveted IMAGinE award

THE LIVES of Sir Joseph Cookand Dame Mary Cook will be thetopic for the guest speaker, WendyHawkes at a BMACHO generalmeeting to be held on Saturday,February 8. at the ParagonRestaurant., Katoomba.

Wendy Hawkes, is the culturaldevelopment officer with LithgowCity Council and curator atEskbank House, Lithgow, wherean exhibition about the Cooks wasrecently staged.

The Cooks moved to Lithgow in1886 and Sir Joseph worked in theVale of Clwydd Colliery as hestudied and worked his way upthrough the unions and intopolitics. He became prime minister27 years later.

A light lunch will be provided, in theParagon at BMACHO expense), atapproximately 12.30 pm

After lunch, from 1.30 pm to 3.30pm (or earlier) a workshop will beconducted, where a suggestedformat for an “Explorers CulturalTrail” brochure will be presented.

Those attending the workshop willbe asked for input into this project.

Please RSVP by [email protected] orphone Jan Koperberg on 02 47515834

When: Saturday, February 8, 2014from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm Where: Paragon Restaurant, KatoombaStreet, KatoombaCost to participants: FREE

Wendy Hawkes to talkabout the Cooks

Ray Christison of Lithgow StateMine Heritage Park has won thecoveted 2013 IMAGinE award forindividual achievement and theaward for the best exhibition –volunteers has gone to the LithgowState Mine Heritage Park for itsexhibit Fire in the Mine.

Pictured above is Ray Christisonwith wife, Jenny and Museums andGalleries chairman Oliver Frankel atthe November presentation night inSydney.

The recently developed multimediaexhibit titled Fire in the Mineexplores the working lives ofcoalminers in the mid twentiethcentury and the horrificconsequences of an undergroundfire that occurred in the State CoalMine in 1953

The IMAGinE awards recognise thepeople who work in museums andgalleries across NSW and thecontributions they make.

IMAGinE celebrates all institutions–the big to the small–and payshomage to those organisations runby volunteers, with limited budgetsand minimal resources.

M&G NSW first launched IMAGinEin 2008 in collaboration withMuseums Australia (NSW & ACT)

and Regional & Public GalleriesNSW.

Since then they have become ourmost popular event receivingaround 70 nominations each year.

M&G NSW provides programs andservices improving the visitorexperience in small to mediummuseums, galleries and Aboriginalcultural centres across NSW.


St Stephens Parish Kurrajong Registers1861 - 1902

THE BOOK St Stephens Church,Kurrajong Parish Registers 1861-1902 published by the FamilyHistory Group, Kurrajong-ComleroyHistorical Society was recentlyreleased.

The publication is a transcription ofthe parish records of St StephensAnglican Church, Kurrajong,incorporating St Philips Chapel ofEase at North Richmond (formerlycalled Enfield), St James Church ofEngland at Kurrajong Heights andSalis Flats Mission Church, latercalled St John the Evangelist whenmoved to the corner of Single Ridgeand Comleroy Roads. Salis Flats isoften written as Sallys Flats and thisarea is now known as The Slopes.

The Kurrajong-Comleroy HistoricalSociety Family History Group beganthe process of transcribing therecords with the full co-operation ofthe present rector, the ReverendShaun McGregor, and the group isindebted to him for his assistance.

The Family History Group realisedimmediately the significance of theinformation contained in the recordswhich document the growth,character and early settlementpatterns in the Kurrajong district aswell as giving an indication of localindustries and occupations.

Kurrajong was a farming communityand the majority of the people gavetheir occupations as farmers and /or orchardists. Following these werelabourers, drovers, brickmakers,sawyers, butchers, blacksmiths andsaddler.

The registers also indicate a strongsense of place and belonging, andoutline a history of families in thearea.

In a scattered, relatively isolatedfarming community like Kurrajong itwas not uncommon for boy to marrythe girl next door because socialcontact mainly involved interactionwith the neighbours. It was notuncommon for brothers to marrysisters from neighbouring farms.For all these reasons it wasconsidered essential to documentthis information.

The transcription, recording andcompilation of the informationcontained in this publicationentailed countless hours ofvolunteer work by members of theKurrajong-Comleroy HistoricalSociety Family History Group.

Together with the actual recordsalso included is a brief history ofsome of the early settlers to providea better understanding ofKurrajong’s past and its place in thehistory of the Hawkesbury.

