Front page: Kingston's Professor Barry Golding, centre, has written Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country. Those peaks are Gurutjanga (Mount Kooroocheang), Nyaninuk (Mount Beckworth), Mount Greenock, Dharrang Gauwa (Mount Tarrengower), Liyanganyuk banyul (Mount Alexander) and Lalgambuk (Mount Franklin). Read the story on page 11. Professor Golding is also leading walks of the region, like the one Eve Lamb joined recently. Read her story on page 19.
Image: Eve Lamb
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RESTORING OUR RIVERS 2024
The Australian Government, represented by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, is inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to sell water from water rights owners the Southern Connected Murray-Darling Basin who were not eligible for the Restoring Our Rivers: 2024 Selected Catchments Open Tender This includes water right owners from within Irrigation Infrastructure Operator areas.
Owners of eligible water rights in the catchments listed below, including unregulated entitlements and section 51 licences, are invited to express their interest stating the proposed volume and price at which they want to sell their permanent water rights to the department
LIST OF CATCHMENTS: NEW SOUTH WALES
Murray River
Murrumbidgee
VICTORIA
Broken Kiewa
Goulburn Mitta Mitta
Campaspe Loddon
Ovens & King Victorian Murray
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
South Australian Murray
Expressions of interest will close at 12 midday AEDT, 27 November 2024.
The decision to participate is completely voluntary. You must submit an EOI through this process if you want to be considered for any subsequent water purchasing in 2025
To read the Request for Expression of Interest and register your interest, please visit AusTender www.tenders.gov.au - and search for Restoring our Rivers.
MORE INFORMATION: For more information on voluntary water purchasing, visit www.dcceew.gov.au/watertender
ASSISTANCE: For help with using AusTender, visit help.tenders.gov.au If you can’t access AusTender or have questions about the expression of interest process, please email watertenders@dcceew.gov.au
The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands of Victoria.
The next edition is out on Monday, November 18, 2024. or online on Sunday, November 17 at www.tlnews.com.au
Space bookings: Wednesday, November 13
Copy deadline: Thursday, November 14
Editorial deadline: Thursday, November 14
General manager: Kyle Barnes on 0416 104 283 or kyle@tlnews.com.au
Editor: Donna Kelly on 0418 576 513 or news@tlnews.com.au
Editorial: Eve Lamb on 0493 632 843 or editorial@tlnews.com.au
Sub-editors: Nick Bunning, Lindsay Smith & Chester the Cat
Writers: Eve Lamb, Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Kyle Barnes & Donna Kelly
Photographers: Kyle Barnes & Eve Lamb
Graphic designer: Dianne Caithness
Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Darren Lowe (music), Sarah Lang (recipes), Clive Hartley (wine) & Bill Wootton (poetry)
Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Tony Sawrey
Counting continues
Counting continues in the Hepburn Shire local government election.
Twelve candidates put their hands up for seven vacancies. In the order they appeared on the ballot they are: Don Henderson, Tony Clark, Christian Porochowsky, Tim Drylie, Derek Sedgman, Benny Pettersson, Brian Hood, Cameron Stone, Pat Hockey, Lesley Hewitt, Shirley Cornish and Bernie Winfield-Gray.
Of the 12 candidates, four are former councillors.
Following a review in 2023, the Minister for Local Government announced a new electoral structure for Hepburn Shire. The changes see the shire move from five wards with seven councillors, to no wards with seven councillors. Voters were able to vote for any candidate, regardless of where they or the candidate live in the municipality.
From the Victorian Electoral Commission website:
Voting in the Hepburn Shire Council election has now closed. We will publish results as they are finalised during the count period.
All results will be declared by November 15.
In local council elections, we can't guarantee exactly when results will be available. This is because each election is slightly different. The things that can affect the counting timeline include: the number of vacancies; if it is counted by hand or by computer; how many people are enrolled in the council; and how many candidates there are in each ward.
Provisional results for all councils will be published on this website between November 6 and 12.
Didn’t vote?
If you were enrolled in this election and it looks like you did not vote, we may send you an ‘Apparent failure to vote’ notice in the coming months. This is your chance to explain what happened if you did not vote. Please respond to this notice, otherwise you might receive a fine.
Ed's note: In the October 7 edition I said I thought I knew how the election would play out. So, with voting over, here are my picks in no particular order and not necessarily my votes. I reckon those in will be former councillors Don Henderson, Tim Drylie, Brian Hood and Lesley Hewitt, and newcomers Bernie Winfield-Gray, Benny Pettersson and Cameron Stone. Hmmm.
Honouring the memory of those we lost on November 5
On Tuesday, November 5 the community of Daylesford and surrounds will come together to honour the memory of the lives lost and forever changed in last year's tragic incident.
The commemoration serves as a time for reflection, healing, and unity as family, friends, and the community gather to pay tribute to those who were taken too soon.
Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said the gathering was not only to remember those lost but to support one another through the healing process.
“This tragedy has forever changed our community, but it has also brought us closer, showing the power of unity, compassion, and resilience,” he said.
“This gathering serves as a reminder that the bonds of community can provide comfort and support even in times of immense tragedy.”
The commemoration will take place on the site outside the Royal Hotel Daylesford at 9am with all welcome.
Mr Thomas said he asked that all who attended respectfully observe the memories of those lost and the grief shared by many whose lives have been impacted.
On Sunday, November 5, 2023, five people, Melbourne lawyer Pratibha Sharma, 44, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30, Pratibha’s nine-year-old daughter Anvi, family friend Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his 11-year-old son Vihaan, died after being hit by a car while at an outdoor eating area outside the Royal Hotel.
All charges against driver Mount Macedon man William Herbert Swale, 67, were dropped by Magistrate Guillaume Bailin in September.
Mr Swale had been charged with five counts of culpable driving causing death, two counts of negligently causing serious injury, and seven counts of reckless conduct endangering life.
However, after Mr Swale's lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, argued that his client had suffered a hypoglycaemia episode brought on by his diabetes, Magistrate Bailin said the evidence was "not of sufficient weight to support a conviction for any indictable offence".
Words & image: Donna Kelly (More page 5)
Hepburn Shire Mayor at the time of the tragedy Brian Hood, said holding the memorial event would not only mark the occasion, "the appropriate thing to do", but also acknowledge the first responders and the community members who helped in the immediate aftermath.
Mr Hood said the scale of the incident, with so many fatalities and critical injuries, had shocked the community and left a lasting impact.
"It's bound to have had quite a deep impact on the psyche of a lot of people and on the collective psyche of the community. For something like that to happen, literally in the middle of our town is very, very significant and I imagine it will take quite some time for the healing process to kick in and have its true impact."
Mr Hood said the council was being guided by the victims' families to ensure the event was "very respectful and culturally sensitive" and it would be fairly brief.
"(And) if the families do attend, and we have been told they will, it'll be an opportunity to hypothetically wrap our arms around them and welcome them to the shire and tell them that we haven't forgotten and we're not going to forget what happened."
Mr Hood said a permanent memorial was under discussion but that would also be guided by the wishes of the families of the victims.
If you need to talk...
Central Highlands Rural Health - (03) 5321 6551
Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health - (03) 5422 2161
Head to Health - 1800 595 212
Beyond Blue - 1300 224 636
Kids Helpline - 1800 551 800
headspace - 1800 650 890
Lifeline - 13 11 14
Words: Donna Kelly
Uniting Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub - (03) 9192 8100
United by love, kindness, hope & prayers
This article ran in the November 20, 2023 edition of The Local. I am re-running it because I think it speaks volumes about how we, as a community, feel about those involved. Continuing to offer up our love, kindness, hope and prayers then, now and into the future.
I also think some people may not have read it at the time because it was too soon and too difficult. Perhaps one year on, time has started to do its work and heal. Narelle will be at the memorial on Tuesday. She hopes to meet Abeer and his mum Ruchi. I hope they can meet too. - Donna
Narelle Groenhout, a journalist of many years, including with The Local, was enjoying a drink at the Daylesford Hotel on Sunday, November 5, 2023 when her life changed. She and her husband Pat, like many, raced to help those involved in the horrific incident in which five people died - Melbourne lawyer Pratibha Sharma, 44, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30, Pratibha’s nine-year-old daughter Anvi, family friend Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his 11-year-old son Vihaan.
Bhatia’s 36-year-old wife Ruchi and other son, Abeer, aged six, were injured and both remain in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Narelle, who comforted Abeer, told me a few days later, after an hour of just talking, that she would like to write something, not sure what, but something about love. And about reaching out for help. It would be hard but also, as a writer, help her heal, she said. This piece is about her memories and thoughts.
A sunny afternoon in Daylesford, rocked by a tragedy so devastating, so incomprehensible, it’s hard to conceive how we can even try to recover. For those of us who were there, lives have been altered in ways that can’t be fixed.
My husband and I weren’t even meant to be there – a last-minute cancelled trip to Gippsland, some friends rang and said we’re coming through, do you want to catch up for a drink? Long weekend. Beautiful day. Why not?
We are now all broken by what we saw. Tormented by our own reactions to trauma. Doubts, what ifs and grief. Lives lost and torn apart in an instant and lives left behind. The sadness is palpable. The grief is so deep it hurts. Our town is hurting. We are a community collectively in mourning.
