Projects – Page 4 – Kandos History

Kandos Subdivisions and the Quarter Acre Block

…A quarter acre block, which also measures one rood or 1000 square metres, usually had a 66 feet frontage. There was plenty of room for a home and healthy lifestyle: a veggie and flower garden with fruit trees, wood and coal heaps, a garage, dunny, water tank, clothesline, dog kennel and chook pen, and room enough for the children to play a game of cricket or rounders…

This article by Colleen O’Sullivan appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 17 May 2016.

The featured image shows the first cement company subdivision which appeared on the land sale prospectus in August 2015.

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Kandos subdivisions and the quarter acre block

Our Extinguished History

…It wasn’t the children of Limestone Flat and Cudgegong School that piqued interest though they had assembled punctually, sung enthusiastically and enjoyed a nice tea party afterwards. Nor was it Miss Atkinson, daughter of contractor T Atkinson, although she looked quite fetching, I feel sure, as she delicately smashed the bottle of sherry against the bridge and named it Lambert Bridge. It wasn’t the bridge itself which was the subject of interest though it was described as an ornament to the town and a credit to the constructors. No, it was the special guest after whom the bridge was named, ‘the old king, Jim Lambert, of the Dabee tribe, decorated with all the insignia of his lofty position’, who was the centre of attention…

This article by Colleen O’Sullivan appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 14 March 2016.

The featured image Gibir-Yinaa (A Man – A Woman) is a mural on the north-facing external wall of the museum created by Djon Mundine with descendants of the last full-blood members of the local Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri People, Jimmy and Peggy Lambert.

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Our Extinguished History

Dr Darton Beloved Physician

…It was a time when a medico could be called out at any time of the day or night; when epidemics were a constant threat (especially among children) and work accidents were common; when the source of all health knowledge, public and private, was the local doctor, especially one who had the title Government Medical Officer. Dr Darton must have been the most recognised and valued man in town. “The Beloved Physician” was the title Reverend Hawkey gave to his eulogy…

This article by Colleen O’Sullivan appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 19 August 2013.

The featured image of the Prefects of Newington College in 1912 shows Dr Darton in the front row, extreme right. It was sourced from Newington College archives.

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Dr Darton Beloved Physician

What’s in a Name – Clandulla

First there was Carwell, then Ilford, followed by Mornington, Carwell again and finally Clandulla. I am having trouble sorting it all out but hey that is just a hurdle of history. I am hoping that by the end of this article you will understand as much as I do. And perhaps you will have something to add…

This article was written by Colleen O’Sullivan for the Mudgee Guardian on 8 June 2015.

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Whats in a name

A Local Cemetery: For the Living and the Dead

Our forbears knew the importance of a local cemetery. Not just the practicality of it: dead bodies need interment. Not just for the ritual: the business of saying good-bye; of mourning, eulogising and memorialising. A cemetery also reminds us of our spot on the continuum of life; and confronts us with the riddle of an after-life…

This article appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 28 July 2014.

The featured image is of Rylstone Kandos Cemetery.

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A Local Cemetery

The Man in the Street

…White Crescent at the entrance to Kandos is a distinctive street. With its crescent shape forming two triangular parks with Davies Road and Angus Avenue, it was always meant to be a public space; whether for public buildings or for a reserve, we can’t be sure. It is and was meant to be an aesthetic focal point; a grand entrance…

This article appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 4 November 2013

Featured image is of the Rotunda taken in the last decade.

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The Man in the Street

Bylong Valley Way: A Mythical Landscape

It is a mythical landscape that we drive through late on an autumn day. Shadows spread across the valley. The mountains above us brood, close in on us, awesome and intimidating. I imagine surveillance posts in rocky outcrops: Wiradjuri warriors watching our progress, just as they did William Lawson exploring the Goulburn River valleys; and William Lee clearing and cultivating ‘his land’ and establishing his cattle and horse studs…

This article appeared in the Mudgee Guardian on 26 October 2015.

The image is of Cox’s Gap Tunnel, once a shortcut for drivers, now a coal-train route.

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Bylong Valley Way a mythical landscape

Tommy Shrimpton an Inspirational Gardener

…Tommy’s transformation of the railway station received accolades. “Mr T Shrimpton, night officer at Kandos, is to be congratulated in establishing a fine garden and showing some real splendid blooms”, wrote the ‘Mudgee Guardian’. “Prior to Mr Shrimpton’s appointment to Kandos such a thing as a garden on the station was ridiculed on account of the rocky nature of the ground and the absence of soil of any kind…

This article by Colleen O’Sullivan appeared in the Mudgee Guardian in February 2016.

Featured image is a Clandulla garden in the Kandos Gardens Fair.

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An Inspirational Gardener