The Big Golden Guitar at Tamworth

 

Tamworth (including Nemingha, Tintinhull, Kootingal, Moonbi, Goonoo Goonoo)
Australia's self-proclaimed Country Music capital
Mention Tamworth to most Australians and they will immediately think of country music; an association the town has worked hard to promote. Known as 'The Country Music Capital', Tamworth is thought of as a sort of Australian equivalent to Nashville in the United States, albeit on a far more modest scale. The focus of this self-promotion is the Australasian Country Music Festival, held every January.

However, Tamworth is also the commercial and administrative capital of the New England region. It functions as a retail and service centre to the surrounding district which produces wool, dairy products, eggs, fat livestock, poultry, wheat, tobacco, lucerne and honey. There are a number of cattle, horse and sheep studs, a large dairy factory, a flour mill, an abattoir and a large industrial estate at Taminda.

Tamworth also boasts several important agricultural schools. It is situated 390 m above sea-level on the Peel River and 412 km north of Sydney at the intersection of the New England and Oxley Highways. Its population is around 40 000.

Prior to white settlement the area was occupied by the Kamilaroi people who knew it as 'Calala', thought to mean 'place of battle'.

John Oxley entered the Peel River Valley a little to the north-west of the present townsite in 1818 en route to the coast. He recorded the river crossing in his journal, noting that 'it would be impossible to find a finer or more luxuriant country than its waters...No place in this world can afford more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale'.

Squatters began to arrive in 1830. However they were removed when the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) was awarded an enormous grant. The land was selected by Henry Dangar and the first 6000 sheep arrived in 1834. It was allocated in two separate parcels, the larger being Goonoo Goonoo, on the southern bank of the Peel River, which became the company headquarters in 1841.

Tamworth was established as a company station and camp on the Goonoo Goonoo grant. A private village began to develop on the western bank of the Peel River in the late 1830s with a few huts and stores on the eastern bank to cater for teamsters who crossed the river at that point. A lock-up was established and a postmaster employed in 1840. A survey for a townsite was carried out in 1849 and Tamworth was gazetted in 1850 with a population of 254 recorded the following year when the first school was set up. The town name comes from a town in Staffordshire, England, represented in the British parliament by Robert Peel.

The gold finds at Nundle in 1851 proved a boon to the town. The first newspaper was established in 1859 and, the following year, the first decent bridge over the Peel River was built.

Tamworth became a major coaching station and milling centre in the 1860s. The population increased from about 650 in 1866 to about 3000 in 1876 when it was declared a municipality. In 1878 the railway from Newcastle was extended to West Tamworth.

In 1888 Tamworth became the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to have a municipally-operated electric street lighting, earning it the nickname 'The City of Light'.

In the 1920s Tamworth became the centre of the New England New State Movement which wanted to create a separate state. It resurfaced in the 1960s.

During World War II the showgrounds were used as an army-training camp and an RAAF flying school was set up at the aerodrome which had opened in 1932. Tamworth was declared a city in 1946 and enjoyed significant growth in the 1960s and 1970s.

The association of the city with country music started in the late 1960s. Local radio station 2TM discovered the scale of the potential country music audience when it began broadcasting its programme 'Hoedown'. Tamworth capitalised on the success by establishing the Country Music Awards in 1973. Now January's Australasian Country Music Festival, which witnesses ten days of entertainment, is the major event on the calendar.

The Tamworth Agricultural Show is held in March. The Tamworth Country Theatre, a live radio-broadcast concert, is held on the third Saturday of each month.

Things to see:  

Information Centre
Located at the corner of Peel and Murray Sts, the guitar-shaped information centre is open from 8.30 a.m. to 4.35 p.m. weekdays, 9.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Saturdays and 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Sundays, tel: (02) 6755 4300. They have detailed local information including arts, crafts, souvenirs, a fossicking guide, a heritage walk pamphlet and tickets for the Tamworth Country Theatre - a live radio broadcast concert held on the third Saturday of the month at 7.30 p.m. They can tell you about local farm stays, horseriding possibilities in the district, the riverside cycleway and self-drive tours of the locality.

Just behind the centre is the Tamworth Songwriters' Association Songwriter Tribute, a memorial to Australian country music songwriters such as Tex Morton, Slim Dusty, Stan Coster, Joy McKean and Gordon Parsons.

 

Hands of Fame Park
At the corner of Bridge St and Kable Ave, by the riverbank, is the Hands of Fame Park. Here, each January, selected country music stars are asked to leave their handprints in concrete for posterity. The park's aeroplane is a Vampire, a memorial to the RAAF.

The 4.7-km heritage walk also starts here. A brochure is available from the information centre.

 

Viaduct and Railway Bridge
Follow the riverbank in a north-westerly direction to the 48-metre lattice girder railway bridge, prefabricated in England and erected here in 1881-82. Once a common type it is one of only two such structures remaining on the northern rail.

