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| Cotton in the fields
outside Gunnedah |
Gunnedah (and Curlewis)
Major town in the heart of the New South Wales wheatbelt.
Gunnedah is a sizeable country town of some 10 000 people,
situated on a sloping ridge above the Namoi and Mooki Rivers
in the wheat belt of northern NSW, 434 km north-west of
Sydney and 264 m above sea-level. The wheat grain silos loom
over the town. Wool, beef cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep,
lucerne, barley, cotton, oilseeds and sorghum are other
primary industries. The town possesses the largest
beef-cattle selling centre in the state (the auctions can be
viewed every Tuesday). Gunnedah is situated upon one of
NSW's largest coal seams which is currently being exploited
by three mines. The town also has a major abattoir, a
brickworks, livestock feed companies, a flour mill and saw
mill.
The Gunnedah area is home to the largest koala colony to
be found in NSW, west of the Great Dividing Range. They can
be seen on local farms, in the remaining woodlands and even
in town.
Gunnedah calls itself 'Town of My Country', a reference
to poet Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968) who spent a great
deal of time on a local property from 1905 (the year she
wrote her best-known work, 'My Country', which is thought to
have been inspired, in part, by the local terrain) until the
late 1930s. Each year school children are encouraged to
submit poetry for the Dorothea MacKellar National Poetry
Competition for Schools.
The Gunn-e-darr people of the Kamilaroi tribe inhabited
the area before white settlement. They associated the future
townsite with a sizeable outcrop of white stone where the
public school now stands in Bloomfield St. At the end of the
18th century they were led by a legendary warrior named
Cumbo Gunnerah, known as the 'Red Chief', who became the
subject of a 1953 novel by Ion Idriess.
The first European in the area was Alan Cunningham who
passed to the north in 1827, en route to the Darling Downs.
He was followed by Thomas Mitchell in 1831. The future
townsite arose out of what was originally a principal
crossing-place for teamsters on the Namoi River. White
settlement began in the mid or late 1830s when John Johnston
established the Bulomin run on the Namoi River, building his
homestead and woolshed by the riverbank. Consequently the
area was known as 'The Woolshed' until about 1860. The
property was later renamed the 'Gunnedah'.
Other squatters followed Johnston. A survey of the
townsite was carried out in 1854 and the first land sales
took place in 1857. The soil proved arable and wheat-growing
soon commenced. In 1866 the population was recorded as about
300. At that time bushranger 'Thunderbolt' (alias Fred Ward)
robbed the patrons of the Carroll Hotel and then settled in
for a party which was broken up by a party of mounted
troopers. A gun battle ensued and Ward escaped though some
horses and property he had stolen were recovered.
The railway arrived in 1879 and the town subsequently
became the commercial centre of the north-west and began to
expand. Cohen's Bridge was built over the Namoi in 1884 and
the town became a municipality in 1885 with a population of
about 1000.
Attempts to establish coalmining proved unsuccessful
until the Gunnedah Colliery was established in 1900. New
discoveries in 1978 greatly expanded operations. Also of
some interest is the fact that Italian POWs worked on local
farms in the Second World War.
AgQuip, the largest agricultural machinery field day in
the Southern Hemisphere, is held each year in August. It
attracts around 100 000 visitors. The Lake Keepit Sailing
Regatta is held in June and the Tomato Festival in January.
The town's markets occur on the third Saturday of the month
at Wolsely Park in Conadilly St.
Things to see:
Tourist Information
Gunnedah's Information Centre is situated in Anzac Park, at
the eastern end of South St, tel: (02) 6742 1564. It
provides pamphlets outlining a self-drive town tour and the
Bindea Walking Track.
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| The Dorothea Mackellar
statue opposite the Tourist Information Office
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Dorothea Mackellar Memorial
Gunnedah calls itself 'Town of My Country', a reference to
poet Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968) who is memorialised in a
life-size bronze statue which is also located in Anzac Park.
Mackellar spent a great deal of time on a local property
from 1905 (the year she wrote her best-known work, 'My
Country', which is thought to have been inspired, in part,
by the local terrain) until the late 1930s. 'Dawn' and
'Burning Off' are considered to have especially direct
connections with the Gunnedah area. A broadcast of the
author reciting her own poetry can be heard by tuning your
radio to FM88 within 100 m of the statue.
Water Tower Museum
Also in Anzac Park is the Water Tower Museum where there is
a collection of local memorabilia and photographs. A spiral
staircase leads from the third floor to an observation deck
from where there are fine views of the town. The complex was
the first town reservoir (built in 1908 and operative until
the 1950s). It is open from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. on
Saturday afternoon. Tours can be arranged through the
visitors' centre.
Heritage Buildings
Maitland St was the main street of the town until the 1864
flood prompted a rethink. The three-storey building at the
Marquis and Abbott St corner was the first store in town,
owned by a Mr Cohen. If you head eastwards then, to the
right, in the next block, is a two-storey residence which
was Mr Cohen's home. Adjacent is the old Sisters of Mercy
convent (1879). Next door to that is the Commercial Bank
building, the town's first bank. At Maitland and Abbott is a
marker indicating the water levels of past floods.
