The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is heading to the Indigo Shire from 30 August to 3 September to capture the unique spirit and stories of regional communities in a series of documentary films for the ACMI in the Regions program.
The three communities in Indigo Shire chosen to participate in ACMI in the Regions are Beechworth, Yackandandah and Rutherglen.
Supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria's Major Touring Initiative, ACMI in the Regions, produces short documentaries which are shot on location to celebrate and document the people, character and heritage of regional Victorian townships such as those in the Indigo Shire.
In partnership with the Indigo Shire, ACMI works with community groups developing the concepts for the films. These ideas are distilled into three stories for each town that capture the essence of regional Victoria and the people and places that make up part of the fabric of the modern Australian identity.
ACMI staff are about to travel to Indigo Shire to film the 9 stories on location with the locals. These include one story about the iconic ‘wine bottle’ structure in Rutherglen and its significance to the community, another film about the wealth of craft practitioners in Yackandandah and we will get a chance to see the rarely seen underground tunnels of Beechworth with local expert Dan Goonan.
ACMI will later return for premiere screenings in each town from Indigo Shire. The films also become part of the ACMI Collection, as a state resource, and will be available for all to see through the ACMI website and the Australian Mediatheque. These films are not only an important legacy for the towns, they contribute to our social heritage. Everyone who participates in the films will receive a copy on DVD to keep and share.
ACMI Content Development Manager Kim Montgomery says that ACMI values its engagement with regional Victoria.
“ACMI is proud to be making these films in the regions. The uniqueness of our approach is that it involves the local residents and community groups in regional towns, helping them to document their histories and capture their own stories about why people live, work and play in their towns. The resulting mini-documentaries are moving and fascinating records for the region, all Australians and the world,” she said.
Welcome to the second edition of The Ghostly Times. With the cold weather well and truly upon us and paranormal activity at its peak now is the perfect time to come and experience one of our three tours. For more information feel free to check us out on www.beechworthghosttours.com or phone Adam and Sharon on 0447 432 816.
Facebook: Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook. Share your photos and experiences with others who have taken part in our tours. Following the attached link allows you to read of one woman’s experience in the cellar whilst on an investigation tour, an experience she states has changed her forever.
Halloween: Halloween is almost upon us so get together a group of friends, your scariest costumes and come join us for a night of frightening fun. For those that dare book both the Black Cat tour of murderous Beechworth and The ghost tour of the asylum on both nights of Halloween weekend 2010 a $ 5 discount will apply. Christmas Parties: Yes its that time of year again and what better place to celebrate with work mates than in the hallways and grounds of Mayday Hills Hospital. Perhaps if your lucky all your Christmases will come at once and your boss may just get left behind in the dark. For one of the most unique Christmas parties ever contact us on 0447432816 Be quick though limited spaces available.
Investigation Tours:
The last few months have been extremely exciting as far as paranormal activity is concerned at the old hospital.
Strange light anomalies have been captured and documented on night vision equipment and at present continue to be on the rise. EMF meters have produced excellent unexplained readings that have been complemented perfectly by digital photography. Laser thermometers have also registered abnormal drops of temperature in some of the old ward rooms. Without a doubt our most recent investigation highlight involved for the first time making contact with a resident prisoner in one of the old cellar sections. More documentation is needed!
If you believe in ghosts and are interested in experiencing and documenting paranormal phenomena bookings are currently available on: 0447 432 816. Please note that this tour accommodates for a maximum of 8 participants per group
Lovers of antiques and collectables are set to flock to the historic towns of Chiltern, Beechworth, Rutherglen and Yackandandah next week as part of the new Indigo Antique Week in Indigo Shire.
Visiting the many antique and secondhand stores dotted around Shire, the tours depart from Wodonga next Tuesday 24 August and from Wangaratta on 26 August, ahead of the opening of one of Australia’s leading regional antique fairs in Chiltern from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 August.
In its twelfth year in 2010, the Chiltern Antique Fair is organised by Chiltern Tourism Association’s Erika Hansen, and annually attracts dozens of dealers from across Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
A must for serious collectors, bargain hunters and anyone in search of the rare and the unusual, the Chiltern Antique Fair includes specialist stalls featuring furniture, fine china, lace, antique jewellery, glass and much more.
Media are invited to the launch of Indigo Antique Week and the Chiltern Antique Fair at antique store, Chiltiques on Conness St, Chiltern on Friday 20 August at 11am by the Federal Member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella (herself a keen collector) and Indigo Shire Mayor, Cr Bernard Gaffney.
Indigo Antique Week tours are being run by Wodonga-based Chelbec Tour, phone 0423 745 930.
Leading Australian Bluegrass, Ol’ Time, Cajun and Western Swing musicians are heading for Beechworth this weekend with the return of the twelfth annual Kelly Country Pick Bluegrass and Old Time Country Music Convention.
A host of great bands from around the country will perform throughout the weekend of Friday 20 to Sunday 22 August, including Coolgrass, The Strezlecki Stringbusters, Flying Engine String Band, The Stetson Family, Orange Blossom, Fat Chance, High and Lonesome, the Le Blanc Brothers Cajun Band, String Theory, Hotwired, The Lonesome Low, Appalachian Heaven and Andrew Clermont.
The fabulous swing band, The Dancehall Racketeers performs in Beechworth for the first time this year including concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Visitors can also take part in special workshops in Swing Dance, Swing Guitar and Swing Fiddle.
Kelly Country Pick events include concerts, workshops and open mic sessions at The Hibernian, Nicholas and Tanswell Hotels, Bridge Road Brewers and the Old Priory where musicians of all levels and across a range of instruments can take part in a ticketed program of workshops across the weekend.
The new festival warm-up event, the Kelly Country Pick Music Camp, starts today and runs until Friday with musicians coming from as far afield as Adelaide, the Sunshine Coast, Sydney and Bourke to take part.
This year’s winner was a creation by one of our region’s enthusiastic and talented felters Julie Pfeiffer from Granya. She is a member of North East Yarns which is a group of local spinners, weavers, knitters and felters promoting the use of natural fibres. Her work is entitled “Butterflies in My Garden” and the name becomes self evident when the piece is actually seen.
The winning entry will be on special display at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery at 17 Loch Street Beechworth
(Opposite the Burke Museum) from Friday 27th August to Friday 10th September 2010
Australia’s most significant celebration of the Ned Kelly story returns to Beechworth this weekend, commemorating the 130th anniversary of the bushranger’s committal hearing at the historic courthouse in August 1880.
Great media opportunities are available throughout the weekend including:
10 - 10:30am, Friday 6 August - BeechworthTown Hall
School children viewing the exhibition of all four original suits of armour (pictured) worn by the Kelly Gang at the siege of Glenrowan. The exhibition is on loan from the State Library of Victoria and the Victoria Police Museum. Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group president, Adam Wynne-Jenkins and secretary, Bill Wilson, will be available for interview.
10:45 – 11:30am: Beechworth Railway Station
Re-enactment of Ned Kelly’s arrival at the station and transport by horse and carriage under police guard through the streets of Beechworth to the Courthouse.
11:15 – 12 noon, Saturday 7 August – outside Historic Courthouse, Ford St
Media call including photo, TV and interview opportunities with the original cast of the hit TV miniseries, The Last Outlaw, released 30 years ago this year. Includes leading Australian stars, Sigrid Thornton, John Jarratt, Steve Bisley, Gerard Kennedy and Lewis Fitzgerald.
Contact Sue Couttie for more information, to arrange interviews or to obtain great hi-res images, phone 03 5728 8061 or 0428 805 076.
Full program details at www.beechworthonline.com.au or call 1300 366 321
The Kelly Country Pick Bluegrass and Old Time Country Music Convention returns to Beechworth in August with a superb weekend showcase of some of the finest players of Bluegrass, Ol Time, Cajun and Western Swing music in the country.
Sensational swing band, The Dancehall Racketeers featuring the fabulous Baylor Bros is on the Beechworth bill for the first time this year performing concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Visitors can also get into the swing spirit by taking part in special workshops in Swing Dance, Swing Guitar and Swing Fiddle.
Also heading to this year’s Kelly Country Pick are bands from around the country including Coolgrass, The Strezlecki Stringbusters, Flying Engine String Band, The Stetson Family, Orange Blossom, Fat Chance, High and Lonesome, the Le Blanc Brothers Cajun Band, String Theory, Hotwired, The Lonesome Low, Appalachian Heaven and Andrew Clermont.
This fantastic annual program - in its twelfth year in 2010 - of concerts workshops and open mic sessions takes place across the weekend of 20 to 22 August at iconic Beechworth venues, The Hibernian, Nicholas and Tanswell Hotels, Bridge Road Brewers and the Old Priory.
As well as a packed program of free concerts and open mic sessions at venues around Beechworth, the Kelly Country Pick also offers a ticketed program of workshops at the Old Priory for musicians of all levels and across a range of instruments including bluegrass banjo, double bass, ol’ time fiddle, mandolin and ukulele as well as Harmony Singing.
This year’s dancing workshops include Cajun, clogging and Swing as well as the return of the Sunday morning Gospel Singing workshop in the gardens of the Old Priory open to anyone who loves to sing.
Also new this year is the Kelly Country Pick Music Camp, a festival warm-up event from Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 August with musicians coming from as far afield as Adelaide, the Sunshine Coast, Sydney and Bourke to take part.
Beechworths famous annual Ned Kelly Weekend returns in just over two weeks, from 6 to 8 August with a lively program of events for the whole family including the return on Saturday 7 August of the acclaimed production, The Jerilderie Letter.
“In Lloyd Jones’ production, Kelly's shaved, white, severed head -- a death mask on a plinth -- does the talking. Peter Finlay is the actor. And what a mighty, controlled, hypnotic recitation he gives!” Chris Boyd, Herald Sun Theatre Reviewer
Actor, Peter Finlay’s masterful performance of the bushranger’s explosive ‘manifesto’ has mesmerised audiences and critics alike since its debut at Melbourne’s La Mama theatre in 2007. The theatrically staged production sees the actor as Ned Kelly’s death mask, reciting all 8000 words of the iconic Jerilderie Letter with stunning visual images and music accompanying the performance. The production first appeared at the Ned Kelly Weekend in front of a rapt Historic Courthouse audience in 2008.
Beginning with a low, rhythmic murmur slowly bringing the words of the letter to life, Peter Finlay’s performance builds to a crescendo as he summons all the anger, outrage, violence and grief of the bushranger who was very much on borrowed time when he penned the famous document in Jerilderie.
The production is one of many special events of the 2010 Ned Kelly Weekend which this year commemorates the 130th anniversary of the committal hearing of the bushranger at the Beechworth Courthouse in August 1880. Other highlights include:
·The chance to meet the original cast of the classic TV miniseries, The Last Outlaw - including John Jarrett and Sigrid Thornton - at a gala cocktail party at La Trobe at Beechworth on Saturday 7 August from 7:30pm
·An exhibition on loan from the State Library of Victoria and the Victoria Police Museum of all four original suits of armour worn by Ned Kelly and the Gang
·On Sunday 8 August, a packed program of readings, re-enactments, talks, performances as well as a Geoffrey Robertson-style Hypothetical, The Tribulations of Eduardo & his Friends featuring an all-star panel of experts and commentators
The original all-star cast of the classic 1980 Australian miniseries, The Last Outlaw, will reunite in Beechworth for the first time as a highlight of this year’s sensational Ned Kelly Weekend program from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 August.
Sigrid Thornton, John Jarratt, Steve Bisley, Gerard Kennedy and Lewis Fitzgerald are among the 12 members of the original line-up of this acclaimed TV production reuniting in Beechworth for the weekend celebrations. The Last Outlaw was written and co-produced by Beechworth local and Ned Kelly expert, Ian Jones.
Visitors to the annual Ned Kelly Weekend – this year commemorating the 130th anniversary of the committal hearing of the bushranger at the Beechworth courthouse – will have a chance to mingle with the cast at a gala cocktail party at La Trobe at Beechworth on Saturday 7 August from 7:30pm.
Some of the actors including John Jarratt who played Ned Kelly will also take part in the Friday evening opening event at the Nicholas Hotel at 7:30pm - Fiddles, Fisticuffs, Food and Fashions.
