The township of Wallerawang celebrated a significant milestone at the weekend, with the month of April marking 200 years since the first European settlement was established.
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On Saturday, April 6 current and former residents marked the occasion with a range of commemorative events organised by the Wallerawang Lidsdale Progress Association.
According to the member of the Wallerawang Lidsdale Progress Association Danny Whitty, the day was enjoyable despite the weather impacting on some of the planned events.
"It was fantastic what we got in, factor we had to cancel some of the stuff was disappointing. But we're going to reschedule that," Mr Whitty said.
The day began with a memorial service that was held at St John's Church for James Walker, who was the first settler and his engineer son-in-law Edwin Barton.
Following the service, a plaque was unveiled at Lake Wallace commemorating the 200 anniversary of the arrival of Mr Walker and Andrew Brown, who settled in Bowenfels to manage the property in Wallerawang.
Mr Whitty said the attendees were offered the unique opportunity to tour Wallerawang's first school, which educated local children from 1860 to 1882.
"We had a bit of a break in the schedule because of the cancellations and Greenspot actually agreed to open the Old National School for us. Which is partly preserved," Mr Whitty said.
"Everybody went and had a look at that in the interior, they were amazed at the building itself. It was built and opened in 1860."
The attendees enjoyed an afternoon tea at Black Gold Motel, which is the site of the second school that operated from 1882 to 1995.
"We sat down at a good long cup of coffee, had a few yarns, and they had a lot of laughs," Mr Whitty said.
"There was a lot of the previous students from the school there. And so that was really good."
The day concluded with a dinner at the Wallerawang Community and Sports Club.
"It [the dinner] was good. A formality on the night Peter Watson MC'd (Master of Ceremonies) that for us. He did a great job," Mr Whitty said.
"Then I just had a little bit of an address about Walker. And then Penny Trevor-Jones, who is a descendant of Andrew Brown did a bit of a rundown on him, which was really good too."
The visit to Walker/Barton Park Cemetery and the planting of the commemorative tree at the arboretum will take place at a later date that is to be announced.
Reidun Berntsen
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