I’ve been a journalist and communications professional for more than 30 years, working in regional and city areas, in radio and print media.
My 15 years as a beat reporter saw me cover stories of hope and joy, sadness and despair, tragedy and loss. Stories that became part of my life. Part of my own story.
Amongst all the work I have ever done, this story is the hardest one I will ever write. But if there is a chance that one person reaches out for help, if one person who is struggling to deal with their grief and sadness reaches out for support, then there will be purpose in these words.
The team from Central Highlands Rural Health had garnered trauma counsellors within hours, reaching out to as many of the witnesses as possible to begin the healing process. I know I personally have a long way to go. Some days I’m paralysed by sadness. But the support locally is extraordinary. They can help us all heal – in time. We just need to all know that healing through support is a phone call away.
For my husband and me, a quick catch up with friends saw us end up at the Daylesford Hotel. Our office is between the Royal Hotel and the tyre shop. They are our work neighbours. Our community. But turning the corner from Howe Street we gravitated to the spare table outside the Daylesford Hotel remembering that one of us remarked this isn’t our usual pub. But there we were. In full view of our office, the tables either side of us and the joy being had on the beautiful lawns in the heart of town.
Within minutes everything had changed.
I know the word chaos has been used to describe the scene. Someone mentioned that not even the emergency services are trained for what unfolded that evening. But through the confusion, shock, trauma and disbelief, strangers came together.
I remember the gentle way people were being held, talked to, comforted and loved. Love is a powerful thing and easy to say.
But that evening, among the mayhem and chaos, those victims were surrounded by the love of this community. It was tangible.
Every single person played a role that night. Some shielding families, some praying, some stopping traffic and many locals and visitors running to the victims. Staff and the owners of the pub reacting in such a way I find it hard to find the words that describe their actions. Calm, caring and measured, despite their own shock and grief.
At one stage I was with a woman comforting a little boy who was injured. So small. So scared. So brave. Kissing his forehead in that moment, my entire life was wrapped up in this little boy’s survival.
When an ambulance driver appeared and we knew this beautiful little soul was going to be cared for, my husband appeared. A young family witness to the event were recovering in the pub. In shock.
For Pat and I, it was a moment of purpose. The act of comforting a young family, feeling a desperate sense to offer love and support was a godsend for us. Somehow going into mum mode, singing Wiggles songs away from the sadness and holding the hands of innocent children was a moment embedded in my heart.
Our lives are now entwined. There are many stories of those on the night connecting. Strangers brought together through trauma now friends. A special young woman from Melbourne who witnessed the event from the pub’s balcony.
Consoling and comforting each other hours later in the pub, it was this woman who had the strength to come back to the site days later, who gave me the strength to stand by her side in that moment.
For those who lost their lives, for those left behind, for witnesses, first responders and for everyone who has reached out to others with love and kindness, hope and prayers, we will all somehow be connected by grief but united by love.
Words: Narelle Groenhout
Dr Ashvin
Dr Loshna
Scottish heritage on show at the Daylesford Highland Gathering
The Daylesford Highland Gathering has a new committee – and the December 7 event will now include Highland Games after more than a 20year absence. Think caber tossing, weightlifting, hammer throws and stone puts.
There will also be a Highland cattle display and a Highland dog display – along with plenty of bagpipes, dancing and kilts.
The day starts at Victoria Park at 9am with the pipe bands marching along Vincent Street at 9.30am. Then it's back to the park for the band competition from 11am with the official opening at 1pm.
President Chris Sinclair said Victoria Park will also be alive with loads of other attractions, stalls and a variety of vendors.
“We are trying to reinvigorate the event. And we also want the locals to come up to Victoria Park and see us in action rather than just watch the street march.”
Chris said the event will end with final presentations around 4.30pm with the mass bands event – with all the competing bands and invitational bands coming together to play a salute to the chieftain and receive their results. “It’s the end of the day ceremony with as many pipers and drummers we can get on the field.”
Chris said the aim of the new committee was to start off small and slowly build the event in the years to come for locals and visitors alike.
“We’re trying to attract people who are travelling in the region with an interest in Scottish heritage and also wanting to build a strong local network. The Daylesford band will be taking part in the street march and the Highland Gathering has been happening at Daylesford since 1952 with the exception of two years because of Covid.
“Last year we only had 600 through the gate, although if you add the participants it’s up to about 900. But we would like to hit about 1400 this year and then upwards and onwards. I've been going since 1975 when I was a teenager and played bagpipes in a band and the numbers back then were probably around the 3000 mark.”
Entry is $15 for adults with free entry for children 12 and under.
Link: www.daylesfordhighland.com
Just briefly...
Hepburn Shire Council has extended the deadline for nominations for its Community Awards to Friday, November 8.
Categories are Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Event of the Year and Hepburn Together. The Hepburn Together Award will celebrate the contribution of groups to Hepburn Shire.
A working bee will be held at the Tylden Cemetery on Sunday, November 24 from 9am.
People should bring a rake, shovel, wheelbarrow, whipper snipper and/or mower. Morning tea and refreshments provided. Any questions contact Kath on 5424 1583.
St Michael's Primary School in Daylesford is getting set to hold its annual school fete on Sunday, November 10.
The event will feature a wide range of new and traditional fete activities and goods for sale. A barbeque, face painting, spinning wheel, craft activities, laser tag, coffee, trash and treasure, mini animal farm, plant stall, cake stall, auction, carnival food and craft stall are all just part of what's in store. It's free entry for the fete, from 10am to 3pm.
Volunteer emergency services organisations in the Macedon state electorate have received a funding boost as part of the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program grants.
Eight grants, with a total value of $491,913 were awarded to volunteer emergency services organisations in Macedon including: CFA Franklinford Thermal Imaging Camera $2340; CFA Malmsbury Field Command Vehicle - XLT $71,000; CFA Porcupine Ridge Station Extension $125,000. VESEP is an annual grants program that provides funding to Victorian emergency services volunteer groups to purchase essential operational equipment, vehicles and appliances and undertake minor facility improvements.
Australian women can now access treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections at a community pharmacy, without a prescription.
UTIs are the second most frequent preventable cause of hospitalisation and on average 1 in 2 women develop a UTI in their lifetime. “This unlocks the nationwide harmonisation of community pharmacy’s ability to treat women suffering from common everyday conditions, safely and easily”, Pharmacy Guild of Australia national president Trent Twomey said. “Women are busy mothers, carers, bosses who need timely easy-to-access relief to get on with their day and prevent long-term health complications and discomfort.”
Northern Victoria Region MP Wendy Lovell is concerned that only four roads in the Macedon state electorate are on a state government list for maintenance and resurfacing in the 2024-25 maintenance program.
Ms Lovell is asking people to nominate other arterial roads in their area in need of maintenance and resurfacing. "An arterial road is a highway or major road, which would be identified by M, A, B or C classification on a sign or road map. For example Calder Fwy M79, Hume Freeway M31, Romsey Lancefield Road C325. Please email me the road name and location so I can continue my work to make roads in your area safer. My email is wendy.lovell@parliament.vic.gov.au"
The state government is calling for nominations for outstanding Aboriginal Victorians to be recognised on the Aboriginal Honour Roll.
Since it was established in 2011, the roll has recognised 150 inspiring First Nations people for their outstanding work in a wide range of fields including health, education, justice, sport, the arts, community leadership and military service.
Nominations for the Honour Roll are now open and will close at 11.59pm on Friday, December 13. Link: www.firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au/VAHR
Hepburn Shire Council adopted its Future Hepburn settlement strategy on September 3 2024 including Township Structure Plans for Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, Glenlyon and Trentham, and the Rural Hepburn Strategy.
Officers have now completed updates and the six adopted strategy documents are available on Council’s website at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Future-Hepburn CEO Bradley Thomas said the adoption of the strategic documents followed extensive community and stakeholder engagement over many years.
Your say...The Vengeful Crow
I’ve become quite doddery now that I approach 79. I seem to be forgetting things more often than before.
Yesterday I left home with a carload of paper and cardboard for the Daylesford tip. On the way I stopped at Coles to buy a couple of packets of Weeties breakfast cereal. I returned to the car and placed the Weeties on the top to give myself a free hand. (You think you know what comes next, don’t you?)
As I was driving away from Coles I was ‘tooted’ by another driver. I couldn’t understand why – I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I? At the tip I soon discovered the reason. No Weeties. Rushing back to Coles I approached the bloke mowing the nature strip near the inward goods delivery door.
"Did you see anyone pick up two packets of Weeties?" I asked.
"The crows picked them up," he said.
"What do you mean ‘crows’," I said, thinking he might be pulling my leg.
"You know, birds," he said. "Have a look around the corner."
I trotted to the corner and there they were, two packets of Weeties, on the nature strip of the Midland Highway, seemingly unharmed except for a hole punctured in the cardboard by a hungry crow.
Giving the thumbs up to the helpful mower man I strapped myself in, turned the key and…shplatt! A yellow mess on the windscreen. Crows are intelligent birds – they don’t appreciate their breakfast being pinched from under their beaks. No kiddin’. True story.
