TRUST Issue 4 (March 2018)

Issue 4 2018

TRUST THE NAT IONAL TRUSTS OF AUSTR ALIA magazine

Issue No. 4 2018 $8.95

Visit

T R U S T

LOST VALLEY at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Budj Bim

on the world stage

NATI ONA LTRUST.ORG.AU

GOLDEN YEARS Rippon Lea turns 150

join and get involved

NATIONAL TRUST

You can help support the places you love by becoming a member or donating to the National Trust.

If you are a National Trust member you will enjoy discounted access to hundreds of PROPERTIES in Australia and more than 800 FABULOUS DESTINATIONS around the world.

You also receive three complimentary copies of TRUST magazine and opportunities to attend events at discounted rates.

DISCOVER more about the BENEFITS of membership by going to www.nationaltrust.org.au/membership

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PHOTOGRAPHS KARA ROSENLUND, MARNIE HAWSON, MICHAEL WEE

NATIONAL TRUST

Encourage a FRIEND or FAMILY member to SIGN up or DONATE today and help us protect our special PLACES. Thank you!

The Greater Blue Mountains in NSW was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000.

Welcome

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH ABBIE MELLE EDITOR’S PORTRAIT MICHAEL WEE

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ustralia is a young nation in an ancient continent, with one of the oldest continuous living cultures on Earth. Some major achievements last year shone the global heritage spotlight on Australia, giving us new opportunities this year to showcase our expertise abroad.

Since I last wrote in the TRUST magazine, Australia has secured a World Heritage Committee seat and won the rights to host a General Assembly of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) for the first time. The World Heritage Committee and ICOMOS are two of the most prestigious heritage bodies in the world and it’s a credit to all involved that our country has been recognised in this way.

Australia has 19 sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, including the Sydney Opera House, Uluru–Kata Tjuta, Kakadu, the Great Barrier Reef and the Greater Blue Mountains. We have also lodged another nomination this year: for Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, the Gunditjmara eel aquaculture system in Victoria. So, we have much to share with the rest of the world, and I am thrilled we are on the World Heritage Committee through to 2021.

I am also looking forward to welcoming the “We have much to rest of the heritage world to Australia, when share with the rest the General Assembly of ICOMOS holds its next of the world, and triennial meeting in Sydney in 2020. In December, ICOMOS Australia, with our support, succeeded in I am thrilled we its bid to hold this internationally significant event are on the World which will attract about 1200 heritage experts from all corners of the globe.

Heritage Committee Of course, Australia wouldn’t be in such an through to 2021.” enviable position if it weren’t for the hard work done at home to protect our heritage. In the second half of 2017 alone, we celebrated three additions to our National Heritage List and the online publication of some great new heritage resources.

Two of our new listings bear witness to the experience of institutionalisation and those caught up in Australia’s social welfare system. For more than a century, Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne provided shelter, food, education and work for tens of thousands of women and children experiencing poverty and neglect. Parramatta Girls School and Institutions Precinct near Sydney was another refuge for the disadvantaged, but it was also a place of punishment, a marriage bureau, a labour hire depot and a home for ‘wayward’ women and children, sometimes held there against their will.

Our third new listing builds on the national heritage status of Sydney’s Kurnell Peninsula (where James Cook first landed in Australia in 1770) by recognising the extraordinary botanical collection that resulted from that visit. Botanist Sir Joseph Banks and naturalist Dr Daniel Solander developed one of the greatest botanical collections of all time, taking specimens from Kurnell Peninsula, La Perouse Headland and Towra Point Nature Reserve.

I was pleased to see new resources produced to help promote important heritage sites such as these, with the online publication of the Australian Heritage Council’s Australia’s National Heritage List: the story so far and its new map of National Heritage places.

With the Australian Heritage Festival fast approaching, now is the perfect time to revisit them. You can also keep up to date with our National Heritage Places on Facebook (@AustralianHeritageCouncil) and Instagram (@Austheritage).

I’M SURE MANY of you living in Victoria have visited the house on our cover this month. You would have walked along the wide hallways and through some of the 33 rooms that you can see in our story on page 34. These rooms were once home to Frederick Sargood and his family.

A large staff was required to keep this magnificent mansion and its beautiful garden running — seven maids, seven gardeners, a coachman, a groom and a butler. It’s hard to imagine the scale of this grandeur today and that’s why a visit to Rippon Lea, which is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, is at the top of my list next time I’m in Melbourne.

Another place to put in your travel plans is Clarendon House, south of Evandale in the heart of Tasmania’s rural Northern Midlands. And you will soon feel right at home in this Georgian manor featured on page 24 — which is exactly what National Trust Tasmania Managing Director Matthew Smithies wants. “We don’t view people as visitors, we view them as guests.

You don’t see barricades or ‘Do Not Touch’ signs any more. We’ve removed them all. That’s our philosophy.”

Adelaide has a very compelling reason for you to visit too. Costume designer Marion Boyce, who worked on The Dressmaker and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, has created an exhibition from the National Trust of South Australia’s collection. When invited to work on an exhibition concept, she asked to see the collection first and soon opened a box to discover four exquisite girls’ afternoon tea frocks — the Age of Elegance, which opens at Ayers House on March 29, quickly began to take shape. See our preview on page 62.

Enjoy the issue, Victoria Carey

Josh Frydenberg Minister for the Environment and Energy

Editor-in-chief Email editor@nationaltrust.org.au

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Mrs Macquarie greatly influenced the style of Old Government House...

“I’m sure the expansion was largely structured on her concepts of what a stately home should be.”

See page 44.

Contributors

photography michael wee, tracy ponich, Rosalind Wharton/Puddlehub

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Patron His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Editor Victoria Carey Creative director Jill Henderson Sub editors Melody Lord, Jennifer Stackhouse Writers Corrine Barraclough, Sophie Bleach, Ken Brooks, Bob Brown, Hilary Burden, Steve Dow, Erin Millar, Sarah Murphy, Christine Reid, Jennifer Stackhouse Photographers Anthony Basheer, Peter Dombrovskis, Sam Furlong, S. Guerrero, Hawker family, Marnie Hawson, Mary Johnston, Tyson Lovett-Murray, Abbie Melle, Sarah Murphy, Tracy Ponich, S. Saddick, Samuel Sweet, Claire Takacs, Brian Usher, Michael Wee Rosalind Wharton Calendar and news editor Melody Lord

Tracy Ponich

Michael Wee

Hilary Burden

This photographer, based in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, spent 12 months visiting the National Trust property Everglades in Leura near her home, camera in hand. The resulting photographs form the basis for an exhibition and a book, both titled Transitions, which trace the changing seasons in the Paul Sorensendesigned garden. The exhibition opens at Everglades in May as part of the Australian Heritage Festival. Tracy says the staff at Everglades embraced her project. “It was delightful to be able to return so often to such a beautiful place.” See the results on page 68.

After shooting Parramatta’s Old Government House several times recently, this Sydney-based photographer was left with a lasting impression of colonial life. “Walking through those rooms, you can just imagine what it was like in those days,” he explains. Michael was also very impressed with the volunteer guides.

“Ask any question and they have an answer straight away!” A regular contributor to many of Australia’s leading lifestyle and interiors magazines, he is happiest when roaming around the countryside with his camera.

Turn to page 44 to see his story.

While working on her story about Clarendon on page 24, it hit home to this Tassie-based writer and ABC Radio reporter–presenter the challenge faced by the National Trust “in making heritage relevant to a new generation more connected with technology than tradition,” she says.

Hilary grew up in Tasmania and, after working in London for 17 years, returned to a smallholding not far from where she spent her childhood.

This freelance journalist has written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and Daily Mail in the UK, and The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.

Publication is co-coordinated by the Australian Council of National Trusts of Australia and is supported by the Australian Government through the National Trust Partnership Program. The views expressed in TRUST are not necessarily those of the National Trusts or the Australian Government. The articles in this magazine are subject to copyright. No article may be used without the consent of the National Trust and the author. Australian Council of National Trusts, PO Box 413, Campbell ACT 2612; admin@nationaltrust.org.au; nationaltrust.org.au. For advertising rates, contact: admin@nationaltrust.org.au For editorial submissions, contact editor@nationaltrust.org.au. Printed by Blue Star Web, 83 Derby Street, Silverwater, NSW 2128 under ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems certification. Trust is published by the Australian Council of National Trusts (ABN 54 008 444 684) for National Trust members. ISSN: 1835-2316

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“The whole place comes alive when we hold events or weddings,� says Chairman of the Clarendon House committee Ray Foley.

Clarendon is opening its impressive doors and inviting visitors to take a more hands-on approach to celebrating and preserving the past. See the story on page 24.

Contents Issue No. 4

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cover Story

62 Cover stories

The gilded walls of Rippon Lea add their sparkle to planned birthday celebrations this year.

Writer CHRISTINE REID Photographer ANTHONY BASHEER

22 budj bim on the world stage.

34 golden years Rippon Lea turns 150.

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Visit lost valley at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

People 10 celebrating hiStory The spotlight is on the Old Umbrella Shop in Launceston, Tasmania.

opposite page photograph marnie hawson this page photographs marnie hawson, michael wee

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AGE OF ELEGANCE Film and TV costume designer Marion Boyce co-curates an exhibition of 19th century party wear.

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Books 16

EXTRACT: wild at heart The breathtaking beauty of Tasmania’s wilderness is celebrated and, ultimately, preserved in the photographs of Peter Dombrovskis.

Heritage 22 Budj Bim on the world stage The Budj Bim

Travel 54

the right note Beginning a music festival from scratch was a challenge that brought rich rewards and showcased the history of the small Tasmanian town of Evandale.

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lost valley Explore a forgotten world at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Cultural Landscape could soon be World Heritage listed.

72 what’s in store A historical snapshot of everyday life from a century of trading at Brennan & Geraghty’s Store.

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australian heritage festival Many events will celebrate history and heritage places across Australia.

Place 24 view to the future Preserving the past for a new generation means challenging accepted practices of conservation at Clarendon in Tasmania.

34 unlock the past Rippon Lea in Elsternwick, Victoria, celebrates its 150th birthday in 2018.

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east and west Old Government House in NSW’s Parramatta is not merely a product of the colony’s early days, but a link with India and beyond.

the search for moritz wertheimer One family’s quest drew attention to the importance of remembering and learning from the past at the East Perth Cemeteries.

Exhibition 68 a year of change Photographer Tracy Ponich captures subtle changes in the historic garden landscape at Everglades in Leura, NSW, as it transitions through the seasons.

Regulars 2

MEMBERSHIP How to become a National Trust member.

Discover more about the benefits of membership by going to nationaltrust.org.au/membership

85 NEWS & EVENTS Your guide to keeping in touch with what the National Trust is doing around the country.

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LAST WORD: Heaven or hell The Historic Houses Association of Australia is holding its first conference in April.

SPECIAL NOTE: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that pages in this issue may contain images of, and written references to, people who have died. Attention: In the Spring edition, the story “Fanny Balbuk Yooreel: Realising a Resistance Fighter” should have credited Gina Pickering as writer and photographer of the WA Inspired Art Quilters, and elders May McGuire and Marie Taylor. The Noongar men, women and children portrait was provided by the State Library of Western Australia 025341PD issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

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ARTS

Celebrating history A small advertising shop display that features in a new exhibition has put the spotlight on a very special museum and business in Tasmania. The Old Umbrella Shop in Launceston captures a bygone era. photographer MARNIE HAWSON writer Sophie Bleach

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THIS PAGE: Arts Tasmania Roving Curator, Melissa Smith, with the papier-mâchÊ piece from the Old Umbrella Shop. It is one of 10 items to be displayed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery during autumn in a new exhibition. OPPOSITE PAGE: Heritage umbrellas in the Launceston shop, which is part retail outlet and part museum.

arts

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n item from Launceston’s Old Umbrella Shop in Tasmania is part of a statewide exhibition entitled 10 Objects – 10 Stories: Celebrating Community Collections, which has been developed by Arts Tasmania. The exhibition celebrates Tasmania’s community museums and the important role they play as the storytellers and custodians of Tasmania’s cultural heritage.

Exhibition curators, Melissa Smith and Veronica Macno, who are Roving Curators for Arts Tasmania, selected the objects to represent the diversity, as well as the geographical spread, of collections in Tasmania.

From the Old Umbrella Shop in the north of Tasmania, the pair chose a three-dimensional papier-mâché advertising shop display based on the Fox’s Frames company logo. It depicts a fox sheltering beneath an umbrella. This piece joins nine other items from across Tasmania, including a silk brocade dress from the East Coast Heritage Museum, Swansea, and the recorded oral history of Alec Campbell from the Sound Preservation Association of Tasmania, at Bellerive in Hobart.

Melissa Smith says the Fox’s Frames advertising piece, which she dates to the early 1900s, tells an important part of the story of the Old Umbrella Shop, which is now owned and run by the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania).

“We were drawn to this piece because of its uniqueness and because it is so representative of the shop’s history,” she explains.

Located in the central hub of historic Launceston, the Old Umbrella Shop is one of Australia’s oldest original shops. For almost a century, the small, unassuming shop front at 60 George Street in Launceston has remained unchanged while the city has grown around it.

The story of Launceston’s Old Umbrella Shop began in 1920 when Robert Walter Shott (1858–1935) — who had recently moved from Melbourne where he had operated a successful umbrella shop since the late 1880s — opened the business in George Street as R. Shott & Son. Robert had already gained a reputation in Melbourne for his ingenuity and the extraordinary quality of his work, after he invented the folding umbrella frame, which he sold to the Fox Umbrella Company.

Soon after opening in Launceston, Robert gained a name in the community for his excellent craftsmanship of umbrellas and other items. He started using Tasmanian timbers in his products and was chosen to present a walking stick to the Prince of Wales during the royal visit to Tasmania in 1920.