And to celebrate The Last Outlaw reunion in Beechworth, an exhibition of memorabilia from the production will be displayed at the Burke Museum in Loch Street, including the armour worn by John Jarratt, scripts, posters, costumes and much more. Visitors will be able to browse the museum’s other Kelly exhibits which are part of its permanent collection. The exhibition will be launched at a special opening event at the Burke on Friday 6 August at 5pm.
The events are part of a packed three day program of re-enactments, talks by expert historians, theatre, a Hypothetical and the exhibition of all four suits of original Kelly Gang armour, on loan from the State Library of Victoria and the Victoria Police Museum.
The Ned Kelly Weekend, organised by the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG), is in its seventh year in 2010. Tickets for many events are selling fast so Ned Kelly Weekend enthusiasts are urged to book quickly to avoid missing out.
Full program details and bookings at www.beechworthonline.com.au
Parks Victoria will be carrying out repairs to the foot bridges over Silver Creek on the Lake Sambell to Lake Kerford walking track.
Signs will be erected at appropriate locations along the affected sections of the track. ( some sections of the track may still be accessible as each bridge is repaired)
Please forward any visitor inquiries to John Mc Donald (0407292553) or Brian Pritchard (0409533220) or on 57208190 for updates on works progress.
A Geoffrey Robertson-style Hypothetical presenting the Ned Kelly saga within a 21st Century context promises to be a highlight of this year’s famous Ned Kelly Weekend, returning to Beechworth from 6 to 8 August.
Taking place at 11:15am on Sunday 8 August at Beechworth’s Memorial Hall, The Tribulations of Eduardo: A Hypothetical, will feature a high profile panel of commentators and experts including Inspector David Ryan of the Victoria Police, recently retired Supreme Court Judge Phillip Cummins, the Member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella MP, ABC Goulburn Murray radio presenter Gaye Pattison, the Anglican Bishop of Wangaratta, Bishop John Parkes and other leading community and political figures.
Following the pattern of the well-known hypotheticals conducted by Geoffrey Robertson QC, the moderator, ABC Statewide Drive Presenter, Kathy Bedford will set the scene then let the panel loose on a whodunit tale of theft, murder, protected witnesses, sentencing, refugees, murder and the media.
“The purpose of the Hypothetical is to show things as they are by showing what they may become,” says event organiser, Bill Wilson. “By bringing Ned Kelly’s story into the present, we will be exploring a range of important questions relating to today’s societal problems.”
“Hopefully it will spark plenty of lively debate and follow thought-provoking journeys into some of the more pressing socio-economic issues confronting Australians in 2010,” Bill Wilson said.
This year is the seventh Ned Kelly Weekend, marking the 130th anniversary of the committal hearing of Australia’s most notorious bushranger in the Beechworth Courthouse in August 1880. Tickets for many events are selling fast so Ned Kelly Weekend enthusiasts are urged to book quickly to avoid missing out. Full program details and bookings at www.beechworthonline.com.au
A hand-drawn map of the site of the Stringybark Creek ambush by the sole surviving police officer and Ned Kelly’s bloodstained cartridge bag recovered in the aftermath of the Glenrowan siege are two of the precious Victoria Police Museum objects to be displayed in Beechworth during this year’s Ned Kelly Weekend from 6 to 8 August.
The artefacts, several of which have been on public display for the first time, are part of the Museum’s fascinating Ambushed exhibition which has enjoyed a successful run in Melbourne since January.
The Beechworth exhibition, which will be mounted in the Sub Treasury Building of the Historic & Cultural Precinct, is a coup for this year’s Ned Kelly Weekend, with the first display of the Ambushed objectsoutside Melbourne.
Event organisers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG) are pleased to have secured the exhibition as it offers another perspective on the Kelly saga: “We are very mindful of providing a balanced program of events that tell the Kelly story from all sides,” says BHRG president, Adam Wynne-Jenkins.
One hundred and thirty years after his trial and hanging in Melbourne, Australia’s most notorious bushranger still provokes passionate debate. Acknowledging this wide spectrum of opinion in the Australian community, the BHRG have this year made a concerted effort to examine events from a range of different perspectives.
“The 2010 program also features an exhibition of all four suits of armour worn by the Kelly Gang, as well as talks about Ned’s life and family and a theatrical staging of The Jerilderie Letter,” Adam Wynne-Jenkins said. “The Ambushed exhibition offers a police perspective on events of the time, a re-reading of the first Kerferd Oration provides a community perspective and a talk focusing on judge Sir Redmond Barry who sentenced Ned Kelly to hang, completes the story from all sides.”
This year is the seventh Ned Kelly Weekend, marking the 130th anniversary of the committal hearing of Ned Kelly in the Beechworth Courthouse in August 1880.
Tickets for many events are selling fast so Ned Kelly Weekend enthusiasts are urged to book quickly to avoid missing out. Full program details and bookings at www.beechworthonline.com.au
The restoration of the Yackandandah Railway Crane, landscaping using a traditional dry stone wall, the upgrade of the Stanley Athenaeum and joint winners of the Heritage Houses of the Future category were among the winners of Indigo Shire’s Heritage Awards announced on Friday 28 May.
Indigo Shire’s Councillor Peter Croucher, Cr Larry Goldsworthy, Cr Ali Pockley, Cr Barb Murdoch and Cr Peter Graham OAM and a member of the Indigo Shire Heritage Advisory Committee presented the awards at a ceremony at The Star Theatre in Chiltern last night.
Indigo Shire conducts the awards to promote the need to preserve the shire’s unique heritage. The Heritage Awards are gaining momentum every year, with a record number of entries received in 2010. Fifteen awards were presented in front of a crowd of more than 70 who attended the event.
“This year’s Heritage Awards, with the inclusion of the new category Heritage Houses of the Future, pays homage to members of the community building sustainably for the future as well as preserving and restoring heritage buildings from the past,” said Cr Peter Croucher.
The Indigo Shire Heritage Advisory Committee received nominations in March and visited nominated sites throughout the Shire before tackling the difficult task of selecting winners.
The winners of the Indigo Shire Heritage Awards for 2010 are:
Heritage Champion - Works in Historic Landscapes
Presentation of Australian Classic Films, Chiltern Rutherglen Continuing Education Group
and The Star Theatre Chiltern
Heritage Champion - Restoration of a Commercial or other Non-Domestic Building
52a – 58 Ford Street Beechworth, Helen Freeman - Owner, Greg Owen, Period Restoration Services Pty Ltd - Tradesperson
Winner Works in Historic Landscapes- Railway Crane Yackandandah
Yackandandah & District Historical Society, Yackandandah Community Development Company, David Larkin, EDM Group, Engineers, D & K Beer Logging Pty Ltd, Builder
Winner Best Restoration of an Historic Building - Stanley Athenaeum
Friends of the Stanley Athenaeum and Stanley Athenaeum Committee of Management
Winner Best Restoration of an Historic House - ‘Bellfield’ 67 Conness Street Chiltern
Beth Peters - owner, Colin Peters - Builder
Highly Commended Best Restoration of an Historic House- Chiltern Post Office
Emma & Matt Williams - owners, Rob Sawyer - Builder
Highly Commended Best Restoration of a Commercial or other Non-Domestic Building- Hotel Nicholas, Beechworth
Ross and Lorraine Lucas
Winner Best Restoration of a Commercial or other Non-Domestic Building- Freeman on Ford Chambers, Beechworth
Heidi Freeman and Jim Didolis
Winner Best Signage in an Historic Area - Westpac Sign Camp Street, Beechworth Westpac Banking Corporation, David Collier & Sons, Authentic Signs and Beechworth Newsagency
WinnerVoluntary Works associated with the Maintenance and/or Restoration of an Historic Place - Stanley Athenaeum Collection
Friends of the Stanley Athenaeum and Stanley Athenaeum Committee of Management
Winner Best Garden/Landscaping of an Historic Building or Area - Traditional Dry Stone Wall Chiltern
Marianne O’Connor Owner/designer/builder
Winner Most Appropriate In-Fill Development amongst Heritage Buildings - ‘Daranmar’, Mellish Street Beechworth
Owners/designers - Kendal & Lynette Daley-Lovett, Builder - Sean Cartledge, Beechworth Traditional Homes
Winner Best Moveable Heritage Collections – Vehicles – Furniture - Hotel Nicholas, Beechworth
Ross and Lorraine Lucas
Joint Winner of Heritage Houses of the Future
Alan & Joy Phillips, owners/designer, 40 York Lane, Beechworth
RW & SM Sharpe Home Builders, 40 York Lane, Beechworth
‘offhand manor’, Joan Simms & John Hennessy, 32 Fletcher Road Beechworth
As part of the awards presentation, a 20-minute section of a documentary about Australian author Henry Handel Richardson’s life was shown, produced by the Henry Handel Richardson Society. Author of many titles including The Getting of Wisdom, Henry Handel Richardson lived in Chiltern from 1876 – 77 when her father was the local doctor there.
It has been yet another successful year for local craft brewer Bridge Road Brewers at the Australian International Beer Awards. The award ceremony was held at Crown’s Palladium in Melbourne on Thursday night. The competition attracts entries from more than 30 countries and include around 1000 entries.
Bridge Road Brewers is a small Beechworth based brewery that specializes in ales. This years entries picked up 8 medals spread throughout their broad portfolio. The standout from Beechworth was a Belgian farmhouse styled beer named Chevalier Saison. The Saison picked up a gold medal in the Saison style category and beat many beers from America, Belgium and Australia. This beer was also nominated for Best Belgium/French style ale and was one of three beers nominated as best Victorian Beer.
Other Beechworth beers to be honored were the Beechworth Pale Ale (Silver Medal), Celtic Red Ale (Silver Medal), Robust Porter (Silver Medal), Bling India Pale Ale (Bronze), Galaxy Single Hop IPA (Bronze) and Australian Ale (Bronze). The Saison also picked up another bronze medal in a separate category.
Bridge Road Brewers have also been exhibiting their beers at this weeks Australian Beer and Brewer Expo, Federation Square. The event has attracted huge numbers of beer lovers and shown the growing popularity of craft beer amongst consumers.
Brewer and owner Ben Kraus takes great confidence out of this years trip to Melbourne. “The beer scene in Australia continues to grow from strength to strength. The enthusiasm of visitors to the expo was fantastic. We have an increasing number of Beechworth beers on tap in Melbourne as well as bottles in some of it’s best know restaurants, bars and bottle shops. We are also seeing big growth in Beer Tourism with more and more visitors to our brewery. I am pleased that our small brewery is able to offer a locally produced product and get more people drinking local beers, beers that are up there with the best in the world.”
Bridge Road Brewers have recently released their Chestnut Pilsner, a beer they have developed over the past two years that uses the regions Chestnuts as a key ingredient. The production of the beer on a commercial scale has been boosted through the assistance of the state government. This assistance came in the form of an innovation grant, the grant was used to purchase new production equipment and expand the breweries production of the Chestnut Pilsner.
Christine Nixon, the head of the Victoria Bushfire Reconstruction & Recovery Authority will deliver the Kerferd Oration this year in Beechworth.
Ms Nixon’s oration, entitled “Revealing the hidden strengths and talents of communities”, will be delivered at the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth on Sunday July 25.
Indigo Mayor Cr Bernard Gaffney said Ms Nixon was the perfect choice for this year’s Orator.
“As Chair of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority she would have many insights into the hidden strengths and talents of the communities she has visited that have been devastated by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfire,” Cr Gaffney said.
“This is not her first visit to our shire – she came to Stanley last November to talk to people who had been affected by the February 7 bushfire and get their feedback on the recovery process.
“We are delighted she has agreed to be this year’s Orator and we look forward to her insights on the strengths of communities.”
Under Ms Nixon’s leadership, the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction & Recovery Authority is working with communities, businesses, charities, local councils and other government departments to help people rebuild after the Black Saturday bushfire that claimed the lives of 173 people and destroyed communities. Her focus is on helping communities recover and rebuild in a way that is safe, timely, efficient, cost effective and respectful of each community’s different needs.
Before joining the authority, Ms Nixon was the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police leading 14,000 staff across more than 500 sites.