The 815-metre viaduct was originally built of wood which was replaced by steel from 1917-1929.

 

Munro's Mill
Continue north-west along Peel St. Just past Bligh St is Munro's Mill. Built in 1863 it was the first flour mill in town. Tamworth became an important milling centre with the wheatfields of northern NSW transporting their produce here for processing. This mill closed in 1901 and is now an antique shop.

 

Square Mann Inn and Brewery
Just beyond the mill is the former Square Mann Inn, built c.1877 in expectation of the railway's arrival. Over the road is the old Royal Standard Brewery, established in 1879, at which time it was the largest in the country outside of Sydney. It closed in 1921 and has been much altered. It is now occupied by Coca-Cola.

 

Marius Street
The residences at 82-96 Marius St date from the 1870s. At Marius and Bligh is Allambie (c.1905), built by wealthy brewer C.J. Britten. It is now a private hospital. Continue to Viaduct Park, a pleasant picnic spot with formal gardens.

 

Courthouse and Council Chambers
Walk along Peel St turning left into Darling. Behind the facade of the police boys' club is the town's first courthouse (1860-1938). Over the road are the former council chambers (1906), later used as an army barracks. The town's first government school was established on these grounds in 1855.

 

Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is located in the general office of the old power plant. The museum celebrates 100 years of electric street lighting in Tamworth which was the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to acquire municipally-supplied electric street lighting. There is a large array of electrical appliances and paraphernalia from yesteryear, including working steam-powered electricity generators. It is open from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. from Tuesdays to Fridays and at other times by appointment, tel: (02) 6766 8324.

 

Historic Buildings
At the Bourke and Marius St intersection is the old Wesleyan (now Uniting) Church, built 1871-72 with the transept and vestry added in 1884. The hall and parsonage date from 1911.

Nearby is the railway station, built 1881-82 after the railway bridge enabled the extension of the line from West Tamworth where it arrived in 1878.

At Marius and Brisbane Sts is St Andrew's Presbyterian Church (1909). The present hall was the original church, built in 1863. The manse dates from 1883.

Just along Brisbane St, to the left, is the mechanics institute (1866). It was used by the first town clerk from 1876-79.

Return to Marius St. On the right, near White St, is an ornate fence, behind which is the old Dominican convent, built in 1882 but extended several times. The adjoining chapel dates from 1904. It is now an office complex.

Just past it is St Nicholas' Catholic Church, the earliest section dating from 1877 when it became the third Catholic church on this site.

 

Town Walk Concluded
At Peel and Fitzroy Sts is the post office, a Victorian Classical stuccoed brick building designed by James Barnet and built in 1883-86 (extended 1966) to replace an earlier building (erected 1865). It features three two-storey facades with colonnades and balustrades. An elegant cast-iron spiral stair leads from the first floor to the clock mechanism within the four-storey clock tower with a cement and concrete cupola.

Just north along Fitzroy St, to the right, is the lands office (1889), an attractive single-storey brick building designed by James Barnet with pebble-dash walls, a fine verandah, internal courtyard and wrought-iron gates.

A few doors east along Peel St, to the right, is the ANZ Bank building, erected in 1892 as the Bank of NSW.

 

Other Heritage Buildings
The public school at Brisbane and Upper Sts is a single-storey brick school complex (1885) with one section dating back to 1877. Two blocks north at Brisbane and Raglan Sts is Calrossy Girls' School (1878).

The richly detailed architecture of the hospital's main block in Dean St dates from 1883 with numerous later additions.

 

Australian Country Music Foundation Museum
The Australian Country Music Foundation Museum is located in Brisbane St, near the Peel St intersection. It currently features Tex Morton, Buddy Williams, Smoky Dawson and Slim Dusty in the Legends of Australian Country Music exhibition and is open Monday to Saturday from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. Special monthly events are held on the third Sunday of the month, relating to the Country Music Theatre the previous evening, tel: (02) 6766 1577. Nearby is The Winners Walkway,a landscaped memorial in Treloars Arcade which is dedicated to those who win the Golden Guitar Award.

 

Country Music Heritage Hall and Heritage Museum
The Country Music Heritage Hall and Heritage Museum is situated at 100 Bridge St, near the Church St intersection. It features a collection of personal photographs, instruments and costumes from Australasia's country music greats. It is open from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. daily, except Mondays, tel: (02) 6766 4236.

 

Roll of Renown
The Australian Country Music Roll of Renown, dedicated to those deemed to have made significant contributions to Australian country music, is located at the southern entrance to Tamworth at Radio Centre, on the eastern side of the New England Highway.

