Vo lu m e 6 N O 1 f e b r ua r y 2 0 1 3
trust
news
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INSIDE >
NATIONAL TRUST
Australia
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Heritage festival Fun
20 hillary clinton calls
26 Great Stone pines
rivers of emotion
Discover Australia’s National Trust heritage places and have a great day out! National Trust members gain FREE and discounted entry* *except for special events
www.nationaltrust.org.au
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Inside 4
National Listing for Indigenous Heritage Values in Queensland’s Wet Tropics
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Hillary visits The Curtin Family Home
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Lost! Melbourne’s Lost 100 National Trust of Australia (Vic) iPhone App
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The Heritage Festival is Coming! Community Milestones 2013
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A Capital idea
ISSN: 1835-2316 Vol 6 No 1 2013
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Trust News is published quarterly for National Trust members and subscribers in February, May, August and November.
with editor Gina Pickerin g
Publication is coordinated by the National Trust of Australia (WA) on behalf of the National Trusts of Australia and supported by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. National Trust of Australia (WA) ABN 83 697 381 616 PO Box 1162 West Perth WA 6872 T: 08 9321 6088 F: 08 9324 1571 W:www.ntwa.com.au Editor: Gina Pickering gina.pickering@ntwa.com.au T: 08 9321 6088 Advertising: For advertising rates, contact the Editor. Design: Dessein Graphics Cover: A moment from the Point Cook Homestead Dinner and Ghost Tour in Victoria. Lantern Ghost Tours. Next Issue: May 2013 Copy deadline:10 March 2013
Please help us to save our environment and circulate this magazine as widely as possible. This magazine is printed on recyclable paper and packed in 100% degradable wrap. The views expressed in Trust News are not necessarily those of the National Trusts or the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. The articles in this magazine are subject to copyright. No article may be used without the consent of the National Trust and the author.
February – April 2013
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Greetings The approaching Heritage Festival is a focus of the first edition of Trust News Australia for 2013 and events are taking shape to wet your appetite. Some of the world’s largest pines reveal themselves in South Australia, while former Greens leader Bob Brown takes us to the heart of his inspiration. Rivers and locks are revealing our surprising emotional links across the world and Hillary Clinton calls at a Trust property during her recent visit downunder.
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Stone Pines discovery
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Stone Fish Trap Rediscovered by Integrated Research Team
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Back on Track
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A work of art
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The Phoenix of Clarendon
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Riversdale – ready to grow for another hundred years
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Breaking the Silence
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Oura Oura
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Edmund Cooper Manfred: grand designs for 19th century Goulburn
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Lovelocks Challenge Heritage Philosophy
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What is a World Heritage Site?
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National Trust Way Holiday Tours
Enjoy Gina Pickering | Editor
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Trust News Australia february 2013
perspectives
National Listing for Indigenous Heritage Values in Queensland’s Wet Tropics Tony Burke | Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
In November last year it was with great pride that after many years following the listing of the Wet Tropics of Queensland on the National Heritage List, I was able to announce the inclusion of the Indigenous heritage values of the Wet Tropics on the National Heritage list.
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was delighted to be able to share in this momentous occasion and celebrate this proud moment with Elders and Traditional Owners from the Wet Tropics. At the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park outside Cairns I joined with nearly forty Elders and Traditional Owners of the Wet Tropics, members of the Australian Heritage Council and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Management Authority to officially include the Indigenous heritage values of the Wet Tropics of Queensland on the List. In particular, I was delighted to meet with a remarkable group of Traditional Owners from the Rainforest Aboriginal People Alliance who had worked tirelessly to achieve this listing. It is fitting that they received a signed commemorative national heritage inscription during the event. The stories, traditions, songs and dances of the Rainforest Aboriginal People are unique to the Wet Tropics. Rainforest Aboriginal people have lived amongst, and made continuous use of, the Wet Tropics of Queensland for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence suggests they have been living in the rainforest for at least 5,000 years.
The national heritage listing acknowledges the cultural traditions of the Rainforest Aboriginal People which underpin their knowledge of food gathering and processing techniques that enabled the consumption of toxic native plants as a major food source. For example, a tradition of the Kuku-Yalanji people describes how Kubirri, a Rainbow Serpent, showed their ancestors which food they could eat and how to process and prepare it. Another tradition describes how a skink called Junbirr taught two Kuku-Yalanji sisters how to make flour from the toxic cycad nut. The traditional use of fire for land management by the Rainforest Aboriginal People is also of outstanding value to the nation. Fire was used to keep
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walking tracks clear of vegetation by placing hot coals at the base of lawyer vines and to kill or prune individual plants. The development and passing on of these important skills made it possible for Rainforest Aborigines to live year-round in a tropical rainforest environment. The distinctiveness of traditions and their technical innovation and the expertise needed to survive and thrive in the Wet Tropics of Queensland is of outstanding heritage value to the nation and they are now protected for future generations under national environment law. The Wet Tropics was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988 for its natural values and was added to the National Heritage List in 2007.
dancers from Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park at the event. C Eustace/Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park Burke signs the gazettal notice for the inclusion on the National Heritage List of the Indigenous heritage values for the Wet Tropics. C Eustace/ Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park
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Hillary visits The Curtin Family Home Western Australia’s beachside suburb of Cottesloe received an international shake-up when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited National Trust property The Curtin Family Home during her November 2012 visit to Australia. Unprecedented security swarmed into Jarrad Street for the impromptu call including more than 30 cars.
1 After the tour Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith, Mrs Clinton and US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich headed to the Cottesloe beachside for another engagement. G Pickering/NTWA 2 National Trust (WA) Chair John Cowdell and National Trust President Max Kay greet Mrs Clinton at The Curtin Family Home. G Pickering/NTWA 3 and 5 Unprecedented
security overwhelms Jarrad Street during Mrs Clinton’s visit. G Pickering/NTWA
4 Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arriving at The Curtin Family Home in Cottesloe, Western Australia. G Pickering/NTWA
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rs Clinton was met at the front gate of the former home of Wartime Prime Minister John Curtin and his wife Elsie by National Australia (WA) Chair John Cowdell, National Trust (WA) President Max Kay and Conservation Architect Kelly Rippingale who managed works undertaken at the property. Defence Minister Stephen Smith accompanied Mrs Clinton on the 30 minute tour of the house which has been in the care of the National Trust since 2002. Australian Ambassador to the US Kim Beazley and US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich also inspected the modest home and backyard where the Curtin family often played cricket. A small contingent of Jarrad Street residents was thrilled by the unlikely visitor and Mrs Clinton greeted the locals warmly. Contrasts between the White House and number 24 Jarrad Street might have raised a few eyebrows during the visit. Mrs Clinton may also have been surprised to learn that this former centre for national leadership during the heady days of WWII was available for short term lease as part of a sustainable approach to this nationally significant heritage site.
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Lost! Melbourne’s Lost 100 National Trust of Australia (Vic) iPhone App Alexandra Hill | Heritage programs advocate, National Trust (Vic)
Get out and experience Melbourne as it once was with Lost! Melbourne’s Lost 100 - a fun and educational iPhone app that helps users build an understanding of the evolving face of Melbourne.
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his dynamic app allows users to view eighty of Melbourne city’s lost 100 buildings from any location. Uniquely, the app will only notify users about the remaining 20 buildings when they are within metres of where they once stood. The history, photos and stories of these often long demolished buildings will be available, as well as information on buildings currently at risk in the city. Using the classification research files of the National Trust, the userfriendly and informative app was developed to reward users for their curiosity about their city. Partnering with WSP Digital, the National Trust developed an app that was accessible, educational and physically involved the user.
Lost! Melbourne’s Lost 100 uses augmented reality to give the user a rich understanding of the city as it once was, integrating digital and physical experiences of the site. The app superimposes images of demolished buildings over the current site at each of the 100 locations.
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The app provides an insight into buildings such as the Victorian Tea Rooms in the Fitzroy Gardens, the Fish Markets and the Eastern Market. It includes old hotels, markets and mansions that have left their mark on the city. The experiences of others who use this app are also available as part of the experience. The app encourages locals and visitors to contribute and interact with others, through the the upload of images, stories and comments into the app itself as well as to Facebook and Twitter. User generated stories are a key aspect of the app with the number of newly updated stories appearing each time the app is engaged. Lost! Melbourne’s Lost 100 is an innovative way of forming a connection with the past and the ever changing shape of the city itself. The app will be updated annually with more ‘Lost!’ buildings and sites, as well as photos and information about existing buildings. These updates will include new buildings at risk and additional ‘new’ lost buildings. The National Trust is exploring new themes for the app including a focus on interiors and Aboriginal cultural heritage.
iPhone image of former Victorian Tea Rooms, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, superimposed on lawn where it once stood. Source: WSP Digital (iPhone image) + State Library of Victoria (image of kiosk).