As in the past, this year’s Kerferd Oration is a free community event supported by WAW Credit Union, La Trobe Beechworth and Indigo Shire Council. It starts at 11am in the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth on Sunday 25 July. Tickets are not required.
Last year more than 500 people came to hear World Vision Australia CEO Rev Tim Costello AO talk about Community Values for a World in Need. Other past Orators include Professor Tim Flannery, then Deputy Premier John Thwaites, Cathy McGowan AO, Prof Henry Brodaty AO, Barbara Holborow OAM and the late John Harber Phillips AC.
The annual Kerferd Oration is namedafter one of the founding fathers of Beechworth, George Briscoe Kerferd, whose illustrious career in public office culminated in his elevation to the office of Victorian Premier in 1874.
With more than 60 producers set to take part in this year’s Beechworth Harvest Celebration - Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 May - this year’s event will be the biggest yet.
The Celebration will offer a host of opportunities to ‘meet the makers’, learn their art through live demonstrations, sample a host of mouth-watering products and buy some sensational goodies from the market stalls.
Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the annual 'toast' to local food and wine which features a lively two-day program in and around the giant marquee in front of Beechworth’s famous Historic & Cultural Precinct as well as a series of fantastic ‘off site’ experiences.
On Saturday 15May, visitors can board a bus for a sneak peek into how three of the region’s most admired family-owned wineries operate. The three hour visit, to Sorrenberg, Pennyweight and Amulet, will see winemakers leading tours of their vineyards, opening their cellar doors and pouring their full range of wines for sampling with perfectly matched food.
Harvest Celebration organiser, Jade Miles, describes the winery tour as a “money can't buy experience.”
“This is such a rare opportunity because these winemakers are usually too busy to offer such an extensive glimpse into how they make their business work. Their passion is contagious and it’s such a lovely energy to experience first-hand in their own environments”, she said.
On Sunday, the excursions continue with a “walking tour” from the Harvest Celebration Marquee to the Beechworth Bakery where guests will be well entertained by the antics of Tom O’Toole (pictured above) as he guides them through the art of making a loaf. With a fresh loaf in hand, guests will wander up to Beechworth Honey where owner Jodie Goldsworthy will open their eyes to the importance of bees in Australian agriculture and provide some honey for that warm loaf. Saturday 15th May, Harvest Celebration Exursion is $30 per person and must be pre-booked via the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre, phone 1300 366 321 Full program details at www.harvestcelebration.com.au
Media contact: Jade Miles, 0418 520 554
Thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Beechworth’s 17th annual salute to the good life, the Harvest Celebration, returning to the historic town in just two weeks with a mouth-watering program for the whole family.
Organiser, Jade Miles says the event is “so much more than a Farmers Market. It’s our collective raising of the glass to celebrate the hard work and determination of North East Victoria’s fantastic food and wine industry which consistently delivers such outstanding results.”
Held under marquees in the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct the Harvest Celebration gives visitors a rare chance to meet the makers and to share the passion and energy it takes to make a go of it on the land. In addition to the market stalls, several producers will take to the demonstration stand to shed light on how and why they do what they do.
Featured producers this year are:
·Renaissance Chocolates who will create a range of chocolates in the demonstration kitchen
·Tom O Toole, the legendary founder of the Beechworth Bakery and one of Australia’s most sought-after public speakers, will share his baking secrets
·Jodie Goldsworthy from the internationally successful Beechworth Honey who will talk about the importance of bees to the greater agricultural economy
·Scott Reddaway from Bright Brewers will give the lowdown on the secrets of making a good ale
·Rob Hawkings from Indigo Wines will give you the good oil on how the subtle differences between wines can be detected.
Children are also well catered for at the Harvest Celebration with a special entertainment stand offering great activities across the weekend including face painting, dough making, honey tasting and chestnut roasting.
Local restaurants are also joining the celebrations. Gigi's Wicked Harvest menu will be available all weekend, Wardens restaurantand Dalzotto wineryare joining forces for their matched menu on Saturday night, Bridge Roads Brewers are gearing up for the return of their sensational Brewers Breakfast on Saturday morning and The Stanley will raise a toast to the humble chestnut with their Chestnut Celebration menu all weekend.
The Victorian town of Beechworth has been announced the Overall Winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Awards 2009/10, at Government House this evening.
As well as winning the overall Australian title, Beechworth won the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention award sponsored by Hungry Jacks Bag it & Bin it program, the Energy Innovation award and received commendation in the Heritage & Culture category award.
According to the Australian Tidy Towns National Judge, Dick Olesinski, "Beechworth‟s diverse range of projects make up the community„s longstanding commitment to Tidy Towns and other related environmental and beautification approaches.
"Along with Beechworth‟s Tidy Town committee and Indigo Shire, the community as a whole have a strong sense of commitment and pride and are involved in a broad range of initiatives to ensure a sustainable future", he added.
Beechworth and the Indigo Shire Council have been recognised for commitment to reducing the impact of global warming by participating in the Cities for Climate Protection Program, a unique program that helps local governments and their communities cut greenhouse gas emissions. The town‟s Sustainability Group holds regular workshops on new and innovative ways to conserve energy by educating residents on how to reduce home energy use.
Various litter reduction approaches are in place throughout Beechworth, with a strong focus on incorporating litter reduction messages and programs into the local education system to help long term adoption of positive behavioural change within the community.
Minister for the Environment and Climate Change in Victoria, Gavin Jennings said Beechworth‟s win comes from a strong sense community and a commitment to continually protect and preserve the environment they live in. "Strong communities need a clean environment which is why the Brumby Labor Government supports the Keep Australia Beautiful awards," Mr Jennings said. "Beechworth is a great example of a Victorian regional town working together to improve the appearance and create a sustainable future. I congratulate Beechworth for winning year‟s national Keep Australia Beautiful awards. "This win will no doubt encourage other towns to continue important beautification, regeneration and sustainability work. "Victorians lead the way when it comes to living sustainability. Keeping the environment clean and tackling the challenges of climate change is a shared responsibility for Government, business and local communities so it is important we work in partnership to make a difference for all Victorians."
The Chairman of Keep Australia Beautiful, Don Chambers, added, "It is always a pleasure to be able to recognise and promote the work that many dedicated individuals and communities are undertaking to protect and preserve their local environment and history.
Congratulations to the community members and the Indigo Shire, who have shown great commitment and leadership in local sustainability practices and education." 2/2
Through the Australian Tidy Towns Awards, Keep Australia Beautiful is able to recognise local community and individual efforts that are helping rural and regional communities to become environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. The awards are sponsored by Grundfos Pumps, the Hungry Jack‟s „Bag it & Bin It‟ program and Navman.
Join Beechworth Ghost Tour's guide Adrian for an investigation tour, this is a specialised tour with small groups of between 5 to a maximum of 10 people, tours must be pre-booked and are subject to availability. This is the tour where you get to play with real ghost hunting equipment and search for hard evidence of the paranormal. Soft shoes are required as well as an ability to be very quiet and nerves of steel! Take home your own documentation and hopefully proof of something more... Cameras are a must. These tours will leave after the regular tour/s of the night, it is preferable for your group to be the only tour on site to minimise noise and disruption so it is best that they leave around 10 - 10.30pm but earlier tours can be arranged. Tours go for two hours and cost $35 no concession available on this tour, investigation tours are not available on Friday or Saturday nights.
Ms Nixon’s oration, entitled “Revealing the hidden strengths and talents of communities”, will be delivered at the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth on Sunday July 25.
Indigo Mayor Cr Bernard Gaffney said Ms Nixon was the perfect choice for this year’s Orator.
“As Chair of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority she would have many insights into the hidden strengths and talents of the communities she has visited that have been devastated by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfire,” Cr Gaffney said.
“This is not her first visit to our shire – she came to Stanley last November to talk to people who had been affected by the February 7 bushfire and get their feedback on the recovery process.
“We are delighted she has agreed to be this year’s Orator and we look forward to her insights on the strengths of communities.”
Under Ms Nixon’s leadership, the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction & Recovery Authority is working with communities, businesses, charities, local councils and other government departments to help people rebuild after the Black Saturday bushfire that claimed the lives of 173 people and destroyed communities. Her focus is on helping communities recover and rebuild in a way that is safe, timely, efficient, cost effective and respectful of each community’s different needs.
Before joining the authority, Ms Nixon was the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police leading 14,000 staff across more than 500 sites.
As in the past, this year’s Kerferd Oration is a free community event supported by WAW Credit Union, La Trobe Beechworth and Indigo Shire Council. It starts at 11am in the Kerferd Conference Centre at La Trobe Beechworth on Sunday 25 July. Tickets are not required.
Last year more than 500 people came to hear World Vision Australia CEO Rev Tim Costello AO talk about Community Values for a World in Need. Other past Orators include Professor Tim Flannery, then Deputy Premier John Thwaites, Cathy McGowan AO, Prof Henry Brodaty AO, Barbara Holborow OAM and the late John Harber Phillips AC.
The annual Kerferd Oration is namedafter one of the founding fathers of Beechworth, George Briscoe Kerferd, whose illustrious career in public office culminated in his elevation to the office of Victorian Premier in 1874.
Crack horseman to lead 2010
Golden Horseshoes Parade
Horse breaker, whisperer, trainer, accomplished show jumper and blacksmith, Mike Orton (pictured above), will recreate Daniel Cameron’s famous 1855 ride through the streets of Beechworth when he leads the spectacular Golden Horseshoes Grand Parade on a horse shod with shoes made of real gold.
His ride down Ford Street will signal the start of the Grand Parade at 1pm. Earlier - at 10:30am in the area next to the Historic Courthouse in Ford Street - visitors will have the chance to see him fit the golden shoes to his magnificent four year old Palomino colt, McLeod, one of the few “Cinderella’ horses available with the right sized hooves to fit the famed golden shoes.
The Grand Parade, which will see dozens of weird and wonderful floats compete for the annual Beechworth Bakery Perpetual Parade Trophy is a highlight of the 2010 festival, the biggest on Beechworth’s busy annual calendar which annually draws huge numbers to the town.
A new addition to this year’s event will be the world’s biggest performance of the favourite Aussie tune, Home Among the Gum Trees led by local legend, Lazy Harry. Together with local school children, he will lead an all-in performance of the song, complete with actions, by the thousands of visitors lining the streets to watch the Grand Parade.
This year also sees the return of the music stage to the Camp Street Food Court with a fabulous line-up including Lee Rosser and Nick Barker (formerly of Nick Barker and the Reptiles). Other highlights include a Monster Raffle offering prizes worth thousands of dollars, including the $2000 golden egg from Beechworth Gold, live roaming entertainment from sensational comic marching band, The Itchy Feet Pep Band, a huge Easter Egg hunt with the Easter Bunny, a Good Friday fun run and much more.
Mike Orton is available for interview. Please contact Sue Couttie, 03 5728 8061.
Full festival program details available at www.beechworthonline.com.au
The originalsuits of armour worn by all four members of the Kelly Gang at the siege of Glenrowan will feature as a major highlight of the 2010 BeechworthNed Kelly Weekend from 6 – 8 August, the BeechworthHistorical Re-enactment Group(BHRG)announced today.
The exhibition is a coup for Beechworth and marks only the fourth time since 1880 that the complete set of Kelly Gang armour has been shown, and the first time outside a capital city.
Now in its eighth year and widely regarded as this country’s most important annual celebration of the Kelly legend, the 2010 Ned Kelly Weekend will commemorate the 130th anniversary of the outlaw’scommittal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880, and his execution on 11 November 1880.
Event organizers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group, will unveilthe full 2010 program at an official launch early next year.
BHRG President, Adam Wynne-Jenkins, expects the exhibition will be one of regional Victoria’s key tourism drawcards in 2010.
“Visitors to Beechworth next August will be amazed at the quality and workmanship of the armour of Australia’s most recognised artifacts,” he said.
All schools in the Indigo Shire will be invited to a free preview of the armour on Friday 6 August.
Established 2008 the BHRG is a committed living history group which recreates the Beechworth of the period 1852 to 1885. The BHRG is often seen on the streets of Beechworth and other regional centres taking part in street parades, displays and other commemorative activities including the re-enactment of the Kelly Gang robbery of the bank in Euroa in December 1878, and the Siege of Glenrowan in July 1880.
