The Tingle Factor Box

Roaming Roy Horses Around - Scone

 

This week, with the Melbourne Cup nearly upon us, Roy decided it was time to investigate somewhere horsey. Horses have been an important part of life in Australia since European colonisation, and all country areas have some heritage of horsemanship, but there is one area which is more closely associated with horses than most - Scone in the Hunter Valley. 

 

 

If you would like to visit Scone, it is located in the upper Hunter Valley not far from Muswellbrook. To get there, follow the New England Highway. There is plenty to see and do in Scone, but Roy was particularly taken by the horse sculptures which are dotted around the place. Keep your eyes peeled when in the area and see how many you can spot!

 

 

Scone today is known as the Horse Capital of Australia and is famous for its thoroughbred racehorses. In fact, it is said that the size and value of the Scone thoroughbred industry is second only to the industry in Kentucky (America). Throughout the year there are a number of events which highlight the importance of horses to the area, from the Scone Horse Festival in May to the Hunter Horse Expo which lasts for 6 weeks in September/October! If you don’t happen to be in town at one of these times though there is still plenty to see in the way of horses, with multiple sculptures and of course the numerous horse studs which dot the landscape. Roy even noticed that the public toilets were horse themed!

 

 

Yet Scone did not start out as a horse breeding area but as an area of pastoral estates. The first European to visit the area was Henry Dangar, an important Australian surveyor and explorer. In 1822 he was transferred to the Newcastle area in order to survey the Hunter Valley in preparation for settlement and from 1824 he began to work further northwards, finally reaching the upper area of the Hunter River, including the area where Scone stands today. His report was extremely favourable and soon enough wealthy settlers were taking up land grants in the area. Scone was officially gazetted as a town in 1837, taking its name from an area in Scotland. A number of beautiful homesteads remain in the Scone area, harking back to Scones pastoral roots. 

Roaming Roy Proclaims Who'd A Thought It! - Quirindi Lookout

This week, with the Queens Birthday Weekend upon us, Roy wanted to share a beautiful place for a picnic. Although, the weather this weekend close to the coast may not be the best for enjoying such a lovely, outdoor activity, luckily Roy has visited plenty of places in finer weather, and decided to share one which he particularly enjoyed. He hopes that some of his online friends might also enjoy it! So this week, Roy is heading to Quirindi to visit the beautiful views from the Who’d A Thought It Lookout.

The Who’d A Thought It Lookout is not far from the heart of Quirindi. To get there, follow the signs out of Quirindi towards Gunnedah, and you will see the Who’d A Thought It Lookout turn off clearly signposted. Follow this road to the lookout itself. There is plenty to see and do in and around the area, and the lookout is a perfect place to take a break, let the kids run off some energy and of course admire the beautiful views over the Liverpool Plains. You can collect all the necessary supplies for a delicious picnic in Quirindi itself.

Who’d A Thought It Lookout actually sits atop a hill which shares the name – Who’d A Thought It Hill. It has amazing views over the town of Quirindi, the Liverpool Plains district and even to the Great Dividing Range. There is a plinth with a sign marking out what you can see from the hill at the lookout. For those interested in geological history, the view includes ridges which were created through volcanic activity and there is also evidence of ancient oceanic coral reefs and beaches in the area around the hill.

You might ask why the hill and lookout which is perched atop it is called ‘Who’d A Thought It’, but unfortunately the most honest answer is that nobody really knows for certain. There was a hotel on the Western side of the hill (also called ‘Who’d A Thought It’) which was built in 1882 and was popular not only for drinking, but also for sports meetings and even horse races. Whether the hotel was named after the hill or vice versa nobody really knows. There is a rather lovely local story though which suggests that a bullock driver was driving his bullocks up the hill and upon reaching the summit, hot and exhausted, was thrilled to see a hotel where he could get a drink. The story suggests it was he who came up with the name, proclaiming ‘Who’d A Thought It’ upon seeing the hotel. The hotel is long gone now, having burned down in 1906, but the lookout remains a beautiful place to enjoy a drink and leisurely picnic meal!