By the mid 1920s, Robert Walter’s son Robert Martin Shott (1899–1964) began to take a more active role within the business.

Robert junior shared his father’s woodworking skill and expanded the business to include the production and sale of quality Tasmanian wooden souvenirs. >

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THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Heritage umbrellas on display in the Old Umbrella Shop in Launceston; landscape vignettes feature in painted panels; owned since 1979 by the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), the shop is run by a team of volunteers including (from left) Kate Waining, Carolyn Heine, Pat Clark and Roxy Oliver; the National Trust plaque tells the history of the shop, one of the oldest in Australia; original signage has been preserved; volunteer Pat Clark with an umbrella from the collection. OPPOSITE PAGE: Ornate umbrella handles.

“Throughout its years of operation as the Old Umbrella Shop the VOLUNTARY WORKERS have been a happy and friendly group.”

ARTS

John William Robert Shott (1925–1978) was the last Shott to inherit and operate R. Shott & Son. He began working in the store as a teenager. His sister Dare repaired and sewed decorations onto the now-famous Shott umbrellas and the siblings carried the business from strength to strength. Launceston City Council regularly presented souvenirs from the shop as civic gifts. Following John’s death, the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) acquired the shop in 1979. The heritage façade and interior were retained and the retail operations continued. The business became known as the Old Umbrella Shop.

Part community museum, part information centre and part retail business, the shop is now operated by an extraordinary group of more than 90 National Trust volunteers, who continue to uphold the remarkable legacy of the Shott family and also preserve the store’s continuous history.

Pat Clark, who has been volunteering at the shop since 1989, says it holds a special place in the hearts of locals and volunteers alike.

“Throughout its years of operation as the Old Umbrella Shop the volunteer staff have been a happy and friendly group who have all worked in the interests of the National Trust,” she says.

In addition to buying stock, working in the shop and displaying wares, the volunteers provide a fount of local knowledge to the crowds of tourists who visit this well-known attraction each year.

Kate Waining has been volunteering at the Old Umbrella Shop since 1984 and has been buying for the shop for more than 30 years.

Along with many other long-serving faces, she has become synonymous with the small retail outlet.

“The smooth running of the shop has been a feature of the venture since its inception,” says Kate. “This is due to the enthusiasm and dedication of the volunteer staff.”

The exhibition, 10 Objects – 10 Stories: Celebrating Community Collections, opens on March 23rd and runs until May 13th at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Dunn Place, Hobart, Tasmania; tmag.tas.gov.au.

Profits from the Old Umbrella Shop at 60 George Street, Launceston, Tasmania, support the work of the National Trust. Entry is free. The shop is open Monday–Friday 9am–5pm, and Saturday 9am–12noon; nationaltrust.org.au/places; (03) 6331 9248.

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The Old Umbrella Shop continues to sell umbrellas and other items as it has for almost 100 years; umbrellas are on show throughout the historic shop interior; the shop’s exterior on George Street in the heart of Launceston retains its original signage. OPPOSITE PAGE: This original cash register is still in use.

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Book

THIS PAGE: Myrtle Tree in Rainforest at Mount Anne, Southwest National Park, Tasmania 1984.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Frosted Pelion Plains and Mount Oakleigh, Cradle Mountain– Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania 1992.

As the sun rose, Peter captured the moment before the frost melted from the tussock grass and the mist dissipated.

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wild at heart The breathtaking beauty of Tasmania’s wilderness is celebrated and, ultimately, preserved in the pages of a book of the photographs of peter dombrovskis, with a passionate foreword penned by Bob Brown.

THIS PAGE: Downstream View of Central Corridor, First Split, Gordon River, Franklin– Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania 1981 OPPOSITE PAGE: Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, Franklin– Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania c. 1980.

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eter Dombrovskis was a genius of Australian nature photography. His art played a key role in awakening the nation’s environmental conscience. It was fundamental to presenting Tasmania’s wild scenery to a delighted nation and world and so to establishing the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

I knew Peter for 20 years, yet we saw relatively little of each other.

He was busy taking photographs of nature and I was more directly involved in campaigning for nature. The two pursuits dovetailed.

“Photography is, quite simply, a means of communicating my concern for the beauty of the Earth,” Peter wrote in 1984. His art came with environmental ambition.

In 1983, the Australian High Court had ruled that the federal government’s power to protect the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area overrode the Tasmanian state government’s right to build the Gordonbelow-Franklin dam. It was a watershed decision for the wild rivers catchments and for national environmental politics. It put a new spring into Peter’s thinking compared with his dread — shared by many other campaigners — two years earlier when the dam works were set to start.

In 1981, the odds were stacked so much in favour of the dam that I ventured to ask the inherently shy Dombrovskis if he would allow the Tasmanian Wilderness Society to make a film of him

photographing the threatened but almost unknown Gordon Splits.

His time-lapse photographs of the narrower First Split, which is less than six metres wide, give the appearance of a misty marble pathway between impregnable cliffs. Still waters flowing deep.

As with Peter himself, there was great turmoil beneath the surface.

With his large Linhof camera on a sturdy tripod, squeezed amid the shrubbery on a shelf on the cliff, Peter’s anguish at the plans to drown this unsung heirloom of Australia’s landscape beneath the backed-up waters of the Gordon-below-Franklin dam came boiling up: “If the dam goes ahead, I would find it simply too painful to stay here. I would leave Tasmania. I wouldn’t stay!”

This genuine desperation came out of bitter experience. In 1972, the Middle Gordon dam had been completed upstream on the Gordon River. It had obliterated the internationally celebrated beauty of Lake Pedder National Park. At the centre of the campaign to save Lake Pedder was Peter’s mentor Olegas Truchanas, who slipped and disappeared beneath the Gordon’s fast-flowing waters during his quest to photograph the country threatened by the next object of the dam builders’ zeal, the Gordon-below-Franklin dam.

Within the year, Lake Pedder was also drowned.

On the Gordon Splits cliff shelf in 1981, Peter knew that Olegas’s dream was again challenged by the impending nightmare of the drowning of what remained of Tasmania’s wilderness heartland.

Beyond those cliffs and below the planned flood line of the

“Photography is a means of communicating my concern for the beauty of the Earth.”

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book

Gordon-below-Franklin dam were life-filled rainforests, limestone caves with ancient Aboriginal fireplaces, verdant canyons and fern-flanked waterfalls, 3000-year-old Huon pines and button grass heath lands, which turn to fields of white under the snows of winter.

It was a prospect Peter would not abide. His camera was his most potent weapon and he had already brought it into the fray. At my request, in 1979, and again in 1980 and 1981, Peter rafted solo through the 70 kilometres of the Franklin gorge country from the Lyell Highway to the proposed Gordon-belowFranklin dam site.

When Peter placed a postcard-sized horizontal transparency of Rock Island Bend on his light-box, I was galvanised and jumped to my feet. Here was the tree-topped rocky isolate where the Franklin bends from south to east before its waters flow down the Newland Cascades to the river’s wider, tranquil lower reaches. This lovely place had caught my eye on my first trip down the river in 1976.

Now Peter had brought to the scene a far greater dimension of mystical reality. He put the ancient upright island in the centre, with no distracting rafters. The flood-swept cliffs of his photograph are

populated with a rainforest throng, which disappears up into the lowering morning mist while, in the foreground, white foam patterns the surface of the river as if we are watching the arboreal audience on the crowded decks above being mesmerised by the swirling curlicues below. Yet there is no-one to be seen.

The anthropomorphic construct clears, like the mist, to leave only exquisite natural beauty.

That beauty would be obliterated if the Gordon-below-Franklin dam went ahead.

Here was an indisputable photograph representing what would be lost if the campaign to stop the dam failed.

In the last four years of the ‘No Dams’ campaign, Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend was reproduced a million times: beautifully reproduced as posters (Peter oversaw the production), ordinarily reprinted on pamphlets, and disastrously smudged in black-and-white when The Australian newspaper obligingly tried to match it with a letter I penned calling for the rivers’ reprieve.

Peter’s photographs, like this one, are exuberant portrayals of the land, water and vegetation. Darkness and brooding rarely get a go.

The sky mostly does not figure. Some of his most arresting scenes >

His camera was his most potent weapon and he had already brought it into the fray.

Book THIS PAGE: Mount Hayes, Western Arthur Range, Southwest National Park, Tasmania 1996. Not long after taking this photograph of an alpine meadow in the Western Arthur Range, Peter collapsed and died on the track.

His photographic legacy is now safely in the National Library of Australia.

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THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Autumn Colour of Deciduous Beech, Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania 1990; Peter’s book; Ice and Alpenglow, Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania 1979; Pigface in Flower, Tarkine Wilderness, West Coast, Tasmania 1993.

are in the misty stillness after dawn. Aware of the advantages of each season — and summer had fewest — he returned time and again to favourite places to catch the transience of flowers, snow or Tasmania’s unique deciduous beech turning autumnal gold.

Yet this ethereal ambience is not manufactured. Anyone who has been truly alone in the wilds of Tasmania will recognise that this is its essence for humanity, its transcendental gift for the human soul.

This is where Peter Dombrovskis takes us: to a wild unfathomable planet that sings to our souls.

Peter Dombrovskis’ legacy is much more than the photographs in his book or in the National Library archive. His legacy includes the places open to mining, logging and dam building when he first called with his camera and tripod that are now protected in national parks or in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, which covers 1.58 million hectares.

We lost Peter’s genius way too early in March 1996. High in the Western Arthurs Range, alone near Mt Hayes just west of Lake Oberon, his heart gave way and he fell lifeless to the track in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. While his spirit may be there, through the gift of his photographic record, it is also alive and here for everyone to enjoy. Extract from Bob Brown’s introduction to Journeys into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis, NLA Publishing, $39.99.

He returned time and again to favourite places to catch the transience of flowers, snow or Tasmania’s... autumnal gold.

heritage

BUDJ BIM

ON THE world STAGE China’s Great Wall, Egypt’s pyramid fields… and Australia’s Budj Bim. Most Australians have heard of the first two man-made wonders, but what about the third? The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape could soon rank alongside these World Heritage–listed sites recognised for their outstanding universal value.

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clockwise, FROM TOP LEFT: Denise Lovett and her grandson, Nyawi Moore, visit Country to learn about kooyang (eel) aquaculture (Copyright Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Corporation); Bunjil Lovett netting a kooyang in one of the Tae Rak holding ponds (Copyright Tyson Lovett–Murray); eel trap channel on Kurtonitj Indigenous Protected Area (Photograph Tyson Lovett–Murray. Copyright Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Corporation.) opposite page: Tae Rak (Lake Condah) returning water flows to the kooyang (eel) aquaculture system (2010) (Copyright Tyson Lovett–Murray).

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unditjmara Aboriginal people have known for millennia how special the cultural landscape is at Budj Bim. In 2017 they nominated their remarkable place for inclusion on the World Heritage List. Located in their traditional Country in southwestern Victoria, the aquaculture system is one of the most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems in the world.

Gunditjmara stories and oral histories document their cultural knowledge, practices and material culture and are supported by scientific research and historical documents. Some 30,000 years ago, Gunditjmara people witnessed the eruption of the Budj Bim volcano, where an Ancestral Being was transformed into part of the landscape.

For the past 6600 years, Gunditjmara people have managed water flows from nearby Tae Rak (Lake Condah) to harvest and farm kooyang (eels) and other fish. Gunditjmara created, manipulated and modified rocks in the Budj Bim lava flow, to construct an ingenious engineering system and patchwork of wetlands. Interconnected networks of stone channels, weirs and dams co-opted the seasonal flooding to trap, store and harvest kooyang across the aquaculture system that extends from Tae Rak, 30 kilometres south down Killara (Darlot Creek) to Portland Bay. This place of antiquity, set amid rugged stone country, woodlands, wetlands and lakes, is owned or co-managed by Gunditjmara people. The Australian and Victorian Governments support the Budj Bim rangers to manage, conserve, and protect the three areas that make up the nominated property. Their collaborative, customary and adaptive management framework combines traditional ecological and cultural knowledge with science. This includes Gunditjmara-led research and interpretation, management and monitoring of native flora and fauna, building and maintaining walking tracks, providing guided tours and running the visiting schools program.

The nationally listed Budj Bim Cultural Landscape became the first Indigenous place listed on the National Heritage List in 2004, protected under national environment law. Gunditjmara people’s ambitions for global recognition of the site began earlier,

with World Heritage status first proposed in 1989. In 2007, Gunditjmara Traditional Owners native title was recognised and momentum for the nomination built. In 2010, the Gunditjmara achieved another long-held goal, to construct a cultural weir at Tae Rak to return and enhance the water flow across the aquaculture system.

In early 2017, the Australian and Victorian Governments supported the nomination of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape to Australia’s Tentative World Heritage List. In January this year, the formal nomination dossier was submitted to the World Heritage Centre in Paris. The World Heritage Committee is expected to vote on the nomination in 2019.

The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is the first Australian World Heritage site to be nominated by Traditional Owners exclusively for Aboriginal cultural values. Outstanding cultural values are recognised and celebrated in conjunction with other values at Kakadu National Park and Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park.

Gunditjmara people’s knowledge, cultural practices and traditions associated with the Budj Bim cultural landscape, including storytelling, dance and basket weaving, endure and continue to be passed down through their Elders.

Budj Bim Tours, a company owned and managed by Gunditjmara, offers guided tours on demand; (03) 5527 1699.

Easy access points for self-guided visitors • Budj Bim National Park: highlights include crater lake lookout (Lake Surprise), campground and Budj Bim Trail (unsealed walking and cycling route).

• Tyrendarra: highlights includes Gilgar Gunditj Visitor Place, walking trail and boardwalk, interpretative signage, wetland, floodplain and lava flow landscapes, stone circles, channels and weirs.