The research team were CarolynneCooper (team leader, Valerie Birch,Wanda Deacon, Kath McMahon-Nolf, Carol Roberts and JoyShepherd.

The compilation and layout wasdone by Chris Upton, editor of theKurrajong-Comleroy HistoricalSociety’s newsletter Millstones.

The180 pages book is priced at $27plus postage and packing of $10 forpostage and handling throughout

NSW, and $14 for other states ofAustralia

For enquiries telephone (02) 45885867 and orders can be placed bycontacting the secretary at PO Box174 Kurmond 2757.

St Stephens Church, Kurrajong

Paragon joinsBMACHO

The Paragon Restaurant atKatoomba is another new memberof BMACHO this month.

The Paragon first started by aGreek émigré in 1916 at thebeginning of a new phenomenonin Australian country towns, theGreek café. From the early 1910sonwards a number of émigrésfrom Greece, often withexperience of the United States,created a new café experience incities and towns throughoutAustralia.

HERITAGE 22 November - December 2013

THE NSW Heritage Network hasrecently been established withthe objective of bringing heritagecampaigners and communityorganisations together to shareinformation, resources,experiences and skills to supportlocal and state heritagecampaigns.

Speaking at the recent launch atthe State heritage listed propertyLinnwood House, Guildford, MsBarbara Perry, Shadow Ministerfor Heritage said it had been thevision of Anne Field, PeterDuggan, Leesha Payor and JuneBullivant, OAM “to grow analliance of community groups,representing constituents acrossNSW with a common bond –advocating for heritage issuesacross the state.”

NEW HERITAGE NETWORKFORMED

LOUISE MARKUS MP, the Memberfor Macquarie has announced thatapplications are now open for theANZAC Centenary grants program.

Mrs Markus said that for the 100th

anniversary of the Gallipoli landingthe federal government is makingavailable $100 000 in fundingallocated to each electorate inAustralia to support projects in thecommunity that mark the occasion.

Louise Markus, MP

These grants are a wonderfulopportunity to honour the serviceand sacrifice of the servicemen andwomen.

Applications are open to:*community and ex-serviceorganisations,* schools and education institutions,* museums and cultural institutions,* local government authorities,* other non-profit organisations.

Types of projects that are eligibleunder this program include:* public commemorative events,* new First World War memorials orhonour boards,*the restoration of existing FirstWorld War memorials and honourboards,* the preservation, interpretationand display of Fist World Warwartime and military memorabiliaand artefacts.* relevant school projects, such asresearch with a focus on militaryinvolvement and social impacts, andthe products of research.

ANZAC Centenary grants availableTypes of projects not eligible are:* expenditure already incurred orongoing expenditure (eg annualmaintenance of memorials),* construction and repair ofbuildings, including museums,memorial halls and sportingfacilities,*recurring activities (events heldevery year),*salaries, travel andaccommodation,*sporting events,*educational materials whereprojects by Department of VeteranAffairs already provides resourcesfor schools.

Two public information sessions willbe announced and held regardingthe ANZAC Centenary grantsprogram.

Guidelines for proposed projectsand application forms can beaccessed online at http://wwwanzaccentenary.gov.au/grants/

Deadline for grants applications isMarch 30, 2014.

Applications may be submitted [email protected] ormailed to the ANZAC centenarygrants program PO Box 855,Windsor 2756.

Ms Perry said, “It is the NSWgovernment’s planning legislationwhich has forced communityadvocates to the fore. The planninglegislation does not supportheritage”

“The NSW government has putemphasis on economic growth anddevelopment; our built heritage isvirtually ignored and it is theongoing management of that whichis at risk.

“The clock will be wound back to thedays prior to the Heritage Act of1977”

For further information: June MBullivant OAM (02) 9631 0216 or0438 31 0216

Australian and British soldierstake a welcome break before

going up to the front line trenchesin France during World War 1

“I look forward to receiving allapplications and working with thecommunity to delivercommemorations they will be proudof, that honour the centenary of ournation’s service at Gallipoli,” saidMrs Markus.


LAWSON PRIEST, researcher,author, and authority on theAustralian Aboriginal culture, FatherEugene Stockton has recentlypublished another book through theBlue Mountains Education andResearch Trust.

Landmarks is an exploration of anAustralian spirituality. Drawing onthe cultural influences now in ourland, it offers a graded,comprehensive presentation ofgospel teachings, with an Australiandiction and imagery.