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The Heritage Festival is Coming! Community Milestones 2013 Alexandra Hill | Heritage Festival National Coordinator, National Trust (Vic)
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id you know that it will be 100 years in March since the name of Australia’s new capital city was announced? Or that the Ngunnawal people have lived in the district for more than 20,000 years? The theme of the National Trust Heritage Festival, Community Milestones, talks to communities about who we are and what we’ve achieved, coinciding with the national community’s celebration of the Centenary of Canberra. There’s nothing like Australia’s heritage so join this national event celebrating our unique heritage from Gympie to Karratha, Humpty Doo to Devonport. Through talks, tours, exhibitions and events across Australia, come and explore our heritage and discover how our communities have developed and grown. The flagship national event of the Festival is the National Education forum on the ICOMOS International Day of Monuments and Sites, Thursday 18 April. The ICOMOS theme in 2013 is ‘Heritage of Education’, cementing a synergy between our education forum and the international day. There’s so much on during April and May across the country for you to experience. Check our website or download the program app for a full program of events at www.nationaltrust.org.au
ACT
13 – 28 April
Elm Grove Open Day
3rd Ainslie Open Houses and Gardens
Enjoy a day at the heritagelisted property of Elm Grove, which remains today a fully functioning remnant of the once broad holdings of the pioneer settlers of the upper Ginninderra Creek area. Production of fine wool and hay continues on the property to the present day. Watch the sheep shearing demonstration, the Monaro Bush Dancers and Sing Australia Choir. Professional storyteller Elizabeth Burness will enthral you with stories of early rural life in Belconnen and Gungahlin. There will be tours, displays and plenty to entertain the whole family. Saturday 27 April, Roden Cutler Drive, Jacka.
Inspect houses and gardens in the heritage precincts of Ainslie led by expert Ken Charlton. Included for the first time will be the Beaufort House built in 1947 entirely out of steel. It was an aircraft factory-produced prototype, but with steel in short supply no others were built in Canberra. The All Saint’s Church Hall turns 60 and will also feature on the walk. The tour will conclude with afternoon tea. Saturday 13 April, Baker Gardens Preschool, Ainslie.
Magna Carta Place
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Members of the Magna Carta Committee of Australia will explain the history of the Monument, its design features and the significance of the images on the walls. There will also be a demonstration of brass rubbing and an opportunity to make your own rubbing of the brass plates on the bases of the monument’s pillars. Saturday 27 April, Langton Circuit, Parkes.
Henry Halloran was a NSW surveyor, land speculator and real estate agent. His most ambitious development was Environa. He marketed the land as the nearest freehold land to Canberra, which was leasehold. Why did none of the 1700 blocks sell? What are those interesting stone works? Join Halloran’s grandson David Larcombe as he takes us on a tour of one of the interesting chapters in Canberra’s development. Saturday 20 April, Arnott Street, Hume.
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NSW From an evening that focuses on local produce at Dundullimal with chef Michael Manners; to a heritage bus that has scheduled drop off & pick up points around the events in the Sutherland Shire; then to Alison Jane Rice’s solo exhibition: ‘Bicentenary of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains: A Historic Survey’ the festival embraces events that help us discover what has shaped New South Wales and to a larger extent Australia. Sutherland Medieval Regiment Dark Ages and Medieval combat re-enactment and display will show fighting and display of weapons and armour from the Dark Ages through to the Renaissance. Come along to watch and cheer for the warriors as they battle with swords, axes, spears, shields and armour for your entertainment. After the show have a closer look at the weapons and armour and talk to the fighters. You may even be interested in joining this fun sport and hobby. Saturday 13 April, Woronora Cemetery, Sutherland.
Trust News Australia february 2013
18 April – 31 May Penrith City Council Bicentenary of the First Crossing of the Blue Mountains In 2013 Penrith City Council, in conjunction with a local community committee, will be organising a series of activities to commemorate this most significant milestone in Australia’s history. Three weeks of major festivities have been organised including a re-enactment trek featuring descendants of explorers as well as local school children, a breakfast launch and a Family Camp Out on the Nepean River, Penrith, all on 11 May, an historical festival on 19 May at historic Mamre Homestead, St Marys and on 25 &26 May a back to Emu Plains weekend that will feature walking tours of Historical sights in Emu Plains and a ‘mini’ William Cox Open Day. May, Penrith.
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Saumarez Family Farm Fair Market Stalls, Art, Craft and Animals with Food Stalls and Activities from 10am to 4pm. Guided House Tours and Guided Farm Tours and other attractions including classic & antique cars, antique farm machinery, shearing, blacksmithing and heavy horse demonstrations throughout the day. Sunday 14 April, Saumarez Homestead, Armidale. Brinsley’s Joinery Shop Step back in time at our early l900s joinery shop to witness first hand original working machinery from the l860s. View building & joinery conservation practices being applied to works in progress. See shingle and fence paling splitting in the traditional method. Antique tools, equipment & trade books will be on display as well as a selection of contemporary furniture pieces designed and produced on site by high quality trades people. Saturday 13 April, Toronto Parade, Sutherland.
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SA Pioneer Women’s Trail Run/Walk Follow the trail walked by the German women and girls who walked from Hahndorf to Adelaide to sell produce in the early years of the colony. Commencing from The Hahndorf Institute in Main St Hahndorf, the route follows the main road out of Hahndorf crossing the Onkaparinga River before joining the official trail at Verdun. This historic trail winds its way through the back streets of Bridgewater and Stirling, traverses the beautiful bush trails of Mt George Conservation Park and Cleland Conservation Park, before finally opening out onto stunning city views and the descent to Burnside. Stay around for post run celebrations and BBQ at historic Beaumont House which will be open to the public all day as part of the About Time: South Australia’s History Festival. Sunday 19 May, Hahndorf. Wiki The National Trust of SA wiki website is a treasure-trove of information. You can explore from home and add your own information! The wiki is designed to help share and build knowledge about heritage in South Australia. Using a wiki is easy. A wiki is first and foremost a web site. You can do all the things you do on any web site. You can look at text and images, play video, follow hyperlinks or search for content. What is special about a wiki web site is that registered users can comment, or add to and change what appears on the site. Registration is free and open to everyone. All that is required is an
18 April – 31 May email address and a willingness to make a contribution. Entries around community milestones are encouraged. View online at http:// saheritagefestival.com. au/wiki/Main_Page Ayers House Heritage Festival 2013 Program Ayers House is not only the last surviving mansion of its era on the southern side of North Terrace, it also interprets the life of an upper middle class family of the 19th Century. Sir Henry Ayers came from England as a young man with little schooling but went on to become Premier of South Australia seven times and the Director of the Burra Copper Mine. He commissioned the conversion of a nine-roomed brick house to become the forty-roomed mansion that we see today. The magnificent formal dining room ceiling is regarded as the most significant hand painted ceiling in the country. Using reflections on social history, our visitors hear the story of how life may have been for the Ayers Family and those ‘below stairs’. During May, experience the roaring twenties in the Museum, an Open Day, After Dark Tours and a ‘Downton Abbey’ themed dinner. May, Ayers House, Adelaide.
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SA Heritage Conference Heritage is about the places and stories which make South Australia and Australia special, reflecting on our development as a nation. Our heritage contributes to our sense of place, our community and our personal wellbeing. It informs us about where we have come from and who we are, and is an essential part of our national identity. Heritage buildings are the historic streetscape autobiography of our community providing recognisable connections with people and events in history. Join the discussion about the culture of heritage innovation in the conservation, preservation and sustainability of heritage properties for current and future generations. Thursday 18 April, Rymill House, Adelaide.
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NT
14 – 20 April
We are looking forward to another exciting Heritage Festival in the Territory this year. The McDouall Stuart Branch in Alice Springs is looking at important milestones and community involvement in our Sporting Heritage with Charlie King, an iconic Northern Territory sports commentator, headlining as the speaker at the annual Doreen Braitling lecture . The Larrakeyah Branch in Darwin will hold several events over the week and host an open at Burnett House on World Heritage Day 18 April. Check the Heritage Festival website for other events at our Katherine and Borroloola properties.
QLD
18 April – 18 May
The National Trust of Queensland has many reasons to celebrate ‘Milestones’ during its month long Heritage Festival from 18 April to 18 May. Fifty years have passed since the National Trust of Queensland was created by an Act of Parliament in December 1963. Our oldest property, Wolston House, is celebrating its 160th birthday, the Hou Wang Temple in Atherton is 110 years old, and it’s been 25 years since the Castling Street Heritage Centre in Townsville was opened. All of these places will hold special events during April or May and many other organisations around Queensland will join the celebrations of their own. The Royal Historical Society of Queensland, founded in 1913 and based at the Commissariat Store in Brisbane, will be holding a series of events celebrating their centenary year in 2013. For more information on any of these events go to Queensland’s Events page on the National Website.