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Place

View to the future

Preserving the past for a new generation means challenging accepted practices of conservation. At Clarendon in Tasmania, intimacy and openness are both encouraged. photographer marnie hawson writer Hilary Burden

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t the end of a country lane a discreet sign directs you to park on an elegant front lawn in the shade of an avenue of majestic elms. It’s as if you were arriving at your very own private Georgian manor.

Imagine, then, that you are invited to enter the house via the front steps and use the big knocker on the front door to announce your arrival.

Nothing is accidental in this relaxed and open approach at Clarendon House, south of Evandale in the heart of Tasmania’s rural Northern Midlands. National Trust Tasmania Managing Director Matthew Smithies says, “We don’t view people as visitors, we view them as guests.” It’s a model he says they adopted from Kew Palace in the UK. “You don’t see barricades or ‘Do Not Touch’ signs any more,” says Smithies. “We’ve removed them all. That’s our philosophy.”

And it works. Instead, you are invited to stroll through Clarendon as if you owned it. You’ll see ‘guests’, who’ve never met one another before, sitting around the dining table, having a chat, not necessarily about heritage, but about their travels or life experiences. “And that’s what a dining room is for,” says Smithies.

Outside, in the grounds of Australia’s grandest rural colonial estate, set in seven hectares of parklands on the banks of the South Esk River, couples take intimate strolls through the gardens, sit on benches in the walled garden, and feel part of history rather than observers from behind a guard rail. Families picnicking on the grounds only serve to heighten the impression.

Realising it has to appeal to a new generation, the National Trust has welcomed a fresh era for the three-storey house, built in 1838 by James Cox. Corporate functions, special dinners and weddings in the atmospheric brick barn are increasingly popular, with the added appeal of the colonial era scene floodlit at night. >

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Nothing is accidental in this relaxed and open approach at Clarendon House.

THIS PAGE: The quaint gardener’s cottage overlooks the river.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Clarendon boasts seven hectares of formal and informal gardens.

PREVIOUS PAGES: The imposing Georgian manor is on the banks of the South Esk River.

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Living spaces are furnished to seem as though the former occupants of the house simply left the room.

“The whole place comes alive when we hold events or weddings.

People want a colonial experience they can’t get anywhere else.”

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THIS PAGE, clockwise from top: Sumptuous drapes are carefully preserved; a trompe l’oeil painting featuring a surprising combination of wildlife; Dulux is creating special paints that mirrors the original distemper. OPPOSITE PAGE: The opulently furnished dining room at Clarendon.

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“The whole place comes alive when we hold events or weddings,” says Chairman of the Clarendon House committee Ray Foley. “People are wanting to have a colonial experience they can’t get anywhere else. We’re not decrying the old-fashioned way of virtually selling raffle tickets to keep going. But two years ago we needed to raise $200,000 to replace the roof here. Our new approach has put Clarendon in a very special light.”

Last year, hydrologist, building and land management reports were commissioned for the property, and a new master plan for the whole site was delivered, including a conservation management plan for the gardens. Smithies explains that many current heritage management standards were set 30 or 40 years ago, and “we still follow the basic principles” set in the Burra Charter for conservation management. However, he is also encouraging the Trust to ask whether all those principles are still applicable today.

New York–based archeo-anthropologist Franklin Vagnone, co-author of the Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, was inspired by a visit to Clarendon, and is providing ongoing insight into future development, based on a fun approach to heritage.

The property’s vistas are being cleared of weedy overgrowth: you can now see across farm plains and up to the Great Western Tiers. Dulux is creating paints that mirror the original distemper colours of all the internal walls. The traditional lime wash exterior will be returned, replacing the contemporary plastic-finish paint.

“We’re using Clarendon as a pilot, looking at the site in a different way,” says Smithies. “We don’t measure success in dollars through the till. Is that the way we should be measuring the success of our heritage contribution? When you start thinking that, it moves you into a different space.”

Professor David Adams from the University of Tasmania has also played a role in encouraging the Trust to explore how >

“We don’t measure success through dollars through the till. Is that a way we should be measuring the success of our heritage contribution?”

heritage attributes can benefit community wellness, through volunteering, education and community identity. Clarendon has also entered into a partnership arrangement with nearby heritage properties Brickendon and Woolmers Estate, creating a collaborative interpretation program with a fresh, integrated approach. The house itself will soon welcome the impressive Australian Fly Fishing Museum, currently in an outlying cottage in the grounds.

“We’re looking at heritage management in a different way,” says Smithies, “rather than being absolutely passionate about heritage so that becomes the overwhelming process in decision making. It took a while for people to understand. But now we have the prototype of a revised heritage management framework, we can pick it up and overlay it on different sites in Tasmania. It will work nationally too.”

Smithies agrees the new roof has been a turning point.

Ten thousand slates were replaced — imported from Wales — with internal engineering work conducted within the roof space.

He says the National Trust has known for 25 years that the roof would need replacing: “The task had always been seen as too big and too difficult, but it came in ahead of time and on budget.

In the heritage world that rarely happens!

“It’s been a fantastic project. With the new roof, there’s a new hat on the old girl. Now we can get on and work on the rest.”

Clarendon is at 234 Clarendon Station Road, Nile, via Evandale, Tasmania. The house is open Thursday–Sunday 10am–4pm or by appointment for group bookings and events.

The grounds are available to explore daily. Bookings for tours are essential and available through nationaltrusttas.rezdy.com.

Devonshire Teas available at our wonderful Tea House. Please confirm house opening times by calling (03) 6398 6220, email clarendon@nationaltrusttas.org.au or visit nationaltrust.org.au.

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THIS PAGE: Details from the daily life of Clarendon’s former inhabitants bring history and heritage to life.

OPPOSITE PAGE: An interest in natural history is revealed in many of the curios and other items that are on display.

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Unlock the past Rippon Lea in Elsternwick, Victoria, celebrates its 150th birthday in 2018 ­— make sure you visit this magnificent mansion and walk around nearly six hectares of superb gardens. photographer Anthony Basheer writer Christine Reid

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R

ippon Lea estate, in suburban Melbourne, is the only National Trust property on the National Heritage Register. It’s the highest profile property in the Victorian Trust’s portfolio and this year it celebrates 150 years as a national treasure.

Rippon Lea, built and developed between 1868 and 1903, was the creation of leading Victorian politician and businessman Sir Frederick Sargood.

The house was designed in the Romanesque style by Joseph Reed, one of Melbourne’s most prominent architects in the 19th century, who was inspired by the polychrome brickwork he saw on a trip to Lombardy in 1863. The garden is a remarkable example of a 19th century landscape around a suburban mansion that has survived almost without alteration.

However, the story of Rippon Lea is far from locked in the past.

In the 21st century, with sustainability a key issue and careful environmental practices at the forefront in managing historic properties, Frederick Sargood’s Rippon Lea has some fascinating lessons for the present day. He was a visionary, foreseeing the importance of self-sufficiency, and installed a reliable and efficient water supply to the property, using complex recycling technology that includes the household water. Sargood’s achievement, through his foresight, was to turn the flat, sandy wasteland on which the house was built into a brilliant and productive garden.

The Trust’s Chief Execuive Officer, Simon Ambrose, who has a background in tourism and heritage properties, began work at the Trust in August 2016. He points out that Sargood had >

THIS PAGE: The drawing room was originally Frederick Sargood’s study. OPPOSITE PAGE: The main staircase leads to the upper floor with its imposing and elegant spaces.

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THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: This room has been the main bedroom in the house since 1868; a baby grand piano in the drawing room; Louisa Jones inherited the house in the 1930s and redecorated some of the rooms, including the drawing room, in ‘Hollywood style’. OPPOSITE PAGE: The main staircase of the house. FOLLOWING PAGES: The ornamental lake was first excavated in the 1870s.

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recycling innovations installed in the house itself. “The entire house has a heating and cooling system that is quite elaborate.

In summer it uses what is known as a Tobin Tube system, which is a collection of ducts that enable the cross flow of cool air through the property; however, in reality these systems were not as successful as was hoped. The house also had its own electricity supply.”

Although visitors to the house may not be able to explore the intricacies of the heating and cooling, in this 150th birthday year at Rippon Lea, they are in for a few exciting surprises.

Ambrose explains: “We’ve had Commonwealth Government funding for work on the interior of the house. With these changes and renovations, we’ve been able to open up parts of the house

that have never been on show. Exposing the servants’ quarters has allowed a reinterpretation of the house that’s sure to expand visitors’ experience. We’ll be giving the full ‘Downstairs, Upstairs’ experience: from the silk upholstery on the chairs in the formal rooms and grand piano to the plainly furnished small attics. They will have a laugh at the 1950s TV room we’ve created, too. We have put the emphasis in this area on activity; a visitor can sit on the chairs and lie on the beds. It’s not about just looking.”

“Even more exciting, we’ve been able to open the entrance to the tower; imagine how visitors are going to love that. They will have a wonderful bird’s-eye view of the garden.”

The garden, nearly six hectares, is of international significance.

Initially it was formal in design, but on his return from London > issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

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Sir Frederick Sargood was a visionary in the importance of self-sufficiency and installed a reliable and efficient water supply to the property.

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THIS PAGE: Built in the 1870s, when ferns were the height of fashion, the fernery is a cool sanctuary on a hot day.

in 1880 Sargood made dramatic alterations. The formal beds and gravel walks were replaced with a more picturesque landscape.

Although reduced from its original size, the garden retains many important elements of this style, including an ornamental lake, mound and grotto, magnificent fernery, conservatory, serpentine carriageway, and wide expanses of lawn. Among the rustic garden buildings is an enchanting archery house. This year the old gardener’s cottage, having been restored, will be open.

“But the major changes outside will be seen in the renovated stable complex where new interpretative displays will be on show,” Ambrose says.

“All this area is undergoing a radical change. This year we should be ready to open a café and meeting area for up to 100 people. Even though the stable area is being reworked,

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the stables themselves will still have that wonderful atmosphere of the horse and carriage days,” he says.

A property the size and age of Rippon Lea requires considerable repair and maintenance. “The Trust’s management focus through the Foundation of the National Trust of Victoria is to build the asset base: our aim is to have $200 million in reserve to support the Trust’s work and guarantee the future of properties such as Rippon Lea,” Ambrose says.

In this celebratory year for Rippon Lea, why not make time to revisit this property? If you have never visited, make it a must.

Rippon Lea is at 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick, Victoria.

Open every day, except Good Friday and Christmas Day, 10am–5pm. For further information phone (03) 9523 6095, email ripponlea@nattrust.com.au or visit nationaltrust.org.au.

Easter Fun Day • Meet the Easter Bunny • Easter egg hunt • Craft activities • Outdoor games • Mansion tours

SUNDAY 1 APRIL 2018 10AM – 4PM Rippon Lea Estate 192 Hotham St, Elsternwick BOOK TICKETS AT ripponleaestate.com.au #ripponlea #nationaltrustvic

east & west

Old Government House in NSW’s Parramatta is not merely a product of the COLONY’S early days, but a link with India and beyond. A new exhibition allows this Georgian property to open doors to a world we know little about. photographerMichael Wee writer Steve Dow

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ou need a very large key to open the front door of Old Government House at Parramatta, 23 kilometres west of Sydney. This Georgian vice-regal residence was the country retreat for the first 10 governors of New South Wales. That grand front door swings open to reveal an entrance hall with a striking chessboard-patterned floor painted to mimic the marble floors of European residences.

National Trust of Australia (NSW) President, Brian Powyer, imagines that it was here that Governor Lachlan Macquarie, the Colony’s fifth governor (1810–1821), kept visitors waiting, as befitted his power. Governor and Mrs Macquarie frequently retreated to Parramatta to escape the dirt and crime of Sydney Town.

The old building has stood the test of time and recently gained World Heritage listing in recognition of its status as Australia’s oldest surviving public building. Regular work is needed by the Trust to maintain its 200-year-old historic fabric. Recent restoration work, which was carried out by tradesmen with traditional skills, repaired cracks in the walls caused by pressure on the clay ground surface due to varying weather conditions along with seepage into the basement and cellars.

In 1967, the National Trust began restoring the house, settling on the style of the Macquarie era. Before it was acquired by the Trust, it had been used for the first half of the 20th century as boarding dormitories for boys from the nearby King’s School.

Today, Old Government House’s colonial story is expanded with exhibitions of both historical and contemporary relevance, such as Tales from the East, which chronicles Macquarie’s years in India, where he had spent most of his adult life prior to arriving in NSW. >

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In 1967, the National Trust began restoring the house, eventually settling on the style of the Macquarie era.

THIS PAGE: Two bergère chairs flank the fireplace in the dining room. OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE from top: A rare baby grand piano, thought to be circa 1804 and made of mahogany and satinwood, in the drawing room; a side table with a tea caddy; the entrance hall with its striking floor and fanlight windows, looking out to the Francis Greenway portico. issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

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THIS PAGE: The kitchen is furnished with all the practical equipment that would have been used at the time of the Macquaries’ residency, whether for preparing private meals or entertaining important visitors. This kitchen cupboard shows 19th-century tankards and copper jelly moulds on the shelves. opposite PAGE: A 19th-century pine work table in the kitchen, with a pre-refrigeration meat safe behind it.

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The building has stood the test of time and recently gained World Heritage listing.

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THIS PAGE: The four-poster bed was given by Governor Macquarie to Sergeant Charles Whalan, who served him as a member of the Governor’s Bodyguard of Light Horse. opposite PAGE, clockwise from top: The butler’s pantry, where the butler would prepare guest meals and set menus; the staircase (built around 1816–17) is made predominantly of Australia red cedar and rosewood; in the Governor’s bedroom, a side table with a personal mirror and Anglo–Indian objects reflect Elizabeth Macquarie’s interests.

