There has been so much rain about recently, and Rover thought while the sun was out, it was the perfect time to enjoy time out and about. He also thought, with Mothers Day upon us, it was the perfect time to share a beautiful spot to take Mum’s and Grandma’s to enjoy a picnic. There are plenty of beautiful places which Rover knows of, but one which he recently visited stood out – Pugh’s Lagoon.
If you would like to visit Pugh’s Lagoon it is located in the beautiful and historic Richmond area. To get there, follow Windsor Street until you reach the beautiful lagoon area. Alternately, you can follow Old Kurrajong Road, if you are coming from the Mountains, and this will also take you to the lagoon. You can find a place to park in Smith Park, and there is plenty of room to spread out a picnic blanket and enjoy the beautiful surrounds. There are also plenty of waterbirds to watch!
Pugh’s Lagoon is named after Edward Pugh who was transported to Australia as a convict on the First Fleet. He arrived with his wife, Elizabeth Parker (who was also a convict) and their daughter Ann but sadly both Elizabeth and Ann died not long after arriving in Australia. Edward remarried another convict, Hannah Smith, not long after Elizabeth’s death and together they had a family. Edward served out his sentence and in 1791 he was granted 70 acres of land near Parramatta. The grant was cancelled in 1802 and a new grant given to Pugh in an area near Richmond, just west of a lagoon, the lagoon later known as Pugh’s Lagoon. By the mid 1830s though, Edward was a pauper and he died at Windsor District Hospital in 1837.
Pugh’s Lagoon is not just historically linked with a First Fleeter though. The Richmond and Windsor district is a beautiful area which has long captured the interest of artists who have come to the vicinity to capture the stunning scenery. Pugh’s Lagoon is just one area which artists have frequented. The most well known was the impressionist Charles Conder. In 1888 Conder was in the area and painted a view from the southern end of Pugh’s Lagoon and looking towards St Peter’s Church which stands on the rise beyond. There is a sign in Smith Park commemorating this visit and the painting, though it is quite a distance from where Conder actually painted the scene from. Charles Conder was a well known member of the famous Heidelberg School and is represented in many international collections. The painting of Pugh’s Lagoon is in the collection of the National Gallery Of Victoria.