A few towns and lotsa Memorials

We decided to "complete the circle" around the ACT by adding Goulburn to our list.  A few smaller towns could also be included as well as starting the recording of the memorial rest areas along Remembrance Drive (the portion of the Federal and Hume Highways linking Canberra and Sydney).   I haven't included images of these plaques since the post will be long enough anyway - basically they tell the story of how each honouree earnt the Victoria Cross.  In many case the awards were post mortem.

The first Rest Area we stopped at was at the Southern end of Lake George.  It honoured Charles Anderson VC.  A brass plaque commemorated the Lynch family : there have been a number of drowning in the Lake when full of water.

 On looking up to the higher level of the Rest Area some filming was happening.  Whether this was formal work or just tourists being creative is unknown.

 If clicked on this image will enlarge and hopefully be legible!  This is made difficult by the metal grill necessary to protect it from the attention of Homo erectus.

After recording material at the sites along the Lake honouring Kevin Wheatley VC; Peter Badcoe VC; and Arthur Gurney VC we arrived at the town of Collector which is now bypassed by the highway.  By the store there is a sign including an historic map of the Lake based on the work of early Surveyors including Mitchell. The bullet hole is a more modern addition!

There is also a map of the town showing the several significant historic buildings.  As with many of the settlements we have visited it was a surprise to find there is more to the town than the store and pub, which is all that used to register before the bypass was built.

 Although I am normally against mowing cemeteries (and the orchids they contain) in this case the activity did reflect the effort put in to maintaining the headstones etc,  This was described as the Anglican cemetery so we were surprised to find many Irish surnames and many people listed as emigrating from Ireland.

 This plaque is obviously modern ...

 .. and largely repeats, in a more legible form,  the words from this original plaque on the same grave.   Apart from the 'tale told' it was interesting to see that the sponsors of the original plaque were the Wild Colonial Days Society (which as far as I can tell no  longer exists) as well as the Goulburn Historical Society.

 This is the Anglican Church which was locked up as tightly as something very tight, and would thus normally be rejected as a subject.  However I liked the art work out front which is a memorial to Robert Cartwright who retired as a vicar in Sydney (in 1837 at the age of 66) and then ministered to the needs of "a vast area to the NW of Collector".  He established a Church and school about 500m from this site, from which the stones for this memorial were collected.

On down the Highways logging the Memorials to Percival Alan Gratwick VC; John Edmondson VC and John Alexander French VC.

No, we didn't stray into Queensland.  Goulburn has a Big Merino (which has been moved about 1km up the road once the bypass was constructed).

Nearby is an excellent bakery.  On the day we were there they had 6 staff on the Registers and they were all very busy.  Very good bread as well!

This is the Boer War Memorial in Belmore Park, in the centre of Goulburn.  It is unlikely that the modern army includes a Farrier Sergeant; Trumpeter or Shoeing Smith!  (Of course these ranks are nowhere near as exotic as those in the Indian forces commemorated in the Dar es Salaam Commonwealth War Cememtery.)

A major roll of Honour, including some 3,000 names was also in the Park.  I have included this segment since it shows the interesting practice of giving initials only for males but given name for females.  This is very common in the memorials we have visited (although of course if a roll only shows initials it may be that they have simply not differentiated the females).

 This artwork outside the visitors centre is called "Blue Notes" by Kirstie and Dale Chalker, and reflects the large Blues Festival held annually in the City.

Inside the Visitors Centre a small amount of beer from the Brewery was for sale.  Apparently tourist demand for bottled goods had been so great this was all the centre had, and the brewery was down to keg services only!  I have yet to taste the bottle I acquired. (The big ones were 3 litres and cost $50 - of which $40 was for the beer and $10 was for the bottle!)

 This is the "Goulburn Chinese Restaurant": I presume this means it was the first since there appeared to be a number of establishments of that nature in the Lilac City.  It scores a picture as an interesting house design.

 A corner of Belmore Park, the PO tower and some well maintained old buildings.

 There is apparently much debate over the meaning of the statues on the top of this building.  The official view appears to be that the builder thought they looked attractive.

The masonic lodge to the left and the (rather opulent for the trade) premises of "S H McNaught, Licensed Sanitary Plumber"on the right.

 Art deco rules!

 To my surprise the Catholic Cathedral (unlike the Anglican equivalent) was open for inspection.  The stained glass inside was magnificent!

 This mural, commemorating the work ogf Caroline Chisholm was outside.

This glass originally came from a church at Reidsdale, which is now a locality outside Braidwood with a very low rural residential population.  It seems extraordinary that it once contained such an elegant piece of stained glass.

 The Bishops House alongside the Cathedral.

 On the way home we stopped at Lake Bathurst where the Anglican Church was open.  Looking at  a large version of the image shows the numbers of people that died in 1893 as a consequence of the measles epidemic.

 This glass at Lake Bathurst is a memorial to Frank Bishop Reynolds, killed in France in 1917.

 At our final stop in Tarago I thought the Loaded Dog pub was worth an image.  It is a live music venue, and since the chalkboard was still advertising, on 3 January the New Year's Eve event I suspect it was a big night!

The name of the pub refers to a Henry Lawson story although it appears the pub predates the yarn by about 50 years!