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Brian Powyer’s favourite room is Macquarie’s small study, its present glass floor revealing the foundations of an earlier wattle-and-daub building of 1789, built under orders of the first governor, Arthur Phillip. This first vice-regal house, used as both a rural residence and a store for produce from a government farm across the Parramatta River, was removed a decade later when the second NSW governor, John Hunter, ordered convicts to rebuild.

Continuing food shortages encouraged the Colony’s governors to prospect for land further west as they sought arable land. This hunt for resources brought colonists into violent skirmishes with the Dharug people. In response Governor Phillip ordered a fort to be built for protection of the convicts from “native attack”. The redoubt quickly fell into disrepair and was removed. It was also Governor Phillip who named the local area; Powyer says that Phillip misheard the pronunciation of the Burramattagal clan of the Dharug and thus called the area Parramatta.

A quarter of a century later, Mrs Macquarie greatly influenced the style of Old Government House, including the addition of pavilions on each side: “I’m sure the expansion was largely structured on her concepts of what a stately home should be,” says Powyer. Other surviving structures on the site include a bathhouse, carriageways and gatehouses.

National Trust Western Sydney Manager Roxanne Fea says the House had a minimalist Georgian aesthetic, partly because resources were scarce in the fledgling penal colony. Visitors would have been ushered into the front rooms, including the militarythemed dining room, and seated at the Australian red cedar dining table near a portrait of King George III. “People who visit today are quite moved by the simplicity and authority,” she says.

“Very little furniture remains that belonged to Macquarie. The most significant pieces include the four-poster bed in the main bedroom, given by Macquarie to his Confidential Orderly, >

A quarter of a century later, Mrs Macquarie greatly influenced the style of the house.

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Sergeant Whalan. The house also displays one of Australia’s most significant collections of early colonial furniture and replica Georgian furnishings, in rooms filled with light and airy colours “One of the rooms that really strikes me as powerful is the breakfast room, where the colours and style variations, such as the Regency French doors, have a slightly more sophisticated feel than the rest of the house,” says Fea. “It very much feels as if Elizabeth Macquarie has invested herself in that room.”

Between April and August, the exhibition Tales from the East will explore Lachlan Macquarie’s two decades in India, shaping his later career as NSW Governor. National Trust of Australia (NSW) Board Director Ian Stephenson, the exhibition’s lead curator, says the show will explore early colonial associations with India, as well as contemporary associations with Australians of Indian heritage.

The ground-floor period rooms will be left intact, but through the introduction of artefacts and digital projections will provide context for an exploration of Indian connections on the themes of war, fashion, governance, style and cultural and commercial exchange. Based on Macquarie’s 1819 dinner commemorating the 20th anniversary dinner of the fall of Seringapatam, the dining room will be used to explore the Mysore Wars.

The drawing room will feature Indian fabrics, while Macquarie’s office will be the setting to recount the Governor’s arbitration of an 1819 dispute affecting Indian workers in Western Sydney.

There will be a suite of public programs presented by artists and performers from Parramatta’s Australian–Indian community.

Stephenson explains that the exhibition will explore rather than celebrate colonialism. “Historic places lend themselves to multiple interpretations, but sometimes these are not easily legible,” says Stephenson. “Our aim is to make them accessible, thereby introducing a wide audience to historic house visiting.”

Tales from the East: India and Colonial New South Wales is at Old Government House from April 27th–August 26th. Parramatta Park, Pitt Street entrance; (02) 9635 8149. To help us to continue to protect special places, donate today. Go to www.nationaltrust.org.au/donate/

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THIS PAGE, top: The dining room, with the painting of King George III hanging above the fireplace.

OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A Regency colonial settee in the upstairs 1820s themed room; a military campaign bed, in use in Governor Macquarie’s time in India during the Mysore wars; remains of the earlier house can be seen through the glass floor panel in the governor’s office; a replica Georgian schoolroom hosts 5000 visiting students each year.

Tales from the East will explore early colonial associations with India.

opposite PAGE: The Tinalley String Quartet, from left, Justin Williams on the viola, Michelle Wood on cello and violinists Lerida Delbridge and Adam Chalabi.

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the right note Beginning a music festival from scratch was a challenge that brought rich rewards and helped revitalise the history of a small Tasmanian town. photographer Marnie Hawson writer Sophie Bleach

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THIS PAGE, clockwise from top: Local food and drink; Clarendon, an imposing Georgian house, makes an appropriate site for concerts; programs from the 2017 festival; Allanah Dopson. opposite page: The Stone Barn at Clarendon hosted the Tinalley String Quartet, among other performers.

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he quaint historic town of Evandale in Northern Tasmania recently played host to the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival, the inaugural not-for-profit classical music festival adding to the already thriving arts and cultural scene in Tasmania.

The popularity of music festivals sends tens of thousands of revellers on pilgrimages up and down the state each summer, but still the public appetite for a dedicated classical music festival was a thrill. “I was simply blown away by the level of interest,” says Festival Director, Allanah Dopson.

“I never would have predicted we would have people signing up to waiting lists just to have a chance of attending. Music means so much to me, as it does to so many people, and this was clearly reflected in the festival sales.

“I’ve lived in Hobart for 16 years and for eight of those I have regularly travelled north, having established Handmark Gallery in the main street in Evandale. I just love turning off the highway and meandering through the beautiful village: the water tower, the churches, the lampposts on the main street, and the gloriously

imposing Clarendon down the Nile Road. I wanted to celebrate these places just as much as I wanted to celebrate the music.”

And celebrated they were, adding to the festival along with an impressive lineup of Tasmanian food and wine. Dopson was on to a recipe for success with the entire festival sold out weeks before it started and a 2018 festival already announced.

“Our goal was to create an event that would become a regular part of the arts and cultural scene in Tasmania,” says Dopson. “We want to continue to showcase the fantastic built heritage that we are so lucky to have in northern Tasmania and curate classical music programs that complement and celebrate our heritage.”

Evandale is a historic Georgian village located 20 minutes outside the northern city of Launceston. With historic barns, halls, churches and estates, the town is enjoying something of a cultural renaissance. Apart from Penny Farthing Championships, Evandale offers the annual $50,000 Glover Art Prize, established in memory of the artist John Glover, who lived in nearby Deddington.

This once-sleepy village is also home to The Store—the National Trust of Australia’s retail venture—on Russell Street, and now >

“To witness world-class musicians performing in such a rich heritage space was a privilege and has really opened up the community’s eyes to the way these spaces can be brought to life... ”

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this page, clockwise from top: Guests line up to enter the barn for a concert; ready to listen to Quartets by Mendelssohn, Barber and Dvořák; Michelle Wood on the cello. OPPOSITE PAGE: Supper was a selection of Tasmania’s best gourmet food and wine.

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this page, clockwise from top: The Anglican Church in Evandale set the scene for recorder player Genevieve Lacey and other musicians; the Festival was a huge success; lovers of chamber music found much to enjoy; violinist Adam Chalabi of the TInalley String Quartet. OPPOSITE PAGE: Historic churches in the town, such as St Andrews Anglican Church, were also used as venues for performances.

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a critically acclaimed cultural festival has been added to the mix.

The 2017 festival ran from Friday October 27th to Sunday October 29th and opened with an amazing performance by the Tinalley String Quartet in the Barn at Clarendon. Following the performance, guests were treated to supper in the main house, magnificently bedecked with flowers. Other performers included recorder player Genevieve Lacey, harpist Marshall McGuire, Van Diemen’s Band and the pianist Piers Lane.

In addition to Clarendon, the festival showcased a host of significant heritage spaces in and around Evandale, including the beautiful 1837 Anglican Church, the much-photographed Uniting Church, the Harland Rise Barn and the spectacular Josef Chromy vineyard.

The festival has already drawn significant attention from the Australian classical music community, with the 2018 festival set to take place over the final weekend in October, with Clarendon once again hosting the opening night.

Operators of these sites, including the National Trust, were delighted to see the heritage spaces come to life and host such esteemed performers.

“Experiencing the beauty of the Tinalley String Quartet at Clarendon was an incredible experience,” says Managing Director of the National Trust Tasmania, Matthew Smithies.

“To witness world-class musicians performing in such a rich heritage space was a privilege and has really opened up the community’s eyes to the way these spaces can be brought to life in new and exciting ways.”

The Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival will take place on October 26th–28th, 2018; taschamberfestival.com.au.

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Age of

elegance Invitations from the Premier of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers, were highly prized during the 1860s and 1870s. A new exhibition at Ayers House Museum brings Henry’s glamorous parties to life. photographer Marnie hawson writer Steve Dow

THIS page: Exhibition co-curators Marion Boyce, right, and Dr Jill MacKenzie are excited to present a selection of unique period costumes from the National Trust’s collection in dramatic and whimsical tableaux at Ayers House Museum.

OPPOSITE PAGE: One of the opulent dresses with its matching headpiece.

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enry Ayers loved to throw a party. The eighth Premier of South Australia and his wife, Anne, had been born and wed in England. They arrived in the colony in 1840 and by 1850 Henry had made his fortune with the Burra ‘Monster’ copper mine in Australia’s first mining boom. By the 1860s invitations to exclusive soirees at their opulent mansion in Adelaide’s east end were highly prized; these were high-society affairs at which fine British and European fabrics were worn, befitting the state’s economic boom during the decades that encompassed Ayers’ periods as Premier in the 1860s and 1870s.

Costume designer Marion Boyce, famed for her recreation of flamboyant 20th century couture in the screen hits The Dressmaker and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, has ably leapt back to the 19th century in choosing the women’s, men’s and children’s outfits from the National Trust of South Australia’s own costume collection to authentically bring stately Ayers House back to the party life. Age of Elegance is an immersive exhibition that will allow visitors to experience the decadence and glamour.

National Trust of South Australia’s Chief Executive Dr Darren Peacock invited Boyce to suggest an exhibition concept, but she had to see the Trust’s costumes before she could arrive at a theme.

She opened one box to gleefully discover four exquisite girls’ afternoon tea frocks and the theme began to take shape.

While some of the selected period frocks were made in Australia, the fabric was usually sourced from the European continent and the UK. There are more than 40 costumes within the displays.

Boyce’s favourite outfit is in cotton tulle with the softest drape to it, embroidered with tiny roses and threaded with fine black and white ribbon. She has also chosen “absolutely sublime and heavily detailed” diaphanous ball gowns and a team has created bespoke headpieces to complete them.

The setting for Age of Elegance — timed to coordinate with the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay exhibition covering France’s impressionist painters of the same period — also fired Boyce’s imagination. A similar pairing of couture and impressionism curated by the Musee D’Orsay was a sensation in Paris, New York and Chicago in 2012–13.

“We start in the entrance hall, just off which is the grandest state ballroom you’ve ever seen,” says Boyce. Candles will light the whole room, much as Ayers did with his own candelabra, she says, and there will be classical music played. >

clockwise, from top: Just off the entrance hall, the gilded walls of Ayers House “just glitter”; head wear displayed, along with a stunning silver candelabrum; a detail of wallpaper in the house; music, such as might have entertained guests at the Ayers’ tea parties; a detail of a dress; a feathered headpiece would have been fashionable in Europe as well as Adelaide.

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“At the time, Adelaide was an incredibly wealthy society, and it was really up there with world fashions.”

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“People were showing off their wealth through fashion. That’s what you got with Henry.”

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“The room is heavily decorated with gold, and the whole thing just glitters. The most obvious thing was to transport people back and use the house the way Henry did: to bring it alive.”

Mannequins used in the exhibition had to be specially sourced, with tiny waists and thin arms, many standing at less than five feet tall: “They’re the exact opposite of us today.”

Boyce can see connections between the finery of the Ayers’ parties and the French impressionist painters: “especially in the high tea area. We followed what they did in Europe and the UK. At the time, Adelaide was an incredibly wealthy society and it was really up there with world fashions.”

Darren Peacock says Ayers, Premier of South Australia five times, was one of the wealthiest men in the colony, with various business interests. Whenever he returned to England, he would buy the finest china and glassware — even two magnificent crystal chandeliers — to furnish his grand home.

“People were showing off their wealth through fashion,” says Peacock. “That’s what you got with Henry: the types of events he had and what people wore to his events were about displaying how successful they were, that they had made their fortune in the colony and were enjoying the finest things.”

Public Programs Manager Dr Jill MacKenzie, who co-curated the exhibition, says visitors will feel they have stumbled upon a grand soiree: the precious costumes, normally kept in behind-the-scenes storage away from the ravages of light, are now on show.

There are many connections to be made between the outfits, which represent the period from around 1860 to 1910, and the romanticism of the impressionist period. “As a colony, we looked very much to European expressions of art and culture,” she says.

Perhaps Henry and Anne — who had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood — fancied they were partying somewhere in Britain or Europe. “From his letters, you can see that when he was in London he would go to fancy dress parties.

He was your ultimate entertainer,” says MacKenzie.

In Boyce’s opinion, might Sir Henry and Lady Ayers have been in denial that they were in the Antipodes? “Oh, totally,” she laughs. “There was an extraordinary snobbery.”

Boyce found choosing costumes for this exhibition similar to her work designing the outfits for The Dressmaker, which the National Trust has previously also displayed. “The movie was character driven, and based on a book and a script,” says Boyce.

“Here, I work in the same way: I look at a frock, and have to work out what this woman’s story is, so I can design the headpiece and find the handbags, the shawl, the fans. Then you can bring an ensemble to life.”

Age of Elegance is at Ayers House Museum, 288 North Terrace, Adelaide; nationaltrust.org.au/event/age-of-elegance.