TAS
1 – 31 May
The 2013 Tasmanian Heritage Festival taking place in May throughout all regions of Tasmania is shaping up to be yet another successful state wide event with more participants presenting a diverse range of activities than ever before. The National Trust in Tasmania is the peak community heritage organisation and the festival is the largest celebration of Tasmania’s cultural heritage. Participating organizations include historical societies, libraries, schools, museums and government departments as well as strong representation from the private and corporate sectors. The National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), as a key component to its ‘Community Heritage Program’ funded by the Tasmanian State Government, has developed a series of touring exhibitions and a program of signature events as a key feature of the Heritage Festival. Planning is well underway for this year’s exhibition which will open at Home Hill, the home of former Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and his wife Dame Enid Lyons. The exhibition will focus on the extraordinary contribution of women who devoted their lives to politics and their communities. The 2013 Tasmanian Heritage Festival will be launched at Parliament House, Hobart on Wednesday 17 April.
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VIC With the expansion of the Branch network into the Wimmera and North East, this year’s events are truly representative of all Victorians. Happy Birthday House! Being part of Melbourne’s first suburb, many of Fitzroy’s houses are around 150 years old this year. To celebrate this heritage we encourage residents to research the birth-stone-day date, name and other interesting history of their house. Send your details to the Fitzroy Residents Association, and we will prepare a heliumfilled birthday balloon for your house showing this history. Fly the balloon from the front of your house and share the house’s history with everyone! Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, Fitzroy Town Hall, Fitzroy.
18 April – 19 May South Gippsland Railway Heritage The South Gippsland Tourist Railway will be running two special heritage trains from Korumburra to Leongatha during the festival. Passengers will travel in Victorian Railways vestibule carriages. Before leaving for Leongatha, passengers can visit the heritage listed Korumburra station building and enjoy a tea or coffee in the Refreshment Room. Historic notes about the stations and the line will be available on the day. At Leongatha Station, representatives of the Leongatha Historical Society will conduct a walk of historic town buildings that are all within easy walking distance of the station. Sunday 28 April and 12 May, Korumburra Railway Station, Koumburra.
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Drive Back in Time This vintage vehicle enthusiast’s weekend offers around 200 fabulous vehicles in the picturesque setting of Main Street Beechworth. Saturday hosts a Points of Interest car rally and picnic at the railways good shed whilst Sunday presents a display of vintage cars, motorbikes, stationary engines and trucks. All vehicles and engines range from earliest examples to the most recent which is 25 years old. There are judged competitions and trophies so, for a minimal fee, why not register your own? Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May, Beechworth. Skene Alexander Skene advertised as Land Agent, Surveyor and Architect in Geelong in 1841 and later became Victoria’s Surveyor General. Learn more about him with this specially written play with a one-word name, Skene, performed at a historic place in Geelong. There’s no better way to comprehend history than to visit the place where it happened. On site location theatre enriches audience experience and emphasizes the importance of conserving heritage places that help tell the story. Saturday 20 April, Geelong.
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WA
18 April – 18 May
Railway Heritage at Ongerup Museum
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Discover railway heritage with a “Billy Tea & Damper� morning tea. Followed by a visit to the Railway Barracks, a reading of articles from the newspaper at the Official Opening of the railway in 1913, a tour of the local history collection and an exploration of some of the old disbanded railway sidings. Sunday 5 May, Eldridge Street, Ongerup.
Working together with sponsors, National Trust Branches, community organisations and government has enabled us to present a fantastic range of heritage events across Victoria. Complementing the National Trust Heritage Festival is Australian Heritage Week this year running from Saturday 13 April to Sunday 21 April. This national annual event celebrates the places and stories that make Australia and Australians special. The week is about raising public awareness of the importance of conserving and protecting our special heritage places, our rich Indigenous heritage and the diverse historic sites that together reflect our development as a nation. It is also about encouraging communities and organisations to use this time to host a local heritage event or activity. It is an opportunity for all Australians to celebrate our shared and special heritage. You can find out more about Australian Heritage Week at heritage-week.govspace.gov. au and may also like to register your event to provide additional promotion. The Australian Government supports the National Trust Heritage Festival through funding and through the AHW website for the registration of events running during Australian Heritage Week.
50 Years Council House This year the City of Perth commemorates the 50th anniversary of its iconic Council House building, a signature piece of modernist architecture in Perth. To celebrate, the City is presenting an exhibition exploring the origins and history of the building. 25 March to 24 May, Foyer Council House, Perth. Launch of the Peppermint Grove Heritage Trail The Grove Library has developed a digital heritage trail for the beautiful suburb of Peppermint Grove. The trail is accessible via any internet connected mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet; a limited number of portable Opus devices will also be available for loan from the Grove Library to enable everyone to enjoy the tour. Those taking the tour will view historic images and listen to narration about points of interest viewable along the trail. The content has been researched by Dr Sue Graham Taylor, drawing on the archives of The Grove Library and Presbyterian Ladies College. The physical tour has been designed to take around an hour and a half to complete, in a circuit from The Grove; a pleasant outdoor activity for residents and visitors of Peppermint Grove. Those unable to visit can take the virtual tour online. May, Peppermint Grove. South Mole Discovery Walk Walking tour from the Round House in Fremantle, along the South Mole including Fort Arthur Head, torpedo and harbour nets, smoke generators and the Harbour Battery gun position. Sunday 5 May, Round House - Cliff Street, Fremantle.
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Between the lines The Untravelled World Author: Ian Reid Publisher: UWA Press 2012 Reviewer: Tom Perrigo CEO
A Capital idea
National Trust (WA)
Writing historical fiction is certainly a challenge. To weave characters into a story which is based on primary source research is a real gift. Ian Reid’s The Untravelled World more than meets the challenge, creating a narrative that is both a good novel that is remarkably historically accurate, while drawing the reader into a walk through time, from pre WWI to the outbreak of World WWII. In the book the character Harry says that his parents gave him a love of words. Ian Reid brings his own love of words, utilizing them through the power of storytelling to create a unique Western Australian sense of place. This period was one of great change in Western Australia, as well as the country as a whole, and Reid’s story captures the day by day lives of the protagonists, while also reflecting the growing state as Western Australia became a more populated and engaged part of the world. Reid writes that you never think when you are young, that accidental things can shape so much of your life. Not only do the macro events of WWI shape Harry’s story, so do the smaller incidences that occur in regional Western Australia where he arrives in 1911 to work at the new wireless station. Reid uses Harry’s stories to foreshadow the great changes coming to Regional Western Australia, still relevant today. It is the descriptions of Western Australia that round the novel in an almost tangible sense of place. It’s a Western Australia that you can still see in small pockets in the regions, refusing to progress in the face of environmental change or demographic collapse; a seemingly proud and celebrated facet of state identity, despite its futility. The themes of this novel allow the reader to contemplate the ways in which Harry’s life of promise seeped away, both as the result of his personality, and challenging macro circumstances. Dreams and disillusion, difficult and concealed family relationships, racism, The Depression, regional disenfranchisement, the tyranny distance, as well as the pros and cons of technological advancement fill this novel. They are themes that speak to our present society. Toward the end of The Untravelled World Reid writes that sometimes families could not join the threads of their past into a common fabric whose pattern made sense to each of them, yet could still find meaning in shared kith and kin.
Chris Wain | Executive Director National Trust (ACT)
2013 is the Centenary of Canberra, Australia’s national capital and symbol of the country’s democratic freedom, achievements and aspirations.
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t was in March 1913 that speeding cars, carrying invited guests, kicked up plumes of red dust on their way from the specially commissioned trains to the laying of the foundation stones of the new capital. Locals attended too but on foot or if more affluent on horseback. The opportunity to see the creation of history was too good an opportunity to miss. All of Australia was (briefly) focussed on the specially constructed grandstand on remote Kurrajong Hill as the Governor General, Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs commemorated the birth of the new capital almost 100 years ago. To celebrate, Centenary Creative Director Robyn Archer AO has curated a year-long program of events in this now thriving city of almost 370,000 - one of the most successful planned cities in the world. The program highlights Canberra’s colourful history and its more recent achievements in the areas of sport, music, science and innovation, art and culture. Tuesday 12 March marks 100 years since Canberra was officially named. Four days of festivities lead up to the big day including a hot-air balloon spectacular, a roaring 20s ball, Enlighten Canberra (spectacular lighting effects on national institution facades and lively entertainment), The Famous Spiegeltent in the rose gardens of old Parliament House and the world’s longest bubbly bars. The weekend culminates with a performance of a specially-commissioned symphony by internationally renowned composer Andrew Shultz and a fireworks finale.
For more information visit www.uwap.uwa.edu.au
Above Centenary Creative Director Robyn Archer AO has curated a yearlong program of events.
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Sharing Rivers of Emotion Erika von Kaschke | NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions
The unique natural and cultural values of Perth’s internationally recognised Swan and Canning Rivers and surrounding landscape are at the heart of a newly funded interpretation plan to be developed by the National Trust of Australia WA.
