Localities

1. On the road between Yarrabin and Twelve Mile
2. Monument beside the roadside at Larras Lee
3. Dark Corner
4. Farm at Palmers Oakey
5. Church at Duramana
6. My favourite farm at Glanmire
7. Old Walang community hall
8. Wattle and daub farm shed at Napoleon Reef
9. Abercrombie Caves picnic area
10. Farmland at Beneree
11. Church at Tallwood
12. Browns Creek
13. Community hall at Gumble
14. Farm gate, Bumberry
15. Community Hall, Mandagery
16. Old home at Murga
17. Rural Fire Service shed, Bowan Park
18. Cluster of rural buildings, Boree
19. Logan Wines, Apple Tree Flat
20. Home at Sodwalls
21. Short Sheep Wines, Buckeroo
22. Budgee Budgee Inn
23. Land at Cooks Gap
24. Home, Laheys Creek
25. Old inn, Spring Ridge
26.  Farming community, Grattai
27.  Catholic Church and historic cemetery, Sallys Flat
28. Church, Turondale
29.  Old dwelling, Shooters Hill
30  Garden, Edith
31. Garden, Isabella
32. Roadside, Maryvale
33. Grain silo, Muronbong
34. Sign, Gollan
35. Home, Spicers Creek
36.  Wheat silo, Walmer
37. Wheat fields, Artherville
38.  Dam, Two mile flat
39. Farmland, Dunkeld
40. Grain silos, Holmwood
41. Old farm building, Garland



Yarrabin, 35 kms west of Mudgee, was once a small village with a shop, school, hall and church but there is nothing there now, not even a cluster of houses showing where once a town existed. 20 kms North of Yarrabin the road connects to Twelve Mile which is is a signpost at a junction of dirt roads. The drive was nonetheless delightful and worth the trip.

Larras Lee was the site of 2,500 acre property "Larras Lake" owned by William Lee an early settler in the region.  There was a railway station here built in 1925. Today there is no trace of the station and line closed 20 years ago.

Dark Corner, like many towns in the region started with the gold rush and seems to have died when the gold had gone, leaving just those who had already passed on in the lonely cemetery.  Today it is more about pine forests and grazing.

Palmers Oakey started when gold was discovered in the area in 1853 with miners moving from the Sofala field to this new opportunity.  At that time there was a store and couple of hotels.  Today there are some farms and an old cemetery in a distant field.  Streams lined with she-oaks (of which there are many in the area) were known as oakeys.

I could not find anything about the history of Duramana. It is the starting point of the Bridle Track, a rugged scenic track leading beside the Macquarie River to the historic gold town of Hill End.  Perhaps it was a staging point. Today there is a church, now a residence, and a handful of houses in the area.

Walang was one of the towns bypassed by the highway. There is no sign of a town any more.  There are remnants of the old community and closer to Bathurst there is a new real estate development.

Like so many other localities Glanmire blossomed into life briefly during the gold rush and was the site of one of the first breweries for Bathurst. But today it is about the lovely farms bordering the Great Western Highway.

The Napoleon Reef was an extension of the reef at Glanmire.  In 1866 the population of Glanmire was 350 and Napolean Reef 150.  The area was operated as small scale mining until 1911 when there was an attempt at commercial mining.  During the depression in the 1930s small scale miners returned to rework the diggings.  Now there is no town, just the pock marked hillsides and some old farm buildings as a reminder of its passing.


Abercrombie Caves are limestone caves, part of the Jenolan Caves system.  There are extensive picnic and camping facilities beside a she-oak lined rocky creek typical of this area. Cold climate non-native trees add a touch of beauty to the picnic area.  There is also a kiosk and cave tours. A really nice spot to visit and great bush camping location.

Beneree and Tallwood are in the vicinity of Forest Reefs.  There were only farmland at Beneree and Tallwood had an old tin church.  I have found not information to suggest that there were towns in these localities.

Browns Creek had no town but an active gold mine in 1999 but it flooded and was closed down. The former mining site is now used by a landscaping company that uses the water, limestone and mullock heaps to create landscaping supplies on a large scale.

At Gumble there appears to be nothing more than a community hall which is still used for community activities today.

We ended up at a farm gate when looking for Bumberry though we did notice a railway siding and a few houses a little way before this.

Mandagery is also on the railway line but there is no sign of a town, just this community hall.

Murga is at a road intersection to probably was a roadside stopping point at some time in the past.  Now all I could find was this old building.

Bowan Park and Boree are rural localities near the town of Cudal. I have read that Bowan Park once had a butter factory, school and local show but did not see any evidence of this.

Apple Tree Flat was probably once a farming community or wayside stopping point but is now known for its wineries.

Sodwalls was a stop on the railway line between Rydal and the nearby town of Tarana.  Today if you follow Railway Rd from this attractive old house (perhaps once an inn) at the top of the hill you find the railway line, and old house and the remnants of the old railway siding.

Buckeroo seemed to be just farming land, vineyards, sheep and cattle.

Budgee Budgee is the site of an old Inn which was restored about 20 years ago.  There was once a school, a church and a butcher's shop.

Cooks Gap doesn't seem to have any town infrastructure, past or present.

Laheys Creek, on a back road between Dunedoo and Gulgong turned out to be a house and a rural fire brigade.

Spring Ridge is a tiny cluster of buildings along the road. The gate of the most prosperous property said Old Spring Ridge Inn.

At Grattai, having stopped to take the shot of the farm because their didn't seem to be anything else, we were whizzing along the road when I noticed a corrugated iron hall nestled among the trees saying CWA Hall Gattai. I didn't get a shot of it.

Sallys Flat is an old gold mining settlement between the still existing towns of Sofala and Hill End.  Today there is little beyond a new Catholic Church (a demountable building which replaced an old weatherboard one) and the historic cemetery.

Turondale is another locality in the gold mining district around Hill End.  All I found was a church and cluster of houses, though we didn't go past this - hopefully I have not missed out on an actual town.

Shooters Hill is about 30 kms from Oberon and was possibly once a small community as there is a cemetery but today there was no evidence of a town that I could see.

Edith is a locality on the road between the Blue Mountains and Oberon. There are some B&B establishments in the area and I remember a cottage with a garden of daffodils.  I have lost the actual image I took.

Isabella turned out to be a couple of houses and rural out buildings some in good shape and some in an advanced state of collapse.

Maryvale is on the railway line, it seems it was the end of a branch line from Gulgong that never got completed.  There is no sign of a town.

Muronbong is a classic gain silo beside the rail line.

Gollan has a church and community hall but no houses to make it into a town.

Spicers Creek has a church, a couple of houses and a cemetery but not grid of street.  There are also the footings of a railway underpass.  The branch line that was to pass through the area was abandoned before the track was completed.

Walmer is a wheat silo by the road.

Finger Post I think it a sign at the junction of the road pointing to Arthurville.

Arthurville is another wheat silo nestled in a fields of wheat.

Two mile flat seemed to have no presence today though I believe it was the site of gold mining in the 1860s.

Dunkeld is not much more than a locality sign on the highway between Bathurst and Orange.  There is an old building, probably once a wayside stop.

Holmwood is a classic grain silo point with a house or two and in this case also a local school.

Garland seems to be nothing more than a junction in the road.

Glen Alice is just a community hall but I have lost my photo of it.

I have been through Olinda and Breakfast Creek I don't remember what is there but I am sure there is no town.