This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of the State Library of Victoria, Victoria Police Museum, Museum Victoria and Rupert Hammond in conjunction with the Indigo Shire Council for Insurance coverage and the Beechworth Bakery (The Home of Ned Kelly Pies) as the major sponsor of the event.
Beechworth historian and author, Ian Hyndman, this week celebrates the third reprint of his popular History of Beechworth.
Fifteen years since its first publication and thousands of copies later, the booklet remains one of the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre’s most popular souvenirs.
The History of Beechworth offers a concise and very readable account of the founding and early development of one of Australia’s best-preserved Gold Era towns.
This informative little book has been presented and arranged into a fascinating trail visitors can follow around the beautiful streetscapes and key historic sites of Beechworth.
The History of Beechworth is Mr Hyndman’s sixth book on various aspects of the town’s history including three volumes devoted to his own local pioneering family, the Ladsons. Others include Out of the Goldfields – A history of Ovens and Murray Hospital for the Aged and Beechworth Cemetery – A stroll through history.
A hospital administrator for more than 50 years, Mr Hyndman was CEO in several Victorian hospitals including Latrobe Regional Hospital in Gippsland. He was also the Regional Director of Health in the Goulburn/North Eastern and the Gippsland regions.
With just weeks to go, preparations are in full swing for Beechworth’s biggest annual event, the Golden Horseshoes Festival, taking place across the Easter long weekend from Good Friday 2 to Easter Sunday 4 April.
This year’s major festival fundraiser is a Monster Raffle, offering more than $7000 in prizes donated by local businesses including, again this year, a fabulous $2000 golden egg from Beechworth Gold.
Golden Horseshoes Festival committee members are currently out in force armed with raffle tickets for sale at the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre and a variety of local businesses including the newsagency and hardware store as well as at Centro Albury on Tuesday 23 February and Friday and Saturday, 19 & 20 March and at Centro Lavington on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 March.
The raffle will be drawn at 2pm on Sunday 4 April in the Chinese Gardens at Lake Sambell. Proceeds will go towards this year’s Festival program, which returns, bigger and better than ever with traditional favourites including the spectacular Grand Parade which annually commemorates and re-enacts the historic ride through the streets of Beechworth in November 1855 by newly elected Victorian MP, Daniel Cameron on a horse shod with real gold shoes.
Returning this year are Rotary’s huge Easter Craft Market in the Queen Victoria Gardens and the Beechworth Neighborhood Centre’s Paddy’s Market crammed with dozens of stalls of second-hand furniture, collectables and bric-a-brac.
Other program highlights include spectacular roving entertainment from the Festive Factory, buskers, a huge Easter Egg Hunt with the Easter Bunny, live music from acclaimed artists, Nick Barker and Lee Rosser on the Camp St stage, a food court and the sensational Itchy Feet Pep Band from Melbourne.
Family fun also includes the Museum of Victoria’s Discovery Program with its fascinating display of artifacts from the Museum’s collection, as well as a special Kites for Kids event on Easter Sunday.
Run for the third consecutive year by a local community committee, the Golden Horseshoes Festival annually attracts thousands of visitors to the town. Committee President Kathryn Osmond urged local groups and individuals to get into the spirit of the festival and dress up, enter a float, buy a raffle ticket or just pull up a chair in the food court and soak up the unique ambience of Easter in Beechworth.
Distinguished Australian author, chef and restaurateur, Stephanie Alexander OAM, (pictured) will
make a special guest appearance at the opening event of Beechworth’s famous Harvest Celebration in
May.
The founder of the nationally expanding Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation will be guest
speaker at the Harvest Celebration Gala Dinner at Beechworth’s Memorial Hall on Friday 14 May.
The dinner will be hosted by Barb Lowery, noted ABC food broadcaster and writer.
Guest chef, Michel Renoux, well known for dishing up superb fare at Stanley’s Galloping Goat, the Milawa
Cheese Factory restaurant, and more recently, the Ageing Frog gourmet Fish & Chip shop in Beechworth,
will prepare a fabulous feast highlighting the superb food, wine and beer of the North East Victorian
Region.
The event promises to kick off the seventeenth annual Beechworth Harvest Celebration in fine style.
With a packed program across the weekend of 14, 15 & 16 May, this years event will be bigger than ever.
Visitors to Beechworth will have the chance to meet more than 70 local growers and sample their wares
under the big marquee in Ford Street outside the famous Historic & Cultural Precinct.
This year will also see the return of Harvest Celebration favourite, the Demonstration Stage, where a host
of talented local chefs, growers, foodies, brewers and winemakers will share their secrets.
Beechworth Harvest Celebration Gala Dinner
Friday 14 May, 7pm
Memorial Hall, Ford St Beechworth
Tickets on sale from 1 March from Beechworth Visitor Information Centre,
phone 1300 366 321 or www.beechworthonline.com.au
Endymion (Australia) Pty Ltd is pleased to announce that the Press Launch of
Richard Patterson’s book, Nobblers and Lushingtons - A History of the Hotels of Beechworth and the Ovens District, will Friday, 4 December 2009.
Nobblers and Lushingtons contains 400 pages, 35 contemporary photographs and information on over 230 hotels in Beechworth and the neighbouring district, as well as the names of over 800 licensees.
Among the many issues it explores are:
- The murder of Robert Murdock, manager of a Beechworth hotel, and the possibility that he was the victim of a serial killer.
- The death of James Coyne Riley, following his accidental stabbing during the performance of a play at the Star Hotel, Beechworth.
- The dark secrets about their pasts that many of Beechworth’s earliest hotel-keepers tried to keep hidden.
- The role of women on the goldfields and the extent of prostitution in Beechworth.
- How the first man to be hanged at Beechworth Gaol had murdered a local hotelkeeper
and the links between this killing and two other appalling murders.
Richard Patterson has lived in Beechworth for 3 years and previously worked in human resource management for 35 years. Nobblers and Lushingtons is his first book.
Note: A nobbler was nineteenth century slang for a shot of spirits, while a lushington
was someone who habitually imbibed too many of them.
Beechworth has been named Victoria’s Overall Sustainable Communities - Tidy Towns winner for 2009 in a gala awards ceremony in Horsham at the weekend.
The town was recognised for its work to preserve its rich historic heritage and its environment. Judges commented on a ‘spirit of working together’ and the diversity of the projects undertaken in the town aimed to protect, enhance and promote the town’s history while moving towards sustainability.
Rutherglen was awarded the Small town Achiever Award for its commitment to make the town more sustainable through capitalising on its rich wine growing industry and associated businesses implementing a range of sustainability practices. The judges gave a special commendation in the Proud Schools section to Rutherglen Primary School for the efforts of the students to reduce their water and energy use, capturing rainwater from the roof, and reduce the amount of waste they produce. The school students also propagate and grow their own veggies and prepare meals using their own produce.
Also in the winners’ line-up was Yackandandah, which was awarded the Heritage and Culture Award for rebuilding the town’s museum after it was destroyed by fire. Judges praised the work of the Historical Society in fundraising and in rebuilding the collection.
Indigo Councillor Barb Murdoch was present at the ceremony and was full of praise for all Indigo participants.
“This is a huge tribute to Beechworth in particular, but also Rutherglen and Yackandandah,” she said. “Beechworth now goes to the national finals in Canberra in April next year.”
Cr Murdoch paid tribute to Beechworth resident Iris Mannik, who has been organising Beechworth’s participation in the awards for 14 years.
“This is a feather in her cap for Iris and all the hard work she has done over many years,” Cr Murdoch said.
Indigo Mayor Cr Peter Graham was ecstatic with the shire’s success. He paid tribute to the businesses, community groups and volunteers throughout the shire for their dedication and community spirit.
“This huge success is due to many people, but I particularly applaud the many volunteers and community groups who participate in this event,” Cr Graham said.
As Beechworth is the Victorian winner for 2009, the town will host next year’s state awards ceremony.
We are happy to say that yes the items are finally being shipped out this month
Two Bridges for the Garden
It's not a Chinese Garden without Buddah
5 Lanterns set to go in Bamboo walk in ChineseGardens Beechworth by the Pavilion
This month the Museum has been opened for 5 yrs (and boy what a road)
With having put on six festivals with the first only one week after the 2003 bush fires with the help of the Lake Sambell Committee.
Awards that we have received awards for:
Tidy Town 2001 .2002 .2003
Sustainability award sub surface irrigation system
Victorian awards for excellence in Multicultural affairs
Victorian History award Commendation BCCC&G
Personal award for 10 years service for volunteering in Multi Cultural affairs
The Gardens has seen many Chinese visitors to Beechworth we have also
sponsored the Chinese Lion team to come to Beechworth for Easter for the past three years
Sponsored the Beechworth Chinese cemetery book written and translated by Dr Kok
The BCCC has seen many school groups over the past 5 years who have all enjoy the different aspect of Beechworth and enjoy finding out what animal sign they are.
Beechworth’s Chinese Museum is dedicated to the preservation & display of Chinese History in the Ovens and District Goldfields
The Centre also has items for sale that are that little bit different to help support both the Gardens and the Museum
For those who like a dash of history mixed with their horticulture a new tour launching this weekend will offer a perfect introduction to the botanical treasures of one of Australia’s best preserved heritage towns.
The new Beechworth Town and Country Walks and Tours will take in some of Beechworth’s most significant public and private gardens and reserves, offering visitors fascinating insights into the people who created them, original designs and plantings – including some 14 trees of significance listed on the National Tree Register - and the gardens’ continuing evolution to the present day.
The new tours will complement the Historic & Cultural Precinct’s Ned Kelly and Gold walking tours led by expert guides which have become a must for tourists to the area. Visitors can also take part in Historic Courthouse tours and talks, the wildly popular Ghost Tours of historic Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum and Historic Beechworth mini-bus tours led by historian, Pat Doyle.
Chris Dormer, a passionate gardener, artist and former BeechworthBurkeMuseum programs officer is the brains behind the new Town & Country Walks and Tours. Her own piece of paradise, in the hilltop village of Stanley a few kilometres from Beechworth, has featured in the Victorian Open Garden Scheme.
Each Saturday at 2pm, departing from the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre, she will take visitors on an hour-long Public Gardens Walk, including the formal ‘pleasure gardens’ of the Town Hall, part of the Historic & Cultural Precinct, planned and planted in 1874 by Richard Hurlock Jenkyns.
Developed in the Gardenesque style, the gardens quickly became a fashionable place for locals and visitors to use the wide paths for promenading, a band rotunda for concerts, and the fountain to enjoy the sounds of the cool cascading water on hot summer nights. The gardens were planted with trees including the towering Sierra Redwoods (Sequoiadendron Giganteum) seen today which were grown by Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller, Director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.
The tour also takes in the cultivated wilderness of the Botanical Reserve, now Victoria Park, gazetted in 1856. A competition to design the park was won by a Hungarian Count, J A Rochlitz, whose romantic vision of groves of acacia, almond and walnut trees, an open belvedere, an archery ground, cricket and boxing grounds, a children’s playground and an ‘Invalid’s’ Corner’ was never implemented. The design does live on, however, in a beautiful watercolour painted by C. Martin, part of the permanent collection of the BurkeMuseum.
Lake Sambell Reserve, created as a result of Beechworth’s success in the IdealTown competition in 1928, and now home to the new ChineseGardens, is also on the itinerary. This exciting new garden remembers the thousands of Chinese people who flocked to the rich goldfields of early Beechworth.
A variety of tours will also be offered by Chris Dormer by arrangement including visits to a selection of magnificent privately owned gardens as well as a ‘Backyard to Farm Gate’ tour of Beechworth and district’s great productive gardens.
FULL DETAILS AND BOOKINGS FOR THIS AND OTHER GREAT
BEECHWORTH TOURS AT:WWW.BEECHWORTHONLINE.COM.AU
PHONE 1300 366 321
Little-known original documents including telegraphs, letters and reports from police involved in the hunt for the Kelly Gang and the recovery of the bodies of their three murdered colleagues have been found at the VictoriaPoliceMuseum.
