Stuart Read
Telephone: 9873 8554 bh. 9326 9468 ah.
stuart1962@bigpond.com ah, or
stuart.read@planning.nsw.gov.au bh
Chair:
Stuart Read
Vice-Chair:
Rosemary Potts
Secretary:
Helen Bryant
Treasurer:
Murray Hook
Committee:
Prue Anthony
Peter Kaleski
Angela Low
Gina Plate
James Quoyle
Jeanne Villani
Welcome to the Sydney and Northern New South Wales Branch page. With over 330 members we are the second largest branch, centred in and around Sydney with many members in the Blue Mountains, Central West and Northern regions of NSW. Since November 2005 we have a New England Sub-Branch which is actively organising events in the state's north - a very distinctive part of Australia with four clear seasons, rich soils and (usually) good rains - not bad ingredients for gardening... To contact them email the Chairman, Bill Oates, at: woates@une.edu.au.
SEPTEMBER
Date: Saturday/Sunday 25/26th September commencing 11 am Saturday 25th.
This trip is now booked out but we are keeping a waiting list.
Event: A trip to Grenfell to visit 4 private gardens and Iandra Castle Pastoral Estate.
Venue: Meet at 11 am Taylor Park, adjacent to the museum, Grenfell.
Cost: Members $110 Guests $125 includes talks, all garden entries, 2 picnic lunches, Saturday afternoon tea, Saturday bus and notes.
OCTOBER
Date: Sunday 17th October 2 pm - 4.30 pm
Event: Talk and walk with Joan Lawrence - Reminders of Thomas Shepherd’s nursery, Chippendale.
Meet at: To be advised when booking.
Cost: Members $15 Guests $25 includes light refreshments. Bookings essential.
NOVEMBER
Date: Tuesday 16th November 6.30 for 7 pm.
Event: Illustrated talk: Gilding the garden: 21st century renewal in historic English gardens. Colleen Morris will discuss renewal and new works at Arundel Castle and Boughton House and the Duke of Devonshire's projects at Chatsworth among other country estates visited during an intensive 20 days of study at the Attingham Summer School 2010. Colleen will conclude her talk by sharing views of a few of her favourite garden features seen along the way.
Venue: Annie Wyatt Room, National Trust Centre, Observatory Hill.
Cost: Members $20 Guests $30 includes light refreshments.
PLEASE NOTE: Payment confirms Booking. Payments for all events must be made prior to the event by cheque to Australian Garden History Society and mailed to: Jeanne Villani, Waterfall Cottage, 90 Cabbage Tree Road, Bayview, 2104 or by Internet bank transfer to: Australian Garden History Society Sydney & Northern NSW Branch, ANZ Bank, Centrepoint Branch. BSB 012 040 Account 1017 62565
Payment must include your name and the function you are booking for.
An Individual Membership entitles only that member to the Members Rate.
Members with Household Membership are entitled to Members Rate for anyone living within that household.
Refunds for cancellations will not be made if less than 48 hours notice is given.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS FOR THE NORTHERN NSW BRANCH:
26th September
Meeting at “Invergowrie Homestead”, Invergowrie.
28th November
Christmas party at Graham and Helen Wilson’s home, 14 Todd Close, Bona Vista.
17th October
2013 Conference meeting- Heritage Centre, Armidale.
For more information contact President Bill Oates on woates@une.edu.au or Secretary Angela Sole on asole@auzzie.net or 0267711661. All meetings subject to weather.
Welcome to our new members – it’s great to see the branch growing with now 332 members. We wish a few more would join in on our great events; please do - and make yourselves known!
Welcome to architect, James Quoyle, newly elected onto the committee: great! I’ve spent nine years on the committee and should have stood down under our Constitution’s rules. At the August AGM members voted to vary the rule on maximum tenure to allow me one more term (3 years). The Society’s National Management Committee has since agreed to endorse this variation. My priority now is to groom successors and hand on more tasks. I’m keen to build a strong committee full of skills and working on new events and projects. There’s talk of hosting another national conference in Sydney, quite apart from 2013’s Armidale conference.
Over the years I’ve been proud of our oral history project – Roslyn Burge interviewing people with significant contributions to AGHS and NSW garden history and lodging copies of these in the State Libraries of NSW and Victoria (where AGHS’s national collection sits).