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Lotterywest grant of $118,700 and significant financial support from the Swan River Trust and the National Trust brings a $284,000 investment in the future social, environmental and economic benefits to community that the Rivers offer. National Trust of Australia CEO Tom Perrigo said the financial support for the project demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the heritage of the Swan and Canning Rivers for present and future generations.
“The Interpretation Plan will provide a strategy for communicating the most significant themes and stories about the heritage values of Perth’s unique river corridor,” Mr Perrigo said. “It’s an exceptional opportunity to make accessible Perth’s distinctive natural, Aboriginal and historic values to local, national and international visitors,” he said. There are approximately 450 natural, Aboriginal and historic heritage sites across the Swan Riverpark including the Swan and Canning Rivers (Derbarl Yerrigan and Djarlgarro Beelier) which are independently listed on Western Australia’s Department of Indigenous Affairs Register. Perth’s major rivers and their surrounding floodplains comprise a landscape which has sustained the Noongar community for more than 40,000 years, while providing an historic, economic and recreational foundation for the broader community. The interpretation planning for natural and cultural heritage of the rivers is expected to deliver significant value to the existing network of paths around the river and foreshore parks. Mr Perrigo said a team of specialists had been engaged by the National Trust to undertake the project which builds upon a series of important reports and programs linked to the Rivers.
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Professor Susan Broomhall with project co-manager Gina Pickering at the Rivers of Emotion Symposium. E Von Kaschke Noongar custodian Ezra Jacobs-Smith was a key speaker at the Rivers of Emotion Symposium. E Von Kaschke TOp Right Oonagh Quigley, Heritage Services Coordinator, City of Subiaco represented one of the 21 Councils which border the Swan Canning Riverpark at the October 2012 Symposium. E Von Kaschke Above Download the Rivers of Emotion booklet FREE at www.nationaltrust.org.au Centre Traditional
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In October, the Australian Research Council’s Centre for the History of Emotions (CHE) and the National Trust of Australia (WA) launched an innovative new web portal for Perth’s community to share their experiences and feelings about Derbarl Yerrigan and Djarlgarro Beelier/ the Swan and Canning Rivers. Rivers of Emotion is a “Your Community Heritage” Program grant funded through the Australian Government and draws on leading cultural expertise from a partnership formed between CHE and the National Trust of Australia (WA). The project explores the emotional histories of Perth’s rivers and allows the community to upload memories and stories, as well as soundscapes, landscapes, visual, aural and emotionscapes for the first time at www. riversofemotion.org.au The Rivers hold deep emotional significance for historic and contemporary peoples who have drawn upon them as a functional, pleasure and spiritual resource according to Susan Broomhall, co-manager of the project and CHE Chief Investigator. “The Swan and Canning Rivers are a defining cultural focus of Perth’s communities (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) and this project provides an easy-to-use framework for the community to express its often very personal, very deep and dear connections to our internationally recognised riverscape,” she said. Gina Pickering National Trust of Australia (WA) co-manager for the project contributed to the Statement of Significance for the Swan and Canning Riverpark and a comprehensive audit of the heritage values (natural, Aboriginal and historic). “The National Trust of Australia (WA) is committed to conserving and interpreting Western Australian heritage for present and future generations and the Statement of Significance has been developed on the UNESCO World Heritage model with this in mind,” Ms Pickering said. “Rivers of Emotion allows anyone anywhere in the world who is connected to our Rivers to contribute to the understanding of their value. The outcomes from this project will provide a snapshot that will inform the interpretation plan for heritage trails in the Swan and Canning Riverpark,” she said.
Between the lines Voices from the West End Publisher: Western Australian Museum, 2012 Edited by: Paul Longley Arthur and Geoffrey Bolton Reviewer: Ron Davidson
Writing a Fremantle history shouldn’t be too difficult. Shake a tree and a master storyteller will drop out and he/she is recorded; also the ex-convict Stephen Montague Stout, Abraham ‘Izzy’ Orloff, Stuart Gore and many others have provided a rich collection of photographic images of the ‘merchant princes’ at play and later the dominant working class at work. Towering characters like the freedom fighter Yagan abound while a surprisingly literate citizenry reports vividly on the early days of European settlement. Yet credible Fremantle histories remain few and far between, with the best still probably JK Hitchcock’s classic, The History of Fremantle: The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929. I wondered whether this situation was about to change as I opened a substantial new book, Voices of the West End, edited by Paul Longley Arthur and Geoffrey Bolton, the result of a large Australian Research Council grant. Murdoch University historian Bob Reece gives us ‘Glimpses of Fremantle 1829-1929’. We see Fremantle advance from a ‘few wretched huts in a bed of white sand’, to a restrained Georgian village, to some of the gold rush extravagances we retain today. Reece adds another level of humanity to the Hitchcock time period with the Fremantle larrikin and Xavier Herbert’s Fremantle. Convicts arrive; they are freed and a few end up running a lively paper. How Fremantle came to be an independent, cheeky place dominated by organized labour is implicit. What follows Reece is a set of chapters: religion, capital punishment, bubonic plague, tourism, fishing, migration and Bloody Sunday. Nonja Peters adds a very personal approach to the migration story; Michelle McKeough describes panic when bubonic plague arrives and Sally May covers the social and marketing aspects of fishing in Fremantle when a disparate group of Italian, Croatian, Portuguese and Australian fishers seek out labour hero Paddy Troy to bring them postwar price justice for their fish. What is missing? One wonders where are the related topics of working class history and local football and horse training; and Harry Marshall, Fremantle’s parliamentary representative, who organized riots at these games. Much later the Fremantle community formed the Fremantle Society and seemed to have defeated the forces for high rise. This was later shown to be wrong. Voices is not good on local community politics which has long been a feature of living in Fremantle. This is a very well produced volume, with the large photographs a particularly striking feature.
For more information visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/store
Download a Free copy of the Rivers of Emotion book at www.riversofemotion.org.au
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Stone Pines discovery Charlie Buttigieg | National Trust (SA)
Four of the world’s largest Stone Pines have been discovered in South Australia’s Brownhill Creek Recreation Park.
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he Stone Pine or Pinus pinea has a long association with European civilization. It produces useable resin and edible pine nuts and has been planted since ancient times. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c.372 - 287BCE) recorded the Stone Pine in Peri Phyton Historia. Roman poet Ovid (43BCE – 17CE) includes the nuts in a list of aphrodisiacs in Ars Amatoria, while Dante (1265 –1321) described the Stone Pines along the Adriatic near Ravenna as “the divine forest green and dense”. Roger Spencer’s work on conifers notes that Stone Pines were probably the first trees used for avenue planting in Australia and that they were also used as a signature tree in early NSW townships. Brown Hill Creek reserve was set aside in 1841 for “public purposes” by the South Australian Governor. By 1858 it was on survey maps, making it significantly older than the first declared National Park in the United States (Yellowstone, 1872), or Australia (Royal National Park, Sydney, 1879 or Belair National Park, Adelaide, 1891). The area has a long history of Kaurna Aboriginal occupation. In 1891 the local Mitcham Council recorded that “Mr H. Prince offered to the Council seven young stone pine trees. He suggested they should be planted in the Brown Hill Creek Reserve. At the time the reserve was denuded and over grazed. George “H” Prince was born in England in 1811, and arrived in South Australia in 1849. He established successful crockery businesses, becoming known as “Crockery Prince”, but also had a family horticultural heritage. A Stone Pine planted c.1850 in his private garden was among the earliest in the colony and later in life he germinated the seven Stone Pines from this specimen. The largest of the surviving Stone Pines in Brownhill Creek has the largest girth (6.8 metres) of any known Stone Pine in Australia. Its trunk diameter at 1.4 metres above ground is 2.16 metres, 1.15 metres greater than the species’ botanical description. By comparison, the largest specimen of Pinus pinea in Italy is recorded in the Monumental Tree Register of Italy for the Region of Calabria. This specimen is 35 metres tall, with a girth of 6.4 metres. The girth of this champion specimen is dwarfed by the SA specimen. The Brownhill Creek Stone Pines are undoubtedly “Living Monuments” of great historical significance for Mitcham and the State of South Australia. They also have botanical and scientific significance at National and International levels. Their nomination to the Register of Significant Trees of the National Trust of Australia accords them new status. right A
Stone Pine specimen in South Australia’s Brownhill Creek Recreation Park. M Beresford
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est g r a l s ’ d Worl ne Pines Sto
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Stone Pine in South Australia’s Brownhill Creek Recreation Park has a long association with European civilisation. M Beresford
The Stone Pine or Pinus pinea has a long association with European civilization. It produces useable resin and edible pine nuts and has been planted since ancient times. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c.372 - 287BCE) recorded the Stone Pine in Peri Phyton Historia. Roman poet Ovid (43BCE – 17CE) includes the nuts in a list of aphrodisiacs in Ars Amatoria, while Dante (1265 –1321) described the Stone Pines along the Adriatic near Ravenna as “the divine forest green and dense”.