The symmetrical brick courthouse at the corner of
Conadilly and Abbotts St was built in 1879 to a design of
James Barnet. The railway station in South St (the Oxley
Highway) dates from 1879.
Arts Centre
The Creative Arts Centre in Chandos St is a permanent
display of over 70 pieces of art and pottery, including a
series of watercolours relating to Dorothea MacKellar's 'My
Country'. There is also an extensive range of exhibitions
and classes relating to a wide diversity of crafts.
The Old Bank Gallery is located at 284 Conadilly St, tel:
(02) 6742 3944.
Red Chief Memorial
The Red Chief Memorial, on the footpath outside the
government office block in Abbott St, honours the Aboriginal
warrior, Cumbo Gunnerah, an 18th-century leader of the
Gunn-e-darr people; a subgroup of the Kamilaroi tribe who
inhabited the area before white settlement.
He was buried adjacent this spot in a sitting position
backed by a tree (known to whites as 'The Blackfellow's
Tree') carved with totemic designs in his honour. His
remains were exhumed and passed on to the Australian Museum
in Sydney, along with a portion of the tree.
Little was known of Cumbo Gunnerah until King Bungaree,
the last Gunn-e-darr full-blood, broke a tribal restriction
and told a white friend about the warrior.
The original tree carving has been reproduced in bronze
on the memorial. Gunnerah became the subject of a novel by
Ion Idriess called The Red Chief (1953).
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| Gunnedah Rural Museum
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Rural Museum
The Rural Museum, containing farm machinery, equipment, a
gun collection, photography and other artefacts is located
on the Oxley Highway, 1 km west of the post office. It is
open seven days from 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
Bindea Walking Track
The Bindea Walking Track is a 22-km walk which can be
subdivided into a series of shorter loops, taking in the
commercial and residential sections of town, the Porcupine
Reserve, Porcupine Lookout and Avards Lookout. Kangaroos,
wallaroos and koalas are often seen at the reserve late in
the afternoon. A guiding pamphlet is available from the
visitors' centre.
Town Tour
A self-drive signposted town tour takes you through the
commercial, residential and historical aspects of the town.
It starts at the corner of Conadilly and Abbott Sts and
takes in Porcupine Lookout, the Eighth Division Memorial
Avenue, lined with 45 flowering gums which honour those from
the division who died in World War I. A pamphlet is
available from the visitors' centre.
Porcupine Lookout
Porcupine Lookout is 3 km south-east of town on Apex Rd and
has picnic facilities and fine views of the town and
surrounds.
Woolshed Reserve
The Woolshed Reserve, next to Cohens Bridge on the Namoi
River, is an excellent picnic spot.
Lake Keepit
To access Lake Keepit Recreation Area head 29 km east along
the Oxley Highway towards Tamworth then turn left on to the
Manilla Rd and follow the signposts for a further 5 km. It
is ideal for all varieties of water sport - waterskiing,
fishing, swimming, sailing, windsurfing and power boating.
Children's facilities include a children's pool, a BMX
track, a skateboarding area and roller-skating rink. There
are barbecues, a kiosk, toilets, half-court tennis and a
five-hole golf course. The kiosk sell fishing licences,
along with bait and some tackle and it also hires out
fishing boats, tel: (02) 6769 7693. You can also contact the
kiosk if you are interested in the Lake Keepit Family
Fishing Club. For further information on the Park contact
the ranger on (02) 6769 7605. The Lake Keepit Soaring Club
is also located at the lake, tel: (02) 6769 7514. For
reservations at the caravan park, tel: (02) 6769 7620. A
sailing regatta is held in June.
Manilla Ski Gardens
Beyond the turnoff to the recreation area there is another
signposted turnoff on the left into a dirt road that leads,
after 3 km, to Manilla Ski Gardens on the eastern side of
the lake. There is an established caravan park, a kiosk,
playground equipment, barbecues, boat ramps and fisherman's
lodges, tel: (02) 6785 1686.
Waterways Wild Life Park
The wildlife park is 7 km west of Gunnedah on the Mullaley
Rd (the Oxley Highway). There are emus, kangaroos, wombats,
birds, lizards, possums etc. The entry fee is currently $2
for 5 to 15 years and $4 for over 15s. Ring (02) 6742 1826
or the Gunnedah Visitors' Centre to check the variable
opening times.
Meridian Rest Area
There is a rest area, 27.5 km west along the Oxley Highway,
located on the 150 Degrees East Time Meridian. This meridian
was adopted in 1895 as the basis of the Eastern Australian
Standard Time, which is ten hours ahead of Greenwich Mean
Time. There is an information board, a sundial and
picnic-barbecue facilities.
Oxley Memorial
38 km west along the Oxley Highway is Mullaley. 3 km south
on the Black Stump Way is the Mount Mullaley Oxley Memorial.
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Gunnedah
