Cass and I love our weekend drives especially when we get to visit amazing places and last Sunday was no exception. Urged on by our fearless leader we travelled over to check out the Taralga Historical Society Museum and Grounds. But first we pulled up at 'The Tangled Vine' Cafe for a spot of lunch for Cass' birthday. Stepping into this eatery is for me like going to your favourite aunt's house, you know her, the one who understands you when you feel alone against the world, the one who marches to the beat of her own drum. Mismatched chairs and tables, rural relics, old posters on the walls, books by Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde sharing shelf space with children's classics by Enid Blyton. You are more than welcome to pick up any of them or a newspaper and settle into a comfy armchair, relax and just unwind over a lovely cuppa. The Cafe has a great reputation for wonderful food and very friendly efficient service and it is well deserved. I have been here a few times now and it never fails to delight me.
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| Main Street in Taralga |
After a delicious and belly filling lunch we venture on up the road to the Taralga Historical Museum. We wander into the old church which now houses a fascinating collection of the past, displays of wedding dresses and clothing throughout the years, musical instruments, china and silverware, the old telephone exchange and photos of the past and the present, celebrating the lives and history of the people that made Taralga what it is today. They have books written by locals on the town's history and the founding families, a must buy for the avid Australian history buff. There were shelves full of family history folders of those who came from the district. What a boon to the family genealogist! We were lucky enough this day to meet a few of the volunteers from the Society; Marcus Hartstein, Andrew Moore and Mick Chalker who were just delightful, warm and welcoming, made us feel right at home.
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| Taralga Historical Society Members - Marcus Hartstein, Mick Chalker (President) and Andrew Moore |
Andrew and Mick offered to give us a guided tour of the buildings. Buildings? I was a bit confused, there was more? So we followed them outside and jump on the back of a golf cart, yep, they have one of them too. It will be a great help to those who have limited mobility. Our driver had never driven the golf buggy before today so we laughingly bunny hop to our first stop.
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| Settler's Cottage |
The 'Settler's Cottage' showed us what is was like to live nearly 130 years ago and we could hear all about it with the audio commentary as we looked around the cottage, Fernbank School which was relocated from out north of Wombeyan Caves gives us a glimpse into schooling over 100 years ago. Newspapers lined the walls just as they did back then, original woollen coats draped across a desk that had been worn by previous students. I don't know how they fitted in there I must say, there didn't seem to be enough room to 'swing a cat' as the expression goes.
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| Inside Fernbank School House |
The next exhibit nearly brought me undone. 'Gobsmacked' I think is how I would describe how I felt walking around the Nissen Hut. A Nissen hut is a prefab steel structure for military use, made from a half-cylindrical piece of corrugated steel. Designed during the First World War by the engineer and inventor Major Peter Norman Nissen, it was used extensively during the Second World War, and afterwards they were used by the Government, in some cases to provide cheap accomodation for migrants and house refugees. I even have a photo of my father from WW2 standing outside one of these huts. He was a Anti-aircraft Gunner based in New Guinea for most of the war and he passed away when I was only 6, so for me seeing all the memoribilia that was housed here, seeing the type of uniform he could possibly have worn, looking at a few of the stories of those who served at the same time and location, some whom he may have met during his time overseas in a small way brought me a little closer to learning about his war service and him. This memorial is a dedication to all those both past and present who have served our country from the Taralga district. It pays homage to the sacrifices that were and are still made by the people of Australia. It is a privilege to see and be surrounded by so much of our defence history in such a small country town.
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| Nissen Hut |
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| Inside the Nissen Hut - A memorial of dedication to our serving men and women past and present |
Moving on, we meander down past the old farm machinery that sit's outside what I am going to call 'The Big Shed', for obvious reasons. The doors open and low and behold, just when I think I can't be anymore surprised by this place, front and centre of us is a 1926 Model T Ford, bought in Canada and shipped to Australia in 2012 it is owned by a member of the Taralga Society. Now I am not a car fanatic, but I do recognise and appreciate the workmanship and awesomeness (is that a proper word?, probably not, but I'm using it anyway) of this vehicle. It is looks like it just rolled off the assembly line, all shiny and new, but it is now 92 years old and of course it has had restoration work but oh, she is a thing of beauty!
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| 1926 Model T Ford |
The Big Shed houses everything! Branding irons, horseshoes, shoemaker nails, shearing combs, and a demonstration area which they use on special days, a 1930's working chaff cutter, 1958 Morris minor in excellent condition, a 40 foot ladder made in the 1880's by the men working on the Bannaby shearing shed. It was sawn from just one tree and takes a few men to just lift it. There is also an old sulky that looks pristine and a sulky lantern with the original etched glass that looks to be waiting to be lit once more for that midnight ride.
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| 40 Foot ladder made in the 1880's used to build the Bannaby Shearing Shed |
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| Sulky Lantern |
In another shed there are relics of the old Butter Factories and Dairies that used to be in the district and apparently there were quite a few. A butter press sits on a shelf that was made and brought out from England especially to imprint the factories name on it. A huge milk vat sits outside under a lean-to, it is that big we reckon you could have fitted a few friends in there and used it for a spa. There is even the inevitable outdoor 'dunny' complete with the old tin can and resident. But I wasn't getting close enough to see if there was a red-back on the toilet seat as well!
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| Butter Press from the Myrtleville Butter Factory |
Further on there is a Bullock Wagon that was built in 1901 and owned by Matthew Hillas and used as a wool waggon on the property 'Hillasmount', it was restored by Ernie Stephenson an elderly resident of the district who we were lucky enough to also meet up with. Around the side there is a windmill with blades the likes I have never seen before. It is a Iron Mine Turbine from Drury's Dairy that was used to make electricity and so rare that is one of very few of it's kind in Australia. The blades are scooped and it sort of looks like one of those rides you went on as a kid at the local show. There is a Memorial Rose Garden, a Sundial Memorial and a shady Pavillion in honour of the locals who have passed. They even have a time capsule that was laid down in 1984 in memory of the Sisters of St. Michaels and will be opened in 2034, only 16 more years to go!
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| Iron Turbine Windmill |
On the way out we take a quick detour to the cemetery which I understand is called the Stonequarry Cemetery after most of the earlier headstones were made from stone taken from the nearby quarry. There are some lovely old headstones here but I have to say the sign on the entrance gate was one we had never encountered before. We are usually mindful of snakes in the warmer months and unstable ground on wet days, but we have never had to watch out for funnel-web spiders before. That was a bit of an eye-opener. We gingerly step our way around looking for any signs, happily we did not encounter any but might leave the next visit till the little buggars are fast asleep for the winter.
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| The sign say's it all! |
Everywhere we went was a step back in time. It was a wonderful afternoon and we thank our guides from the Historical Society very much for showing us around. Taralga is another gorgeous rural town in our Shire that is well worth the visit and for us that might be sooner rather than later, the tree lined main street must be amazing in Autumn when the leaves are turning, so we can't wait to see that!
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| Stonequarry Cemetery |
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