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Stone Fish Trap Rediscovered by Integrated Research Team David Guilfoyle | Applied Archaeology international
In a remote corner of the world, east of Esperance, a stone fish trap has been rediscovered by Esperance Traditional Owners and an integrated research team operated by the National Trust of Australia (WA)’s Gabbie Kylie Foundation.
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his is the first fish trap so far recorded in the Esperance region and for Traditional Owner and Coordinator of the Foundation, Doc Reynolds, the find is a powerful reminder of his community’s connection to Country. “I remember using this area as a child, with the Old People catching a good feed here all the time. The old fellas had a very complex understanding of the seasons, tides, and animal behaviors, and were able to utilize sustainable techniques to harvest a catch with great skill and efficiency,” Mr Reynolds said. The site comprises a number of placed stones across a tidal creek and estuary that were most likely supported by wooden stakes and other fibrous meshing which has long since deteriorated. The trap was created as a subsistence strategy, harnessing the natural tidal cycles of waterway. As fish moved in and out with the tides some would be blocked by this fish trap and therefore more easily speared or caught. Elaborate fish traps have been documented throughout the Southwest and south coast of Western Australia, most notably the heritage-listed fish traps of Oyster Harbor in Albany.
above Archaeologists,
students and Elders work to uncover the fish trap during low tide D. Guilfoyle Gabbie Kylie team continues to explore, research and manage the cultural resources of the Esperance region. D Guilfoyle insert The
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It is difficult to determine how long these traps have been used, but we estimate at least over the last 500 to 1,000 years. During a survey of this region, local Elder Gail Yorkshire-Selby identified a large stone protruding from the sand which displayed a discrete alignment. The site was excavated, photographed and mapped during low tide by the team. This site is one of hundreds of archaeological places, historic structures, and maritime sites being recorded and managed by the Esperance Traditional Owner community, together with various specialists and with support from the Department of Environment and Conservation. Archaeologist David Guilfoyle (Applied Archaeology International) believes it is the integrated approach adopted by the Foundation that underlies much of the success of the program. “This program works because we all have different perspectives but share the same goal – to learn how best to manage and protect our natural and cultural landscapes. We have Elders, young fellas, students, archaeologists, land managers, and botanists in the field together. Everyone has something to contribute; everyone’s perspective is respected and incorporated into the field work and research,” Mr Guilfoyle said. The Gabbie Kylie Foundation was established in late 2007 to conserve and interpret the Indigenous heritage values of the south coast region of Western Australia and enable Traditional Owners to re-establish connections with country. The project is supported by the Federal Government’s Indigenous Heritage Program and BHP Billiton. For more information contact David Guilfoyle davidg@appliedarchaeology.com.au
Back on Track Paul Roser | Senior Manager Advocacy & Conservation National Trust (VIC)
The 2011-12 Victorian State Budget committed $8 million to restoring Melbourne’s historic W-Class trams. After 20 years of lobbying, the National Trust was grateful that the retention of W Class trams was finally being taken seriously. The Baillieu government kept its election promise to restore some of these much-loved trams, and the results so far are encouraging. Clearly a sturdy old W-Class tram can be overhauled to be meet modern safety and operational concerns, while retaining its heritage character.
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he first restored tram was due back into service by late 2012. The engineers at the Preston Workshops have clearly gone to some considerable trouble working from original blueprints, and in regional Victoria the Bendigo Trust workshop, which restores trams from all over the world, is also playing an important role in the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of the W-Class tram fleet. Cabin strengthening will allow the Ws to travel faster, possibly up to 45kph, in line with other operational trams. The doors are also expected to open a little faster as well! Driver control will still be via the traditional lever controller, but will be low voltage and the trams will be painted in the traditional cream and green livery rather than the current burgundy. According to the Baillieu government, the restored trams will undergo a limited return to service in activity areas and on tourist routes. Options under consideration include the Central Business District, St Kilda, South Melbourne, Chapel Street, South Yarra, Prahran and Armadale, Fitzroy, Brunswick and Coburg. Routes will be determined in consultation with Yarra Trams, the National Trust and Melbourne and local councils. The 38 trams still operating on the City Circle and some inner urban routes will also be upgraded mechanically. The rest of the fleet remains in deep storage at Newport with as yet no plan for its future. For a fraction of the cost of a new tram, Melbourne can look forward to the familiar green and cream trams once again being a feature of Melbourne’s streets and to the trams regaining their status as an icon of Melbourne. ABOVE The
Victorian Government has committed $8m to restoring Melbourne’s historic trams.
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A work of art Marcus Beresford | National Trust (SA)
A recent major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, South Australia Illustrated: Colonial Painting in the Land of Promise, included several important works belonging to the National Trust of South Australia collection. Of particular interest is the painting by Charles Hill (1824-1915), The Bargain 1888, which is from Ayers House Museum. Two early watercolours on long term loan to the Gallery from the National Trust of South Australia were also in the exhibition.
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urated by Jane Hylton, the exhibition was the first major survey of South Australian painting of the colonial period in at least a generation, and a stunning book by Jane has been published to illustrate the works and provide a detailed background to South Australian art of the period. With gilded leather-look binding, gold edged pages, full colour illustration throughout and 276 pages, the book will become a collector’s item. The book runs chronologically from the pre and early settlement period, showing early European illustrations of the land and people. The earliest artists include William Westall (who travelled with Mathew Flinders in his early explorations) and the lesser known Thomas Maslen and William Leigh. These works were lent from Australian and British collections. Other early
above SA
images of the colony include those of William Light (famed surveyor of Adelaide), JM Skipper and EA Opie. Important early resident South Australian artists such as Martha Berkeley are featured, along with EC Frome and the better known ST Gill and GF Angas. The book title reflects GF Angas’ own book South Australia Illustrated of 1846. The mid 19th century is reflected by these but also major painters such as Alexander Schramm, JM Crossland and later Eugene von Guerard. Painters with less polished technique such as Charles Hill and James Shaw closely reflect the South Australian colonial lifestyle and dwellings, including “house portraits” for the wealthier. Other later 19th century artists such as John Irvine, Andrew McCormac and John Upton produced fine portraits. AG Ball and WR Thomas painted revealing landscapes. Many
Illustrated - The Bargain painted by Charles Hill, NTSA collection M Beresford/NTSA
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of these artists would not be widely known, and the works come from a range of sources – private and institutional collections around Australia and overseas. The works of Louis Tannert and HP Gill, both associated with the National Gallery of South Australia after its establishment in 1881, are amongst the survey of the closing period which includes paintings by Swede Oscar Fristrom, interesting botanical art by Rosa Fiveash and the work of art teacher James Ashton. All works are representational with little hint of the revolutions in painting beginning elsewhere by this time. In all this is a fascinating book with endnotes, a useful chronology, and bibliography. It opens a cornucopia of colonial art probably unknown to many Australians. More information www.artgallery. sa.gov.au or ring 08 8207 7000
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The Phoenix of Clarendon Chris Tassell, Managing Director | National Trust (Tas)
In 1963, just one year after the early Tasmanian colonial house Clarendon near Evandale was donated to the National Trust (Tas), Dr Clifford Craig (Trust Chairman at the time) would write “Unfortunately the great classical portico running through two storeys and which is shown on Hardy Wilson’s drawing, has been removed. It is very much hoped that this feature may be restored in the course of time.”
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he drawing to which Dr Craig referred depicted the masterful reconstruction of Clarendon’s northern façade that features in Hardy Wilson’s Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania. Published in 1924 this book had a profound influence on attitudes towards Australia’s colonial architecture and, as Howard Tanner observed, “His wonderfully evocative drawings gave each building (and their kind) an iconic status”. Hardy Wilson described how it was not difficult for the trained eye to trace the original colour and design under disfigurements. For Clarendon that has meant that the great portico of Ionic columns returned to the public’s consciousness after having been lost physically in attempts to help stabilise the house towards the end of the nineteenth century. It was not until 1975 that the impressive Clarendon portico was finally reconstructed as part of a major restoration project supervised by Clive Lucas. Today Clarendon appears very much as Hardy Wilson imagined when he sketched the house nearly a century ago and subsequently added to its profile with Plate XXVII of his book. Given Hardy Wilson’s profound influence on reawakening awareness of the grandeur of
Clarendon it is most fitting that four inlaid wood panels commissioned by him now hang at Clarendon. The four works, each depicting a phoenix, were inspired by the ink and colour on silk image of The Red Phoenix by Xuezhou Wang Xu probably acquired by Hardy Wilson in London on his first visit there and now in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The red, gold, brown and blue phoenix inlaid panels were commissioned by Hardy Wilson from the Rowley Gallery, London and bear A J Rowley’s personal label dating from 1912. The gallery had established a reputation for creating such panels based on works by leading English artists.
