MINING IN A WILD WORLD CALL FOR MINING HERITAGE TOURISM PROJECTS
$200 000 REWARD NEW OPTIONS FOR HERITAGE TOURISM OPERATORS TO MEET IN QUEENSTOWN NEW VENTURES REQUIRED
Over $200,000 is to be allocated to “Satellite Projects” in Waratah, Corinna, Tullah, Rosebery and Queenstown as part of the “Mining Life in a Wild World” project. Interpretive themes for each town are being prepared as we go to press. Having completed the Interpretive Plan, the Mining Heritage Management Committee will identify how these themes can best be conveyed to visitors to each of the towns and how to roll these themes into one experience under the banner of “Mining Life in a Wild World”.
Lindsay Kelly of Jaffa Design is working on the interpretive plan and his draft recommendations will be presented to the Mining Heritage Management Committee on the 23rd September 2010. The Mining Strategy, developed some years ago, that gave birth to this project called for the development of new tourism experiences that would allow visitors to gain a greater understanding of the west coast Mining Towns and the people that inhabit them. Theatre such as the former “Boomtown” play, stories and art depicting life on the west coast, fossicking tours and tours of long disused mining towns would all add to the rich tapestry that is today’s west coast mining region. In an effort to seek out potential opportunities there will be a Tourism Business Development meeting held at Penghana, Queenstown at 3pm on Thursday 23rd September 2010. This meeting will be open to anyone interested in starting a tourism
business or those already in the tourism industry who wish to improve or expand their business. For further information contact Wayne Bolton, 0488 244 023 or wayne.bolton.tas@bigpond.com.au
Tourism Business Development Mee2ng Penghana, Queenstown 3pm Thursday 23rd September 2010 Anyone in, or interested in star2ng, a tourism business who wishes to improve or expand their business with these new opportuni2es should a=end.For further details phone 0488 244 023
West Coast Pioneers Museum & Cradle Coast Authority | Project details, ph 03 6227 9917 |
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RECOVERING JEWELLED NIGHTS
As a result of the promotion of the search for the film Jewelled Nights by ABC radio and inThe Advocate and Mercury newspapers a fascinating amount of information has come forward from right across the west coast community. Many locals were involved in the creation of this 1925 film, both on set and behind the scenes. Now we have pictures of the hut and letters from its owner. The film was seen in Burnie, Wynyard, Stanley, Sheffield, Smithton, Sisters Creek, Hamilton, Waratah, Strahan, Queenstown and Zeehan in 1926. After that, it disappeared. Is there anyone out there who saw it. Or is there anyone who knows of someone who saw it? If you have any information or material concerning this lost classic, please contact No Flicker Films on 6227 9917. The National Film and Sound Archive as well as the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the local Gallery museum in Queenstown and the Burnie Pioneer’s Village museum have shared their collected works with the project. This beautiful original photograph taken of Louise Lovely on the set at Whyte River was kindly donated to the project by Lillian Williams.
Return to The Peaks of Lyell
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F A M O U S H I S T O R I A N T O R E V I S I T Q U E E N S T O W N A N D R E T E L L H I S W O R K F O R F I L M
P ro f e s s o r Geoffrey Blainey needs no introduction to the people of the west coast. He is one of Australia’s most respected historians, an author with an international reputation, and the man who as far back as 1965 explained ‘T he Tyranny of Distance’ in Australian history. But the people of Queenstown have known the professor for longer than this. Professor Blainey came to Queenstown as a university student during the 1950s. He had the job of gathering the material to write a book about the town and the great mines at its heart. At that time, Blainey was able to talk to many old-timers who had been on the field from its earliest days and his history was greatly enriched by their firsthand accounts. He also had access to all the company records. The result was his first book, The Peaks of Lyell, It was one of the first comprehensive corporate histories ever written in Australia.
It was an instant success and after 25 editions it is still going strong because it is a great read, arguably one of the best books ever written about Tasmania. Professor Blainey is still active in national discussion. And later this year he will be returning to Queenstown to revisit the sites of his book, and to record, in situ, some of the best stories from his book. These audio recordings will be combined with historic images to create a permanent record of this great man’s first, seminal work.
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Madam Melba’s West Coast Performance
Careful research has revealed that Dame Nellie Melba was heard in The Gaiety. This will come as a surprise to many, including some historians who scoffed at the suggestion. Melba’s time in Tasmania is remembered in the Melba line and the Melba Hotel and there are programs for her appearances in Launceston and Hobart, and reports of an impromptu recital from the balcony of a hotel in New Norfolk. Surely she came to the west coast. Locals swear that their grandparents heard the diva sing in the Gaiety. Some say she sung, others that she came but was too crook to sing. But no photographs of her in the hall, or indeed, any contemporary mention of her visit has been found. Historians conclude that the stories of her appearing in Zeehan are therefore wishful thinking. But researchers working on this project have discovered an advertisement for, and a review of, a Melba concert in the Gaiety in 1903. The Feyiety project has accessed the wax recordings mentioned, and will remaster them for the Gaiety. Next year the great diva’s voice will again be heard in the Gaiety, just as she was heard so long ago.
To promote existing businesses within the milieu of an old mining world, a poster of old advertisements is being animated and new advertisements made to resemble old ones. One example of an old advertisement and another of a new business are shown here to give you some idea of what can be done—but you have to see the moving picture to fully grasp the potential. Opportunities to advertise your businesses on this exciting animated poster are now open. Contact Wayne Bolton on 0488 244 023.
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Gaiety’s History Captured C A M E R A
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STORY TELLERS TAKE THE STAGE West
coast residents from Rosebery, Queenstown, Zeehan and further up the coast gathered in the Gaiety for a storytelling weekend in the middle of July. As well as sharing their stories with each other, a lot of the material was captured by film-maker Malcolm Mckinnon. Stories covering the theatre’s days as a Picture Theatre, a Ballroom, a Dance Hall and a sports stadium are now being edited into a set of documentaries. They will find a permanent place in the Gaiety Theatre’s ‘Feyiety’ show at the end of this year.
Margret Coulsen recalls the night a car was driven into the Gaiety to provide illumination for the ball.
GRAND OPENING GALA NIGHT
BFI & NFSA partnerships The research into the history of the Gaiety Theatre has given new insight into the spread of films around the world. It has revealed that the most famous early film in Australian history: The Story of the Kelly Gang played in Zeehan in 1907. This, together with many other films of the era are now stored in archives at the British Film Institute in London and the National Sound and Film Archive in Canberra. Under a generous agreement with the West Coast Pioneers Museum, developed by Andrew Youdell in London, three reels of these remarkable “actuality” films from the early 1900s will be remastered for showing again in The Gaiety. A similar partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive is expected to create a fourth reel featuring footage shot by the famous Launceston vaudeville act: The Marvelous Corrick Family of Entertainers.
PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
In early April 2011, the Gaiety Theatre will stage a Gala Performance to rival any ever staged—as the old Zeehan & Dundas Herald was fond of saying. The show has as its impresario Iain Lang of the Tasmanian Theatre Company and he will be bringing with him a series of acts the like of which have not been seen in Tasmania for over 100 years. And some never seen before. The night will also include the first screening of a new recreation of the film Jewelled Nights.
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF RESOURCES, ENERGY AND TOURISM MAJOR SPONSORS
CRADLE COAST AUTHORITY WEST COAST PIONEERS MUSEUM TOURISM TASMANIA Production by No Flicker Films, Roar Film, Reckless Eye & Digital City