Admission: $20 adult, $18 concession, $15 National Trust members, $50 family (2 adults, up to 3 children) $12 student, $10 children (5–15 years) under 5s free. March 29th–July 29th, Tuesday–Sunday 10am–4pm, Fridays until 9pm.

this page, from top: An exquisite ball gown from the National Trust of South Australia’s collection; details of a beaded bodice. opposite page, clockwise, from top left: The magnificent State Dining Room will be transformed into a glittering ballroom; feathers and diamantés were imported from Europe as a sign of the colonists’ wealth; the garden at Ayers House; a piece of antique lace, carefully preserved in the collection.

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a year of change The subtle changes in the historic garden landscape at Everglades in Leura, New South Wales, as it transitions through the seasons have been captured through the lens of photographer Tracy Ponich. writer JENNIFER STACKHOUSE

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racy Ponich treads lightly on the landscape, acutely aware of her carbon footprint. She assesses every project for its environmental costs (paper, ink, fuel, power costs, for example), which are offset with carbon credits. She also donates funds to tree planting for habitat and carbon sequestering. So far she has sponsored the planting of 369 trees.

“I studied the history of art and architecture in Canada — always camera in hand — but it was in 2009 that I was pushed into photography,” she explains. Just two years later she had her first exhibition. Ponich’s particular love is for black-and-white images.

“I like to be responsible for every decision made about a photograph from what is taken to how it is printed,” she says.

The fine art photographer now lives at Katoomba, New South Wales, and finds inspiration in her local mountain area. Her love of gardens, history and the Blue Mountains came together in

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a project that saw her visiting the National Trust property Everglades for over a year to capture the garden in every season.

She took the first photographs in June 2016 then tracked the cool climate garden until May 2017. The series shows the transition of the garden through the seasons. While some photographs are in colour, it is black-and-white and tonal compositions that dominate.

“The Everglades garden is very much about structure and in a black-and-white image you get pulled into the shot and look at what’s shown a little bit differently: the colour doesn’t get in the way of appreciating the form of the landscape.”

Transitions is at the gallery at Everglades Historic House & Gardens, 37 Everglades Avenue, Leura, NSW, from May 5th–27th, open Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–3pm. Telephone (02) 4784 1938. The book Transitions, $48, is also available; feathermark.com.au.

THIS PAGE: ‘House from the Conifer Walk, Autumn’, May 2017. The house is glimpsed through copper beeches that are illuminated by autumn sun.

OPPOSITE PAGE: ‘Vegetable Patch, Misty Spring Sunday’, November 2016. The garden was captured early on a spring morning, before it opened to the public, as mist shrouded the lower garden.

The series shows the transition of the garden through the seasons and over time.

THIS PAGE, from top: ‘Summer Shade, Agapanthus Terrace’, shot on the summer solstice in December 2016 and one of several shots of this path through the seasons; ‘Kookaburra in Mist, Conifer Walk’, November 2016. On this misty spring morning before the garden opened Tracy Ponich says she was sharing Everglades with the birds. “I watched this kookaburra come and go, over and over again, and waited. Finally he was just right and perfect for the shot.” OPPOSITE PAGE: ‘Carer of the Trees, Guy McIlrath’, April 2017. Now Manager of Everglades, Guy McIlrath was then Head Gardener. Despite the chilly afternoon he says that warmth radiated from the giant sequoia at his back.

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exhibition

heritage

What’s in Store?

Meticulous care and research have preserved a historical snapshot of everyday life from a century of trading at Brennan & Geraghty’s Store in Maryborough, says Curator Ken Brooks.

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rennan & Geraghty’s Store Museum stands as a testament to early settlers and their struggles to make a new life in the new colony of Queensland.

Trading until 1972, the store is remarkably intact with its original shop furnishings, stock, advertising material and trading records. The property was purchased by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) in 1975 and today operates as a museum about itself and its place in the community of Maryborough, Queensland.

The town of Maryborough was first settled in 1847, before the separation of Queensland and New South Wales. After separation in 1859, Maryborough quickly developed as a port of immigration.

Between the 1860s and 1900 there were more than 22,000 immigrants who arrived in Australia through the port of Maryborough; among those people were Patrick Brennan and Martin Geraghty, who arrived aboard the David McIver in 1862.

Geraghty quickly established himself as a carpenter, joiner and undertaker on the site where his store now stands. He soon married Catherine Brennan, who bore him 13 children. In 1869, Martin Geraghty opened a store two doors away from the present location; then, in partnership with his brother-in-law Patrick Brennan, opened their new store in April 1871.

The business empire grew rapidly: Brennan & Geraghty owned three orchards, two brickyards, gravel works, a nursery, a cab hire company, property holdings including cottages and farms and a hotel, as well as a factory for the production of wine, jam,

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chutney, marmalades, vinegar and other products. They were also involved with sugar plantations and had interests in prospecting companies searching for gold. Despite these diverse interests, by 1896 the business was in liquidation, with only the store surviving as an ongoing operation.

The store was run until 1972 by Geraghty’s youngest son George, an important historical link to our past; he was 88 years old at the time and ready for retirement. He passed away in 1973.

When he closed the store it was left complete with trading stock and records: products such as washing powder from the 1960s, tea from the 1920s and curry powder from the 1890s. Also left behind were the ledgers and accounts that help us to understand the activities of the store and its customers. In the 1880s, Brennan & Geraghty sent fresh oysters as far away as Charters Towers in North Queensland; they also sent fruit to southern markets and imported goods from all over the world. They brought in china and paint from England, locks from America, butter from Denmark and figs from Turkey. The purchasing networks established by them helped the business grow.

One of the most interesting items within the collection is a cannon that was acquired by Brennan & Geraghty in 1886; they recycled the wheels and the cannon base and built a trolley, which ran on timber rails to move bulk stock through the store. The rail system was put up for sale in 1903 but there were no buyers, so it simply survived. Brennan & Geraghty also imported a giant riding saw from America in the 1880s. Maryborough was a timber area

so the riding saw was seen as a potential moneyspinner. If it had worked, then more could have been imported and sold; however, it was found to be useless on Australian hardwood, so was just put to one side and kept.

Details of the purchase of the saw survive within the trading records, as do the details of the purchases of bulk items, such as 20 dozen dinner services at a time. Buying in bulk allowed the business to operate as wholesalers as well as retailers. The trading records allow us to research who was buying what, which leads to further research on those particular customers.

The archival collection held within the store, comprising of more than 50,000 individual items, is rare to survive intact. With ongoing indexing, we will eventually be able to allow access to the records for public research, enabling family history researchers to trace their ancestors’ trading habits.

The store records hold many details, including some that relate to the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, who was born in Maryborough where her father, Travers Goff, was the branch manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. Brennan & Geraghty banked with this bank and their bank records survive within the museum’s collection.

Grocery shopping changed with the advent of modern supermarkets. Customers could buy their groceries without the need to deal with a doddery old grocer; they could shop in peace and ponder all of the extra new items that were being offered.

Today Brennan & Geraghty’s Store Museum shows us that grocery shopping was simpler in the past, with far fewer products to choose from. At the time that the store operated, customers had very regular purchases of the same products or the same brands.

Treats such as chocolate, cordial, soft drink and even broken biscuits made appearances on customer accounts, but this was only when money wasn’t so tight.

General stores were important for customers as part of their daily life. We traced five ladies who shopped at the store over a three-year period in the 1880s, who were in the store every second Thursday. Today you might relate that regularity to payday; however, in the 1880s there wasn’t a regular payday as we know it now. These ladies used the store as a social meeting point; we are currently researching their background, where they lived, to whom they were married and what connections they may have had with other store customers.

The preservation of the collection is tedious work: keeping the place free of dust, insects and vermin is a continual chore. Most of the objects have now been catalogued and are currently being digitally photographed, while the archives are being indexed for eventual digitisation. We have so far identified more than 10,000 individuals who dealt with the store between 1871 and 1900.

Brennan & Geraghty’s Store Museum is located at 64 Lennox Street, Maryborough. Open daily from 10am–3pm. Admission charges apply, National Trust members admitted free; nationaltrust.org.au/qld; (07) 4121 2250.

Ken Brooks is the Curator and Manager of the museum.

He has been involved with the store since the mid-1980s and knows the collection intimately; he is actively involved in researching and documenting the many historical elements of the place and its customers. He is assisted in the museum by a band of dedicated and passionate volunteers.

clockwise, FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: The store stands as a testament to Maryborough’s social history; original ledgers contain records of purchasing habits of the customers that help to build a picture of life in Maryborough; Trading stock left in the store when it closed in 1972 has been catalogued and preserved; objects from the store are being digitally photographed and the archives indexed for digitisation.

They imported goods from all over the world. They brought in china and paint from England, locks from America, butter from Denmark and figs from Turkey.

The search for

Moritz Wertheimer One family’s quest for its own history brought attention to the importance of remembering and learning from the past at the East Perth Cemeteries. writer Sarah Murphy

THIS PAGE: The Star of David against the Perth sky. (NTWA: S. Guerrero) OPPOSITE PAGE: The obelisk that forms the centrepiece of the Jewish Memorial Cemetery (NTWA: S. Murphy); Rabbi Dovid Freilich OAM recites the reconsecration psalms and memorial prayer (S. Saddick).

PLACE

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seemingly simple quest for an elusive death certificate culminated in a moving memorial service in late 2017 at the Jewish Memorial Cemetery, part of the East Perth Cemeteries, managed by the National Trust of Western Australia since 1991. The service demonstrated the power of a heritage place to support and ensure continuity of culture.

The East Perth Cemeteries opened in 1829 and reflects the experiences of more than 10,000 separate and interconnected lives prior to and during the first 70 years of European settlement. Stories of landscape and people, commerce and government, family and relationships, exploration and change, faith and community, hardship and struggle, love and loss.

The East Perth Cemeteries closed in 1899. Through the 1920s and 1930s there was much criticism of the neglect and vandalism that was occurring at the site, but little serious action was taken.

In the late 1940s damaged headstones were cleared and removed. In addition, the Jewish, Presbyterian and Chinese cemeteries were relinquished and the land offered to the Education Department.

The land surrounding the Jewish Cemetery was subdivided in the mid 1990s and a memorial was created using the remaining headstones. Plaques summarised the history of the Jewish Cemetery and listed the names of those buried there from 1867 to 1899.

For some time, Perth resident Judy Earnshaw had been searching without success for the death certificate of her paternal greatgrandfather Moritz Wertheimer.

Judy became unwell and her sister Karen Wertheimer took up the challenge; in June 2016 she approached the Jewish Historical and Genealogical Society of Western Australia (JHGSWA) for assistance.

During their research, Judy and Karen had located a death notice placed by Moritz’s widow, Rosa, in Melbourne’s The Weekly Times, which stated that he had died on July 14th, 1895, in Perth, Western Australia.

This convinced them that it was their ancestor who was memorialised on a plaque in the Jewish Memorial Cemetery.

Moritz and Rosa had married in the former Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia) in 1874 and migrated to Australia in 1879. They settled in Melbourne where Moritz operated a florist stall and Rosa was a hotelier. No-one really knows for sure, but it appears Moritz came to Perth to see if it was a suitable place for his family to settle. Sadly, he died before he could send for his wife and children. Rosa eventually did come to Perth and, 17 years after Moritz’s death, married John Brown, a Seventh-day Adventist.

Rose Raymen, a voluntary genealogical researcher and member of the JHGSWA, took up the challenge. Firstly, she checked the Western Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Online Indexes for Moritz’s death entry, to no avail. She trawled Ancestry.com’s Australia, Death Index 1787–1985 for the name, but was still unable to locate an

entry for a Moritz Wertheimer. Rose tried various alternative spellings of ‘Wertheimer’, without any success. Finally, she typed in the initial M and included the year of birth and death and one name jumped out at her: “M Horthemier, born 1850, age 45, died 1895 in Western Australia.”

Rose was confident that the death record for “M Horthemier” was misspelled and should have read “M Wertheimer”. Karen ordered a copy of the death certificate which arrived a week later. It read, “M HORTHEMIER, PLACE OF DEATH: HAY STREET, PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DATE OF DEATH: 14 JULY 1895.

OCCUPATION: FLORIST, AGE: ABOUT 45 YEARS.” The reference to Moritz’s date of death and occupation confirmed that his death certificate had finally been traced.

Soon after Rose’s research success, Michelle Urban, Vice-president of the JHGSWA, contacted the National Trust of Western Australia. The Wertheimer family was keen to discuss the possibility of adding Moritz’s first name and date of death to the plaque, which had him listed simply as “WERTHEIMER, July 1895”.

Urban, Raymen, Karen Wertheimer, her sister Vicki Sheppard, brother-in-law John Earnshaw and the National Trust’s Sarah Murphy met at the cemetery to discuss the possibility of replacing the memorial plaque. On receiving the burial list, Raymen noticed that other information appeared to be incomplete and set about researching all the names, including those of the infants and their parents.

On a hot December morning in 2017, Perth Hebrew Congregation and JHGSWA held a service to rededicate the Jewish Memorial Cemetery. Rabbi Dovid Freilich OAM recited reconsecration psalms and a memorial prayer in Hebrew and English. He then read out the names on the plaque: Moritz Wertheimer and others among the 32 Jews buried in the cemetery.

At the heart of the work of the National Trust of Western Australia is the maintenance of connections between the past and the present. What began as a search for a missing death certificate culminated in a profoundly moving service that demonstrated the importance of memory, remembering and learning from the past, and how intangible values are such a significant part of a heritage place.

It was an honour for the National Trust of Western Australia to work with representatives of the Jewish community, particularly the JHGSWA, to ensure the ongoing relevance of the Jewish Memorial Cemetery.

Moritz Wertheimer and those buried near him will continue to be remembered now and into the future.

Sarah Murphy is Manager Interpretation and Collections, NTWA; some content kindly provided by Rose Raymen.

What began as a search for a missing death certificate culminated in a moving service.