Over 2009 I’m especially delighted about the two garden history exhibitions held at the Orange Regional Gallery (organised by Kylie Winkworth, members Alison Russell and Elizabeth Richards (see www.orangeblossoms.com.au complementing the ground-breaking study www.orangesignificantscapes.com.au) and in Armidale (organised by Bill Oates, Graham Wilson and others) now in Glen Innes. These widen our outreach to the community: both have and are eliciting positive reactions to the wide range of local and regional ‘garden-making’. Bravo to all involved. I hope we can persuade New England to ‘tour’ to Sydney in 2011 and that we can arrange for a website-based ‘longer life’ for this exhibition. We’ll see about that!
At the AGM long-standing Treasurer Peter Cousens, committee member Jo Hambrett and committee member and ex-Chair Malcolm Wilson all stood down. I pay tribute to their service and help - keeping events running smoothly, drafting reports, letters and in behind-the-scenes negotiation – such as Malcolm’s with the Botanic Gardens and Sydney City Council - much done quietly and perhaps un-noticed. Peter’s off to create a new garden in Cairns and we wish him and Jace well. Murray Hook has agreed to step in as treasurer and Rosemary as Vice-Chair. Jo’s flat out on other commitments such as her recently published book A Passion for Place about Mt.Wilson, Mt.Irvine & Mt.Tomah Gardens (congratulations Jo – a welcome addition to our knowledge!) but we hope she considers returning to the committee in time.
A welcome initiative is the launch of Hortus Camdenensis, an online database of over 3200 plants and historical information, based on an illustrated catalogue of plants grown by Sir William Macarthur in the garden and nursery at Camden Park between c.1820 and 1861. This builds on the Colonial Plants Database developed by Colleen Morris & Tony Rodd (http://www.hht.net.au/research/colonial_plants). The Camden Park database is easily searchable and can be found at www.hortuscamden.com. Camden Park house and garden are open to the public only once a year, next on the weekend of 18-19/9/2010. Enquiries are to camdenpark@iprimus.com.au or by calling Edwina Macarthur-Stanham, phone 4655 8466. It’s well worth a visit even if you’ve been in recent years – volunteers have made strides clearing and replanting the formerly-neglected outer garden and nursery.
In October Joan Lawrence leads a walk around Chippendale and Darlington, looking at the remains of our first plant nursery created by Thomas Shepherd. It’s hard to imagine but well worth exploring. We hope a Shepherd descendent can join us, to learn more about the family’s involvement in the Hunter Valley wine industry. Also on Chippo’s streets is a community-greening project reclaiming nature strips for food: a challenge to copy...
A worthwhile event in October is the Parramatta Park Heritage Rose Festival, in the lovely Rumsey Rose Garden on Pitt Street. A range of related organisations like Heritage Roses Australia and AGHS will have stalls, talks, food and music to enjoy, along with the spring flush of roses... Parramatta Park was recently listed on the World Heritage List along with 10 other Australian sites in NSW, WA, Tasmania and Norfolk Island. Bravo!
Recent advocacy includes seeking that management of Sydney’s Moore Park remain with the Centennial & Moore Park Trust, not be transferred to Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. Also a letter asking the NSW Roads & Traffic Authority to reconsider locating a truck rest stop on the Hume highway next to the original land grant of Varroville estate, which some will recall visiting in autumn 2009. And a letter encouraging Penrith City Council to resist any subdivision pressure and support our nomination of Werrington House and its four acres of land for State Heritage Register listing.
Northern NSW report
The Northern NSW sub-branch’s June meeting took us to the home and garden of Richard Bird and Lynne Walker, Heatherbrae at Black Mountain. Richard regaled us with his wonderful history on the old tools in his collection of “Old Mole Tools” but also with new finds and Lynne led a sculpture tour in their well-planted winter garden. This was followed with a shared curry dinner by the open brazier! Some good news is that the Old Mole Tool collection is to be given a new home at Adelaide’s Carrick Hill where it has a secure future. Adding greatly to that property’s already-rich collection of house, garden and contents, this also guarantees public access to this unique collection and creative use of it in future public programs, under dynamic director, Richard Heathcote.
August 21st found members exploring three historic Glen Innes gardens including Stonehenge, culminating in attendance at the opening of our photographic exhibition “Historic Gardens of New England” that is hanging at the Glen Innes Gallery until 17th September. Try to plan a visit: it is well worth it.
Stuart Read: T: 9326 9468 or E: stuart1962@bigpond.com. Bill Oates: T: 6773 6565 or E: woates@une.edu.au.