Roaming Roy Meanders Among The Mosaics - Gloucester Mosaics

This week, Roy decided it was time to head back into the Upper Hunter area. Roy absolutely loves the beauty and tranquillity of the Upper Hunter, and of course is also enthralled by the history to be found. He remembered seeing a series of mosaics in Gloucester which acknowledged not only the amazing history of the area, but also some of the beautiful landscape and wanted to share them with his online friends.

If you would like to visit the beautiful mosaics in Gloucester, they are to be found in the town itself. To get to Gloucester follow either Bucketts Way or Thunderbolts Way (depending on which way you are approaching) Both roads lead to the main street of the town of Gloucester itself. Once you arrive, the mosaics are to be found both on walls and on the footpaths. The wall mosaics are in Denison Street, but the footpath mosaics are to be found along the footpaths in the main street.

The mosaics in Gloucester are beautiful and evocative reminders of the amazing landscape and rich history in the area, but they are also a reminder of the closure of an important business in the area. Gloucester Butter Factory employed many of the local residents and when it closed in 2001, these workers became redundant. Yet this closure is also why there are beautiful mosaics in the footpaths around Gloucester. When the factory closed the Federal Government provided a grant to help with the retraining of the factory workers. These men, soon known as 'the orange men' (in reference to their safety vests) learned a variety of new skills, and one of their early projects was the concreting of the footpaths in the main street. They left gaps in the concrete for the mosaics. In 2002, 12 locals learned the art of mosaic creation and set about crafting the beautiful mosaics to be found around the town. Their handiwork was inlaid into the footpaths where it can be admired today.

 

So what are the mosaics all about? The mosaics depict stories about Gloucester from its earliest history right through until the present. They commemorate important industries in the area throughout history, including gold mining, dairy farming, timber getting and (of course) also the butter factory. They also acknowledge local personalities, from the famous bushranger Thunderbolt to Dorrie Ridgeway, a 90 year old who remembered nursing local diphtheria patients in the local park as a young girl. Of course with Gloucester being the ‘base camp’ for the World Heritage Listed Barrington Tops National Park, there are also mosaics which focus on the amazing scenery in the area, from waterfalls and mountain vistas to some of the local wildlife. Other mosaics focus on historic events like floods which impacted the area or on the historic buildings which are to be found in the area.

Roaming Roy Explores Aberdeen - Without Going To Scotland Part 2

Last week, Roy was fascinated by a tiny town he discovered in the Upper Hunter area. Roy loves little old towns and villages, full of history and beautiful scenery, and when he visited Aberdeen, he loved it. With crumbling old mills and buildings, beautiful streetscapes and plenty of history, he thought it was the perfect place to take his online friends. So this week, Roy is returning to Aberdeen to discover more about the history of this fascinating place.  

If you would like to visit Aberdeen, it is located in the Upper Hunter Valley on the New England Highway in NSW., between Scone and Muswellbrook. It is, comparatively, only a small town today, but there are shops to visit, heritage places to explore, a beautiful pub and even places to stay. The town is teeming with history, and is well worth a visit!

Although today Aberdeen is a relatively small township, in the 1800s and into the 1900s it was a major town. Aberdeen was established by Thomas Macqueen, a British MP who recognised the potential of the Australian colony. He sent out the men, machinery and the stock needed to establish a grand estate, and they set to work on his 10,000 acre grant. MacQueen also sent out Peter McIntyre to oversee the process.

MacQueen named the town itself after his friend George Gordon, who was the Earl of Aberdeen and McIntyre chose land around Aberdeen for MacQueen’s estate. He named the estate Segenhoe, after Segenhoe Manor where MacQueen was born. McIntyres claim conflicted with the claims of Dangar himself, but he accused Dangar of improper practices and corruption, having him dismissed and securing MacQueens claims.

