From the grave

Great headline on the front page of the West Wimmera Advocate - "Council keen to help preserve local history"
Old cemeteries and historical graves on private land help paint a picture of the past and West Wimmera Shire Council is keen to help preserve those in the shire. 
At a Council meeting Cr W. Wait expressed his concerns that cemeteries on private land in Ozenkadnook, Mortat, Neuarpurr, Pine Hills, Pleasant Banks and Gymbowen are in various states of disrepair.


Headstones, especially wooden ones, are susceptible to the vagaries of the climate

Council will take steps to ensure the sites are properly documented and ascertain if any grants are available to help maintain them.
There are a number of closed cemeteries and lone grave sites scattered across the municipality, and the Council would welcome information on any of the locations.

A lone grave located on the road verge of a busy highway

Boy-O Boyeo

It was from my mission to record and photograph the schools or school sites across the Wimmera region, that I discovered the Boyeo School building earlier this year (see the post which quipped my interest). Taking photographs didn't portray the full atmospheric feel of the place, so I returned to make it the subject of this video.

The Boyeo School opened in February 1884 in a temporary building on a 2 acre site. In 1885 the Department erected a timber schoolroom with an attached 4-room residence. Finally like most rural schools it succumbed to declining attendance and finally closed in February 1944.
The old abandoned, derelict structure has stood for 127 years on a rise above a timbered swamp, part of a Crown Land red-gum reserve.

Murder in Mind?

As part of Family History Month, the Library is conducting two sessions of 'Murder in Mind?' at Goroke Library on Thursday 22nd at 2:00pm (bring a chair and a plate), and at the Edenhope Library on Friday 23rd at 10:30am.
Come and hear details of The Maryvale Murders, The Gymbowen Mystery, and The Gypsy Queen, and see if you were on the jury could you solve these cold cases or would you come to the same decisions?

Drawing the curtain

Ever thought about 'stage curtains' the section of the stage which sets the scene?
These backdrops were works of art, huge canvases often depicting rural/garden scenes or town/cityscapes.

One of the most prolific artists of stage curtains in Victoria was scenic stage painter Barry Henry George Jaggers (1869-1940). He painted a number of scenic backdrops for Mechanics' Institutes in Gippsland, and Central Victoria.

The stage curtain in the Aubrey Hall relegated to the background behind the ubiquitous white board

There are still a number of local halls which have not succumb to the mere film screen perched at the rear of the stage - Aubrey (see photo), Rupanyup, and Kooreh.
450mm of flood water inundated the Kooreh Hall during the floods in January 2011, leaving behind 15cm of silt. While the floorboards and some fittings were ruined and had to be replaced, the historic stage curtains were saved.
So spare a thought for the important historic value of these large scale art objects.

Bygone treasures

Are you curious about family heirlooms or objects that have been in your family for ages?

From the quaint & curious to the down-right strange & perplexing, bring them along and share your personal stories and memories at 'Treasures from a Bygone Time' at the Horsham Library on 6th August at 11am or 7pm.

Enjoy a talk about household objects and view other people's items, an event of National Family History Week.