- Ken Mansell, Mount Franklin
VIC STATE ROOFING Metal Roof Specialist
Jean's Kitchen opens with high tea at Korweinguboora
Long-standing Korweinguboora resident Jean Howard has had the local reserve's kitchen named after her - as part of a revival of the reserve's complex.
The extensive renovations included installing a new kitchen, officially opened on Sunday, October 27, with a high tea attended by 50 people.
The renovations came after a new committee was formed in early 2023 and undertook $65,000 worth of work to revive the complex that first opened in 1969 as home of the Korweinguboora Football Club.
Initiated with the support of Moorabool Shire Council, the renovations have included changing all appliances to electric, removing the hall from fossil fuel use, painting the exterior and grading the driveway.
"It is the most wonderful asset for Korweinguboora," says committee chair Sue Bottrell, "and brings people together to develop bonds and friendship. In these times of unprecedented loneliness and isolation, it is very important."
Cr Ally Munari from Moorabool Shire attended to unveil the new facility and celebrate the contribution of Ms Howard who has lived in Korweinguboora for 75 years and has fond memories of her time working on the Recreation Reserve committee.
"I was excited to have the kitchen named after me,” says Jean. "It was a real honour, and it was beaut to see lots of people. It was a lovely get together and catch up, especially with those who mean the most to me.
"The committee was more like a social group, locals who became friends. Everyone just pitched in and did what was needed to be done. The reserve has certainly changed over the years, with the biggest improvement being the addition of the primary school building to the existing footy club rooms.
"Gwen Bryant and I had to wade through lots of red tape to secure the building and relocate it. The committee had to work hard to fundraise $10,000 and then we had to borrow a further $10,000 from the Ballan Council."
Sue says Jean was a member of the committee from 1984 to 2010. “She is renowned for her cooking and was a key driver behind upgrading the hall in the late 1990s by purchasing the local school and moving it to the reserve, instantly doubling the size of the facility."
With Jean as president, the committee raised money to maintain the reserve by holding dinner dances at the pub, community raffles, Christmas functions, and hall hirings. "Without Jean’s leadership, dedication and determination, we would not have this wonderful space to use today," Sue added.
Korweinguboora, like so many localities dotted around the Victorian countryside, has seen its ups and downs. The area began as a logging town in the 19th century, supplying timber to the mines of the nearby goldfields.
At its height, Korweinguboora and nearby Spargo Creek were the main settlements in the area, boasting stores, churches, pubs and schools.
By the time of the old Mineral Springs Hotel closure a decade ago, the area including the Recreation Reserve, owned by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, was becoming increasingly vulnerable to the sort of decline familiar to public facilities in many other rural areas.
However with the efforts of the new Committee of Management, the reserve has been given a new lease of life, ensuring the site flourishes as a gathering place for community, visitors, and celebrations well into the future.
But the work is still ongoing, there are plans in place to install a wheelchairaccessible toilet, paint the hall's interior, and re-polish the floors. All of this work is not only to offer a top notch recreation facility on the edge of the Wombat State Forest but to maintain the vitality of the Korweinguboora community.
Above, Jean Howard, with commitee member Sarah Botsman, holding the sign, and her daughter Christa Botsman, at the unveiling of the new kitchen named in Jean's honour at the Korweinguboora Recreation Reserve
Words: Tony Sawrey | Image: Supplied
Shelley Simpson new manager at Hepburn House
Shelley Simpson is the new manager at Hepburn House and after just five weeks is already loving her place in the community.
Raised in Geelong and living in Ballarat for the past eight years, Shelley said she came to health care relatively late in life. "I was a bit of a late bloomer to nursing. When my grandma was admitted to hospital and getting cared for by the amazing nurses, I thought this is the career I want to do, and it would be very rewarding.
"I started off as a personal carer and then I went and completed my certificate of nursing (Div 2), after that all my friends had gone off and become registered nurses so I did that as well. I worked in aged care in Geelong while I worked my way through university. Once I became a registered nurse I commenced work in community nursing and then kind of fell into community palliative care – and that is where I spent most of my nursing.
"When I moved to Ballarat I started work at Ballarat Hospice Care and then I just found myself in aged care and I've loved it ever since. I was an assistant manager at Bupa Ballarat and then stepped into this role." Shelley said she loved working with older people, being able to have a chat and a laugh, learn their history and have the ability to give them choices and to live there best life.
"If the resident doesn't want to get up at seven o'clock, have breakfast and have a shower, they don't need to. It's all about choice basically because it's their home. Also being able to offier the ability for person- centered care that focuses on their individual needs and desired health outcomes."
Shelley said after five weeks she was already loving the staff, residents and Hepburn House. And former manager Dianne Jones had been very supportive in the changeover.
"Once I had settled into my role, I would like to become more involved in the community engagement for the residents. Having the local kindergartens/daycare, primary and high school involved and doing more activities in home with the residents and out in the community. Having that big community focus, I think that'll be great. "At my previous employment we used to have kindergarten kids come and they had such a great relationship with the residents, and vice-versa. We even had a resident who used to make little wooden toys for the children, It was just lovely. So I hope we can get that happening. No big changes, just a bit more community-oriented."
Book launch of Naku Dharuk (message on bark)
My husband Malcolm Bray and I, Ruth Bray, were recently fortunate to attend the launch of Professor Clare Wright’s book Naku Dharuk, The Bark Petitions. How the people of Yirrkala changed the course of Australian Democracy.
In the 1960s when the government permitted mining exploration and mining of bauxite on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, land which had been owned and occupied, for tens of thousands of years by the Yolnu people, their response came by presenting petitions to the Federal Parliament on bark paintings. This was many years before Mabo.
One petition is in the National Museum in Canberra, and the other two on display in Parliament House. My grandson Keaton and I travelled to Yirrkala last December when the fourth bark petition was returned to Yirrkala, where Malcolm and I lived and worked in the 1960s.
Clare Wright’s book, Naku Dharuk tells this story.
At the launch at the Celtic Club in Brunswick, we introduced ourselves to Yirrkala man Yirrmal Marika, who is in Victoria to do a business studies course. It was great that Malcolm and I retained some of the language we learnt so many years ago and we could converse and laugh with him in his own language. He told us he felt he was with family.
Then we discovered Beth Graham. Beth was a schoolteacher at Yirrkala in the 1960s with her husband Leigh, a carpenter. Beth later worked in the top end encouraging bilingual education in Aboriginal communities. This was tremendous in helping Aboriginal children in their schoolwork. Unfortunately the government has disbanded the idea, although I understand the Catholic school system and the schools at Yirrkala still teach this way.
The noise of chatter over drinks and our conversation were interrupted by the sudden clapping of clapsticks and the sound of the familiar (to us) singing. Yirrmal, as he sang, was calling us together to listen. I don’t think I have heard a crowd silence itself so quickly.
The speakers at the book launch were the usual ones you would expect and included representatives from the Celtic Club, Clare thanked her supporters and those who contributed and helped her with her research including Beth Graham, whose letters in the 1960s home to her family provided a wealth of primary data.
In reading Naku Dharuk Malcolm and I were thrilled to see a line or two about our romance back in the 1960s. But it looks like you will have to read the book to find out more.
Naku Dharuk is the third in Clare’s Democracy Trilogy. The publishers, Text Publishing, must be pleased that Clare’s books are so readable and interesting. The other two in this series are The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka - the story of the women and children who were in the Stockade, including a woman in labour while the attack happened, and You Daughters of Freedom on the 1902 suffrage campaign for white women.
All three books are a great read. They are the sort of books once you have started them, you cannot put them down. Any, or all would make a great Christmas present. Clare said she would be happy to come to Daylesford and speak to any groups who are interested in her work.
Word:
Ruth Bray | Image: Contributed
Above, from left, Keaton Dickenson-Bray, Ruth Bray, Yirrmal, Malcolm Bray and the couple's daughter Sue Bray
Advertorial
Sneak peek at Six Peaks Speak book launch
Gurutjanga (Mount Kooroocheang), Nyaninuk (Mount Beckworth), Mount Greenock, Dharrang Gauwa (Mount Tarrengower), Liyanganyuk banyul (Mount Alexander) and Lalgambuk (Mount Franklin).
If these ancient peaks of southern Dja Dja Wurrung country could speak they would no doubt tell remarkable stories like those to be found in the significant new book by Professor Barry Golding.
In writing Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Kingston-based Professor Golding collaborated with Castlemaine-based geologist Clive Willman.
He also had the backing of a State Library Victoria Creative Fellowship to help research and write the book that has the potential to open many eyes afresh to the region’s immense natural and cultural significance.
Six Peaks Speak is set to be launched by Dja Dja Wurrung Group CEO Rodney Carter on International Mountain Day, December 11, at Castlemaine.
As part of the International Mountain Day celebrations, a series of On Country Mountain walks and local, peak-specific community presentations are scheduled to take place during the week leading up to the launch.
The book bears witness to significant changes that have occurred over the past 200 years as though viewed from the perspective of the peaks that stand silent sentinel over this ancient volcanic landscape, including much of the Hepburn Shire area.