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Roaming Roy Explores Aberdeen - Without Going to Scotland

Roaming Roy Explores Aberdeen - Without Going to Scotland

This week Roy wanted to visit somewhere in the country. Roy loves getting away from it all and heading into the areas outside the city and one of his favourite places to visit is the Upper Hunter. Roy particularly loves little places off the beaten track, with their fascinating history and often beautiful architecture. When he discovered a tiny town full of history, but actually on the main road, he was amazed and had to learn more. So this week, Roy visits Aberdeen.

If you would like to visit Aberdeen, it is located in the Upper Hunter Valley on the New England Highway in NSW., between Scone and Muswellbrook. It is, comparatively, only a small town today, but there are shops to visit, heritage places to explore, a beautiful pub and even places to stay. The town is teeming with history, and is well worth a visit!

The first European to see the Aberdeen area was probably Assistant Surveyor Henry Dangar, who passed through the area in 1824, but the area had previously been home to the Wanaruah Aborigines. They were known to use burning off practices to encourage green shoots which attracted kangaroos and these, as well as goannas, were favoured food sources. Before too long though, the area would be growing very different types of food.

In 1824, Henry Dangar noted the rich alluvial land in the Upper Hunter and soon settlers were flocking to the area to work the land. By 1840 Aberdeen had been established as a town and there was a mill where residents of nearby Murrurundi would bring their grain. By 1866 there were two Churches, a post office, a police lock-up, shops and three inns and in 1891 Aberdeen became home to the Australia Chilling and Freezing Company which operated, on and off, right up until 1999! By the early 1900s the town had a baker, blacksmiths, carpenters, tin smiths and even a watch maker, as well as being a farming community. Yet although Dangar was the man who discovered this area, he was not the man responsible for its development.

Come back next week to find out about Thomas Macqueen, the father of Aberdeen, and his estate – Segenhoe.

Roaming Roy Tries On The Firs For Size - The Firs

This week, Roy felt the need to head somewhere cool and calm to recover from the excesses of Christmas and New Year. Roy loves the great outdoors, and loves exploring National Parks. One of his favourites is Barrington Tops, with its amazing range of landscapes and vistas. He is fascinated particularly by the plantations in the area – they always look so dark and foreboding from the road, but they are still and calm and beautiful when you walk inside. So this week, he wanted to revisit The Firs picnic area, which he actually visited in person earlier this year.

If you would like to visit Barrington Tops National Park, you can approach from either Scone or Gloucester. The main road through the National Park is called 'Barrington Tops Road' and 'Barrington Tops Fore Road'. The Barrington Tops National Park is a huge area, with plenty of places to walk, enjoy the view, look for wildlife (including Koalas, though Roy didn't see any) or have a picnic or even camp. There are all sorts of different environments to explore, including swamp, rainforest, arctic beech forest, waterfalls and streams. Just remember, this is a national park. Tread carefully and stay on the marked tracks to avoid doing damage to this wonderful place.

The Hunter area was one of the first outside the Sydney basin itself to be explored and settled when Europeans arrived in Australia, with a penal colony established in Newcastle in 1804. Following this, free settlers soon began exploring and settling on areas around the Hunter River and its tributaries. The Barrington Plateau was difficult to access by comparison, and so much of the wilderness area survived, despite the area being in use for Summer grazing by the 1850s and for gold mining in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s though, this began to change.

People had already recognised Barrington as a beautiful area, and many used it for leisure, but in the early 1900s people began to also notice the quality of the hardwoods in the area. Several large state forests were declared and exotic species like pine trees were planted. Throughout the 20^th century logging occurred in the area, but in the 1970s people began to argue against native timber being logged. Over the following years areas of native forest were removed from the logging areas, staring with the rainforest areas and then the eucalyptus. Areas of state forest planted with foreign species, like the conifers seen at The Firs picnic area, continue to be logged today. The trees at The Firs were planted as a trial in the 1960s.  

