STORIES and treasures of the city's past will be celebrated as this year's heritage festival swings into gear.
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Tamworth Regional Council has launched the festival, which starts officially on Thursday of next week, under the theme of "connecting people, places and past".
There will be more than 30 events during the 10-day historical homage.
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Heritage working group chairwoman Juanita Wilson said that, in order to understand where the city was headed, it was important to know the "roots of the past and the impact it's had on our present and future".
"It's also a time for us to share our own stories and leave our own marks in the history of Tamworth, that one day future generations will remember and celebrate," Cr Wilson said.
What's on offer?
- Barraba Historical Museum Re-opening: Join the Nandewar Historical Society Inc. for the opening of the redeveloped Barraba Historical Museum, with a vintage machinery display and some live music. Historic demonstrations and the refreshed exhibition displays will be available. RSVPs are essential.
- While in Barraba, be sure to stop off at the artworks that are under way on the historical silos at the entry of the town.
- Wombramurra Homestead Gardens Open Day and Museum Tour (Nundle): Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April. Established in the early 1900s, Wombramurra is one of the truly historic and pioneering properties of the region. The garden has been previously featured in Country Style and New England Living magazines and houses a variety of Australian homestead garden plants and trees, with some over 100 years old. A tour of the gardens and homestead museum will run at 3.30pm on both days; bookings are essential.
- Visit the Nundle Woollen Mill, The Mount Misery Gold Mine Café and Museum, The Spread-Eagle Hotel Tour, The Nundle Go for Gold Festival and all of the beautiful boutiques and stores the town has to offer.
- Lands building, Fitzroy Street Open Day: Get a first look inside one of Tamworth's oldest Victorian-era buildings on Fitzroy Street when the Lands building is open for one day only this April. The former Crown Land's office will be open for the public to explore during the Heritage Festival. Completed in October 1900, the building cost £5000 and was designed by architect Warren Vernon. Tea and coffee available.
- Stories from Brisbane Street Heritage Walk: Travel back in time and walk along Brisbane Street from Calrossy Anglican School to the Peel River Bridge, while having the history of the walk interpreted expertly by the Tamworth Historical Society.
- Stories from the Lookout: An event targeted to local students, Tamworth Historical Society's Stories at the Lookout will share with them the story of early Tamworth, accompanied with the spectacular view of the city.
- Behind the scenes at Calala Cottage Museum: Join Tamworth Historical Society's volunteers and go behind the scenes at Tamworth's Calala Cottage Museum. Learn about preserving museum collections, view their antique clothing collection and gain access to the museum library and archives. Bookings are essential.
- Tamworth Powerstation Museum Open Day including the Kable to Edison Cables Exhibition and running of the steam engines: Head to the Tamworth Powerstation Museum on ANZAC Day for a guided tour, and to experience the mighty John Fowler Steam Engines (the only two of their kind still operating in the world) in action from 10am. You can also check out their latest exhibition, with samples of the world's first underground electric power cables on display. Manufactured by Edison in New York in 1881 and installed in Brisbane in 1884, they were recovered from the Queens Wharf Redevelopment site in 2018.
- Bed Pans, Buildings and Benefactors Exhibition Open Day: The Tamworth Hospital Nursing and Medical Museum is hosting an open day in celebration of the opening of their newest exhibition. This fascinating museum provides a final resting place for decades' worth of retired surgical tools, dentistry equipment, medicine bottles, photos and much more.
Indigenous Cultural Events
- Stories Under the Stars with Len Waters: Sit under the starts in Tamworth's Botanic Gardens and explore the stars through the eyes of the Kamilaroi in a family-friendly format, featuring storytellers, music and dance. Learn local star stories and their significance in Kamilaroi culture with an experience the whole family can enjoy.
- Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council's Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge Sharing Day: Visit Boundary Rock on a cultural journey, celebrating local Aboriginal culture. Transport will be provided. Bookings are essential.
- Cultural Tour of Tamworth and Surrounds with Len Waters: Immerse yourself in an Aboriginal perspective through an experience rich in storytelling and traditional practices, learning about the Kamilaroi people and how they understood and lived in harmony with our natural environment. Join Len Waters on this tour to Wave Rock and other significant cultural landmarks in the Moore Creek area. Bookings essential
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