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W

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH ANDREW SOLE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

THIS PAGE: The lemur is one of the most popular animals in the Lost Valley.

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TRAVEL

LOST VALLEY EXPLORE A FORGOTTEN WORLD CURRUMBIN Wildlife Sanctuary is proud to invite everyone to its beautiful new Lost Valley experience. Explore two hectares of distinctive flora and wildlife and make a journey through the ancient supercontinent Gondwana that once included the Australian landmass. photographer BRIAN USHER writer CORRINE BARRACLOUGH

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urrumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has now opened its Lost Valley precinct, a stimulating experience that immerses visitors in the natural world.

It is the result of three years of brainstorming, research, planning, and committed work.

Access to the new area is through an impressive entrance beyond the kangaroo enclosure. Step through onto the easy walkway to stroll at your own pace, taking in the sights and sounds. Depending on how much time you can spare, wander for a few minutes or linger for some time to fully take in the sights, sounds and smells of this lush rainforest. It’s easy to forget how close you are to the buzz of the city and beaches.

The Lost Valley is an impressive addition to the National Trust Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which was already adored by Gold Coast locals and a firm favourite with both domestic and international tourists. It pays tribute to the Gold Coast hinterland’s wilderness area known as the Lost World Valley, which is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage–listed area and includes expansive rainforest reserves in both Queensland and New South Wales.

The gentle walkway was built around established trees that have long grown here; beautiful old trees given a new lease of life by the reinvigorated surroundings. Lost Valley is very much a forgotten world, but one with a story to tell.

Time seems to stand still as you breathe a little deeper and enjoy the serenity among some of the world’s most unique and distinctive flora.

That’s not all. This is Currumbin after all! In addition to the 10 hectares of flourishing tropical rainforest there is wildlife; lots of it, and it’s pretty much at your fingertips.

The free-flying birds in the aviary are a spectacle as they go about their daily activities. Look carefully and you may spot

eclectus parrots, macaws and Moluccan red lories in the trees. A gorgeous golden pheasant may cross your path, or look for the colourful mandarin ducks along the boardwalks.

“This exhibit is the single largest investment made by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) and our mission is to connect people with nature,” says Jonathan Fisher, CEO, National Trust of Australia (Queensland). “Lost Valley truly reflects this. We have managed to source the many exotic animals and the team has created a natural, sustainable and biologically rich environment for the animals and plants to thrive in.”

“Visitors can take this journey, at their own pace, through the ancient supercontinent Gondwana,” says Michael Kelly, General Manager at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, who has worked there for four years.

“Everyone can easily interact with exotic species including friendly ring-tailed lemurs, red pandas and cotton-top tamarins and experience the many reptiles, birds and other exotic species. As a team, we’ve worked really hard to create a living, breathing rainforest.

“We’re talking 8000 plants and trees across 250 species, and more than 50 different species of animals. This is the biggest precinct that the Sanctuary has opened in its 70-year history. Yes, we’re proud to have opened to the public. We wanted to re-engage the area and bring something fresh to the Sanctuary. In essence, we wanted to tell the story of the connection to Gondwana,” says Kelly.

That they certainly have. This is a wonderful experience that the whole family will enjoy, possibly time and time again.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is at 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin. Open seven days, 8am–5pm (except for Christmas and Anzac Day); (07) 5534 1266; CurrumbinSanctuary.com.au.

australian Heritage festival

My Culture, My Story Celebrate our cultural identity by taking part in any of 1000 events around the country that are part of the 2018 Australian Heritage Festival.

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his year the Australian Heritage Festival pays homage to our many diverse and distinctive cultures.

Discovering our living cultures has become one of the main reasons we travel for leisure, with visitors keen to know more about the people and their traditions. Whenever we go anywhere new, we love to explore, trying to find out what’s unique about a place and what makes it tick. Australia’s biggest

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and most diverse heritage festival is expanding again this year, focusing on what makes a place special and encouraging us all to embrace the future by sharing the strengths of our cultural identities.

This is our ‘intangible heritage’: highly distinctive cultural expressions that have been passed from one generation to another and that have evolved in response to their environments, giving us a sense of identity and continuity. Our festival theme — My Culture, >

A truly national festival, from the city to the regions and local communities with more than 1000 events for everyone to enjoy.

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: Redruth Gaol, in Burra, SA; take a tour of the Qantas Hangar; Tales from the East, an exhibition at Old Government House, NSW; a garden at Churchill Island.

Opposite page: Churchill Island. For more information, visit australianheritagefestival.org.au

< My Story — follows the International National Trusts Organisation warning that intangible culture is under threat.

We must do all we can to encourage the next generation to protect, promote and pass it on.

The Australian Heritage Festival is the place where you’ll discover more about the cultures where you live, the ways they are celebrated and where the stories of your community can be shared and brought to life.

Be part of this amazing celebration by either registering your own event or by visiting one of the more than 1000 events across the country, some featured on these pages.

For more information visit australianheritagefestival.org.au.

The Australian Heritage Festival is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s National Trusts Partnership Program and runs from April 18th–May 20th.

australian Heritage festival

The Australian Heritage Festival is supported by funding from the Australian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Trusts Partnership Program.

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every year up to HAlf A million PeoPle across Australia take the opportunity to connect WitH cultuRe and heritage in local communities.

CLOCKWISE, FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: Birrarung Wilam Walk, on the banks of the Yarra River, Victoria; Noongar Bush Tucker Walk, WA; Anderson’s Mill Heritage Weekend, Victoria; Please Send Socks, WA; Anderson’s Mill interior; miners’ dugout, just one of many open doors in Burra, SA; Evolution: Torres Strait Masks, Queensland.

For more information go to australianheritagefestival. org.au or contact your state coordinator: ACT (02) 6230 0533; NSW (02) 9258 0123; NT (08) 8981 2848; QLD (07) 3223 6666; SA (08) 8202 9200; TAS (03) 6344 4033; VIC (03) 9656 9823; WA (08) 9321 6088.

APRil 18th–mAY 20th, 2018 australianheritagefestival.org.au

a u s t r a l i an H e r i t a g e f e s t i v a l

Church Street Dramas, MAITLAND April 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th and 29th A walk from Brough House along historic Church Street, enjoying a series of vignettes by the Maitland Repertory players as they relate true tales of action, scandal: even murder.

Belgian Lunch at everglades, Leura April 28th A luncheon with a Belgian flavour, reflecting the heritage of Henri van de Velde, who built Everglades house and gardens in the 1930s.

Sand, Sea and Skeletons April 18th, 23rd, 24th In the April school holidays, go on a fun Adventure in Archaeology to explore the past through artefacts and bio-facts. Piece together clues to age-old mysteries through hands-on and brains-on archaeological and forensic investigation.

Please Send Socks April 21st–23rd A musical drama production telling some of the many stories of Dowerin from early settlement until the end of the Great War. You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll tap your foot; you may even discover something new about Dowerin.

Noongar bush tucker walk, Wanneroo May 12th Come on a bushwalk exploring Noongar culture with an Aboriginal guide from Bindi Bindi Dreaming on the shores of Lake Joondalup, and enjoy a bush tucker morning tea.

Transportation April 18th–May 20TH Fremantle Prison’s new exhibition Transportation examines the forced migration of convicts from Britain to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

nationaltrust.org.au/sa

Burra Open Doors weekend April 28th–29th Use the Burra Passport key to unlock the story of our first mining boom town. The weekend features live music performances, mystery challenges to solve and a chance to win a range of prizes.

nationaltrust.org.au/act

act

SA

N SW

Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail May 12th–13th Rediscover traditional craftsmanship when dozens of heritage tradesmen and craftspeople gather in Australia’s first inland European settlement to demonstrate their rare skills.

Held across various heritage

Wisemans Colonial Weekend May 19th–20th Step back in time to the 19th century at the Wisemans Colonial Weekend. Supported by the multi-award winning Convict Footprints theatre group, the Wisemans Colonial Weekend brings together live music, immersive living-history theatre, stalls and classic Australian Bush Dance in a fun-for-all-the-family weekend.

nationaltrust.org.au/wa

venues in Bathurst, with insights into how things we all value are made in the traditional way.

nationaltrust.org.au/nsw

Tales From the East April 27th– May 20th An exhibition at Old Government House, Parramatta, focuses on the relationship between India and colonial Australia, beginning in 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet. The exhibition features displays of Anglo–Indian men and women’s clothing, furniture, silverware, and explores how Macquarie’s time in India influenced his role as Governor of New South Wales.

Canning River walk April 18th An opportunity to take a stroll with the creator of the Wadjup–Gabbilju foreshore walk interpretive signage.

We will explore the upriver section of estuary traditionally known as Wadjup, and learn the background to a dozen of the signs describing the natural and cultural history of the Canning River.

WA

Here’s a teaser of some of the festival highlights that can be found across the country during the National Trust’s Heritage Festival, April 18th to May 20th. For more information and festival dates, visit australianheritagefestival.org.au.

Open Day at Lanyon

April 14th Guided tours of Lanyon, one of Australia’s premier historic properties, the outbuildings and superb gardens. See historic machinery, including the heritagelisted Fowler steam road roller; participate in craft activities such as papermaking and basket weaving while you enjoy music, dance and poetry. Children’s activities include landscape painting and face painting.

Anderson’s Mill Heritage Weekend

May 11th–13th Visit Smeaton, Victoria, to see vintage machinery, goldfield quilts, ‘Asking for Trouble’ circus, ‘Mills on the Air’ amateur radio, spinners and weavers, art, dollhouse room displays, heritage mill tours and talks, waterwheel, coffee, food and the nightly light show.

Great Houses of Ipswich

May 13th Three generous property owners will open the doors to their historic and significant homes in Ipswich.

Mooramong Lalique Expo, skipton May 6th The history of Hollywood actress Claire Adams and her wealthy Australian husband Scobie Mackinnon is on display at the elegant Mooramong homestead, with an expo of the family’s collection of Lalique, Bohemian crystal and Spode tableware. This is a unique opportunity to view very fine examples of fashionable 1930s tastes in Victoria, during the 80th Anniversary celebrations of the Mooramong homestead.

Mid-Century Modern May 17th What makes mid-century Australian architecture so unique and worthy of heritage protection? An expert panel will celebrate and advise on owning, buying and renovating mid-century houses.

THIS PLACE MATTERS May 1st–30th A short-film competition with the theme This Place Matters.

The winning film will be showcased on the National Trust Australia website and at a screening and prize-giving ceremony at Launceston Theatre. nationaltrust.org.au/tas

nationaltrust.org.au/vic

Islands of Inspiration April 28th Join us on this one-day bus tour as we travel around Phillip

Island and Churchill Island to see how contemporary art and building design celebrate the culture and history of the islands of Western Port.

tasmania

QANTAS Hangar Guided Tours April 18th–May 18th Visitors can enjoy a free guided tour of the National Heritage Listed Qantas Hangar. The tour, which is only offered during the National Trust Australian Heritage Festival, allows participants to discover the history of the 1922 Qantas Hangar in Longreach and its many owners and uses.

Birrarung Wilam Walk April 20th, 27th, May 4th, 11th, 18th The Birrarung Wilam Walk takes you through Federation Square and down to the Birrarung Wilam (Common Ground) Aboriginal art installations, experiencing the Aboriginal history of the Birrarung Marr (Beside the River of Mists) and Aboriginal Peoples of the Kulin Nation.

victoria

nationaltrust.org.au/qld

QUEENSLAND

Evolution: Torres Strait Masks April 18th–May 20th Developed by the Gab Titui Cultural Centre on Waiben (Thursday Island), in partnership with the National Museum of Australia, this exhibition in Townsville at the Museum of Tropical Queensland explores the importance of ceremonial masks in Torres Strait culture, and their influence on contemporary art.

Murtoa Stick Shed May 6th Prepare to be stunned when you walk through the small door to behold the massive historic structure. Be amazed at the vastness, while learning about the historic importance of the Stick Shed to the region and the country.

DESTINATION MARS May 19th A family-friendly sleep-out under the stars with Dianne McGrath, one of the ‘Mars 100’ international astronaut candidates. Hear traditional stories of the constellations from an Indigenous Tasmanian perspective and look through our giant telescopes. issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

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Start your journey…

Currumbin to Cooktown Set off on a driving trail from Currumbin to Cooktown and explore Queensland’s National Trust properties. Travel through beautiful towns visiting hidden gems along the way.

James Cook Museum

Hou Wang Temple

Currajong House Stock Exchange Arcade ara Clark Museum Z

Brennan & Geraghty’s Store

Great membership discounts plus entry to over 1000 National Trust properties worldwide.

Plan your trip now nationaltrust.org.au/qld

Harris House Royal Bulls Head Inn Grandchester Railway Wolston Farmhouse Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

JN00138_CWSCooktownTrust

Free admission for members to all National Trust properties along the trail

events

lucy crispin at The Store, the National Trust’s shop at 2 Russell Street, Evandale, Tasmania.

Telephone (03) 6391 8720. Open seven days a week from 9.30am–4.30pm.

For news on the latest stock, see The Store’s instagram account @thestorenationaltrust

News & Events Discover the exciting activities happening at National Trust properties across the country.

issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

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The gardens of Rippon Lea are the result of visionary 19th century planning and meticulous 20th century conservation.

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events

PHOTOGRAPHERS ANTHONY BASHEER previous page photograph marnie hawson

nationaltrust.org.au/vic

victoria

GARDEN TOURS AT RIPPON LEA weekdays until March 30th Experience the magnificent gardens of Rippon Lea during a 45 minute tour. The garden is complex and covers around 5.5 hectares, which includes a large lake, extensive shrubberies and flower gardens, an orchard of historically significant fruit varieties, a fernery, rose gardens and many other features of historical, landscape and architectural interest, all forming the setting for the polychrome brick mansion completed in 1868.