 

Country Collection
Over the road is a 12-m golden guitar, a replica of the Australasian Country Music Awards Trophy. Behind it is the Country Collection, located in Quartpot Lane (off Ringers Rd). There you will find The Gallery of Stars - 20 wax figures of country music stars, including Slim Dusty, Frank Ifield, Chad Morgan, Smoky Dawson, Reg Lindsay and Tex Morton. There is also a sizeable rock, gem and mineral display. The centre is open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily or by appointment, tel: (02) 6765 2688 or (02) 6766 4711. There is an entry fee.

 

Oxley Scenic Lookout and Kamilaroi Walking Track
The Oxley Scenic Lookout (610 m above sea-level) offers excellent views of the city and the Peel River Valley. There are barbecue and picnic facilities. It lies at the end of Scenic Drive which runs off the northern ends of both White and Hill Sts.

The Kamilaroi Walking Track (6.2 km/ 3 hours) starts here and follows the ridge tops to Endeavour Park.

 

Oxley Marsupial Park
The Oxley Marsupial Park is open from 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily. There are kangaroos, emus, peacocks and other wildlife. Barbecue, picnic and toilet facilities are provided.

 

Calala Cottage
Calala Cottage is located at 142 Denison St (near the Mathews St intersection). It was built in 1875 as a townhouse for Tamworth's first mayor, Philip Gidley King, the grandson of Governor King and the manager of the Peel River Company, formed by the Australian Agricultural Company to handle the Peel River properties in 1853.

It features 2000 items set in a reconstructed historical village, including an original slab shepherd's hut with a bark roof (c.1836-40), a beehive school and blacksmith's workshop. The complex is open from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays and from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on weekends, and at other times by appointment, tel: (02) 6765 7492.

 

Art Gallery
The Tamworth City Gallery in Marius St is one of oldest and largest regional galleries in NSW. It includes paintings by Hans Heysen and Norman Lindsay and an outstanding silver collection. The Biennial National Fibre Exhibition is a display of current textile and fibre art practices. The gallery is open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. weekdays, 9.00 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. Saturdays, 1.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Sundays.

 

Goddard's Agricultural Museum and Rex Gilroy's Butterfly World
Goddard's Agricultural Museum and Rex Gilroy's Butterfly World is 17 km south on the New England Highway. The Agricultural Museum has a large display of antique farming machinery, antique cars and other vehicles. Butterfly World features a collection of butterflies, moths, spiders, beetles and other insects as well as a a large rock, mineral and fossil display. They are open from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on weekends and public holidays, and at other times by appointment, tel: (02) 6760 0320.

 

The Tapestry Gallery
Follow the New England Highway in a south-easterly direction out of town. 7 km from Tamworth is Nemingha where you will find The Tapestry Gallery with completed tapestries for sale. They are open Wednesdays from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., from 12.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and at other times by appointment, tel: (02) 6760 5138

 

Winery
From Nemingha turn right onto the Nundle Rd then left onto the Back Road to Kootingal where you will find Warrina Wines which has wine tasting and cellar door sales. They are open weekends from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. or by appointment, tel: (02) 6760 3985.

 

Moonbi
21 km north-east of Tamworth via the New England Highway is Moonbi at the foot of the Moonbi Ranges. It is the largest poultry producing area in the state outside of Sydney, hence the 'Big Chook' on the left-hand side of the highway in the park.

Fred Hiller's Ceramic Gallery is located on Braefarm Rd (there is a signpost to the right indicating the left turn). Fred specialises in porcelain figures and other ceramics strongly shaped by Australian folklore. The gallery is open seven days from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., tel: (02) 6760 3662.

 

Moonbi Lookout
A few kilometres further north along the highway is Moonbi Lookout at the top of the first Moonbi Range, where a huge granite boulder furnishes a perspective over the agricultural valley below. There are toilet-barbecue-picnic facilities.

 

Oxley Memorial
6 km north of Tamworth, on the Fossickers Way (the road to Manilla), is the anchor from the Skylark, the ship of surveyor-general John Oxley. It marks the spot where Oxley crossed the Peel River on his expedition to the coast. It is located to the right, just past Brown's Lane.

 

Goonoo Goonoo
25 km south, just off the New England Highway, is Goonoo Goonoo (said to mean 'plenty of water'), one of NSW's most historic sheep stations. The property was granted to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1832. They received 600 000 acres here and at Warrah, west of Willow Tree, in exchange for a portion of their one-million acre Port Stephens grant. The land was selected and surveyed for the company by explorer Henry Dangar and stock began to arrive in 1834. Goonoo Goonoo became the company's regional headquarters in 1841. What remained of the old property was sold by the company into private hands in 1985.

A number of old buildings, which once formed a semi-autonomous village, remain. The chapel is to the rear of the homestead (1840). There is a gabled rubblestone store cum post office with brick arches (1853), a large brick woolshed (divided into three gabled sections) on a hill, and a memorial fountain in remembrance of G.B. King, the son of Elizabeth Macarthur and Philip Gidley King. The property is halfway to Wallabadah, just east of the highway along a side road. It is a working property and not really a tourist site but there are open days.

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