Wish They Still Made Them - NRMA Strip Maps

Imagine you are a child living in the 1960s. It is just after Christmas, and nearly time for your family holiday. There is just one thing to do first – visit the NRMA! This is always a special thing to do with Mummy, and you love telling the man where you are going and seeing him prepare a special strip map, just for you. These maps tell you all sorts of interesting places to visit, but most importantly, they stop Daddy getting lost on the way!

When I showed the children these old NRMA strip maps, they were intrigued by them. Today, when the children go on holiday their parents usually use a GPS to ensure they follow the right route, but these do not supply the extras which are given in the old strip maps. The children thought that it was ‘really useful’ to have a map which not only followed your specific route, but which provided information about where to go and what to see along the way (and how far it would be before you reached the next town) and thought it would be nice to have them available today. When I told them that limited routes were still available from the NRMA website they were interested, but they were also disappointed to discover they were not longer specially prepared for you.

In an age of GPS printed maps are becoming more uncommon, but in days gone by they were a vital glove box accessory for motorists, ensuring they didn’t become lost. Many of the earliest Australian street directories are thanks to Cecil Gregory. In 1921 he was working for Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper and in 1923 he produced the Daily Telegraph Guide To Sydney, which not only provided information about Sydney, but also included maps. In 1925 he was elected to the council of the National Roads and Motorists’ Association (NRMA) and soon after he was heading the touring and publicity departments. Soon after he began to publish maps and guide books. Eventually Gregory formed the Australian Guide Book Company, which went on to produce the Gregory’s Street Directories, which are still available today.

One of the most famous contributions of Cecil Gregory to the NRMA guidebooks was the Road Before You series of strip maps. The original maps were written mainly by Cecil Gregory who explored the places featured on weekend excursions. Apparently, his was the first motorised vehicle to even travel some of the roads he featured! These strip maps were very popular with NRMA members. When they were planning a touring holiday they could ask for a series of maps to be collated for them, showing their specific route. The maps also included comments about interesting things to see and places of note, to help motorists choose where to stop along the route.

Roaming Roy Finds A Jewel Of A Bushranger - Jewboy Davis Shooting Memorial

This week Roy decided it was time to investigate a monument which he discovered some time ago when he was in Scone, NSW. Roy had stopped at a beautiful little park because it seemed to have some  interesting old monuments to look at and was intrigued by one which commemorated a local who was killed many years ago by a bushranger, ‘The Jewboy’ Davis and his gang. Roy is always interested in bushrangers, but didn’t know a lot about this group. He had to find out more.

If you would like to visit Scone Rotary Heritage Park, where the monument is located, it is at 5 Gundy Road in Scone. The park is situated on the corner where Gundy road intersects with The New England Highway. Although it is quite a small park, the area is a lovely shady spot to stop for a picnic. There is also plenty of room for the kids to kick a ball or run off some energy!

Edward ‘Jewboy’ Davis was a Jewish convict who arrived in Australia in February 1833. Later the same year, in December, he escaped and fled into the bush. He was caught, but escaped again and on his fourth attempt in 1838, he disappeared. The next year he was joined by other runaways and fugitives and together they formed a bushranging gang. The gang, which was soon known as ‘The Jewboy Gang’ terrorised the area around Maitland, Scone and the New England Highway for about two years, with many raids committed. Some said the gang was a little like an Australian Robin Hood, as ‘The Jewboy’ distributed parts of his bounty among convict servants. Jewboy also insisted that his gang only resort to violence as a way of protecting themselves and their liberty and up until December 1840, the gang had not committed any murders.

In the park there is a beautiful stone bird table, which marks the place where once an old shop stood. The shop had been established in 1836 by Thomas Dangar and stood beside an dirt track which eventually became part of The Great North Road. In 1840 the shop employed a man called John Graham, and it is this man who the monument particularly commemorates. The shop was held up in that year by Edward ‘Jewboy’ Davis and his gang and as they were leaving Graham pursued them and even shot at them. One of the bushrangers chased Graham and killed him. His bravery is commemorated by the bird table. The gang fled, but were pursued, captured and sent to Sydney for trial. Edward Jewboy Davis and his gang were tried in 1841 and sentenced to death. Many tried to save Davis, saying he had not fired the shot and was against bloodshed, but he was not saved and was hanged on March 16, 1841.

