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Hunter Valley

Read more about the article The Hunter Valley in the 1960s: on film

The Hunter Valley in the 1960s: on film

In 1961, when dairying was one of the Hunter Valley's major industries and it seemed that the valley's future would be as a food-bowl to the nation and perhaps the world, the Hunter Valley Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd decided it wanted to make a film about the wonderfully fertile and productive valley it called home. The idea came from company general manager Jack Scarr, who had attended a dairy congress overseas and was shocked at the lack of knowledge about Australia in general, and the Hunter Valley in particular. It was planned to use the film…

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Read more about the article Dangerous days deep underground at Paxton.
Headframe of Stanford Main colliery at Paxton in 1987. Photo by Don Ebbott

Dangerous days deep underground at Paxton.

Fred Caban started work at Stanford Main No. 2 mine at Paxton in 1947 when the mine employed 400 men and produced 1000 tonnes of coal a day. One thing he remembers is the great speed at which the steam-powered winding engine could haul a cage up the 400 foot shaft. A cage could carry two tonnes of coal or 12 men to the top of the unloading gantry in 10 seconds. “When the cage dropped away you would swear the bottom had fallen out and you were falling,” Fred recalled. “When going up you had…

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Read more about the article A Paterson River incident: when the Guthrey ran aground.

A Paterson River incident: when the Guthrey ran aground.

For a number of years early last century, riverboat excursions from Newcastle Harbour to destinations such as Hinton, Seaham and Paterson were popular. Steamboats of various shapes and sizes (including at least one retired Sydney Harbour ferry) took hundreds of passengers at a time on picnics, hikes and cruises. One of the boats was the Guthrey, (referred to as a "funny" vessel in this post: https://www.phototimetunnel.com/the-german-sailor-the-tailors-daughter-and-the-tragic-white-wife-of-otterswick The Guthrey on Newcastle Harbour, circa 1910. Courtesy Bill Ruddick. The Guthrey on Newcastle Harbour, circa 1910. The Guthrey (left) and the Shamrock at Newcastle, circa 1910. The day after…

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