Collections Manager, Liz Marsden, said a box containing the documents had been discovered during the course of an exhaustive registration project of every object, book and piece of paper in the collection as part of a Museums Australia museum accreditation program.
She said the Museum was excited to find the box of ‘extremely fragile documents’ relating directly to events surrounding Australia’s most notorious bushranger. At present this collection is not available for research as it is being painstakingly digitalised with the aim of making it available to the public sometime in the future via the museum’s website.
Meanwhile, they will form the basis of a fascinating talk – The Kelly Hunters: a Police Perspective - by the respected author, historian and retired Superintendent of the Victoria Police, Dr Robert Haldane, at the Historic Courthouse, as part of the2009 Beechworth Ned Kelly Weekend on Saturday 8 August at 10am. Dr Haldane was granted access to the documents as part of his research for the Ned Kelly Weekend.
“These PoliceMuseum documents are actual primary sources from the police and volunteers on the ground at the time,” Dr Haldane said. “They offer a real insight into the thinking and behavior of the police working on the Kelly case. These are ‘bottom up’ working documents from police and civilians in the field and they give a very different perspective to the police side of the story which has largely been overshadowed by the mythology surrounding the Kelly saga.”
One of the documents, a report from a policeman sent to recover the body of Sgt Kennedy, shot dead by the Kelly Gang, gives a graphic description of the sergeant’s face as so badly mutilated the body should not be viewed by the widow. Dr Haldane said this ran “counter to the dominant view of the Kellys behaving humanely toward their victims. The truth is they brutally murdered three policemen – an unprecedented act then and now in Australia - and then robbed their corpses.”
Another of the letters, written in the aftermath of the Stringybark Creek killings, is from a policeman to a superior begging permission to join the hunt for the Gang and pledging he would ask nothing from the State in the way of support for his family in the event of his untimely death.
Dr Haldane said other archival material also revealed some surprising facts about the make-up of the police force at the time. Contrary to popular belief, more than 80 percent of the force was Irish, as was the Chief Commissioner and the Chief Justice. This challenged the widely-held notion that the bushranger (Australian-born) was a victim of English establishment racism toward the Irish. “Ned Kelly committed crimes against Irishmen, was hunted by Irishmen and ultimately, convicted by an Irishman,” Dr Haldane has concluded.
His talkis one of a number of events in the packed Ned Kelly Weekend program, being directed for the first time by the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group and with a special focus on the police role in the Kelly saga.
The program will also include a Victoria Police Museum exhibition, The Police View of the Kelly Gang and Policing the North East at the Sub Treasury Building of the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct, a former gold office and for many years the Beechworth police station.
In addition, authentically re-created events featuring precisely detailed police uniforms of the day from Ned Kelly Weekend organisers, the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group (BHRG), will give new prominence to the ‘men in blue’ of the Kelly era.
Dr Haldane will also appear at a Saturday evening Q & A at Beechworth’s Old Priory, Behind the Armour, which will see a panel debate both sides of the argument. Moderated by ABC Radio’s Gaye Pattison, the panel lineup will include Dr Haldane, the noted Kelly historian, Alex McDermott and author, Kelvyn Gill, whose biography Edward Kelly: The Times of his Life, 1820 – 1893 is currently due for release.
Passionate debates aside, the Ned Kelly Weekend program also offers some rollicking good music and fun including the sensational opening night event at the Nicholas Hotel, Food, Featre, Fashion & Fiddle-de-dee, featuring one of Australia’s best Celtic bands, Braemar.
"Beechworth is by far the best-preserved 19th Century gold mining town in Australia." Australian Traveller magazine, April/May 2009.
Seven minutes of black and white film shot in 1907 and donated this week to the Burke Museum confirms Australian Traveller’s assessment that Beechworth is ‘by far’ Australia’s best preserved 19th Century gold mining town.
In its April/May issue, the magazine ranked Beechworth at Number Six in its list of 100 Best Towns in Australia.
“Not a single building in the town’s centre feels 20th, let alone 21st, Century”, the magazine said. “The Beechworth streetscape is so instantly charming because the buildings were largely constructed in the same style, at roughly the same time, and with the same material – the local honey-coloured granite. Ned Kelly, the town’s most notorious loiterer, could ride into Beechworth today and, ignoring the cars and oddly dressed people, it would look much the same as when he left in late 1880. In fact, he’d probably be arrested and charged at the local courthouse for stealing the horse he rode in on.”
Officially unveiled this week, the seven minute reel-to-reel film, ‘A day at the School Teachers’ Conference held at beautiful Beechworth’ was donated to the Burke Museum by local resident, Doug Craig who had the footage converted to DVD with the assistance of the Lions Club of Beechworth.
It shows the classic gold era streetscapes of the town in Victoria’s north east to be completely unchanged in more than a century.
Only the horse-drawn vehicles, period clothing and absence of roundabout at the town’s main intersection are different in 2009.
Says Australian Traveller: “A town brimming with secrets of bygone eras, it’s not hard to see why people flock to Beechworth to walk the very same streets down which the Kelly Gang sauntered.”
16 VIC Towns On The 100 Best Towns in Australia
Marysville Honoured on the List
Victoria blitzes the top end of the prestigious list of the 100 Best Towns in
Australia, published by Australian Traveller magazine today.
Three of the Top 10 Best Towns in Australia are in Victoria. Great Ocean Road historical fishing village Port Fairy is the top-placed Victorian town at No.5.
Northeast Victorian heritage town Beechworth and Great Ocean Road community Apollo Bay are the other Victorian towns in the Top 10 Best Towns In Australia.
Marysville is also included in the list at No. 56, with the magazine’s editor referring to the devastated township as “Gods own garden.” and “Beloved for its tree shrouded streetscapes and beautiful gardens.”
The magazine’s Sydney-based editor, Greg Barton, says Black Friday’s shocking destruction was made very real by the number of “Best Towns” threatened by the fires.
“The 100 Best Towns list was in fact finalised on BlackFriday. The number of towns on the list that were threatened was heart wrenching and brought home just how devastating this day was in our history. Marysville remains rightfully on our list. It’s a tribute to the place it was and will be again,” says Barton.
Methodology
The 100 best towns were decided by a panel of tourism experts. The panellists were asked to rate towns according to their answer to one question: “Regardless of where this town is located, would you recommend to a friend to add one hour to their trip to visit this town?” The answers were tabulated and the 100 towns were ranked from 1 to 100.
Victoria’s Best Towns
5. Port Fairy
6. Beechworth
8. Apollo Bay
12. Bright
14. Lorne
15. Mallacoota
19. Daylesford
21. Portsea
29. Queenscliff
35. Echuca
56. Marysville
68. Rutherglen
76. Walhalla
77. Mildura
81. Dunkeld
90. Halls Gap
Australia’s Top 10 Towns
1. Yamba NSW
2. Esperance, WA
3. Port Douglas, QLD
4. Broome, WA
5. Port Fairy, VIC
6. Beechworth, VIC
7. Byron Bay, NSW
8. Apollo Bay, VIC
9. Strahan, TAS
10. Margaret River, WA
Victoria s High Country is set to host an epic battle on two wheels. From Sunday 29th March through to Saturday April 4th, the inaugural Terra Australis Great Southern Land Mountain Bike Epic will roll through North East Victoria.
A high class field will tackle the 550 km’s over the seven stages. Heading the field are three very well credentialed teams. Dan McConnell who represented Australia at the Beijing Olympics in Cross Country Mountain Biking has teamed up with elite cyclists Luke Fetch as part of the Torq Performance Nutrition Team.
Hot their heels will be the BMC Racing team of Troy Bailey and Joel Donney. Troy Bailey has been a fixture on the Australian mountain bike scene for over a decade and recently became the world solo 24 hour champion at the world championships in Canada in the 35-39 male category. His race partner for the Terra Australis, Joel Donney finished second in the under 25 male category after riding the race of his life at the same event.
Troy’s commitment to his training has seen him gain the reputation as one of the hardest trainers in the sport. Terra Australis Event Director, Iain Moore explains. “We were trying to get in contact with Troy just after Christmas. We eventually tracked him down and while I was finishing off what was left of the Christmas turkey, Troy was making his way home from Sydney to Melbourne on his bike. This preparation for the Terra Australis should see this BMC sponsored team challenge for the overall race win”.
The Pink jerseys of the Total Rush team will also be vying for overall honours with Mark Fenner and Sam Bach confident of a good showing. Both are extremely competent mountain bike riders with Mark collecting a bronze medal at the recent World Championships.
Iain Moore said “It is great that we have been able to attract such a high quality field for the inaugural event. The seven stages will see a combination of elite riders and average weekend warriors travel through the pristine wilderness of Victoria’s High Country. Falls Creek, Dinner Plain, Bright, Beechworth and Wangaratta will all host stage finishes where the riders, their families and support crew will be able to relax and enjoy the hospitality of these wonderful North East Victorian towns”.
Not only has the event attracted the best mountain bike riders from Australia, it has also attracted some ambitious recreational rider. “One of the unique features of the Terra Australis is that guys who normally battle through their weekend rides will get to spend 7 days with the elite of the sport. It is something truly unique to mountain biking” Iain said.
The inaugural Terra Australis Great Southern Land Mountain Bike Epic starts in Falls Creek on Saturday 29th March and concludes seven days later in Wangaratta on Saturday 4th April. Anyone wishing to know more about the event can go to www.terraaustralismtbepic.com.
Beechworth’s reputation as a gourmet travel destination has been further enhanced with the recent arrival of Michael Ryan’s restaurant and luxury suites, Provenance as well as Natasha Davis’ fromagerie, Larder.
The new businesses join some impressive local company including the renowned Warden’s of Beechworth, Gigi’s, The Ox & Hound, Bouchonat Botanicals, The Green Shed and The Stanley in the picturesque hilltop village of Stanley a few kilometres out of town.
Add to that list the award-winning boutique brewery, Bridge Road Brewers whose owner Ben Kraus has announced several new on-tap venues for a number of his delicious beers in Melbourne - at Bar Etiquette in Brunswick, Mrs Parmas in Little Bourke St, the Cherry Tree in Richmond and the Local Taphouse in St Kilda. In Beechworth, visitors to Bridge Road can sample Ben’s excellent range of ales and tuck into the Brewers’ home-made pretzels and sensational gourmet pizzas.
A lifelong passion for great food has led newcomer Natasha Davis to Beechworth where she opened Larder late last year. Her mission is to offer the best international and regional speciality cheeses in impeccable condition and reflecting seasonal influences. Visitors can taste the cheese spectrum at Larder, from French Roquefort, Rouzaire Brie aux truffles, La Mancha Manchego, Piano Hill Ironstone and sweet hand stretched, buffalo Mozzarella from Shaw River. Natasha also offers provisioning for impromptu picnics or special occasions, offering complimentary hire of lovely wicker baskets packed with mouth-watering terrines, pates, locally smoked trout and small goods as well as Lescure French butter to slather on yummy Laurent Bakery baguettes..
Michael Ryan,the mastermind behind The Age 2008 Country Restaurant of the Year, the two chef hat Range restaurant in Myrtleford, has opened Provenance in the 1856 Bank of Australasia, one of Beechworth’s finest historic gold era buildings adjacent to the Historic and Cultural Precinct in Ford Street. With six metre ceilings and towering arched windows, the bank’s original granite vault now houses the wine cellar. Accommodation at Provenance comprises four newly refurbished luxury suites in what was once the old stables and carriage house.
Now in its sixth year and widely regarded as this country’s most important annual celebration of the Kelly legend, the weekend event commemorates the anniversary of the outlaw’scommittal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880.
The Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group is an enthusiastic troupe which already has this year’s Ned Kelly Weekend program well in hand. It will unveilthe full 2009 program at an official launch in Beechworth on Thursday 7 May.
BHRG founding president, Adam Wynne-Jenkins, says visitors to Beechworth can once again expect a lively program of re-enactments, art, music, displays, market stalls, competitions and talks by leading authorities on the subject of the life and times of Australia’s most notorious bushranger.
Established last year and with a membership of 30 and growing fast, the BRG is a committed living history group which recreates the Beechworth of the period 1852 to 1885, with a special focus on the events surrounding Ned Kelly’s links to the town.
