The Tamworth Daily Observer of September 26 gave this report on conditions at Walcha: “The heaviest fall of snow for over 40 years occurred on Wednesday last when the ground was covered to a depth of up to two feet.

“Considerable damage was done by the fall. Ornamental trees in the streets and gardens were greatly knocked about while trees in the surrounding area were broken down by the weight of the snow.

Telephone lines and posts were also laid low while in a few instances verandas were torn away. Roofs, spouting and guttering suffered greatly while in some cases householders had to shovel snowdrifts away from doors to allow them to open.”

Walcha’s shops remained closed for the day while hardy children and adults took to the streets for a range of winter sports until gale force winds in the late afternoon forced them back inside.

Snow covered most of the area from Tenterfield to Hanging Rock with the heaviest falls being between Armidale and Walcha. Bendemeer had drifts up to 10 feet deep while rail passengers travelling north from Walcha Road experienced delays of three hours or more when track points were frozen.

Telephone and telegraph communication to the north was cut with one report saying overhead wires snapped due to the weight of snow collecting on them with the worst breaks being at Woolbrook “where a number of poles were down and wires twisted in confusion. Had it not been such a calm night the wind would have blown the snow clear.”

During the outage some 500 telegrams were sent by rail to Armidale for transmission from there to Brisbane.

The death toll on new lambs was in the thousands with some graziers expecting there would be few on the ground come marking time. Sheep losses were also quite high and a number of cattle and horses also perished in the conditions.

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