The reader is introduced in terms ofan “Australian setting”, focusing onone particular aspect of theAustralian experience.

The body of each chapter analysesthat experience, exploring theparallels with its biblical counterpart.

The bible is used, not as a book ofGod or a store of normative texts,but as the story of people, who areour spiritual ancestors.

LANDMARKS The attempt is made to insertourselves into that story, with all itsups and downs, to identify our ownexperience in its unfolding, andthrough it to catch the vision of Godwhich the past projects onto ourpresent and future.

Blue Mountains Education andResearch Trust a member ofBMACHO was established topromote local research in religionand Aboriginal studies especiallythrough the publication of findings.

Copies of Landmarks are availabledirect from the publisher at $15 percopy plus postage.

For more information about thispublication contact EugeneStockton (02) 4759 1818.

IT IS A RARE ARTIST who has notbeen inspired by the Sydney OperaHouse

The SH Ervin Gallery Sydey ispresenting the exhibition Utzon’sOpera House over the summerperiod, coinciding with the 40thanniversary of the opening of theOpera House in 1973 and tocelebrate its significance forAustralian visual artists.

The Sydney Opera House,designed by Danish architect JørnUtzon is an architectural icon andone of the most outstandingbuildings of the twentieth century.

Recognised in 2007 by UNESCOon the World Heritage List, it isappropriate that the National Trustcelebrate this milestone ofAustralia’s most remarkablebuilding.

The inspiration for the exhibitionhas its genesis in the 2012exhibition Australian Artists and theSydney Opera House (curated byLin Utzon) at the Utzon Center inDenmark which took the work ofeight Sydney artists to Aalborg, thebirthplace of Jørn Utzon.

The SH Ervin Gallery exhibitionexpands on this selection andinclude images of the indigenousfigure Bennelong, after whom thepeninsula it stands on is named, aswell as works by some of Australia’sleading artists including Eric Thake,William Dobell, Lloyd Rees, BrettWhiteley, John Olsen, MargaretOlley, Martin Sharp, Ken Done,Peter Kingston, Kevin Connor, NoelMcKenna and Chris O’Doherty akaReg Mombassa.

There will also be on displayoriginal drawings and workingmodels by Utzon, which are held bythe State Library of New SouthWales. Works will be drawn frompublic and private collectionsacross the country.

The exhibition which opened in lateNovember, will run until January 19.

For further information www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw

Utzon’sOpera House

Sydney Opera House at sunset

BMACHOsupport for

grantapplication

LETTERS OF SUPPORT have beenprovided by BMACHO severalhistorical societies and individuals toBlue Mountains City Council in thebid of its library service to obtain a$30 000 grant.

The grant application was to theLibrary Council of NSW.

If successful the grant would beused to complete the digitisation ofall surviving Blue Mountainsnewspapers up to 1954; after whichcopyright becomes a problem.

Springwood Historian have alreadymade a donation of $5000 to thelibrary to allow digitisation of localnewspapers to start.


THE ORGANISATION Blue Mountains Association ofCultural Organisations Inc. (BMACHO) was establishedin April 2006 following a unanimous response to aproposal from Professor Barrie Reynolds at the 2004Blue Mountains Local History Conference which soughtfrom Blue Mountains City Council the creation of acultural heritage strategy for the city.BMACHO in its constitution uses the definition: “Culturalheritage is all aspects of life of the peoples of the BlueMountains which was later changed to cover Lithgow andthe villages along the Bell’s Line of Roads. It thereforeinvolves the recording, preserving and interpreting ofinformation in whatever form: documents, objects,recorded memories as well as buildings and sites.”The objectives of the organisation are:

i. To raise public consciousness ofthe value of cultural heritage. ii. To encourage and assist culturalheritage activities of member organisations. iii. To initiate and support culturalheritage activities not already covered bymember organisations. One of the aims of BMACHO isto bring the various bodies into closer contact, toencourage them to work more closely together and toprovide a combined voice on matters of importancewithin the heritage sector.

AFFILIATIONS BMACHO is a member of the RoyalAustralian Historical Society Inc.