Wearing the authentic dress of the day, the BHRG is often seen on the streets of Beechworth and other regional centres taking part in street parades, displays and other commemorative activities including the recent re-enactment of the Kelly Gang robbery of the bank in Euroa in December 1878.
Media enquiries:
Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group President, Adam Wynne-Jenkins and Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct co-coordinator, Noelene Allen are available for interview.
Please contact Indigo Shire Tourism Officer, Sue Couttie, to arrange.
The community of Beechworth wishes to gratefully acknowledge the many messages of concern and support received from people around Australia and overseas and to reassure everyone that thanks to the wonderful efforts of the volunteer firefighters, SES and other emergency services the impact on the town and our Shire has been minimal. We also wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to those individuals and communities elsewhere in Victoria who have suffered such tragic loss.
National stamp of approval for Beechworth’s Burke Museum
Beechworth’s Burke Museum, one of Australia’s oldest and best-regarded regional museums has won a national stamp of approval.
The Burke was recently reaccredited under the Museums Australia Museum Accreditation Program (MAP) by an independent panel which conducts rigorous assessments every four years to ensure national standards are met across a range of criteria including collections management, conservation and exhibitions planning and development.
Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock, said the reaccreditation was “important because we are meeting high industry standards for the collection and reaching the local community and visitors to the town.
“It’s quite an achievement,” she said.
The MAP panel described the Burke as “an important regional museum with a fine collection” including some “stunning exhibits” such as the 19th Century bird display and rare thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger – pictured above).
“The Burke Museum is also custodian of a significant collection of Fijian artefacts; there are some items in this collection that the national museum of Fiji does not have examples of,” the panel noted.
The report went on to highlight the significance of the R.E.Johns collection of 19th Century aboriginal artefacts, describing it as “one of the best collections of Victorian Aboriginal material in the country.”
The panel gave special mention to the excellent presentation of displays as well as ‘striking’ improvements in preventive conservation since the last assessment in 2004.
The Robert O’Hara Burke Museum, named in honour of the former Beechworth Police Superintendent and later ill-fated explorer, is a highlight of the Beechworth Historic and Cultural Precinct. It boasts a fascinating and historically significant collection of more than 30,000 individual items, many dating back to its establishment more than 150 years ago and some linked to famous and infamous figures of history such as Ned Kelly, Dame Nellie Melba and of course, the museum’s namesake, Robert O’Hara Burke.
For media enquiries, image requests or more information, contact
Sue Couttie, Tourism Officer Indigo Shire Council
Phone (03) 5728 8061 or scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Find out more about the Burke’s amazing collections and current exhibition at www.beechworth.com/burkemus
Open daily 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day)
Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock, said the reaccreditation was “important because we are meeting high industry standards for the collection and reaching the local community and visitors to the town.
“It’s quite an achievement,” she said.
The MAP panel described the Burke as “an important regional museum with a fine collection” including some “stunning exhibits” such as the 19th Century bird display and rare thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger – pictured above).
“The Burke Museum is also custodian of a significant collection of Fijian artefacts; there are some items in this collection that the national museum of Fiji does not have examples of,” the panel noted.
The report went on to highlight the significance of the R.E.Johns collection of 19th Century aboriginal artefacts, describing it as “one of the best collections of Victorian Aboriginal material in the country.”
The panel gave special mention to the excellent presentation of displays as well as ‘striking’ improvements in preventive conservation since the last assessment in 2004.
The Robert O’Hara Burke Museum, named in honour of the former Beechworth Police Superintendent and later ill-fated explorer, is a highlight of the Beechworth Historic and Cultural Precinct. It boasts a fascinating and historically significant collection of more than 30,000 individual items, many dating back to its establishment more than 150 years ago and some linked to famous and infamous figures of history such as Ned Kelly, Dame Nellie Melba and of course, the museum’s namesake, Robert O’Hara Burke.
For media enquiries, image requests or more information, contact
Sue Couttie, Tourism Officer Indigo Shire Council
Phone (03) 5728 8061 or scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Find out more about the Burke’s amazing collections and current exhibition at www.beechworth.com/burkemus
Visitors to Beechworth this January have the chance to discover a new side of the historic town with the launch of the Town Walking Tour.
The tour will complement the hugely popular Ned Kelly and Gold walking tours which have become a must for tourists to the area since their launch three years ago.
The new tour will explore the town’s rich Gold Era history, uncovering fascinating and often little-known stories about the characters and events that shaped Beechworth’s early development.
Expert guides from the Visitor Information Centre will lead the tour on a leisurely hour-long stroll through the wide, tree-lined avenues and beautifully preserved streetscapes of Beechworth.
Along the way, visitors will stop at more than two dozen sites, including the Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum, one of Australia’s best regional museums named after the ill-fated explorer and one-time Police Superintendent of Beechworth.
Other notable sites include:
·The old Temple Bar Hotel in Ford Street, one of more than 60 licensed premises operating in the area in the 1870s. They will learn about the publican who advertised in the Constitution & Ovens Mining Intelligencer for a “kangaroo and an emu for this hotel – wanted dead or alive.”
·The Old Anglican Schoolhouse whose alumni include noted geologist Edward John Dunn and the first Australian-born Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs
·St. Joseph’s Presbytery in Church Street where Kelly Gang associate turned police informer, Aaron Sherritt married Ellen Barry in 1879.
The new Town Walking Tour will leave from the Beechworth VIC every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 1pm from 5 January until 1 February.
Bookings and enquiries at Beechworth Visitor Information Centre,
phone 1300 366 321 or visit www.beechworthonline.com.au
Gates and food/wine stalls open at 5:30pm
The concert will commence at 8pm and conclude at 10:30pm with
one 40 minute interval
Roxane Hislop Mezzo-Soprano James Egglestone Tenor Slava Grigoryan Guitarist Benjamin Northey Conductor
Opera in the Alps Choir and Orchestra
Australian Music Events is proud to present ROXANE HISLOP, JAMES EGGLESTONE, and SLAVA GRIGORYAN. They will be joined by 100-voices and 50-piece orchestra led by one of Australia's most exciting conductors, BENJAMIN NORTHEY.
Enjoy a relaxing evening of fine food, wine and classical favourites under the stars, in the picturesque grounds of LaTrobe at Beechworth.
Premium Packages are also available, comprising a three-course dinner accompanied by fine wines from Brown Brothers. The pre-concert dinner and dessert at interval are held on the lawns of the Pines Convention Centre, which commands a breathtaking veiw of the concert setting and is, surely, the ultimate way to experience Opera in the Alps
General ticket sales from Monday 15 September 2008
The many delights of Indigo Shire were promoted across the weekend at the 2AY RACV House & Garden Show at the Albury Wodonga Gateway.
The event, which saw big crowds turn out for a program of events which included TV star, Don Burke, offered a sensational promotional opportunity for towns across the Shire.
The Indigo Tourism Advisory Committee Chairman, Damian Adams, said he was delighted to see representatives from each town combine to present an excellent showcase of the area's attractions. The displays included visitor guides, maps, photos, displays of historical artefacts, fine wines and a special cycle tourism promotion.
Hundreds of people lodged entries in the raffle of a host of prizes generously donated by operators from across the region including accommodation, adventure activities, wines and a range of guided tours.
A treasure of Beechworth’s Burke Museum collection, an original woodblock, Ashton’s Circus circa 1857, is featuring in a new touring exhibition - Step Right Up - celebrating the circus in Australian art.
The object, by an unknown artist, is the oldest work on display as part of the exhibition at the Albury Art Gallery until 23 November ahead of a national tour including The Arts Centre in Melbourne, Museum of Brisbane and Art Gallery of Northern Territory.
A print taken from the historic woodblock by artist Vincent Drane will also feature in Step Right Up. The print, made at the National Trust-owned Federal Standard Printing Works in Chiltern, was commissioned by the Burke Museum in 2000 to promote a touring exhibition of its own amazing visual art collection, Following the Fortune Hunters: The Art and Culture of the Ovens Goldfield.
A joint project of the Albury Art Gallery and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Step Right Up - the Circus in Australian Art also features pieces from the Albury City collection, works commissioned by artists specifically for this event and historical and contemporary artworks drawn from State, Regional, commercial and private collections. Works from major artists such as John Brack, Fred Williams, Ken Whisson, Jeffrey Smart and John Olsen are included in the exhibition.
The historic woodblock is one of thousands of objects, artworks and curiosities held in the treasure trove that is Beechworth’s Burke Museum. A nationally significant collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the early to mid-19th century, an amazing natural history collection, one of the four original Ned Kelly death masks and thousands of documents, journals and photographs from Beechworth’s heady gold rush days to the present are among the permanent collections on display at this fine regional museum, a jewel of Beechworth’s Historic and Cultural Precinct.
As part of its own exhibitions program, the Burke Museum is currently featuring Women Vote: They Picked up the Patter with Amazing Fluency commemorating the contribution of Beechworth women to the Monster Petition presented to the Victorian Parliament in 1891 calling for the right to vote. See full details at: www.beechworth.com/burkemus/exhibits
Bridge Road Brewer's is proud to announce the release of its latest brew, the Chestnut Lager. Brewed with local chestnuts and hops and aged for over 4 months this Beechworth lager is unique in Australia.
The brewery had been approached by local chestnut growers looking to value add to their produce. Beechworth and its close neighbor Stanley are Australia’s chestnut growing capital. The region is also home to some of Victoria’s last remaining hop gardens, with the Rostrevor Hop Garden in the Ovens Valley near Myrtleford growing the Galaxy hops that have been used in the Lager.
Brewer Ben Kraus said the lager was challenging to brew, however the initial test batch has proved a huge success. Demand for the beer has been strong and the brewery is currently brewing two more batches for release prior to Christmas.
The current release is available to take away directly from the brewery, and from a limited number of city stockists. The beer will also feature as part of the Beechworth Oktoberfest on the 11th and 12th of October. But be warned it wont last long.
Spring is here and Tinkers Hill Cellar Door will be open for wine tastings and light lunches as from this weekend (Saturday 6th September 2008). Our opening hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 11.00am to 5.00pm. After a short winter break we are feeling refreshed. We have sold out the Tinkers Hill shiraz and the new 2006 shiraz will now be available, as will the Cirko V 2005 shiraz Viognier.
The Best Western Beechworth Motor Inn (Beechworth, Victoria) has been announced as the winner of the Best Western Award for Excellence in the category of Most Improvements and Upgrades within a Best Western Property.
The award, announced at the Best Western Annual Convention in Auckland, New Zealand, recognises the Best Western property that has made the most improvements throughout the year.
The BestWestern Beechworth Motor Inn spent $140,000 on renovating all 10 suites. Bathrooms were replaced, wall lighting was removed and replaced with elegant lamps and indirect lighting, and all soft furnishings and carpets were replaced with new items in muted autumnal colours. On the strength of these, the Best Western Beechworth Motor Inn was judged to have made the most outstanding improvements.
“This award justifies the time and effort that has been put into this project,” says Robert Ransom of the Best Western Beechworth Motor Inn. “The result has been overwhelming. Using local tradesmen to contribute to the refurbishment has injected more confidence in us to expand the motel to the next level.”
The BestWestern Beechworth Motor Inn is a three-and-a-half star property featuring single, queen and large family rooms on one-and-a-half acres of leafy landscaped gardens.
Located only one kilometre from the centre of Beechworth, the property is an ideal base for corporate guests. All suites feature undercover parking and easy access to a large swimming pool, sun deck and private BBQ area.
‘Women Vote: They Picked Up the Patter with Amazing Fluency’ Exhibition
[Australasian 31 October 1903]
Burke Memorial Museum Beechworth
15 August - 16 November 2008
Opening – Saturday 23 August – 3 pm
The ‘Women Vote: They Picked Up the Patter with Amazing Fluency’ exhibition tells the stories of the women of Beechworth and district especially the 160 women who signed the Monster Petition in 1891 that was presented to the Victorian Parliament to demonstrate women wanted the vote. It explores the considerable achievements of women and their community involvement in organisations such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Australian League of Women and their work in for the institutions and community of Beechworth.
‘In an extraordinary effort to gain the right to vote for all Victorian women, a handful of dedicated women took to the streets in 1891 to collect signatures for a petition to present to the Parliament of Victoria. The result was an impressive collection of close to 30,000 signatures from women from all walks of life.