The four panels form part of a larger collection that has been established at Clarendon through the generosity of the grandchildren of Hardy Wilson. Not only does this collection celebrate the important role of Hardy Wilson in re-awakening public awareness of the exceptional nature of Clarendon in early colonial Australia, it also recognises the contribution Hardy Wilson’s son Lachlan, a leading medical practitioner in Launceston and member of the National Trust, made to conservation and restoration of Clarendon.
above Thee inlaid wood panels that Hardy Wilson commissioned of the phoenix, a mythical creature reborn from its own ashes, are now housed at Clarendon. NTTAS right Rowley Gallery, London - label on reverse side of panels
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Riversdale – ready to grow for another hundred years By Ros Loftus | Garden Coordinator National Trust NSW
Riversdale was built as a coaching inn in 1840 on the site of Governor Macquarie’s 1820s settlement of Goulburn Plains and purchased by the National Trust (NSW) in 1967 from the last surviving member of the family of Edward Twynam (1832-1923), Surveyor-General of NSW. The family had been in residence since 1872. The rural property was farmed so that it was self-sufficient, complete with animal outhouses, chicken runs, fruit and vegetables.
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n 1967 the garden was redesigned by Jean Friend in the Gertrude Jekyll style popular after the Second World War. The formation of a keen, talented committee ensured that the property went from strength to strength. A lovely Victorian cottage garden was established full of greys and greens, lavender and silver, with highlights of pink, yellow, white and red, with glorious heritage roses. Fruit trees were added to the surviving orchard. In the early 2000s the property was leased for a short while as the Trust attempted to resolve the perennial problem of attracting ongoing funding for the maintenance of the highly significant heritage in its care. The leasing proved unsuccessful and the experiment was terminatedbut not before the committee had resigned. And then one of the worst droughts in living memory struck! The water table dropped below the level of the bore and, with Goulburn on level 5 restrictions (no watering whatsoever), it seemed as though all might be lost. top The
In 2009 a new committee was formed and volunteers swung into action the following year. Gravel paths were unearthed and new planting began, transplanting all and sundry from other parts of the garden. Even the melianthus cuttings were successful. The garden now abounds with lambs ear, catmint, larkspurs, peonies, delphiniums, poppies, sweet peas, lavenders and salvias. There are roses, of course, and the beautiful flag iris which are a draw-card in their own right, topped by the spires of stately aliums and incredibly beautiful, perfumed lilium candidum. The house under National Trust house coordinator Dawn Giles now gleams and shines, reflecting the genteel lives and creativity of the Twynam family and the particular skills of Emily Twynam, whose wood carving skills were internationally acclaimed. The shop has been reinstated and, since winning the Goulburn District Lilac City Garden Competition Judges Special Award and Best Overall
house and outhouses, facing the gardens under their blanket of snow. Carefully tended gardens now replace the barren grounds of the drought years. NTNSW
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Garden in October 2012, Riversdale has attracted more attention. Then at the beginning of November people flocked to marvel at a Monet painting, brought to life at the Spring Garden Fair held in conjunction with an Open Gardens Australia Open Garden and over 500 people gathered in the gardens to hear a special Mass in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Catholic Diocese of Goulburn. The gardens were the site of Goulburn’s first Catholic Mass, held there in 1833. Gardens are by nature ephemeral and conditions in rural Australia pose plenty of challenges. At this stage the prognosis for Riversdale is just blooming, as its adoring and hard-working team of volunteers nurture its flowers, fruits and vegetables.
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Breaking the Silence Jenny Coyle
In 2014 Australia will celebrate the Centenary of the Australian Submarine Service. While the last one hundred years of submarine service have been important for Australia, the centenary celebrations will highlight how vital the service is for the future.
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ustralia’s first submarines, AE1 and AE2, were commissioned in the United Kingdom and arrived in Sydney on 24 May 1914, three months before the outbreak of WW1. In September 1914, AE1 was lost at sea without a trace, while two months later AE2 sailed from Albany with the second Anzac convoy to join the British naval squadron engaged in operations off Gallipoli. As the ANZACs were landing on the beaches of Gallipoli, AE2 distinguished herself as the first Allied submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles. The submarine was sunk in the Sea of Marmara five days later, but fortunately the crew survived. Thereafter Australia’s submarine force progressed by ebb and flow in the inter-war years. At the start of WWII Australia had no submarines, but Allied submarines
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based in Australia were to conduct operations in the Asia-Pacific vital to Australia’s defence. During WWII Fremantle became the second largest Allied submarine base in the world, hosting almost 170 submarines. Submarines of the British, Dutch and United States navies made 416 war patrols from Fremantle between March 1942 and August 1945. In the first six months of 1944, submarines from Fremantle sank 110 enemy ships totalling 493,207 tonnes. The success of the Fremantle submarine campaign disrupted the Japanese war effort and was a major factor in shortening the war in the Pacific. In the 1960s Australia acquired six British Oberon class submarines. They quickly gained a reputation among the most effective conventional submarines in the world – though many of
these operations are still classified. Initially they relied heavily on support from the British Royal Navy, however, the Australian Submarine service matured into a highly professional force and this provided the confidence to build six new submarines in Australia. The Collins class project started in 1982 and in 1987 it began building the most sophisticated conventional submarines in the world. Six submarines were delivered between 1996 and 2003. Their construction proved to be an unprecedented feat of engineering, design and logistics in Australia. Since the Collins class has been in service it has proved to be a powerful deterrent while facing logistic and engineering challenges. Australians have good reason to celebrate their submarines and submariners.
AE1 off Portsmith in 1914. Courtesy Submarine Institute of Australia 23
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Oura Oura Linda Clark and Ann Teesdale | National Trust (Tas)
Crisp, clean country air, clusters of spring daffodils, inquisitive mountain ponies, a babbling river, ever present but elusive platypus and a white cottage at the foot of a towering cliff.
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ur presence in this location is the result of a Memorandum Of Understanding between the National Trust of Tasmania and Bush Heritage Australia. The agreement sees the two organisations working together to establish the optimum conservation and management outcomes for a property recently gifted to Bush Heritage by former Greens Leader Bob Brown. The property is Oura Oura, comprising ten hectares of forest and meadow including a kilometre of riverbank with a small cottage and outbuildings, all sited at the base of Dry’s Bluff 47km south west of Launceston near a bend in the Liffey River. The property has important natural features and provides a valuable habitat for a number of threatened species including barred bandicoots, bettongs, spotted-tail quolls, Tasmanian devils, white goshawks and boobook owls, while nearby Tasmanian wedge tailed eagles nest in a steep gully. Oura Oura also contains a small area of endangered wet white gum forest, and is the launch point for Dean’s Track, the strenuous sixhour return trek to the top of Dry’s Bluff. If all this does not make this property sound appealing enough, the interest for the National Trust Left to right
lies in the property’s built heritage and its outstanding historical significance. The three-roomed cottage was built in 1904, by 25 year old Charlie Crack. Charlie and his wife Elizabeth raised their own family there before selling the property to the Dean family. In the 1970s when Bob Brown was a young doctor working as a locum in Launceston, he came across the property by chance and purchased it from John and Stephanie Dean. Bob would cycle to Launceston for weekend work while growing more and more at one with life at Liffey. The property became his haven and inspired him to take a more active interest in protecting the environment. Oura Oura derives from a local Aboriginal word for yellow-tailed black cockatoo. It became Bob Brown’s ‘anchor and steady point’. Geographically central to Tasmania, it became a natural meeting place for ‘greenies in beanies’. This modest cottage is where the face of Australian politics was permanently shaped. It was here that momentum was created for the environmental movement in Australia, the campaign to save the Franklin River was hatched, the Tasmanian Wilderness Society was formed and where the Greens
‘This place housed my own soul’ Bob Brown. Living room. Kitchen. Bob Brown at Oura Oura
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Party was developed, all following discussions around the campfire, over the kitchen table or under the walnut tree. On a more personal note, it is where Bob nursed his mother and father before they died and where his nephews and nieces played on holiday. It was here that he and partner Paul held their commitment ceremony and it was the Liffey community where he found refuge from his busy and often turbulent political life. Over all those years and through all the significant events that occurred in and around this little cottage, it has barely changed. It remains the humble three-roomed house, built by Charlie Crack over a century ago. By gifting Oura Oura to Bush Heritage, the organisation he founded there 20 years earlier, Bob sought to share with others the joy and peace it gave him. The challenge now is to protect the property while still allowing visitors the opportunity to experience this special place in an informal and meaningful way. The National Trust’s contribution to the ongoing management of the site is to identify and document significant features of place and advise on their preservation.