Roaming Roy Is Swamped - Pol Blue Swamp

This week, Roy decided it was time to visit one of his favourite places in the Barrington Tops area. Roy loves the beautiful Barrington Tops and the breathtaking scenery in the area, but he is particularly intrigued with the unusual places and vegetation to be found, like Pol Blue Swamp. Roy has seen swamps before, but Pol Blue is a sphagnum moss swamp, and he had never seen one of these before. He had to find out more.

If you would like to visit Pol Blue Swamp it is located in Barrington Tops National Park. You can enter the park from either Scone or Gloucester. The main road through the National Park is called 'Barrington Tops Road' and 'Barrington Tops Fore Road' and if you come from Gloucester, Pol Blue will be on the left. There is a lovely picnic area at Pol Blue, wonderful walking track, toilets and even a camping area where you can spend the night (bring your own tent or caravan!)

Pol Blue Swamp is a magical place. With crystal clear streams, beautiful scenery and an easy, pleasant walk it is a perfect place to explore the amazing Barrington Tops. The thing which intrigued Roy most though was the type of environment at Pol Blue. Being a swamp, you might assume that there are huge pools of water and lots of soggy ground, but Pol Blue is a little different. Although there is plenty of water, and in fact the swamp helps supply the very beginning of the Hunter River, much of the water is stored in the sphagnum moss.

Sphagnum moss is an amazing plant. It can hold more than its own weight in water and some species can hold up to 26 times their weight! It is this water holding capability which helps to create the swamps and bogs. Sphagnum moss is one of the most common plants to be found in peat, which is made up of decayed vegetation, and in fact sphagnum helps to create peat bogs. Most of the famous sphagnum swamps are found in the northern hemisphere, but there are several to be found in the Barrington Tops, Pol Blue being the largest. The sphagnum stores much of the swamps water and when there are dry conditions, the water is slowly released into the swamp, which helps the swamp and many of the other plants and animals that live there to survive. This amazing water storage is even used in gardens where peat and sphagnum moss are used by gardeners to help plants keep healthy. 

Roaming Roy Finds A Singularly Large Sundial - Singleton Sundial

Last year, on one of Roy's many trips to the Upper Hunter Valley, Roy came across a place which surprised him with its sheer size. Roy visits many places and items, ranging from small to large, but the sundial he discovered in Singleton amazed him. He has never seen such a large sundial, and was interested to find out more about the sundial, and about why it was so big.

If you would like to visit the Singleton Sundial, it is located in Rose Point Park on Ryan Avenue. The park is a large area with plenty of space for a picnic or to kick a ball. Singleton itself has plenty of restaurants, shops and heritage sites to explore so there is plenty in the area to keep the whole family entertained.

The sundial in Singleton was developed as part of Australias bicentennial celebrations in 1988 and according to some it is the largest sundial in the southern hemisphere. Certainly, it is one of the largest sundials in the world and the time is was completed, in 1987 it was recognized in the Guinness Book of records as the largest sundial in the world. As well as being very large the Singleton sundial is a working sundial and does accuracy tell the time by using the position of the sun.

Sundial's have an amazingly long history. In the earliest times, humans probably told the time by looking at shadows and the way the sun moved across the sky. The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans, and also probably the ancient Chinese, took this a step further though, using constructed sundials to accurately tell the time of day. Others learned to tell the time by measuring the length of their own shadow, and today 'human sundials' are not uncommon in gardens and parks (Roy visited one in Orange - to learn about it click here). Although today watches and clocks are more popular ways of telling the time, sundials remain popular garden features, and also remain accurate representers if time.