Unsettling
Professor Golding uses the term ‘unsettling’ in the book and its title in intentional contrast against the term ‘settlement’ that’s often associated with the arrival of Europeans in the landscape.
“I’ve used the term ‘unsettling’ because a lot of this stuff is still unsettled,” he says. “People were killed or displaced and removed from Country.”
The result of two years of dedicated work, Six Peaks Speak provides a revelatory peeling back of time and layers to gain an enhanced appreciation of the landscape’s remarkable past and present.
Besides delving into seldom-accessed archives, the book draws on Li-DAR remote sensing technology to help literally peel back the layers through time.
Legacies
The work records and celebrates the presence of significant Indigenous cultural legacies that remain within the landscape. Legacies like the Indigenous communal oven mounds.
“I’ve had huge support from the Djaara Traditional owners,” Professor Golding says.
In writing Six Peaks Speak Professor Golding’s hope is that the significance of the region’s natural and cultural heritage may be better appreciated by the wider community, including policy makers, into the future.
“It’s a resource for the community including for the First Nations community to use as a springboard to acknowledge the unsettling, and to settle the unsettled,” he says.
The book’s contents are evidence-based with each chapter featuring over 100 footnotes. Professor Golding admits researching and writing it has been “a huge job”.
“It’s been good fun,” he adds.
Book launch
The 420-page book is being published by Common Ground in the US and following its launch it will be available through selected retailers and online.
The book launch is set for 2pm, Wednesday, December 11 at the Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre.
The launch will follow a special Caring for Country, Caring For People event taking place on the same day from 9.30am to 1pm at Lalgambuk (Mt Franklin). It will be a chance to join with Djaara to celebrate International Mountain Day.
Community events
Community events leading up to the launch of Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country include:
Friday, December 6, 8pm - Gurutjanga Speaks presentation at the Commercial Hotel, Kingston;
Above, Professor Barry Golding with Mt Kooroocheang in the background, left, Professor Golding's book cover of Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country
Image: Eve Lamb
Saturday December 7, 7.30pm - Lalgambuk Speaks presentation at the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre; Sunday, December 8, 2pm - Dharrang Gauwa Speaks presentation at Maldon; Monday, December 9, 7.30pm - Mount Greenock Speaks presentation at Maryborough; and Tuesday, December 10, 7.30pm - Nyaninuk Speaks presentation at the Esmond Gallery, Clunes.
Walks
The coinciding program of walks is being hosted by the Great Dividing Trail Association with registrations for the walks online through the GDTA website.
Friday, December 6, 9.30am - Gurutjanga (Mt Kooroocheang) GDTA cultural landscapes tour and walk; Saturday, December 7, 9.30am - Liyanganyuk banyul (Mt Alexander) GDTA walk;
Sunday, December 8, 9.30am - Dharrang Gauwa (Mt Tarrengower) GDTA walk; Monday, 9 December 9, 9.30am - Mt Greenock GDTA walk; and Tuesday, December 10, 9.30am - Nyaninuk (Mount Beckworth) GDTA walk
Words & image: Eve Lamb (See also page 19 for the Mt Greenock walk)
Z-NET ROUNDTABLE EOI
If you’re passionate about taking action on climate change and helping our community reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then the Z-NET Roundtable could be for you.
Hepburn Z-NET is a collaborative partnership that brings together community groups, organisations, community members, experts and Council to help shift the Shire to zero-net energy by 2025 and zero-net emissions by 2030.
Submit your expression of interest by 12pm on Monday 25 November via the Participate Hepburn websitehttps://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/hepburn-z-net
SUSTAINABLE HEPBURN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Are you passionate about the local environment?
We are looking for community members from diverse walks of life to partner with us to deliver the Sustainable Hepburn Strategy through targeted advice, communication, outreach and engagement. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to one or more working groups or project reference groups that reflect your expertise. If you’re interested in stepping up to this role, find out more and apply on Participate Hepburn by Monday 25 November at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/shac
COMMUNITY AWARDS
Council is calling for nominations from across our community to acknowledge the people and groups working tirelessly to make Hepburn Shire a great place to live, work and play.
Nominations can be made in the following categories:
• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Event of the Year
• Hepburn Together.
Council’s Community Awards are the perfect chance to recognise and honour the outstanding achievements by individuals and groups that work hard to better the community we live in. A new award category, the Hepburn Together Award, is commencing from 2025 and is designed to celebrate the contribution of groups to Hepburn Shire.
If you know of someone giving their all to our Hepburn Shire community, you can recognise their contribution by submitting a nomination online at Community Awards before Friday 8 November 2024. Nominate now!
Visit www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Community-awards
COUNCIL PLAN FOCUS AREAS
FREE GREEN WASTE NOVEMBER
Hepburn Shire residents and property owners can dispose of green waste for free at transfer stations in Daylesford, Creswick and Trentham during November. As the upcoming fire season approaches it’s important to take steps to prepare your property and stay safe, for more information visit: www.cfa.vic.gov.au
Things to remember:
• Bring along some proof of residency.
• Separate your load - green material should be separated from other items being brought in.
• Noxious weeds should not be transported or brought to the transfer stations.
• Excludes commercial quantities of waste.
TRANS AWARENESS WEEK
This Trans Awareness Week (13 to 19 November), we’re challenging anti-trans discrimination.
We can all become better allies for our trans community through awareness and education.
Hear from three amazing people about their life experiences, and what constitutes good allyship:
• Georgie George is a performer and mental health advocate.
• Cerise Howard is Program Director of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
• Grace Lee is a Psychotherapist and Counsellor.
Together, let’s build a safe and welcoming culture of LGBTIQA+ inclusivity in Hepburn Shire.
Wednesday 13 November between 4pm - 5pm at Daylesford Council Offices at 24 Vincent Street, Daylesford.
ARE YOU A BUSINESS OR COMMUNITY GROUP?
Business Directory - The directory offers an opportunity for local businesses to promote their services, goods or trades to locals and other businesses for FREE as well as boosting your online presence making it easier for people to find you. List your business now –www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Business-directory
Community Directory - List your community group, association or sporting club on the new FREE online Community Directory.
The directory will provide an online platform to promote your group, club, or association making it easier for locals to find and join you.
List your community group nowwww.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Community-directory
The Council Plan 2021-2025 describes how Council will strive towards our vision, where to focus efforts, and how to measure progress. Each Focus Area has a series of priority statements, with actions against each item.
EAT | DRINK | ENJOY
Out & About in the Central Highlands
Help is at hand for seniors feeling isolated
“Ah, look at all the lonely people.” The Beatles
Loneliness can be savage on aged people. There is, however, a way to ease it.
Creswick’s Nalina Phillips, pictured, is working with Elder Rights Advocacy to build relationships with local groups, organisations and aged care homes on a scheme to break down isolation.
Starting with two local volunteers who visit four people in Creswick and Trentham, she has taken on two more volunteers from Clunes.
As well, she is looking for local people who are feeling lonely or isolated.
Besides easing the burden of loneliness on the aged, the scheme also gives volunteers a sense of purpose and meaning, improving their confidence through knowing that they are giving back to the community.
Volunteers “genuinely love visiting their matched older people and hearing all the amazing stories about how they grew up and the lives they lived,” she says.
The volunteers learn of the not-for-profit program through Seek Volunteer, Facebook groups and community events.
The scheme has been running for more than almost six years. Regular visits from volunteers can help to both improve quality of life and make older people feel less isolated.
Visits are available to anyone who is socially isolated or gets government-subsidised residential aged care or Home Care Packages, including approved care recipients or those on the National Priority System for residential or home care packages.
Loneliness can affect some older people because they feel cut off from their culture and heritage, have little contact with friends or relatives, are immobile and so unable to take part in social or leisure activities, or feel different in some way.
The scheme also focuses on the needs of older people from particular linguistic, cultural and complex vulnerability backgrounds who may be at greater risk of alienation. These include people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and those who live in rural or remote areas. Regular visits from volunteers can help to improve quality of life and enable older people to feel less alone, help the financially or socially disadvantaged, and the homeless or those at risk of being homeless.
It also aims to help parents separated from their children by forced adoption or removal, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex, people living with a disability, who are deaf or hearing impaired/hard of hearing, people living with cognitive impairment, including dementia, those experiencing mental health conditions and/or who have been exposed to trauma.
Under the scheme, community organisations are paid to recruit, train and support volunteer visitors, conduct police checks for volunteers, match volunteers to older people receiving aged care and support relationships between the volunteers and the people they visit.
Volunteers visit at least 20 times a year for one-on-one or group visits, to residential aged care homes, and to people receiving Home Care Packages.
The scheme is federally funded by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
Older people can refer themselves. The scheme also accepts referrals from aged care service providers, family members, friends and health professionals.
Monash University is testing the effectiveness of the scheme over three years to 2026.
To find how to become a volunteer visitor or ask for a volunteer or visitor, see the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care website and look under Aged Care Volunteers Visitors’ Scheme.
Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Contributed
Wide Open Road 2024
In September this year, five Daylesford artists Josh Bowes, Kristeena Saville, pictured, Peter Gandrabur, Phillip Edwards and Michael Lelliott travelled to outback NSW to paint and create new art inspired by the fauna, flora and unique landscape and spiritual connections to country and history that is Lake Mungo.