Ph (03) 9656 9889. Email bookings@nattrust.com.au.

Tickets, $5 per person plus garden entry. Rippon Lea House and Gardens, 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick.

Check the website for tour start times: ripponleaestate.com.au PIRATE SUNDAYS AT POLLY WOODSIDE March 4th, April 8th, May 6th Bring along your scallywags and buccaneers and join us at Polly Woodside for a day of adventures. The first treasure hunt is at 11am, which kicks off a variety of activities throughout the day. The children get to scrub the decks, ring the bell, participate in pirate games and arts and crafts. Join our Polly crew to discover what life was like on a tall ship sailing the Seven Seas. Polly Woodside also offers a range of activities for visitors including a history gallery, picnic tables, guided tours, children’s birthday parties and school excursions.

Ph (03) 9656 9889. Email bookings@nattrust.com.au.

Visit pollywoodside.com.au.

Tickets, members free, adult $16, concession $13, child $9.50, family $43.

21 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf. 10am–4pm.

VINTAGE CLOTHING SALE March 17th–18th The Vintage Clothing Sale at Como is back this year with quality, vintage, carefully curated items that have all been donated, with some being particularly rare.

There will be everyday clothes as well as formal garments, hats, gloves, belts, handbags, scarves, jewellery, books, materials and collectibles for women, men and children. Proceeds from the sale will go towards furniture, furnishings and critical conservation projects for Como House.

Email bookings@nattrust. com.au. Como House, corner Williams Road and Lechlade Avenue, South Yarra.

10am—4pm.

Tickets, members free; adult $15, concession $12, child $9.

2 Manor Grove, Caulfield North. Tea rooms open 10.30am–3.30pm. Tours at 11am, 12noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm.

LA TROBE’S birthday celebration march 18th Hear about the much anticipated book written

by Professor John Barnes: Charles Joseph La Trobe: Traveller, Writer, Governor.

Afterwards all are welcome to celebrate Charles Joseph La Trobe’s 216th birthday with birthday cake and festive drinks in La Trobe’s Cottage garden.

Ph (03) 9646 2112. Email dmreilly@optusnet.com.au.

Bookings essential. Tickets, adult $15, child $5. Mueller Hall, Royal Botanic Gardens.

4.30–6.30pm.

como fashion quarter April 15th–july 1st Como hosts an immersive exhibition of design and style that looks at the way influencers and stylists use objects, fashion and design

labassa mansion tours March 18th, april 15th, May 20th Labassa is an outstanding Victorian-era mansion with opulent architectural features.

The mansion was redeveloped in the French Second Empire style by architect John A. B. Koch. Come along and immerse yourself in Labassa’s history at one of our open days and enjoy a tour or relax in our tea rooms.

Ph (03) 9656 9889. Email bookings@nattrust.com.au.

EASTER FUN DAY April 1st Get the family together and enjoy a wonderful day out at Rippon Lea estate. Take part in our Easter egg hunt, meet the Easter Bunny and our very own Ripplea Bear!

Ph (03) 9656 9889. Visit ripponleaestate.com.au.

Tickets, $10 members, $15 non-members, concession $7/$12, child $5/$9, family $30/$45. Rippon Lea House and Gardens, 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick.

10am—4pm.

to convey meaning. The exhibition is a fusion of past and present, merging pieces from the Trust collection with contemporary design by four fashion practitioners, Kiri-Una Brito Meumann, Stuart Walford, Marc Wasiak and Thalea Michos–Vellis.

Ph (03) 9656 9889. Tickets, from nationaltrust.com.au/vic.

Como House, Corner Williams Road and Lechlade Avenue, South Yarra. 10am–4pm.

GULF station open day April 19th Come along to Gulf Station to experience Australia’s oldest pioneer farm building precinct.

Tour the property and bring a picnic lunch to enjoy as you discover what life was like for a family who lived and made a living on the land in nineteenth century Australia.

Email bookings@nattrust. com.au. 1029 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen. Tickets, $9 adults, $6 concession, $3 child; NT members free. 10am–3pm.

TEAM OF PIANISTS

At Rippon Lea April 15th Team of Pianists is coming to Rippon Lea to perform classic music in the historic ballroom. Since 1994 Melbourne has enjoyed one of the longest-running and most-loved chamber music series. Join us for six amazing twilight concerts by Team of Pianists.

Bookings are essential. Ph (03) 9822 2959. Email bookings@nattrust.com.au. Tickets, $35 members, $45 non-members, concession $35, child/student $20.

192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick.

Historic Rippon Lea is waiting to welcome you.

NSW

nationaltrust.org.au/nsw

TWILIGHT JAZZ March 11th Enjoy sunset in the tranquil gardens of Eryldene, followed by entertainment from The Moods. Their repertoire is drawn from traditional jazz, swing and jive to classics from the songbooks of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Bring a picnic or buy from the Garden Café.

Ph (02) 9498 2271. Email eryldene@eryldene.org.au or visit eryldene.org.au.

Tickets, $30 NT, Eryldene, HHA members & students under 25, $35 non-members, $15 child (6–15), $90 family.

Eryldene Historic House and Garden, 17 McIntosh Street, Gordon. 5–8pm.

Gate opens at 4pm.

WALK FROM MT VICTORIA TO BLACKHEATH March 24th This guided tour along the railway line to Blackheath will reveal the foundations of a steam winder and the remains of a 1920s timber and chert (flint) mine.

Conclude with a delicious lunch on the verandah at the Trust-listed ‘Nalawa’ and then carpool back to Mt Victoria.

Bookings essential; limited to 35 people. Ph (02) 4757 2424.

Email bmnt1814@gmail.com.

Tickets, $30 NT members,

TALES FROM THE EAST: India and New South Wales

April 27th–August 26th An exhibition examining the connections between Australia and India: strong today and firmly rooted during the Lachlan Macquarie era of governance from 1810 to 1821.

For more details see page 44.

Follow us on Facebook @OldGovernmentHouse Parramatta Park (Pitt Street entrance), Parramatta.

$35 non-members. Meet at Mt Victoria Station car park 9.30am.

‘MY DEAREST JACK’: a talk by Kate O’Neill March 17th A recently found small suitcase contained carefully folded letters dating from 1890 to 1892 between John McManamey, founder of the Woodford Academy for Boys (1907), and his beloved wife Henrietta. The letters give an intimate insight into their lives and their courtship.

Email: woodfordacademy@ gmail.com. Tickets, $6 adult, $4 concession, $15 family.

Woodford Academy, 90–92 Great Western Highway, Woodford (on-street parking on Vale Road). 1–2pm. easter sunday funday at everglades house april 1st A day of fun for the whole family, with food and coffee stalls, live entertainment, games for children and Easter egg hunts. Enjoy the beautiful gardens at Everglades in Leura at their autumnal best.

Ph (02) 4784 1938. Tickets, $5 adults, $10 children, $25 family of four (available at the gate). Everglades House and Garden, 37 Leura Avenue, Leura. 10am–4pm.

FRIDAY 13th GHOST TOURS AT WOODFORD ACADEMY April 13th Recently featured in the TV series Haunting: Australia, the Woodford Academy is renowned for its supernatural activity. Get your ghostly chills and thrills with an intimate, one-hour behind-the-scenes tour of the Blue Mountains’ oldest building complex. Hear the stories of those who once lived within its walls ... and perhaps still do!

Bookings essential; maximum 20 persons per tour. Not suitable for persons under 16 years. Ph (02) 9258 0141.

Tickets, $26. Woodford Academy, 90–92 Great Western Highway, Woodford (on-street parking on Vale Road). Tours start 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

WOODFORD ACADEMY EARLY HARVEST FESTIVAL April 21st From 1908 to 1965, harvest festivals — originally a British pagan tradition — were held at the Woodford Academy when the building also served as the venue for local Presbyterian services.

Renew the tradition with a day of live music, seasonal food, historical talks, children’s games and a wide variety of stalls selling local

produce, home-made jams and preserves, plants and more.

Email woodfordacademy@ gmail.com. Free entry.

Woodford Academy, 90– 92 Great Western Highway, Woodford (on-street parking on Vale Road). 10am–4pm.

CANBERRA AND ENVIRONS COUNTRY WEEKEND TOUR May 5th–6th In 1825, Robert Campbell and his Scottish shepherd, James Ainslie, drove his flock of sheep to an area of the Limestone Plains where Canberra now stands.

Campbell built a house on Mt Pleasant he was later to name ‘Duntroon’, now an integral part of the Royal Military College. In 1908 the site for Australia’s national capital was chosen and the new Federal Capital (later the Australian Capital Territory) was declared on January 1st, 1911. In 1913, Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahoney Griffin won the competition for the design of the city.

The weekend coach tour departs Sydney 9.30am on Friday May 4th; Tickets, including coach transport, accommodation, most meals and admission tickets from $645 twin share (members).

Ph (02) 9363 2401.

Old Government House at Parramatta has surprising connections to India.

events The house and gardens at Runnymede host activities for all during March and April.

For all enquiries, detailed itineraries and bookings, please call David Smith, Travel on Capri, 1800 679 066.

photographers michael wee, claire takacs

PIEDMONT, ITALY May 21st–30th ONLY A FEW PLACES LEFT! An exciting new tour to this much-loved part of Italy, with Italian hosts Barbara and Ugo Mariotti. Unpack only twice as we explore and savour the birthplace of the ‘slow food’ movement, with its emphasis on the freshest possible regional food. This scenic part of Italy is bounded on three sides by the European Alps, spreading out to the fertile plains of the Po River Valley.

SCOTTISH ISLES AND HIGHLANDS June 2nd–15th only 2 cabins left!

The return of one of our most popular and unique tours, combining a coach tour of Scotland’s ancient castles and historic sites, starting from Edinburgh and travelling via St Andrews, Aberdeen and Orkney to the west coast port of Oban, the gateway to the islands.

Board a traditional wooden fishing vessel converted to combine romance with luxury, to voyage to the Hebrides and the Isle of Mull, one of the most unspoilt and beautiful natural environments in the world.

Tour leader: Lorraine Collins, 0439 947 479

FRANKLIN HOUSE HERITAGE FAIR March 18th Stalls, barbecue, Devonshire teas, face painting, learn to play croquet, snake pit, all-day entertainment and much more. Stall space available for $20 per space.

Ph (03) 6344 7824.

Email franklin@ nationaltrusttas.org.au.

Free entry. 413 Hobart Road, Franklin Village. 10am–2pm. nationaltrust.org.au/tas

National Trust (NSW) way holiday tours

Tour leader: Jill Bunning, 0439 321 164

tasmania

TOURS AND TREKS

JAZZ IN THE YARD March 18th Come along to this wonderful free event at the Hobart Convict Penitentiary. Enjoy jazz by the Harry Edwards Trio, a wide selection of drinks from the bar, and delicious fare by Taco Taco.

Distribution of this magazine may vary; we apologise if some events are already completed or booked out in advance. We recommend contacting the organisers to confirm details and ensure availability.

RUNNYMEDE

March 3rd, April 7th Stitch and Sip Come and learn to crochet a basket with Lily & Dot in the beautiful setting of Runnymede. Price includes a summer spritz and afternoon tea. More details online and on Facebook. 4–6pm.

March 25th Easter Egg Hunt Enjoy garden games, music and food at our inaugural Easter Egg Hunt. Door price, times, and further details online and on Facebook. april 14th Autumn Garden Fair Plants, bric-a-brac, books, Devonshire tea, and so much more. Get in early to avoid missing out. More information online and on Facebook.

10am–2pm. Ph (03) 6278 1269.

Email runnymede@ nationaltrusttas.org.au. Visit nationaltrusttas.rezdy.com or @RunnymedeHouse on Facebook Runnymede, 61 Bay Road, New Town, Hobart..

More details online and on Facebook. Ph (03) 6231 0911.

Email penitentiary.chapel@ nationaltrusttas.org.au.

Hobart Penitentiary Chapel.

Corner Brisbane & Campbell streets, Hobart. 3.30–6.30pm.

HOME HILL ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT AND GARDEN FUN March 28th Enjoy games and activities in the garden of Home Hill, along with our very popular Easter Egg Hunt!

Ph (03) 6424 8055. Email home. hill@nationaltrusttas.org.au.

Entry by gold coin donation.

77 Middle Road, Devonport.

10am–12pm.

To help us continue to protect special places, donate today. Go to nationaltrust.org.au/ donate/

issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

89

WA nationaltrust.org.au/wa

AUSTRALIA’S CHANGING CLIMATE 2018 CY O’CONNOR LECTURE March 14th Australia will need to plan for and adapt to some level of climate change.

Veteran meteorologist Neil Bennet from the Bureau of Meteorology will give a fascinating insight into changing weather patterns in Western Australia and discuss the implications of these on the future of the world’s most hotly contested commodity: water. Supported by the Water Corporation.

Bookings essential: 2018cyoconnorlecture.eventbrite. com.au. Tickets, member $12, non-member $20, concession $15. State Library of Western Australia Theatre, Francis Street, Perth. 5.45pm for 6pm start.

EASTER CHILDREN’S DAY March 31st Bring the kids along for an Easter egg treasure hunt and craft activities at this fun family event. Kids can explore the delights of this heritage place on the banks of the Swan River. There is a café on site.

Tickets, $5 a child. Peninsula Farm, 2A Johnson Road, Maylands. 10am–4pm.

STONE REPAIR WORKSHOP April 11th Are you interested in learning the secrets of lime mortar and how to replace inappropriate cement renders?

The National Trust is planning a stone repair workshop to be run by Errol Tilbrook, an experienced stonemason.

The day will cover traditional masonry skills, salt testing and practical approaches to caring for stone.

Expressions of interest to eric.hancock@ntwa.com.au.