Tabled in Parliament in September 1891, with the support of then Premier James Munro, the petition sought that ‘Women should Vote on Equal terms with Men'.
The women who signed the Monster Petition in 1891 have been researched for Beechworth Arts Council by Cath O’Connor who has had considerable assistance from local researchers and family historians who have generously share information from family records that have been received from all over Australia and from New Zealand. The stories if over 140 women are illustrated with photographs and objects from the Burke Museum’s collection encouraging exploration of these women their aspirations, families, houses, work and living conditions.
See the women’s signatures, learn more about how women won the vote from the delivery of the Monster Petition to the Victorian Parliament in 1891, it was a further eight parliamentary bills and seventeen years later that the Franchise Bill 1908 legislated for women to have the vote on equal terms with men in Victoria.
Contemporary works by six women artists have been commissioned by the Beechworth Arts Council t for this exhibition to encourage artists to comment on women and their concerns in 2008, this layers the exhibition with contemporary perspectives on women’s issues and their place in the world.
The ‘They Picked Up the Patter with Amazing Fluency: Women Vote’ Exhibition honours the stories of the Beechworth and district and one of the State's archival treasures, the Women's Suffrage Petition (1891) that reflects the dedicated work of the women, who went from door to door across Victoria to collect the 30,000 signatures. Its tremendous length earned it the name of the ‘Monster Petition'.
More information is available at; http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/womenspetition/background.htm
Cody, the body in whom the play is set, is frustrated with herself for being so indecisive and she feel she is perceived as a bit dawky. We step inside her body to find out why this is so. Her two main departments, the Intelligence Department, based in the Brain, and her Emotion department, based in the heart, don’t get on. They continually argue over every decision that has to be made.
Presently, Cody is in training so her Intelligence is guiding all her decisions to maintain a healthy and fit outlook. This does not excite the emotion department as there is very little fun, or risk taking in Cody’s life. Her Emotion Department keep on losing any argument. Cody has to toss a coin to stop the battle but intelligence always wins the toss. This also makes the Liver and Kidney department very bored as there is little work to do…cleaning up! Worst of all, the germs cannot achieve their aim of infecting the body and spreading, because the White blood cell army are too strong and everything is too healthy to make the body sick.
Uncle Fector, the head germ tries a couple of plans to break the Intelligence department’s hold over Cody. Firstly, he and his thugs send in the Free Radical to swap the coin for a double header. This allows The Emotion Department to win the debate over what to eat. They send the message for Cody to pig out on Junk food. She naturally overeats and makes herself sick. Uncle fector also bribes the Endorphins, (the Brain Department’s weakness) to distract their thinking by indulging them in massage, music and merriment. This leaves the emotion dept in charge and some different decisions are made. These include going to a party, smoking, drinking alchohol and using dope and finally heroin. Poor Cody becomes seriously ill.
Now the body is working overtime just to survive. The liver and Kidney are exhausted, the red blood cells are jammed and coagulated.
The brain is not functioning properly and the germs are ready to start an all out infection with this special potion that controls all cells.
Scab, the new recruit to the germ gang, and Red blood Cell 99, meet in a blood canal and fall head over heels in love. They realise that this all out infection could kill Cody and that something must happen to save the day. They set a plan to get the three Pennys to come and help save the day, Penny Dol, Penny Deinefort, and Penny Cillin. These characters are immune to the potion and they set a plot to deceive Uncle Fector’s bad Germs. They convince the Intellligence and Emotion Department to work together and they inspire all parts of the body, Cody included, to work together on operation CHOOC - Co-Operation Health, Order and Optimism Campaign. Cody takes charge gets a new burst of strength and self esteem. All the good buys over power the Bad germs and it turns out that Scab is really a ‘good’ Bacteria and he never really fitted in with bad bacteria gang.
Cody survives and the body makes the realisation that finding a middle path and a balance is the way to go.
Ned Kelly enthusiasts from around the country are set to flock to Beechworth in the North East of Victoria for the historic gold-era town’s celebration of its links with Australia’s most notorious bushranger fromFriday 1 to Sunday 3 August.
This year’s packed program, taking place in the 150 year-old Historic & Cultural Precinct, has attracted bookings from as far afield as Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
Many Ned Kelly Weekend visitors are regulars at the annual event, and include direct descendents of some of the principal players in the Kelly story. This year they include Nola Love, the great granddaughter of Constable McIntyre who was the sole survivor of the police shooting by the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek and Leigh Olver, a direct descendent of Ned’s mother, Ellen Kelly.
Now in its fifth year and regarded as Australia’s most significant annual celebration of the Ned Kelly story, the Ned Kelly Weekend commemorates the anniversary of the outlaw’scommittal hearing held in the historic Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880. Sentenced to death and hanged later that year, the bushranger’s celebrity shows no sign of fading nearly 130 years on.
This year’s Ned Kelly Weekend offers a lively and entertaining program to suit all tastes and pockets and includes new events as well as old favourites.
New this year is the Ned Kelly Weekend Heritage Market on Saturday 2 August. From 10am until 2pm, the Historic Precinct area of Ford Street will be closed to traffic and transformed into a colourful market square featuring delicious, good old-fashioned food such as soup and damper and tea and scones, as well as traditional crafts including spinning and weaving, knitting, demonstrations of wood crafts, blacksmithing, coopering and whip making, along with live music and buskers.
And back by popular demand is the Ned Kelly Weekend opening event Ned at the Nic – a traditional Music Hall ‘knees up’ at the Nicholas Hotel, featuring a sit-down three course dinner, entertainment from another local legend, Lazy Harry and his sensational band, dancing until late and the hugely popular Ned Kelly trivia quiz.
Also featuring across the weekend are theatre productions, a fabulous Kelly-themed art show, the unveiling of a new display of one of the four original Ned Kelly death masks at the Burke Museum, talks in the Historic Courthouse by Ned Kelly experts, the re-enactment of the Committal Hearing on Saturday and Sunday, the new Best Beard competition, The Great Fight commemoration and Ned On the Big Screen in the historic Town Hall.
Full weekend passes or tickets to individual events are available at www.beechworthonline.com.au
or phone the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre on 1300 366 321
The response to this years Kerferd Oration in Beechworth by Professor Tim Flannery has been so strong that organisers have enlarged the seating capacity from 300 to 450 seats.
The oration is being held at the Kerferd Conference Centre at the Beechworth campus of La Trobe University on Sunday, July 27, at 11am.
Kerferd Oration committee member Joan Simms said the response this year had been “quite overwhelming”
“So many people want to hear from someone like Professor Flannery.His oration on The Climate Change Challenge is more topical than ever.There’s been the recent draft Garnaut report, various local moves towards forming sustainability groups and a growing awareness of the need for all of us to do our bit for the environment,” Ms Simms said.
“We’ve had to increase the seating in the Kerferd Conference Centre to 450 seats and we have provision to stretch that a bit more to the deck outside,” Ms Simms said.
“We have advertised that doors open at 10.15am and the feedback we are getting is that some people are coming quite early to queue up before that.One group has told me they are bringing their breakfast to have in the grounds while they keep an eye on the length of the queue.
“And I know of another group from Melbourne who are extending their holiday at the snow, and staying in Beechworth overnight to attend the Oration.”
Ms Simms stressed that no booking was required for this free community event, however only the first 450 people at the door would be certain of getting a seat inside the conference room.
Students from Year 7 at the Beechworth Secondary College will have artworks and installations on the theme of sustainability on display inside the conference centre.
Parking is limited close to the conference centre and Ms Simms advised people to park in nearby streets and walk in to the venue.
Beechworth businesses have offered their shop windows for the month of July to display the work of dozens of regional artists taking part in tread softly, an exhibition focusing on environmental issues relating to climate change, global warming and loss of habitat and biodiversity.
The exhibition is being presented in the lead-up to the 2008 Kerford Oration which will be delivered by Professor Tim Flannery on ‘The Climate Change Challenge’ at LaTrobe University’s Beechworth campus on Sunday 27 July at 11am.
tread softly, which includes works on paper, photography, paintings, objects, jewellery and sculpture, celebrates the environment and draws attention to environmental issues as well as provides a showcase for the ideas and work of regional artists.
A diverse range of subjects tackled by artists featuring in the exhibition include a commentary on the impact of domestic pets on native wildlife, declining river systems, salinity, drought, the massive and mounting global problem of waste disposal and the warming of the planet as a result of human impact.
But while many of the themes are both confronting and alarming, the work Milagros for Beechworth by gold & silversmith, Rose Wedler, on display in the Pots of Thyme window, tells a good news story. The work celebrates the small miracle of the rediscovery near Beechworth a few years ago of a plant previously thought extinct – the Swainsona recta or Purple Pea.
Catalogues for this intriguing and innovative exhibition are available from the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre at 101 Ford Street. In keeping with the theme of tread softly, collection points for recycling the catalogues are available around the shopping precinct.
Beechworth’s annual salute to its Celtic heritage, now in its 14th year, is set to be the best yet.
This three day event set in Historic Beechworth celebrates all things Celtic, with a full program of live music, theatre, dancing, comedy, pipe bands and a street parade. The Celtic Festival is a diverse event with something to offer every age group.
Highlights of the 2008 program include a Gala Celtic Dinner to open the weekend on Friday evening and the Official Celtic concert to be held on Saturday evening. The concert evening will feature a night not to be missed, with live music, dance, comedy and a theatrical performance from the renowned Celtic group Braemar. The theatrical production, Lochaber No More, outlines the history of the Jacobite Rebellion in narrative and song.
Ticketed live music venues will be located throughout beautiful Beechworth, in its historic hotels and halls, with a free chalkboard stage to be located in the heart of town. The street parade, a great event for families, will feature a number of pipe bands, dancers and other performances.
The Celtic Festival is truly a festival of fun, entertainment and celebration in the celtic spirit. So put on your favourite kilt and get yourself up the hill to Beechworth this November to celebrate all things Celtic.
For further information or ticket enquiries visit http://beechworthcelticfestival.com.au or phone the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre 1300 366 321 for accommodation and other enquiries.
Renowned scientist and climate change expert Professor Tim Flannery will deliver the annual Kerferd Oration in Beechworth, in North East Victoria, next month.
Professor Flannery, Australian of the Year in 2007, is well known around the world for his position on global warming and environmental issues. An internationally acclaimed scientist and conservationist, Professor Flannery has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers, but it is his landmark book The Weather Makers that sets him apart. This bookhas received widespread praise for its informed and balanced approach to climate change and has been translated into more than 20 languages. In 2006 it won the NSW Premier’s Literary Prizes for Best Critical Writing and Book of the Year.
In 2007 Professor Flannery co-founded and was appointed Chair of The Copenhagen Climate Council, a coalition of community, business and political leaders who have come together to confront climate change.
Professor Flannery will deliver the George Briscoe Kerferd Oration at 11am on Sunday July 27, at the Beechworth campus of LaTrobe University.
Past orators at this free community event were the then Deputy Premier of Victoria the Hon John Thwaites (2007); Cathy McGowan AO (2006); Professor Henry Brodaty AO (2005); Barbara Holborow OAM (2004) and the then Chief Justice of Victoria the Hon John Phillips AC (2003).
This annual oration, now in its sixth year and jointly sponsored by Indigo Shire Council, Latrobe University and corporate sponsor WAW Credit Union, is named after one of the founding fathers of Beechworth. George Kerferd was a very public minded man. In 1857, just five years after gold was discovered at Beechworth, he was a member of the Beechworth Municipal Council and later its president for some years. He helped establish the Ovens District Hospital and was involved with the establishment of the Ovens Benevolent Asylum. In 1864 he entered Victorian Parliament as the Ovens District representative, holding portfolios in six ministries before becoming Premier in 1874.
re-enactments, theatre, art, music, displays, market stalls, competitions and talks by leading authorities on the subject of the life and times of Australia’s most notorious bushranger.
Now in its fifth year and widely regarded as this country’s most important annual celebration of the Kelly legend, the weekend event commemorates the anniversary of the outlaw’scommittal hearing held in the historic Beechworth Courthouse from 6 to 11 August 1880.