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Edmund Cooper Manfred: grand designs for 19th century Goulburn David Penalver
A visit to Goulburn reveals some of Australia’s grand old buildings and extraordinary heritage streetscapes. Situated on the southern tablelands of New South Wales at the leading edge of the Monaro sheep country, the locality once called Goulburn Plains became the early servicing area for a vast and flourishing wool industry throughout the 19th century.
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he first siting for a township of Goulburn was developed in 1829, but when Governor Bourke visited in 1832 he recommended an alternative site less prone to flooding that also offered space for expansion as the population grew. A town centre of twelve blocks was laid out facing its water supply from the Mulwaree Ponds. This new town of Goulburn serviced an expanding rural community. The arrival of the railway in 1869 transported both people and heavy country produce and ensured the town a prosperous future. In 1863 Queen Victoria signed Royal Letters Patent to create a huge southern diocese. Goulburn became the first rural city to be created in the colony of New South Wales - and in fact was the last town in the Empire to become a city in this way. In March 2013 Goulburn is hosting a varied program of events to celebrate its 150 anniversary including two exhibitions of 19th century architectural documents
produced by Edmund Cooper Manfred whose building designs created this city’s built heritage. Manfreds undertook training as an architect with Colonial Architect Edmund Blacket and his influence can be seen in Manfred’s use of the Gothic forms for church buildings, mansions and private schools. Edmund Manfred designed grand civic buildings, shopping terraces, hotels, churches, schools and orphanages. He was equally competent in domestic architecture. Manfred’s most prominent work is the Goulburn Town Hall, a Flemish-influenced Classical Revival building of distinctive red brick with steep slate roof. Mr Manfred’s family donated his very extensive professional practice documents to the Goulburn & District Historical Society Inc in 1961. This collection includes hand-drawn elevations, floor plans, detail drawings and sections; plus specification, contract and correspondence documents.
Left Sketch of design for the ‘new hospital’ Goulburn.
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Lovelocks Challenge Heritage Philosophy Dr Jennifer Harris | School of Built Environment Curtin University
The urge of lovers to leave a tangible record of their romance in iconic places poses questions about heritage philosophy that are not answered easily.
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on the Passerelle SolfĂŠrino, Paris. G Bickford
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meaning of a place should encourage participation of some kind. Participation is usually envisaged as people using the site as a backdrop to living - a place to meet friends, a busker’s zone or perhaps the setting for theatre. What could demonstrate greater love of a heritage place or more participation in its heritage values than a permanent marker of romance? Heritage philosophy, however, is shifting towards higher valuation of intangible cultural heritage and the materiality of the lovelocks is at odds with this. Condemnation of graffiti as vandalism reveals an overly simple understanding of the practice because it disregards the morally ambiguous status of graffiti which is paradoxically both encouraged and discouraged. It is cleaned off briskly by municipal authorities who sometimes employ young street artists to enliven suburban wastelands. Some graffiti artists contrast their work with the blight of billboard advertising - a legalised form of visual pollution? Graffiti becomes an even more complicated concept for describing the lovelocks practice when considered in the context of the work of Invader. The Paris-based, anonymous mosaic artist creates small mosaics of space invaders inspired by the pixel images of early video games. The mosaics are affixed to many of Paris’s famous landmarks. The unauthorized “illegal” graffiti aspects of his work are undermined by the history of his invitations to work in many cities around the world, including in Perth for the 2002 Artrage Festival. How can this art be conceptualized as vandalism if the artist has been invited to work by city governments? The invitations authorize what was previously unauthorized. Perth has another famous example, the Eliza statue in Crawley which is adorned with clothing and banners almost daily. These practices associated with collective affection fall into the grey area of not permitted, but tolerated. There was a time when lovers carved their initials into tree trunks. That practice was at first smiled on benignly and then criticised as destructive graffiti. Now lovers are using heritage icons to affirm their love. The Paris government condemned the practice in 2010, but in 2012 has announced that it will no longer remove locks. The convergence of heritage and a type of graffiti seems to be with us for some time, at least no one can doubt the depth of collective affection for heritage places when seeing the thousands of little lovelocks.
n the past few years, tens of thousands of lovers have engraved padlocks with avowals of undying love and their names or initials, attached them to iconic places and tossed away the keys. The Seine River floor in Paris must be littered with thousands of tiny keys because some of the bridges bristle with lovelocks. The most famous example in Paris is the Pont des Arts, the wooden pedestrian bridge that links the Louvre to the Left Bank Some other Paris bridges similarly receive the attention of lovers, and around Europe padlock-laden bridges include the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and the Ponte Milvio in Rome. In an attempt to protect the Luzhkov Bridge from the attention of lovers, Moscow authorities set up metal trees especially for lovelocks. In central Berlin, bridges and the double headed eagle are targetted. In Mount Huang, in China, lovers leave their padlocks and then throw the keys down the mountain. The origins of the practice are unclear, but might date from the 2006 publication of the novel I Want You by Federico Moccia which depicts lovers in Rome celebrating their romance with a lovelock. The logic that motivates attaching lovelocks emerges from the iconic quality of the places chosen. Enduring collective affection for these great sites is implicitly understood both to magnify romantic love and to reflect back a timeless quality that the lovers hope will animate their love forever; the locks symbolize unbreakable connection. Locations as various as a Canadian mountain trail and a South Korean tower have been covered in locks, but bridges tend to be the preferred location reminding us that the lovers are in transition, crossing over to a state of committed love. The actions of the lovers highlight issues of heritage protection and interpretation. The first issue at any heritage site is one of physical protection from despoliation and decay. The metal locks not only burden the bridges, but can cause damage from rust. Further damage sometimes occurs during removal by authorities. For those who regard the lovelocks practice as simple graffiti vandalism, visual pollution on historic landmarks is also one of the complaints. On the other hand, the appearance of the locks seems like the fulfillment of heritage philosophy that aspires to foster community involvement and demonstrations of affection for heritage places as signs of good interpretation. Successful interpretation of the importance of the insert Locks
on the double headed eagle, Berlin. J Harris
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Trust News Australia february 2013
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What is a World Heritage Site? Peter Dowling | National Heritage Officer Australian Council of National Trusts
As a first step in understanding the heritage values of World Heritage sites it is useful to know something of the historical background to the concept of World Heritage and the nomination process. This article is the first in a series by the Australian Council of National Trusts describing and discussing the World Heritage Sites in Australia.
A
World Heritage site can be a building, building complex, city area, forest, mountain, lake, desert area or a monument that is listed by the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a special cultural or physical place of outstanding value to humanity. A list of these places is maintained and administered by UNESCO through an elected World Heritage Committee. The idea of creating an international movement for protecting heritage places emerged after the destruction of historical places during the First World War. A further event that raised
above  The
international concern occurred in the 1950s when the Egyptian Government announced plans to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile. The construction of the dam, while providing much needed water resources to Egypt would have flooded the Abu Simbel temples of Pharaoh Ramses II and his Queen, Nefertari along with the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae. After an appeal from the governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO launched an international c a mp a ig n t o s ave t h e s e monuments. The Abu Simbel and Philae temples were subsequently dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground in an incredible project,
World heritage listed Abu Simbel Tomb of Ramesis 11. P Dowling ACNT
Trust News Australia february 2013
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which cost at that time US$80 million and was financed by some fifty countries. It was the impetus for a worldwide concern and a shared responsibility for the identification and conservation of places significant to all humanity. In 1972, at the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Culture and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) was adopted and in August 1974 Australia became one of the first countries to ratify the Convention. The World Heritage Convention aims to promote cooperation among the signatory countries to protect, conserve
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and present through appropriate management, places that have been nominated and inscribed upon the UNESCO World Heritage List. While there is international cooperation, signatory countries that have places inscribed as having World Heritage values, are largely responsible in providing for their own protection. This entails effective administrative and financial processes to be put in place and an undertaking to refrain from any deliberate measures, which might damage directly or indirectly those places on the List. A major benefit of ratification of the World Heritage Convention, particularly for developing countries, is access to the World Heritage Fund, which makes approximately US$4 million per annum available to assist
Site Type Natural Cultural Combined Natural & cultural Total
Aus 12 (63%) 3 (16%) 4 (21%) 19
in the protection of sites on the World Heritage List. Emergency assistance may also be made available for urgent action to repair damage caused by human (for example war) or natural causes. Nominating a site to the World Heritage List is a rigorous process involving a high degree of research and evaluation of its heritage values. Once a nomination is made there is an equally rigorous and independent assessment made by two Advisory Bodies mandated by the World Heritage Convention – the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A third Advisory Body is the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) an
US 12 (57%) 8 (38%) 1 (5%) 21
UK 4 (15%) 22 (81%) 1 (4%) 27
Greece 1 (6%) 15 (88%) 1 (6%) 17
Italy 3 (6%) 44 (94%) 0 47
intergovernmental organization that provides expert advice on the conservation of cultural sites. The World Heritage Committee then makes a final decision to accept the nomination and inscribe the site onto the World Heritage List. As of 2013, there are nine hundred and sixty-two World Heritage sites across more than one hundred and fifty countries: 745 (77%) are listed for their cultural values, 188 (20%) for natural values, and 29 (3%) with combined natural and cultural values. The table below shows a comparison of the number and ratio (percent) of natural, cultural and combined natural-cultural World Heritage sites in Australia and other selected countries. Why such an imbalance in the listing of cultural sites in Australia exists is a moot point, when we consider a human antiquity of at least 40,000 years. Is it because there has been a bias towards nominating natural regions? Or is it because Australia has a shared history linked to European colonization? And if so why has that affected the stated values of the places nominated? These questions need to be addressed if Australia is to truly identify, value and protect its world heritage places.