The works are on display at Bullarto Gallery until November 17. Open Saturday and Sunday 10-4pm, or by appointment on 0487 437 173.
CresFest founder honoured at folk awards
Judy Turner, the dynamic musician and founder of the hugely popular CresFest folk and roots festival held in Creswick every April, was awarded the Contribution to Folk Award late last month.
CresFest president and Kingston resident Mark Myers said “a group of us travelled to Melbourne to be part of the celebrations at the annual Australian Folk Music Awards, held at Brunswick Ballroom”.
The event, Myers said, was a gathering of the tribe, from all over Australia, with people from every state honoured for their contributions.
“We are very proud of Judy and of all she has achieved for Creswick. At the awards night we realised how much she has contributed over many decades, to make music an essential part of hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Her energy and commitment are awe inspiring, and we are lucky to have her living in our region.”
Judy was nominated for the award by Ballarat legend, the singer and choir leader Stella Savy, who nominated her for her pioneering work providing musical opportunities for players of all ages through the creation and maintenance of the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club, Stringmania Camp and CresFest.
“Above all, Judy’s secret magical power is having great ideas, making them come alive, then enthusing and inspiring other people to the extent they eventually want to take them over,” Stella said.
Less known in the local region perhaps is her work creating and growing the now famous Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club, which grew under her leadership to a mighty performing group as well as a place for people of all ages to get together and build a life in music.
Judy ran the club, with her partner Neil Adam, from 1995 to 2011, when she ‘bequeathed’ it to younger players.
“The kids who came to the club in their teens have now been running the club for 15 years or so, and in 2025 will take the group to Nova Scotia on a 30th anniversary celebration tour,” Judy said.
Starting her working life as a violin teacher in western suburbs technical schools, Judy says she has always loved sparking the joy of group playing in people of all ages.
“One of my favourite teaching gigs was at the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne, where adults as 'young' as 80 came along with - say - a late uncle’s violin, to learn a few tunes in memory of him. They were never going to really be players, but there was no doubt they were going to experience the joy of making their sound better by combining it with others.”
And that, Judy says, is the secret of music in community. Stella, now the codirector of CresFest, agrees.
“We have made a festival that’s for players and singers of all ages and stageswe want them to be inspired not only by what they can see and hear, but also by what they can do - there are opportunities for everyone to join in, and in 2025 the Rhythms of Africa Extravaganza will stop the festival with singing, dancing and drumming in the streets.”
Thousands of people across Australia have reason to be grateful to Judy Turner for their engagement with music, and we in the Ballarat region can celebrate the opportunities she and her band of volunteers are bringing, with the creation of a festival with national appeal.
There are opportunities for engagement for new groups like Creswick Chorus, Hepburn Players and Creswick Ukestra, alongside established groups like Creswick Brass Band, Creswick Primary School singers and Creswick Drum Circle.
Words: Fiona Watson | Image: Eve Lamb
When partnering with Daylesford Country Retreats we understand that we are managing one of your most important assets.
Contact Brendan at brendan@dayburn.com.au
“We have made a festival that’s for players and singers of all ages and stages - we want them to be inspired not only by what they can see and hear, but also by what they can do - there are opportunities for everyone.”
CW: Championing Women
A Meta and The Local initiative
• Tired of managing your own property and need greater online exposure ?
• Our team are passionate about caring for your property through our proactive and preemptive management programs.
• We manage cleaners, linen hire, photographers, gardeners and ongoing maintenance.
• We are the exclusive Daylesford partner with Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy.
120 properties under strong hands on management with unparalleled service.
Out & About...
Art Talk
Lola Montez: A Cipher in History, Hidden Behind Scandal and Sensation will be presented at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery on Wednesday, November 6 from noon to 1pm.
Dr David Waldron will offer fascinating insights about Lola Montez, the most colourful entertainer on the Victorian Goldfields.
Dr Waldron is a senior lecturer in History at Federation University Australia, specialising in folklore and community heritage.
He is a distinguished author, researcher and podcaster who has won multiple awards including the Victorian Community History Award and the National Trust of Australia People’s Choice Award. His game The Last Dance of Lola Montez was also nominated for an international gaming award.
Art Talk is presented in partnership with U3A Maryborough with all welcome. Tickets are $5, U3A Maryborough members free. Bookings essential on 5461 6600 or email cgsc.art@cgoldshire.vic.gov.au
Central Goldfields Art Gallery is at the Old Fire Station, 1 Neill Street, Maryborough. www.centralgoldfieldsartgallery.com.au
A Bunch of Amateurs
The Mount Players final show for 2024, A Bunch of Amateurs, opened on Friday, November 1 but there’s still time to secure your tickets as it runs until Sunday, November 17.
Join the Stratford Players in Suffolk who are putting on King Lear and have brought in a fading Hollywood action hero, Jefferson Steele, to help boost ticket sales in order to save their theatre from the developers. What could possibly go wrong?
Come and enjoy the show at our unique Mountview Theatre in Macedon and receive a complimentary sherry on arrival, free tea/coffee and treats at interval and drinks at very reasonable prices from our bar.
Evening performances on Friday and Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Sundays at 2pm. Tickets via www.themountplayers.com or call 0419 329 052 for assistance. Words: Karen Hunt | Image: Karlana Santamaria
CLUNES SHOW
From left, Karen Hunt, John Taranto, Craig Lenaine-Smith holding Tania Knight and Chris Sliwczynski - with Iris Mentor sitting on the steps
Bugger all at Poetry Slam Garden show winners
Home gardeners may not realise that three potatoes, brushed, but not washed, that are a nice shape, about the same size and texture and look good enough to eat could be good enough to enter in the Daylesford Show on November 23 with entries closing on Sunday, November 17.
Three good examples of different home-grown vegetables or a bunch of parsley, or five sticks of rhubarb, a bunch of spring onions, three whole heads of garlic, 10 pods of peas or indeed any other vegetable could also be entered.
You may have eggs from your hens or ducks, honey from your own bees, or cheese from goats or cow's milk that may also be good enough to enter, and don't forget the showgoers are waiting to be impressed by your growing or collecting skills.
Many gardens in Daylesford have a lemon tree with at least three lemons of uniform size and texture and looking nice but if you want to show them make sure that you leave a little piece of green stem showing.
Daylesford and District Agricultural Society is proud to present Farm and Garden Produce and Flowers in our Hall of Flowers. On Show Day look for the Rijk Zwaan sign on the Table Tennis Centre. The Daylesford Show is proud to be supported by the Daylesford/Musk branch of the international seed-producing firm each year.
Inside the Hall of Flowers you will find our display of Cut Flowers and Floral Art, surrounded by floral stalls by the Daylesford Horticultural Society, Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, Spring Park Nursery and a number of other local groups. The gentle music of Vanessa Craven and her band Lake Mist in the background makes this a quiet haven for the garden lover.
It has been a very good season for spring flowers in Daylesford with the low rainfall making the ground a bit warmer and blooms a bit more vibrant, so expect the hall to be full of shades of pinks, yellows, oranges, reds and mauve/magentas.
If you are looking around your own garden and thinking it looks great this year, then download the schedule and see what you can enter. Our bright and colourful flower and vegetable displays will be made better with your entries and this year we have extra rosettes and prizes to commemorate the 150th Daylesford annual show in our 160-year history.
If you are interested, head to www.daylesfordshow.com, check our schedule and enter online. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday, November 23 from 9am.
The Mollongghip Poetry Slam started when MC Mark Grant, a former local who lived next to the hall, dreamt up the event, with participants reciting for half an hour, singing songs or reciting short stories.
Local Gib Wettenhall said while Mark had MCed for 19 years with aplomb, it took a few years of tweaking on the part of the hall committee to pull it into a shape that suited the rural community.
"Poems have to be short. We now have a two minute time limit and for years Noel Gregory dressed as the Grim Reaper, clicking a pair of large shears in an attempt to enforce the time limit.
"Amateurs and locals are encouraged. One professional poet doing the rounds admonished a judge for showing bias by addressing a poet up on stage as 'My dear friend'. This would seem to miss the point. Mollongghip’s Slam is not about excellence, but about drawing out sparks of creativity and heartfelt performances from people who never ordinarily step out on a stage. It’s the doing that counts. We are proud to say that many local farmers regularly grace the stage with poetic yarns about the bull that chased them or the kangaroo that joined the firefighters in the dam as the bushfire headed towards them.
"Judges are picked for their potential to add spice and a touch of humour, but not at the poet’s expense. They have been a mix of Mollongghippians (Ghipsters) and local identities like storyteller Anne Stewart, Daylesford GP Greg Malcher and former Mayor Kate Redwood.
"Each Slam has theme words that have to be inserted into the poem from ‘Dangerous ideas’ to ‘Knife’s edge’ and this year’s beauty ‘Bugger all’. It’s a lame attempt to avoid plagiarism, although in the case of some notable rollicking ballads delivered, we have had our suspicions.
