Firstly History Cottage was with regret that the Society had to cancel the June Roughley Memorial Lecture set down for the 14th August. There was much interest in Mark Tedeschi’s talk on the Myall Creek Massacre. Fortunately, there will be an opportunity in the future to hear him speak.
The Best Family will be the topic for the 11th September meeting, presented by Jo Hambrett. Local history records the people, places and events of a community and the buildings are always of interest as they give an idea of how people lived and worked. Cottage
Sometimes the value of a familiar building is not realised till we see the vacant space and we regret the loss. What have we lost and what remains of our community’s built environment? Probably the greatest loss was the demolition, in the dead of night, of the original Fagan House in Fagans Road Arcadia. Fortunately, there are some lovingly restored stone cottages still to be seen and it is hoped these will remain for many years.
Less permanent are the wooden structures. Until about the end of the 1920s slab homes and sheds were still being constructed out of the great slabs split from the huge trees still to be found. A few of the huts remain but most of them were replaced by a larger second more modern weatherboard structure, often a Hudson Ready Cut. The slab sheds seem to have had a better life, maybe because they could be used for their original purpose. A careful drive through our district can reveal some of these hidden treasures.
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