This year’s Ned Kelly Weekend has the added significance of the 150th anniversary of the Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct, being commemorated throughout 2008. This year for the first time, tours of the Courthouse will be available across the weekend in recognition of the sesquicentenary.
Among the many highlights of the 2008 program are:
·Introduced by Australia’s foremost Kelly biographer, Ian Jones, a critically acclaimed theatrical staging of The Jerilderie Letter in the historic Courthouse. Devised and performed by Peter Finlay and with music and vocals by Malcolm Hill, this fine production has received rave reviews since its debut performance at the 2007 Melbourne Fringe Festival
·From Sidney Nolan to Norman Lindsay, Ned Kelly has long provided inspiration for artists. One of the most popular events of the 2007 Ned Kelly Weekend, Framed, returns to Beechworth’s Historic Precinct in 2008. This sensational art exhibition is again expected to attract entries from regional, metropolitan and interstate artists. This year the general public will have the chance to vote for their favourite work with the new FramedPeople’s Choice Award.
·The Ned Kelly Weekend Heritage Market in Ford Street, outside the Historic Precinct, featuring a host of good old-fashioned food stalls, buskers, games for children and demonstrations of traditional crafts such as shingle and whip making, wood working, blacksmithing, spinning, coopering, quilting and weaving
·The Ned Kelly Trial Re-enactment, including Ned’s arrival at the Beechworth Historic Courthouse and his subsequent committal hearing based on actual court transcripts.
·A crowd favourite in 2006, The Great Fight returns in 2008, commemorating Ned Kelly’s marathon bare-knuckled 20-Round stoush with Wild Wright. The warm-up bout for this rollicking event will see the Judging of the Great Ned Kelly Weekend Beard Competition which will see a gathering of the finest beards in the north east vying for the inaugural Best Beard Trophy.
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Ned Kelly Weekend and Beechworth Cultural precinct co-ordinator, Noelene Allen is available for interview. Contact Indigo Shire Tourism Officer, Sue Couttie, to arrange. Phone (03) 5728 8061 or email scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Kelly Country Pick is a Bluegrass and Old time Country Music Convention based in the Old Priory for the weekend of 15-17 August 2008.
The event incorporates, concerts, workshops, jam sessions, instrument displays, a Sunday morning gospel singalong and an open stage. The festival is growing each year and we are aiming to attract more people from the local region and visitors.
The event features established bands from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and regional Victoria. It is open to all public and is not just for musicians. It is based at the Old Priory with a Saturday, evening concert at the Hibernian Hotel.
Two out of every three mouthfuls of food you eat is pollinated by bees and we need to protect and promote the value of Australian agriculture.
An exciting new direction at Beechworth Honey
Beechworth Honey Pty Ltd, Australia’s largest independently owned specialist honey packaging company, will open the “The Beechworth Honey Experience”. The Experience will comprise of an interactive, state of the art virtual tour, live bee display and concept store. It will showcase how honey is produced, the story of Beechworth Honey past and present, and educate people on the diversity of uses for honey. It has been developed inhistoric Beechworth, in North East Victoria where the family have produced honey for four generations. Live bees can be viewed and visitors can watch bees at work producing honey and tending to their everyday hive activities.
A broadened selection of “Beechworth Honey” branded products and goods related to bees, honey and the unique Australian environments that produce these wonderful natural products will be available. After two years in the planning there is much excitement within this busy company as we now open the Beechworth Honey experience to the public and share the passion for the amazing insects that bring us natures perfect food.
Grand opening Wednesday 12th March, 2008 at 11.30am.To be opened by Ed Halmagyi (Fast Ed) from Better Homes and Gardens.
From strength to strength…
Beechworth Honey began as a small primary production partnership producing bulk honey. In 1993 Steven and Jodie Goldsworthy undertook the packaging and marketing of Beechworth Honey, including the development of the existing Beechworth Honey label. Beechworth Honey has been marketed through the Australia’s major retailers, food service and industrial markets since this time and has emerged as Australia’s largest independently owned specialist honey packing company.
Beechworth also has a growing export market with product going into the Middle East, China, Singapore, Indonesia and the US.It is a rare example of a small family company who has made a big name for itself in the tough Australian retail market, and yet still retains its producer roots and small company values.
To survive and grow Beechworth Honey has had to be innovative. Renowned for its quality, the operation is supported by a knowledge of Australian honey and the Australian apiculture industry only possible due to the family’s involvement in the industry for over one hundred and twenty years.
Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community 21 February – 30 June
Thursday 7 February 2008
Oak souvenired from the hull of Nelson’s ship HMS Victory, a prison-made knuckle-duster, perfume bottles and a collection of beer coasters are among the dozens of weird and wonderful artefacts to be shown in the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasurefrom the Beechworth Community exhibition officially opening at the Burke Museum on Thursday 21 February.
Visitors will be able to peek into the drawers, cupboards, nooks and crannies to view the private collections – from the everyday to the bizarre – of individuals and local organisations who responded enthusiastically to the Burke’s invitation to offer their treasured possessions for public display.
“The exhibition offers fascinating insights into the nature of collecting as well as the community from which the collections have come to light,” says Burke Museum Collections Officer, Linda Peacock.“It’s very much about reflecting the interests and passions of local people and gives them the chance to involve themselves directly in the process of curating their own exhibition.”
Highlights of the Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community exhibition include:
A collection of ingeniously crafted contraband made by inmates of the Beechworth Prison
From the eminent historian, Ian Jones, a Beechworth local, a collection of HMS Victory memorabilia from his great-grandfather, a naval man who trained on the ship in the 1840s
Historic trophies from the Beechworth Football Club
A collection of postmarked letters from Beechworth and Stanley dated between 1855 and 1875
A collection of porcelain containers and bottles unearthed from the Chinese camp area of Beechworth’s Spring Creek goldfields
Historic items from Beechworth’s Lodge of St. John
The idea of Cabinets of Wonder is centuries old. The original Wunderkammers – Cabinets of Wonder or wonder-rooms boasted intriguing collections belonging to those aristocrats, monarchs or merchants who could afford to create and maintain them. They were usually made from exotic and expensive materials and often filled with contents and ornamental details intended to reflect the entire cosmos on a miniature scale.
Beechworth’s historic Burke Museum could be described as a Wunderkammer in its own right, with its extraordinary collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the early to mid-19th century, an amazing natural history collection including an extremely rare stuffed Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) as well as thousands of artefacts, journals and photographs from Beechworth’s heady gold rush days to the present.
The Patron of the Indigo Tourism Board, Hon. Tim Fischer, will officially launch Beechworth’s own Wunderkammers at 6pm on Thursday 21 February. The Cabinets of Wonder exhibition runs until June.
For more information, please contact Indigo Shire Tourism Officer, Sue Couttie,
phone (03) 5728 8061 or scouttie@indigoshire.vic.gov.au
Cabinets of Wonder: Treasure from the Beechworth Community Where: Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum
Address: Loch St, Beechworth
Dates: 21 February – 30 June 2008
School’s in for a group of talented artists and artisans from the Beechworth area who have joined forces on an exciting new venture launched this month.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery is a fascinating new showcase of jewellery, paintings, ceramics and textiles as well as second hand books and collectibles housed in the 1863 Common School in Loch Street, one of Beechworth’s many notable historic buildings.
The initiative is the brainchild of Sandra and Robert Godfrey who lovingly restored the building five years ago as an exhibition space for Sandra’s silk painting.
More recently, their idea of using the building to house a retail gallery for a variety of local artists from the Beechworth area was enthusiastically embraced and within a few short weeks The Old Schoolhouse Gallery was open for business.
“We wanted to have something for everyone to enjoy and at the same time provide encouragement for local artisans to keep creating,” Sandra Godfrey said.
Indigo Shire Mayor, Cr Vic Issell, will officially launch the co-operative venture on 25 January.
Joining forces with Sandra Godfrey are:
Jan Clements (felting, leather and metal)
North East Yarns (natural coloured wool and woollen garments)
Tania Magennis and Janine Delves (artists specialising in quirkiness and colour)
Wendy Stephens (visual artist)
Frances Macdonald (potter)
Ali Rowe (textile artist)
Robyn White (glass bead jewellery)
Claire Shearman and Ken Young (second hand books specialising in arts, crafts and local history)
Schoolhouse Collectables
Judy Hawking-Burnett (paintings, jewellery and cards)
Celebrating its 145th anniversary this year, the Common School No. 36, known as the BeechworthAcademy, was the town’s first school. The first Australian-born Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, taught there from 1872 to 1874, and for 100 years of its history the building housed the office and press of the Ovens & Murray Advertiser.
The Old Schoolhouse Gallery, 17 Loch St, Beechworth.
Phone (03) 5725 1342. Email wandanagallery@bigpond.com
Open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm.
Anyone planning an unforgettable St. Valentines Day need look no further than the beautiful town of Beechworth in Victoria’s North East where a brand new Romance Festival will take place in 2009.
This unique day-long celebration of love and romance will takeplace on Saturday 14 February in and around the picturesque gardens and historic buildings of La Trobe at Beechworth.
Featuring a packed all-day program of fine local food and wine, music, film and a host of opportunities for lovers to enjoy and celebrate this special day, the Festival will offer a truly memorable experience for romantics of all ages.
A highlight of the Romance Festival will be a performance by the sensational singer, recording star and TV celebrity, Jade MacRae who will headline at the Romantic Zeale Concert from 3 to 9pm. One of the most popular and talented performers on the Australian stage, she has two fabulous ARIA-nominated albums to her credit along with hit singles including this year’s sizzling, In the Basement and I Wanna be in Love.
Also on the bill is singer and Australian Idol pin-up, Ricky Muscat, and a superb line-up of local talent. The concert emcee will be TV personality, John Walker.
The Beechworth Romance Festival will also include:
Romance Acting Workshops at the Beechworth Town Hall with actor and former Albury-boy, Malcolm Kennard, (Packed to the Rafters, The Matrix, E-Street)
·Renewal of Vows with local marriage celebrant, Simon Goss the La Trobe chapel
·An all-day Romance Expo for couples planning a special wedding day
·The Passion Lunch and Passion Dinner in the gorgeous La Trobe gardens with delicious three-coursemenus featuring superb local produce accompanied by fine wines of the area
·A screening of the blockbuster romance, Australia, on the big outdoor screen accompanied by picnic hampers packed with gourmet treats, local wine and beer
Accommodation Available at La Trobe. Phone 03 5720 8050
Beechworth quilter, Yelena Elliott, has become the first international designer to feature in You’re Invited, the prestigious American publication for the quilting sorority produced by Blackbird Design.
Blackbird chiefs, Barb Adams and Alma Allen, whose company also supplies designs for the US fabric giant, Moda, handpicked the exquisite work In Mollie’s Garden, on their visit to Australia last year.
The subject of a major feature in the latest edition of the quarterly journal, the work was also exhibited this year at the world’s biggest annual celebration of quilting, the Houston Quilt Fair.
Mrs Elliott took up quilting 13 years ago after completing a Fashion Technology course at Albury TAFE. She drew inspiration for In Mollie’s Garden from memories of her grandmother, Marie (Mollie) Bloxsom, whose beautiful garden in Albury featured the latticework, red roses, magnolia blooms and blue sage represented in the quilt. Serendipitously, she included an affectionate nod to Mollie’s daily battle with foraging blackbirds, making the work a natural choice for Blackbird Design.
In Mollie’s Garden is now on display alongside other original Mill Lane Designs by Yelena Elliott at the Beechworth Quilters Cottage, the business she co-owns and runs with her aunt, Leonie.
The Beechworth Quilters Cottage was recently relaunched and expanded, reflecting the steady growth in quilting as a leisure pursuit in Australia.
Busloads of enthusiasts from across Victoria and NSW are regular visitors to the Cottage and both Yelena and Leonie are in constant demand as tutors for quilters of all ages. They present regular workshops and quilting retreats, including a weekly group project, which is currently replicating a quilt from 1863.
The Blackbird Design publication featuring the story of and pattern for In Mollie’s Garden has just been released in Australia.
Yelena Elliott is available for interview. Contact (03) 5728 2399.
More information at www.beechworthquilterscottage.com.au