Spain 3 (7%) 39 (88%) 2 (5%) 44
China 9 (21%) 30 (70%) 4 (9%) 43
World 188 (20%) 745 (77%) 29 (3%) 962
Source: UNESCO http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
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Philae temple was subsequently dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground. P Dowling ACNT
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Trust News Australia february 2013
N at i o n a l T ru s t Way
Holiday Tours
right Gourmet
food, fresh air and superb scenery await you in New Zealand
NEW ZEALAND’S SOUTH ISLAND COUNTRY ESTATE AND LANDSCAPE TOUR 13-22 April 2013 In conjunction with Homestead Tours this is a rare chance for National Trust members to visit private high country stations and historic homesteads, wine makers and local artists; to explore this beautiful area of the Southern Lakes of New Zealand’s South Island and to experience the generous hospitality of our hosts. Daily visits to private properties, historic homesteads, towns and villages are included on this tour which is full of surprises as we experience highlights of New Zealand’s spectacular South Island. Cost per person twin share: $4,790 Single room supplement: $950 Note: Costs do not include airfares Expressions of interest: David Smith, Travelscene on Capri P: 1800 679 066 License No: TA1091 Leader: Jill Bunning T: 02 9798 8914
NORFOLK ISLAND 15-22 April 2013 Rich in history, Norfolk Island is blessed with a temperate climate. It was first settled by Governor Arthur Phillip as a penal settlement and later became home to the Pitcairn settlers, survivors of the Mutiny on the Bounty, and their families. Visit historic Kingston, Cascade and Longridge. See and hear about the famous convict buildings, beautiful beaches and stunning scenery. Visit the Pitcairn Settlers Village and learn about the colourful history of the most recent settlement- the Pittcairners and their descendants, on one of the last few remaining original settler’s properties. Dinners include fresh fish and traditional island food.
PROVENCE 24 April - 7 May 2013 Unpack only twice on this delightful tour in spring to the fascinating French region of Provence. After a few days exploring the French Riviera we move to the heart of Provence to a hotel in Les Baux-de-Provence for leisurely daily excursions to the surrounding area. Visit the splendid gardens of Villa Ephrussi-de-Rothschild, the artist Cezanne’s studio and the exciting new museum with works by Pierre Bonnard. Walk through beautiful villages such as Gordes, St Paul-de-Vence and Rousillon and see UNESCO world heritage sites including the historic centre of Avignon, the Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles and the Pont-duGard aqueduct. Cost per person twin share: $5,290 Single room supplement: $980 Note: Costs do not include airfares Expressions of interest: David Smith, Travelscene on Capri P: 1800 679 066 License No: TA1091 Leader: Loma Priddle T: 02 9412 2875
NORTHERN ITALY: LAKES, MOUNTAINS & THE RIVIERA 14-26 September 2013 This exciting new itinerary has been tailor made for National Trust members in conjunction with Ugo and Barbara Mariotti, who have been conducting enjoyable Trust tours in Italy over the past 10 years. Unpack only twice as we stay in centrally located hotels first in the town of Como, set in an idyllic landscape of mountains on the lake of the same name, then in the resort town of Santa Margherita Ligure in the heart of the Italian Riviera.
Cost per person twin share: $3,690 Single room supplement: $990 Note: Cost include airfares ex Sydney, 7 nights accommodation at the Governor’s Lodge and most meals Enquiries: David Smith, Travelscene on Capri P: 1800 679 066 License No: TA1091 Tour Leader: Lorraine Collins T: 0439 947 479 Trust News Australia february 2013
Visit the spectacular gardens of Villa Carlotta and Villa Melzi; Bellagio, known as the ‘Pearl of Lake Como’; the Swiss town of Lugano and the gloriously decorated Certosa di Pavia. Leisurely daily excursions on the Italian Riviera include Portofino, the famous villages of the ‘Cinque Terre’ coastline and the heritage listed small port of Porto Venere. A day tour to Lucca, one of the most beautiful towns in northern Tuscany, is also included. Cost per person twin share: $6,190 Single room supplement: $990 Note: Costs do not include airfares Expressions of interest: David Smith, Travelscene on Capri P: 1800 679 066 License No: TA1091 Leader: Jill Bunning T: 02 9798 8914
Southern States of the USA March/April 2014 Following the outstanding success of the National Trust Tour to New England (USA) in October 2012, a tour of the Southern States is planned for 2014. The cities of Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia will transport you to yesteryear’s days of generous living. From historic sites in Georgia, travel to antebellum sites in South Carolina and colonial Virginia. Relish the gracious elegance of southern living in the rarefied world of plantations, 19th century mansions and enormous live oaks hung with Spanish moss. Visit Savannah’s beautiful historic district including its lovely Square, River Street and City Market. See Charleston’s ‘Museum Mile’ which features the richest concentration of cultural sites open to visitors. See colonial Williamsburg which has been restored to its 18th century glory and inhabited by interpreters living its 18th century lifestyle. There is much to discover about the colonial times today. Expressions of interest: David Smith, Travelscene on Capri P: 1800 679 066 License No: TA 1091 Leader: Lorraine Collins T: 0439 947 479 left Varenna
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on spectacular Lake Como
house tour: Barbara Brownlow & Alexandra Brownlow rearrange
QUILT Y TOURS
Mr Johnston’s ColleCtion
- 2013 -
12 March 2013 – 19 June 2013
OU T BACK AUST R A L I A
gallery:
WoMen MAKinG historY:
(including Lake Eyre)
Writers, Thinkers, Makers, Icons 1700- 1900 12 March 2013 – 19 June 2013
FAIRHALL a house museum with a superb collection of georgian, regency & louis XV antiques regularly rearranged within a domestic setting
14 days
Sydney to Sydney
$5,475
25 May to 7 June
(twin share**
GAllerY showcasing special exhibitions, lectures & workshops FrienDs enjoy the benefits
Individual & group bookings available on: www.johnstoncollection.org +61 3 9416 2515 info@johnstoncollection.org Follow us on
R E M OT E QUE E NSL A N D & B EYON D
the Johnston Collection is an independent not-for-profit museum
18 days
Sydney to Sydney
$6,950
19 July to 5 August
(twin share)**
the johnston collection
Milestones Community Heritage at the Crossroads
National Trusts of Australia
National Conference 16-18 May 2013
Gold Coast, Queensland Australia
F L IN DE R S R A N G E S
12 days
Adelaide to Sydney 22 August – 2 September
$4,475 (twin share)**
National Trust members and supporters are invited to attend.
For full details of these tours go to
For more information on the conference program, presenting a paper or registration, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/qld
www.quiltytours.com.au OR Contact Richard Quilty personally on
0418 201 677
** Single Supplements are available
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Trust News Australia february 2013
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Magnificent Australia
Heritage Air Tour 2013 2 depa r t u r es
July 16 & August 21
15 days s 17 seat e pa per d
rt u r
e
National Trust Members Price Exclusive Substantial Discount on published fare With 25 years of exploratory air touring throughout the continent, Flight Through The Spectacular Land Of The Dreamtime Pty Limited has created for National Trust members an extraordinary itinerary of remote Australia and the founder and director of these tours, David Marks has been acknowledged as the pioneer of modern day air touring in Australia. During the “dry season� - July and August 2013, two only departures will realize lifelong ambitions to experience a vast expanse of Australia, visiting destinations of world importance for wilderness and cultural heritage. The diverse and exciting itinerary includes specially arranged visits to ancient rock art sites in the Kimberley and in stone country of western Arnhemland. Also included is a rare opportunity for cultural exchange with Aboriginal saltwater people in remote eastern Arnhemland. Extensive surface touring by vehicle and boat on inland waterways is provided with expert or informed commentary. National Trust members wanting to join either of the two departures are urged to apply without delay to avoid disappointment, as each departure is limited to 17 passengers.
Enquiries and Brochure: Flight Through The Spectacular Land of the Dreamtime Pty Limited Level 57, MLC Centre, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2000
Phone: (02) 9230 7070 Fax: (02) 9238 7633 Email: info@dreamtimebyair.com.au
www.dreamtimebyair.com.au