"Our largest number of poets was 35. Audiences usually fill the hall, numbering up to 100. We always split the delivery by poets up on stage into two halves, with time out for drinks at our bar.
"Non-poets are encouraged to bring a plate for supper at the end of the night while the judges are adding up the scores for the winning poets – one they judge as the Grand Champion; the other as voted by the audience as the People’s Choice."
Let’s support our community and shop local!
“Locals supporting Locals” Restaurants, Bakers, Butchers, Cafe’s, Local vineyards, Distillers, Brewers and of course each other.
Remember we offer free delivery, T&Cs apply. Delivery times are Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm. We accept credit cards over the phone or we have an on-board eftpos machine. You will need to be at home for the delivery with proof of age if asked by the driver. Give the Foxxy team a call on 5348 3577. Keep safe, everyone.
Walks of the Central Highlands with Eve Lamb
Mount Greenock Geological Reserve summit and return
We’re “guinea pigs” today, joining the Great Dividing Trail Association on a walk led by Professor Barry Golding. It’s a kind of test run for a walk forming part of a fairly spesh little public tour series that Prof Golding will lead in early December. More on that later.
The walk we’re tackling this fine Sunday is described on the GDTA website as focusing on a number of lesser-known legacies associated with Mount Greenock volcanic crater in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country.
These include a Deep Time perspective, Major Mitchell’s visit, deep lead mining and a history of licensed and unlicensed grazing on the present-day Mount Greenock Geological Reserve.
After we climb Mount Greenock we’ll also visit the public Scenic Reserve across on neighbouring Mount Glasgow before we head on to nearby Merin Merin wetlands reserve, steeped in Aboriginal heritage going back thousands of years, for a lunch stop. It’ll be 5km walking and 20km car travel between sites all up but for the purposes of this article, I’ll focus on Mount Greenock.
The Mount Greenock Geological Reserve is located between Talbot and Clunes, off the Maryborough Road, on the right just past McCallum Creek as you head toward Maryborough. Paddy H and I roll through the gate of the public car park, entry to the 120-hectare Mount Greenock Geological Reserve, early for a Sunday, to rendezvous with members of the GDTA including Prof Golding.
Prof Golding is soon to launch a book featuring six of the notable peaks of this wider region, Mount Greenock included, and the notable legacies that surround them.
There’s 15 of us walking today and after a bit of obligatory chit-chat we set off. It’s only about one km up to the top. Not far, but a really punchy little walk to the summit that stands 385 metres above sea level. “There is no track. There is no right way up. Choose your path,” says Prof Golding.
As we slowly gain elevation, Prof Golding stops to tell our walking party about the volcanic rock we’re now seeing strewn about, while also keeping a careful weather eye out for snakes at this time of year. “Once you get up here you get basalt,” he says. “And this is ropey lava with a flow structure,” he says, picking up a large chunk. The basalt to be found here is so light it could just about float in your bath.
There’s scoria and “tear-shaped volcanic bombs” some containing the semiprecious gemstone olivine, ancient and dating back to the time of the volcanic activity that formed this landmark local peak “an estimated half a million years ago”.
“It’s quite young in geological terms,” Prof Golding says. As we climb, the vista above is profoundly photographic, the sky huge. Prof Golding talks about the importance of this place to the Indigenous people over many thousands of years, as all around us the view expands. Below and beyond, the grasslands stretch and sing.
“What you see now is what was here on contact,” Prof Golding says of the extinct volcanic cone that is Mount Greenock itself. “Major Mitchell who climbed up here in 1836 described a bald green hill...the rich grasslands were like a highway for the Aboriginal people. There were emus, kangaroos, wallabies, lots of small mammals. There were silver banksia, bulloak, sheoak.”
The grassland “highway” could be followed all the way to the coast at Portland, something of which Major Thomas Mitchell also made good use, we learn.
About half way up, Mount Kooroocheang appears on the horizon and with each step we take toward the summit of Mount Greenock more volcanic hills and peaks can been seen all around. “We’re high enough here at 385 metres to see back over the Divide to the south,” our guide says.
Here, at the top there’s a stone monument to Major Mitchell’s trek in 1836. We stop and Prof Golding talks about the impacts on the Aboriginal Traditional Owners that followed the arrival of the Europeans with their grazing ambitions in this area.
It’s not a happy history and is something that Professor Golding does not shy away from in his soon-to-be-launched new book, Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country. He is also keen to highlight the rich Aboriginal legacies that remain in the landscape today.
In the days leading up to the book launch on December 11, Prof Golding will lead a series of walks associated with the six peaks that act as focalisers in the book.
Mount Greenock is one of the six, and the walk we’re on today will be repeated for anyone keen to sample it at first hand. You can find out more and register to participate in the upcoming led walks through the Great Dividing Trails Association website. Just go to ‘Events’.
But now, we “guinea pigs” are finally standing atop Mount Greenock. And the view is amazing - 360 degrees of shimmering panorama. Peaks, volcanic grasslands and hills.
“I suggest you download the PeakFinder app,” Prof Golding says. One of our party, a local teacher keen to know more so as to share that knowledge with his students, immediately does so - for a cost of $8 apparently.
From where we now stand, we learn, there are 180 “visible” peaks - weather and treeline dependent - including Mount Buninyong and Mount Warrenheip way off near Ballarat, and even Mount Cole and Mount Warrenmang roughly to the west.
It’s a view more than worth walking for. Be sure to pack a picnic.
Lyonville Bake-Off winners
Decorated Cakes - Grace B - Carrot Cake (Fleur de Lyonville Flower Farm Tour ticket $95 value)
Cupcakes and Slices - Vicki Poxon - Hazelnut and Almond Slice ($50 voucher from the Green Store)
Tarts and Pies - Linda Gillies - Tarte au Citron ($50 Voucher Kuki Trentham)
Special Dietaries - Loewn and Virginia Whyman with Persian Love Cake ($50 Red Beard Bakery voucher)
Kids category: Runner Up - Bede and Gabe - Violet Crumble slice ($20 Squishie Minnie Voucher donated by Judder Bar eats)
Winner - Willow Arthur - Hazelnut Torte ($50 Voucher from Paradise Books)
General cakes: Runner up - Catherine Cartwright - Banana cake with cream cheese and passionfruit icing ($30 Trentham Bakery voucher)
Winner - Kylie Wilkie - Ginger Spice cake (Signed copy of Kitchen Sentimental by Annie Smithers, 500ml bottle of Hepburn Distillery Lyonville Gin and $25 VISA gift card donated by Wombat Forest Organics - total prize value $140)
ALL THINGS RUMP!
Discover the incredible versatility of rump from our premium, Greenhills Natural beef from our very own farm. Bursting with rich flavor, our rump cuts are perfect for every occasion. Whether you’re whipping up a quick stirfry, slow-cooking a hearty goulash, or diving into international favorites like Vietnamese pho or Brazilian picanha, there’s a recipe here to delight every palate. Check out our specials and find mouthwatering recipes to make your next meal unforgettable!
GREENHILLS NATURAL BEEF RUMP
Marshmallow, Creswick’s innovative hair salon
As owner and managing director of Marshmallow, Creswick’s contemporary and innovative hair salon, Casey Lenaghan will affirm the importance of continuing to deliver products that are a point of difference from other salons in the Central Highlands region.
In choosing Creswick to create a salon that would make a difference to people wanting to feel good about themselves, having hair styled to suit their personality and lifestyle, Casey was determined to introduce practices that were holistic in their delivery.
“I understand that my clients trust me to keep ahead of trends, to introduce products that are not available elsewhere in the region, and to employ hair stylists that share my values and philosophy,” Casey said.
Casey recently introduced Nanoplasty, a high-tech product from Italy, that restores and straightens hair without the use of harsh chemicals.
“I’ve always been concerned about the use of harsh chemicals on young children, or pregnant women. Now we can safely give our clients the look they want, knowing that their hair will be straightened and nourished with organic and amino acids. The really good news is that the treatment lasts for up to eight months!”
Two months ago, Casey was delighted to welcome to Marshmallow a highly regarded hair stylist and long-term friend, Adam Noel. With over 30 years’ experience, and having worked with Casey 15 years ago in her Ballarat salon, Soho, Adam brings a unique understanding as stylist, cutter and colourist. He has quickly acquired new clients from around the district as well as retaining his loyal clients from Ballarat.
“I can’t be more excited that Adam has joined the team at Marshmallow along with Sophie and Corina,” Casey said. “Adam has already made a positive impact on both the salon and on Creswick in general. A broader client base, from as far as Melbourne, means that there will be a whole influx of new people coming into Creswick, supporting all the amazing local businesses. That’s what’s so good about working in a small community. We all benefit by working in together.”
Marshmallow opens from Tuesday to Saturday inclusive. Bookings can be made in person or by phoning 0439 329 754.
Advertorial | Words & Image: Fiona Watson
From left, Hairdressers Casey Lenaghan, Adam Noel & Sophie Bibby with client Sophie Reid
Former Glenlyon Primary School.
