JUNE 11, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
The romance of local lore
(Luke Hemer)
Shirleyrose Rowe has lived in Bacchus Marsh for 35 years – but her book captures a much longer stretch of the town’s history. Ninety-three-year-old Rowe, who self-published History of an era with recipes under the name Shirley Rose, captured stories, history, and recipes from the Bacchus Marsh of between 1888 and 2002. She said the inspiration for the book came when she started running a now closed local cafe, Rose Cottage, with her daughter and became enthralled by the cottage’s history. “There is a big estate in the Rowsley Valley just out of Bacchus Marsh,” she said. “The head gardener there fell in love with the parlour maid and built that little cottage as their wedding present, and I thought that was very romantic. “When I heard that I made up my mind that I’d write a book. I’ve always liked a good story.” It took her about 10 years to finish the book – and after having 500 copies printed, she still has some to sell. “The town has grown so much since I moved here that there would be a lot of people that won’t know about the town’s history,” she said. To order a copy: shirley-rose.rowe@ bigpond.com Ewen McRae
Melton up in smoke Melton and Brimbank have the highest smoking rates in the west, new data reveals. Victoria University’s health policy think tank, the Mitchell Institute, has released new figures revealing daily smoking rates across Australia. In Melton and Brimbank, more than 17 per cent of adults are daily smokers. Melton is home to 17,690 daily smokers, while 26,921 people engage in the habit in Brimbank.
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We know that local factors are influencing the smoking rates - Ben Harris
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Hobsons Bay has a daily smoking rate of 16 per cent, while Wyndham and Maribyrnong’s smoking rates are at 15 per cent. Nationally, 14 per cent of adults smoke daily. The institute said national smoking rates have been on a steady decline since its peak in the 1970s when almost three quarters of Australian
men and one quarter of women smoked. Mitchell Institute health policy lead, Ben Harris said the local smoking rates were troubling. “We need to target and redouble our efforts to facilitate opportunities for people to quit,” he said. “We know that local factors are influencing the smoking rates. Where we live, where we work, when we left school, and who we know influences smoking. “We also know that the best way to stop children picking up the habit is to help
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the adults around them quit smoking.” Mr Harris said governments needed to better target their advertising and health services budgets to communities where smoking rates remained high. “We know the Quit smoking messages, combined with information on packaging about disease caused by smoking is very effective in encouraging people to quit. “Using local approaches and local knowledge could help make sure that all Australians are given the best opportunity to quit smoking and improve their health and wellbeing.”
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