Cost and details to be confirmed.

Bill Sewell Complex, 84 Chapman Road, Geraldton.

CONNECTION TO COUNTRY April 18th The 2018 Australian Heritage Festival will be launched in Western Australia with a viewing of the film Connection to Country, a moving account of the ongoing relationship that Aboriginal people have with their land, making a fitting link to the festival’s theme: My Culture, My Story.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.

Bookings essential: goo.gl/ aEgKW9. Tickets, $15. Venue to be advised. 5.45pm for 6pm start.

limited so be sure to arrive in time to register your children for this fascinating activity.

Free entry. Old Farm, Strawberry Hill, 174 Middleton Road, Albany. 10am–4pm.

FREE ENTRY WEEKENDS at National Trust Properties in Western Australia April 21st–May 20th Enjoy free entry to National Trust properties open to the public in Western Australia on weekends during the Australian Heritage Festival.

Visit heritage farms, a pump station, a heritage settlement or a series of seven heritage cemeteries.

Visit nationaltrust.org.au/wa to check opening days and times and learn more about our range of historic properties.

the great game April 25th This ANZAC Day, be one of the first to view the new presentation, entitled The Great Game, which focuses on the story of the two Harper brothers of Woodbridge who lost their lives during World War I. Their stories inspired Peter Weir’s award-winning movie, Gallipoli.

Bookings essential: goo.gl/ aEgKW9. Tickets, member $5, non-member $8, concession $7, child $5, family $23.

Woodbridge, Ford Street, Woodbridge. Enter via gates of Gov. Stirling High. Allow time for parking.

FAMILY FUN AT THE FARM April 21st Join us for a fun and free day where your family has the opportunity to enjoy hands-on activities together. Play old-fashioned games, wander through the house, follow a discovery trail or create a ‘masterpiece’. Archaeological digs will be held at 10.30am and 2.30pm. Spaces are

ANZAC DAY SUNSET CEREMONY April 25th Attend an ANZAC ceremony at the home of one of the first European families to settle in the Swan River Colony overlooking the beautiful Swan River. As the sun goes down, the community gather for a moving ceremony to remember all of the ANZACs and others who have served

GARDENS IN TIME

April 29th, May 13th Come and enjoy a talk by engaging Property Warden Vince Taylor about the heritage garden at Old Blythewood.

Learn how the garden has developed over time and how it relates to other colonial gardens in the Murray District.

Forty-five minute talk with light refreshments and a tour of the property.

Ph (08) 9531 1485. Tickets, members free, non-members $8, concession $5. Old Blythewood, 6161 South Western Highway, Pinjarra. 10–11.30am.

events Heritage walks at Yarralumla reveal the beautiful lake shores and their history.

HERITAGE WALKS at Yarralumla April 19th

Walk 1: Westlake–Stirling Park. .

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email info@ nationaltrustact.org.au.

April 22ND Walk 2: ‘From test-tubes to trees’.

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email info@ nationaltrustact.org.au.

April 29th

photographs MARNIE HAWSON, mary johnston

To help us continue to protect special places, donate today. Go to nationaltrust.org.au/ donate/

act

DIGGING DEEPER April 29th The word ‘convict’ is not engraved on any headstone in East Perth Cemeteries, but they are there. Some arrived on the first convict ship, the Scindian, and lie alongside their guards in the graveyard.

And there are those from the last, the Hougoumont. In this, the 150th anniversary year of the last convict ship to reach Australia, hear the stories of convicts buried in WA’s colonial burial ground, many in unmarked graves. Follow a self-guided tour to view graves.

Bookings: goo.gl/aEgKW9. Free entry. East Perth Cemeteries, Bronte Street, East Perth.

1pm talk, 2–4pm tours

LIMESTONE, peppertree & lookout TOUR March 17th Building on the popularity of our Quarries and Homesteads Tour last March, the National Trust is heading out to South Marulan to experience the largest limestone quarry in the southern hemisphere as well as Peppertree Quarry.

Boral will be our host, so be ready with closed shoes and trousers to don safety vests, hats and glasses as we inspect the scale of these enterprises.

Listen to their environmental adviser and find out what a bunding wall is. From there it’s off to Marulan, then be prepared for spectacular views of the Shoalhaven Valley at Badgerys Lookout.

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email: info@nationaltrustact.org.au.

Tickets, $90 National Trust/ U3A members/Friends of NLA, $100 non-members. Pick up points are behind the shops in Deakin at 7.30am or at the Hockey Centre at Lyneham at 7.45am. Please specify your nationaltrust.org.au/act

in the many conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

Free entry. Peninsula Farm, 2A Johnson Road, Maylands.

5–6pm.

pick up point and any dietary restrictions when booking.

Approximate time of arrival back in Canberra 6pm.

HERITAGE WALK, Acton Peninsula April 15th Join this fascinating walk back through time to visit the site of Canberra’s first European settlement in 1824, and to explore the Acton Conservation Area.

Acton Ridge is not only the birthplace of Canberra, but also where it grew up.

From 1911 until the 1940s, the detailed planning and construction of the National Capital was largely orchestrated from Acton.

Explore these early buildings and find out about the many public servants and tradies who lived and worked here a century ago.

Bookings: eventbrite.com.au/e/ heritage-walk-act-4-actonpeninsula-tickets37629538964. Tickets, $7.

Meet at the car park (free) opposite Old Canberra House on Lennox Crossing, the extension of Liversedge Street, Acton. 9.30–11.30am.

Walk 3: ‘From sheep to shrubs’.

Visit the site of one of Canberra’s first pastoral settlements dating from 1828. Discover its transformation into one of Australia’s most prosperous sheep stations before it was resumed by the Commonwealth in 1913, eventually becoming Government House. Follow the scenic shores of Lake Burley Griffin through the edge of Weston’s arboretum to heritage-listed Yarralumla Nursery and Hobday’s Cottage (1923). Bookings: heritagewalk8yarralumla-from-sheep-toshrubs.eventbrite.com. Tickets, $7 per person. Meet at 9.15am for 9.30–11.30am.

REID UNITING CHURCH April 15th Canberra’s first urban church, the Reid Uniting Church, opened more than 90 years ago as the South Ainslie Methodist Church. For details, please visit the National Trust website.

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email info@nationaltrustact.org.au.

CLIFTONWOOD HOMESTEAD, YASS April 21st For details, please visit the National Trust website.

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email info@nationaltrustact.org.au. landscape of learning Old Tuggeranong Schoolhouse April 22nd For details, please visit the National Trust website.

Ph (02) 6230 0533. Email info@nationaltrustact.org.au. issue 4 2018 / t r u s t

91

The Gold Coast is so excited to be hosting the Games and you can buy your official Borobi Games merchandise with us! There will be lots of fun activities at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary throughout the Games so be sure to visit the website to keep up-to-date.

Ph (07) 5534 1266. CurrumbinSanctuary.com.au. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin. 8am–5pm.

nationaltrust.org.au/qld

QUEENSLAND

THE TRUST TALKs: boggo road gaol March 15th We are at what once was Australia’s most notorious prison for the first of The Trust Talks of 2018. Enjoy networking and drinks, a guided tour of the gaol and three guest speakers on convicts and prisons, all within the walls of a prison.

Follow us on Facebook @nationaltrustqueensland or visit the National Trust website. 5pm for 5.45pm.

with afternoon tea and a tour of this historic property.

Tickets: wolstonfarmhouse. com.au. 3–5pm. easter at currumbin march 30th–april 3rd Celebrate Easter at the Sanctuary; we are open all

victor harbour museum march 22nd The Victor Harbor branch of the National Trust is holding a special event: celebrating 20 years since the opening of the Visitor Centre building showcasing the history of Victor Harbor from 1800 to 1900.

Please check details closer to the date. Email ntvh@bigpond.com.

1 Flinders Parade, Victor Harbor. 2–3.30pm.

MURDER AT THE MILLICENT MUSEUM April 14th During the Geltwood Craft Festival, Millicent museum will present Murder at the Museum: a 1920s themed event, reflecting on the end of World War I. There will be a mystery to be solved!

Please check details closer to the date. Ph (08) 8733 3205.

Millicent Museum, 1 Mount Gambier Road, Millicent.

10.30am–4.30pm.

SUMMER SUNDAYS AT BEAUMONT HOUSE March 18th

Enjoy live music, food, entertainment and wine on the shady lawns of Beaumont House. Treat yourself to a Devonshire tea on the verandah and browse our exclusive market and vintage stalls.

Email events@nationaltrustsa. org.au. Tickets, $8 members, $10 non-members, available at the gate (children under 12 free).

631 Glynburn Road, Beaumont. 12noon–4pm.

intimate concert with duncan gardiner march 18th Enjoy an intimate afternoon with Brisbane-based classical guitarist and composer Duncan Gardiner in the parlour at Wolston Farmhouse, along help us protect special places and donate today.

Go to nationaltrust.org. au/donate/

Spend one last Sunday of summer in the lush green surrounds of Beaumont House.

Distribution of this magazine may vary; we apologise if some events are already completed or booked out in advance. We recommend contacting the organisers to confirm details and ensure availability.

photograph Marnie Hawson

april 4th–15th

my culture, my story Australian Heritage Festival from april 18th Spring Hill Reservoir hosts the Queensland launch of this national festival.

For more details visit the National Trust website at nationaltrust.org.au/qld. nationaltrust.org.au/sa

the games are coming to currumbin

long weekend. Visit or adopt a bilby over the Easter break.

Follow us on Facebook @currumbin.wildlife.sanctuary or visit CurrumbinSanctuary. com.au. 8am–5pm

SA

Borobi the koala can be your own personal mascot.

G O L D

C O A S T

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A U S T R A L I A

NOW OPEN C U R R U M B I N S A N C T U A R Y. C O M . A U

Heaven or hell

The Historic Houses Association of Australia is holding its first conference in April, focusing on responsibilities and rewards of owning an important historic house. writer Jennifer Stackhouse

T

he Historic Houses Association of Australia was formed to support the owners of private historic properties. It began in Sydney in 1988, bringing together Friends groups associated with several of Sydney’s historic house museums, including Elizabeth Bay House and Vaucluse House, and became a national group in 2014. The Association has 30 property members, made up of private and house museums, some 1000 members and 7000 supporters and this year has organised an inaugural conference in Sydney on April 5th–6th to address the many issues that come with historic house ownership.

Delegates will hear from those with an interest in heritage, restoration and legislation as well as from property owners. Speakers from across Australia will be joined by international speakers including James Hervey-Bathurst from Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, who will discuss heritage homeowners’ experiences in the UK and Europe.

Among local speakers are Sally Hawker and her daughter Victoria Stewart from heritage-listed Bungaree Station near Clare in South Australia’s picturesque Clare Valley. Bungaree has been in the Hawker family since 1841 and was established by George Hawker and his brothers. The fourth, fifth and sixth generation of the Hawker family now live on the property.

Since the mid 1980s, the family has been exploring ways to use the property to generate new income streams and expand its agricultural focus. Victoria Stewart, who is a fifth generation member of the Hawker family and manager of the tourism side of the family business, says the incorporation of hospitality and tourism in the family’s agricultural business started with

94 t r u s t / issue 4 2018

a guided tour of the property for visitors over the Easter long weekend in 1985.

Sally and George Hawker arranged the first tour. It was so successful they ran more before deciding to open up the shearer’s quarters for camping-style accommodation. Gradually other buildings on the property were restored and repurposed. The first was the Council Chambers, once the meeting room for the local council, which became bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Bungaree now has six heritage cottages and can accommodate 35 guests. It operates with four full-time staff, including Victoria and her husband Mark Stewart, and a large pool of casual labour.

The 3000 hectare farm, which is given over to cropping, along with grazing sheep and cattle, is managed by Victoria’s brother, Edward Hawker, with three full-time staff.

Originally substantially larger with an impressive flock of 100,000 merinos, Bungaree was for much of the 19th century considered a northern outpost for travellers from Adelaide. It was an important stopover for explorer John McDouall Stuart and his party, on their return from crossing Australia in 1862.

Once viewed as an outpost and a self-contained village, Bungaree is now just two hours drive from Adelaide and a popular destination for local, interstate and international tourists. In addition to offering tours and accommodation, the property is available for weddings and special events. It is open daily from 10am–4pm for tours. A recent development has been a self-guided tour with audio posts.

“Working in tourism and hospitality isn’t a 9am to 5pm, five-daya-week job, which is difficult when the property is also your home,” says Victoria Stewart. “Good staff and set closed periods are vital to mitigate the impact of having guests in your home.”

Stewart says that while it is important to have the income to help fund maintenance of the many historic buildings on the property and provide business resilience, it is hard to have family time, but being open to visitors also means meeting interesting people and enjoying sharing the property with others.

Despite a strong and growing business, she is interested in other revenue streams that could be generated. Stewart says she hopes the conference and membership of the Historic Houses Association of Australia will help her with the bureaucracy that often confronts historic house owners and custodians.

The Home Heaven Hell: Supporting historic house owners in Australia conference is being held at the Conservatorium of Music, Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, April 5th–6th; hha.net.au/conference or telephone (02) 9252 5554.

FROM TOP: Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, UK; Bungaree Station in the Clare Valley of South Australia; shearers at Bungaree.

main photograph sam furlong bungaree hawker family collection shearers samuel sweet

last word

27 April - 26 August 2018

Old Government House Parramatta NSW From Bombay to Parramatta.

Indian memories of the man who became New South Walesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most celebrated early Governor. www.nationaltrust.org.au/whats-on-nsw/

MeEt ThE inmates. do SOME time.

DISCOVER YOUR OLD MELBOURNE GAOL STORY.

OPEN DAILY 9.30am to 5.00pm and select evenings 377 Russell St, Melbourne oldmelbournegaol.com.au