- Approx. 4857m2 of land the pretty hamlet of Glenlyon
- Open plan kitchen, dining and living space
- The beautifully renovated school has five-metre-high ceilings
- All three buildings have operated as successful B'n'B rental properties
- Butler's pantry with endless storage possibilities
- Two separate garden studios, both with verandahs, bathrooms and kitchenettes
- Generous covered deck facing north perfect for entertaining - Frontage onto the beautiful, alternating oak and elm Avenue of Federation
- A short stroll to the Glenlyon General Store, the Glenlyon Dam and the Glenlyon Reserve
News funding
The Federal Government has announced a $15 million relief fund for regional and community news organisations, following an extensive campaign by Country Press Australia and other regional stakeholders for greater support and recognition for publishers of place-based public interest journalism.
The News Media Relief Program is expected to open in November and will provide grants to eligible regional, independent suburban, multicultural and First Nations news publishers.
Country Press Australia president and Warragul & Drouin Gazette publisher Andrew Schreyer welcomed the announcement by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and paid tribute to CPA members who had been part of an extensive campaign for urgent support for the industry.
“The announcement is a direct result of an extended and consistent lobbying effort by a Country Press Australia delegation, and the CPA board would like to thank members for their own lobbying efforts, whether it was by sending newspapers to politicians in Canberra or writing letters and speaking with their local federal members.
“This contribution is much appreciated and has really made a difference. The idea of the fund was first raised with Minister Rowland by CPA in mid-December 2023 and has been announced after six visits to Canberra, countless letters to various MPs on all sides of politics, numerous submissions and almost weekly phone calls and texts to plead the case of CPA members.”
Mr Schreyer said the announcement of the News Media Relief Program showed the government recognises the importance of local journalism, and that the program aimed to directly support publishers producing local journalism on the matters important to their communities.
“It has been a challenging year for the industry - increased printing and operational costs, a tough advertising market and Meta’s decision to not renew agreements with Australian publishers have all weighed heavily,” he said.
“It’s pleasing to note that the government understands that local news is essential to social cohesion and a well-functioning democracy, and this program will help our members keep supporting their communities with the essential local public interest journalism that helps them make informed decisions.”
He said more details on the News Media Relief Program would be released in coming weeks, but it was important to note preliminary information including that the $15 million is available under a demand driven process for grants of $13,000 per journalist FTE employed to produce core news content, and that funding must be expended in the 2024-25 financial year.
“CPA will keep members as up to date and informed as we can, and I urge all eligible publishers to respond to this funding opportunity as quickly as possible once more details are made available and applications open.
“And equally, CPA will continue to advocate for more sustainable solutions to the challenges our industry faces and for support that recognises the vital roles our members play as a fundamental piece of democratic infrastructure in the communities they serve.”
Gigs with Darren Lowe
Out On The Weekend - Itinerant Spirits, Goods Shed Ballarat, October 11
The inaugural regional touring version of this now, after 10 years, iconic celebration of all things Americana, took place at the Goods Shed Ballarat on a Friday evening.
Fittingly, the abridged version of the Williamstown institution took place on a cold, yep Ballarat, evening, where its proximity to the train station added that essential unscripted roots music essential - train sounds. And regularly.
The eight bands, a combination of local acts, in fact very local, and international touring artists played in rotation on two main stages. The food, US-inspired Southern staples and a range of beers, wines and cocktails perfectly complemented the evening.
Local acts featured heavily. Supergroup Watershed consisting of members of The Cartwheels and Cat and Clint, played a selection of bluegrass standards, originals and bush ballads. Local legend, Freya Josephine Hollick, played a set consisting of her own material and a tribute to recently deceased legend Kris Kristofferson with some sublime pedal steel accompaniment.
James Ellis and The Jealous Guys played their usual somehow traditional, somehow uniquely Australian, set of classic honky tonk with the universal themes of drinkin’ and love gone wrong.
The evening was opened by hard-working duo Crank Williams and Patsy Decline.
US acts cherrypicked from the major event featured the sublime Margo Cilker, Nick Shoulders in duo mode with his Louisiana protest songs , the always entertaining duo of Joshua Hedley/ Johnny Fritz and the Grateful Dead/Band inspired Uncle Lucius.
An inspired selection and hopefully the beginning of greater things. A welcome addition to the local music calendar.
Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar on show at the Art Gallery of Ballarat until February 2.
Medieval to Metal is an exclusive to Ballarat exhibition highlighting the world’s most popular instrument as shown through art.
The exhibition features 40 rare guitars on loan from the National Guitar Museum (USA), alongside paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Manet – all the rockstars of the art world – side by side with posters, objects and an extraordinary collection of rock shots by renowned photographer Tony Mott. Think Aussie icons, to Keef and Kiss!
This exhibition is remarkable, tracing the guitar's historical origins from the lute to the classics by Fender and Gibson, Soviet obscurities and interactive guitar hero video games.
The exhibition will feature live performances and workshops throughout its tenure and has a wonderful video archive celebrating Ballarat’s musical history.
This is a real coup for the gallery. Get there!
Member vacancies - Victorian Class B cemetery trusts
The following Class B cemetery trusts are seeking new members. In these volunteer roles you will gain hands-on experience in managing a public cemetery and valuable governance skills as a member of a public board. Free governance training is provided.
EGANSTOWN CEMETERY TRUST
GLENLYON CEMETERY TRUST
Want to contribute to quality journalism or more cute dogs?
Just scan the QR code.
Who should apply?
Trusts need people with a range of skills and experiences including administration, committees, and groundskeeping. Women and people from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. What it means to be a Victorian cemetery trust member
Cemetery trust members are appointed by the Governor in Council for terms up to five years on the recommendation of the Minister for Health. Cemetery trusts are responsible for the management of public cemeteries, including planning for future cemetery services for their communities.
How to register your interest
Contact the applicable cemetery trust within two weeks of this advertisement date:
Victorian Class B cemetery trust
Contact details
The Eganstown Cemetery Trust 0417 103 191
The Glenlyon Cemetery Trust 0417 030 036
Interested in further information about cemetery trusts?
Class B cemetery trust member vacancies are advertised and regularly updated on the ‘Join a Public Board’ website <https://www.boards.vic.gov.au/search-board-vacancies/victorian-class-bcemetery-trust-volunteer-positions-vcb> all year round!
Simply go to the website for further information about Class B cemetery trusts, to view a full list of trusts that currently have vacancies and details how to apply!
The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that government boards and committees reflect the rich diversity of the Victorian community. We encourage applications from people of all ages, Aboriginal people, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse, intersex and queer people. The trust will provide adjustments to the recruitment process upon request.
The earliest gardens of the fledgling settlements around (the yet to be titled) Australia were merely clearings, hewn out of the native bush and planted with a few fruiting trees, and plots of desperately needed vegetables.
But, as the colonies became more substantial and the bark humpies and tents gave way to more substantial cottages and other permanent dwellings, the gardens gradually assumed an air of “here to stay”. Ornamental plants then joined the functional food providers.
The discovery of gold in the 1850s and the opening up of fertile grazing lands across the country brought with them wealth. The colonists now had the opportunity to replace their humble dwellings with opulent homesteads akin to and often more lavish than those left behind in Europe. These were surrounded with highly decorative gardens, meticulously laid-out groves of fruiting trees and tree-studded lawns of park-like proportions.
Not surprisingly, the wealthy’s penchant for large-scale garden elegance was imitated throughout the colonies. This, coupled with the Victorian love of embellishment and decorative gadgetry, gave birth to the delightfully ornate cottage gardens that are once again in favour.
People are seldom satisfied with their natural surroundings and have unceasingly gone about taming nature and re-creating their own idealistic image of how natural things should look. Thus it is not surprising that the early gardeners discarded the flora and features of the native Australian landscape and re-created small images of their own European countryside.
Partly, no doubt, this was an attempt to offset homesickness or a sense of isolation.
Until the early 1960s Australia’s own plants were usually relegated to providing shelter trees and windbreaks in the harsh outback farmland. Then interest in ‘native’ and ‘natural gardens’ developed in cult-like proportions and gardens everywhere sprouted gums, wattles and bark chip ground coverings. There was no compromiseyou grew either native or exotic, but never both.
Fortunately reason now prevails and gardens planted with both natives and exotics feature in the domestic landscape with great success. Maybe, at last, we may soon see the final stages in the evolution of the truly Australian garden.
Pruning citrus
The garden calendar on my study wall tells me it’s spring time - clean-up time for citrus trees. I would normally be telling you this around early September, however this is certainly anything but a normal year.
So, as I sit huddled at my desk with my heater on, and gaze out the window at the menacing storm clouds, I find it hard to believe that it really is almost November and virtually on the doorstep of sunny days. But the radio and telly are spouting tennis and test cricket, so it must be the right time to get out in the garden with your sharp secateurs, rake and barrow - it’s time to remove any weak and spindly growth and dead wood.
As citrus grow, they tend to accumulate deadwood twigs and light growth to their centre. By using a sharp pair of pruners and a little patience, mind the thorns, you can open up the centre and let the sunlight in, thus preventing the build-up of fungal diseases, moulds and insect pests that normally thrive on weak, shady growth.
Do not take too much growth from the top or centre of the tree, because citrus prefer a healthy covering of all-over protection from the scorching rays of the summer sun. Fear not, they’ll come soon enough so it’s best to be prepared.