MEMBERSHIP The following organisations are members ofBMACHO: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah,Blue Mountains City Library, Blue Mountains Cultural HeritageCentre, Blue Mountain Education and Research Trust, BlueMountains Historical Society Inc., Blue Mountains FamilyHistory Society Inc., Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute,Eskbank Rail Heritage Centre, Everglades Historic House &Gardens, Friends of Norman Lindsay Gallery, Glenbrook &District Historical Society Inc., Hartley Valley District ProgressAssociation, Kurrajong-Comleroy Historical Society Inc,Lithgow and District Family History Society Inc., LithgowMining Museum Inc., Lithgow Regional Library – LocalStudies, Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum Inc, Mt Victoriaand District Historical Society Inc., Mt Wilson and Mt IrvineHistorical Society Inc. (including Turkish Bath Museum),Mudgee Historical Society Inc., National Trust of Australia(NSW) - Blue Mountains Branch, National Trust of Australia(NSW) - Lithgow Branch, Nepean District Historical SocietyInc., Paragon Restaurant - Katoomba, Scenic World – BlueMountains Limited, Springwood & District Historical SocietyInc., Springwood Historians Inc., Transport Signal andCommunication Museum Inc., The Darnell Collection Pty Ltd,Valley Heights Locomotive Depot and Museum, WoodfordAcademy Management Committe, Zig Zag Railway Co-op Ltd.The following are individual members: Ray Christison,Associate Professor Ian Jack, Joan Kent, John Leary OAM,John Low OAM, Ian Milliss, Patsy Moppett, Professor BarrieReynolds, Dr Peter Rickwood and Dr Peter Stanbury OAM.

COMMITTEE The committee for 2013-14 is:John Leary, OAM (president), Ian Jack (vice president),Jan Koperberg (secretary), Kevin Frappell, Wendy Hawkes,Doug Knowles, Patsy Moppett, Dick Morony (public officer),Scott Pollock and Jean Winston.

DISCLAIMER Views and opinions expressed inHERITAGE originate from many sources and contributors.Every effort is taken to ensure accuracy of material. Contentdoes not necessarily represent or reflect the views andopinions of BMACHO, its committee or members. If errors arefound feedback is most welcome.

BLUE MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATION OF CULTURALHERITAGE ORGANISATIONS INC.

REGISTERED OFFICE 1/19 Stypandra Place,Springwood, 2777 (02) 4751 5834 E-mail:[email protected] [email protected]: www.bluemountainsheritage.comABN53 994 839 952

HERITAGE BMACHO’s official newsletter is editedby John Leary, OAM.Blue Mountains History Journal is edited byDr Peter Rickwood.

MOST MODERN CITIES todayhave a major problem with wastedisposal. But the problem hasbeen around for a long time asarchaeologists have found inRome.

Monte Testaccio is an artificialmound in Rome composed almostentirely of fragments of brokenamphorae dating from the time ofthe Roman Empire,

It is one of the largest spoil heapsfound anywhere in the ancientworld, covering an area of 20,000square metres at its base andwith a volume of approximately580,000 cubic metres, containingthe remains of an estimated 53million amphorae in which some 6billion litres of oil was importedmainly from Spain.

It has a circumference of nearly akilometre and stands 35 metreshigh, though it was probablyconsiderably higher in ancienttimes.

It stands a short distance away fromthe east bank of the River Tiber,near the Horrea Galbae where thestate-controlled reserve of olive oilwas stored in the late 2nd centuryAD.

The huge numbers of brokenamphorae at Monte Testaccioillustrate the enormous demand foroil of imperial Rome, which was atthe time the world’s largest city witha population of at least one millionpeople.

Monte Testaccio was not simply ahaphazard waste dump; it was ahighly organised and carefullyengineered creation, presumablymanaged by a state administrativeauthority.

Excavations carried out in 1991showed that the mound had beenraised as a series of level terraceswith retaining walls made of nearlyintact amphorae filled with shards toanchor them in place

As the oldest parts of MonteTestaccio are at the bottom of themound, it is difficult to say with anycertainty when it was first created.

Deposits found by excavatorshave been dated to a periodbetween approximately AD 140 to250, but it is possible that dumpingcould have begun on the site asearly as the 1st century BC.

The mound has a roughlytriangular shape comprising twodistinct platforms, the eastern sidebeing the oldest.

Rome’s gigantic waste disposal site

At least four distinct series ofterraces were built in a steppedarrangement. Layers of smallshards were laid down in someplaces, possibly to serve as pathsfor those carrying out the wastedisposal operations

REFERENCE: Monte Testaccio websiteby University de Roma “La Sapienza”and Universitat de Barcelona.


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