Hard pruning of citrus is normally best carried out in late August to early September to allow a quick re-growth of young wood to cover and protect the bare branches left after the pruning. But you should be all right if you do it before the “real” spring arrives.
Spray the newly-pruned trees with a non-toxic insecticide as a protection from eager insects as the fresh new growth will be easy prey to aphis and other pests.
Pictured, this flower-draped garden corner is grateful for the cool spring weather - especially the rhododendron
LOCAL ENERGY EXPERTS
Kyle’s Rant
Although we have a family of magpies at TL HQ, I have never been attacked, that is until a recent trip to Melbourne.
My relationship with the birds was galvanised during the pandemic. Each day after toiling away on the paper, in the cut and thrust of lockdowns, Donna and I would sit down with a drink on the balcony, rain, hail or shine and feed our black and white feathered friends.
At the time we would barely see anybody. We would collect our groceries at the Click and Collect in Woodend and then spend half an hour cleaning them on the stove hob and in the sink. I would light up the hob after the food cleaning exercise to kill bugs and spray the sink with Glen 20. The booze was delivered courtesy of the good people at Cellarbrations in Daylesford and it would spend a few days on the back deck de-bugging.
Exercise was with a mask around the Glenlyon Reserve and an excursion to get out of the house was a drive through Daylesford with the air conditioning on reticulation as recommended by a nurse we know. The world was upside down and if a pig had flown past the window, I would have simply said 'G’day'.
But back to the backyard birds. They were all individually named - there was Uncle Bulgaria, Dumper Duck and Puffy just to name a few. It was a multigenerational family of maggies that even during the breeding season never swooped, I have heard they do recognise individual people. Yes, it was crazy times and at times I thought I was going crazy, but things were what they were.
Speaking of crazy and before I bore you with the rest of my magpie yarn, scan the QR code below to check a battle myself and my nephew had. It was during an alien invasion at a recent virtual reality experience and will also give you some insight into the vocal levels during the magpie attack.
But back to bird skirmishes. I have chuckled my fair share of times at the “funniest home video style” antics of folks I have seen being attacked both on video and IRL. The screams, gyrations and at times, flesh wounds, as folks throw themselves on the ground, crash their bikes and do the 'hands in the air' dance.
Now it was my turn. As I walked around the corner under a low set of trees in a garden bed, I felt the first contact of the claws on my head. My first reaction was to put my sunglasses on my head as swoop two commenced with that horrible snapping noise they make with their beaks.
My second defence was to yell out “I know Uncle Bulgaria and his family” as I got lower into the garden. There seemed to be no escaping this pair of protective dive bombers, I kept running and stumbling into the undergrowth. At one stage, in an effort to pull some speed off my combination headfirst run and breakdance move, I hooked my arms around a tree trunk to slow me down and skun up my wrists, only to look up and see the mad bastard birds were only a metre from my face.
I did a backwards worm through the undergrowth that would have won at the Olympics, and then that was it, I was obviously at the limit of their protection zone. I finally emerged from the urban jungle bloodied, bruised and breathless, with a large audience looking on at the man responsible for the blood curdling screams.
Embarrassing bird rant over.
Local Lines
For Charlotte
I was saddened to hear, another young life was lost. Succumbed to the bullying, don’t they consider the cost.
This time a young girl, just twelve years of age. Such mindless actions, that fill me with rage.
She left her dear parents, a note with the names, of those who had bullied, played their mean games.
It asked they be invited, to see her put to rest. Atone for their sins, yes, that would be best.
When will we learn, not to give others such strife. Only then may we save, another person their life.
- Gary Wilkinson
Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters.
Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com
Gary is enjoying life away from full-time work and is catching up on the many duties around their small farm. An early riser, he often sits and reflects on life with poetry.
Pick me, pick me!
G’day! I’m Hayes. I’m feeling a bit depressed because nobody has adopted me yet.
I’m the longest-serving cat here after arriving in June. I am six and I am a sweet natured boy. I’d love to find a home where I will get a lot of love, but also have my own space when I need it. I would prefer a home with no small children or other pets. Microchip no. 956000010292720.
Come and meet me at the Mount Alexander Animal Welfare Shelter in Castlemaine. Phone: 5472 5277.
(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie & Curly - we picked them. And proudly supported by Daylesford's petstock - where pets are family.)
Just sayin’...
By Donna Kelly
There are a lot of big things going on. The biggest is the memorial service on Tuesday for the tragic incident last November which changed the history of Daylesford.
There are also elections in the wind, a legacy of a book being launched and even a woman recognised for her tireless work in getting CresFest up and running - and much more.
So plenty to write about but I am going with what some people might think is a smaller thing, but it really is one of those things that keeps our communities strong.
You may have already read the story on page 9 but long-standing Korweinguboora resident, and renowned cook, Jean Howard has had the local reserve's kitchen aptly named after her - Jean's Kitchen.
The kitchen was part of extensive renovations at the reserve's complex, with an official high tea attended by 50 people on October 27 to celebrate.
Now even if you can't spell Korweinguboora you should know where it is, on the Daylesford to Ballan Road. Blink as you drive by and you could easily miss it.
And that is why some people might think it's a story of little consequence. But I reckon it's a huge story and just one reason local papers need to continue. Like The Local.
Because without people like Jean, and committee chair Sue Bottrell, and indeed all the committee members, places like Korweinguboora could easily find themselves without a gathering space.
And it is repeated throughout all the small towns and hamlets in Australia. Volunteers giving up their time to ensure that future generations can enjoy weddings, birthdays, dinner dances, Christmas parties and even funerals in their own communities.
No matter how much money local, state and federal governments hand out, if there's not a willing band of volunteers, it ain't going to happen.
Jean, who has lived in the town for 75 years and was on the committee for 26 years, says it was exciting to have the kitchen named after her. A real honour, she says. "It was a lovely get together and catch up, especially with those who mean the most to me."
And the town is rightly proud of her work. Committee chair Sue Bottrell says the facility "is the most wonderful asset for Korweinguboora and brings people together to develop bonds and friendship".
"In these times of unprecedented loneliness and isolation, it is very important. Jean is renowned for her cooking and was a key driver behind upgrading the hall in the late 1990s by purchasing the local school and moving it to the reserve, instantly doubling the size of the facility. Without Jean’s leadership, dedication and determination, we would not have this wonderful space to use today."
So that's my take on the news this week. Wonderful people just going about their days, doing wonderful things for others. Never expecting anything in return but quite chuffed when their contributions are noted. This is what keeps our communities strong and vibrant. And why places like the Central Highlands make for such wonderful living.
Oh, back to the importance of local papers. I don't think Jean's Kitchen will make the Herald Sun or The Age or The Australian. But it makes The Local. Because Jean is local, and we only celebrate locals. Just sayin'...
Ageing DisGracefully members, including Max Primmer, get together at the Daylesford Mill Markets cafe on Thursdays at 11am. All welcome. For information email ageingdis3461@gmail. com, call 0427 131 249 or head to the Ageing DisGracefully Facebook page.
Ageing DisGracefully is an initiative of Hepburn House.
W RD CROSS
Here is the crossword solution for Edition 317. How did you go?
All words in the crossword appear somewhere in the same edition of The Local.
Markets...
Every Sunday - Daylesford Sunday Market
First Saturday - Daylesford Farmers Market, Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers Market, Woodend Farmers Market, Woodend Lions Market
First Sunday - Castlemaine Artists’ Market
Second Saturday - Trentham Community Group Market, Kyneton Farmers Market, Ballan Farmers Market, Kyneton Rotary Community Market
Second Sunday - Maldon Market, Clunes Farmers & Makers Market
Third Saturday - Trentham Farmers and Makers Market, Glenlyon Farmers Market, Leonards Hill Market, Creswick Market
Third Sunday - Talbot Farmers Market, Malmsbury Farmers Market
Fourth Sunday - Trentham Station Sunday Market, Buninyong Village Market
Lest We Forget
Remembrance Day
Monday, November 11
Creswick/Kingston:
Wreaths can be ordered via creswicksmeatonrslsec@gmail.com until November 6 for $40.
Creswick
Remembrance Service and wreath laying at 10.40am at the Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Creswick Cenotaph, corner Raglan and Albert streets, Creswick. Following the service, light refreshments at the RSL Hall. Details: Secretary on 0490 374 006.
Kingston
Remembrance service and wreath laying at 10.45am at the Kingston Cenotaph, corner Victoria and Kingston roads, Kingston. Details: Julie on 0448 071 583.
Kyneton/Trentham:
Kyneton
Remembrance wervice at 10.45am at the Cenotaph, Mollison Street, Kyneton. Trentham
Remembrance service at 10.45am at the Cenotaph, High Street, Trentham.
Aged Care
Services will also be conducted on Friday, November 8 at BUPA Kyneton at 10am, Trentham Aged Care at 11.45am and Respect RM Begg Kyneton at 2pm.
Daylesford:
Remembrance service and wreath laying at 11am at the Daylesford Cenotaph.
Clunes:
Remembrance service and wreath laying at 11am at the Clunes Cenotaph.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
By John McCrae
For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
