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Gulgong gold-town walk

Gulgong, NSW. Six stops through a gold-rush town, from the diggings to the lookout, in the words of the poets who knew country like this.

6 stops · about 1.8 km · Mostly flat footpaths around the town centre; the lookout stop has a gentle rise.

Classroom prompts

• At each stop, one walker reads the lines aloud while the rest look at the place, not the page.
• Whose voice is missing from this stop? Write the two lines they might have said.
• Back in class: which stop changed most between the verse and today, and what proves it?

1. Stop 1

   The diggings

   There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from old Regret had got away,

   The Man from Snowy River — Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson (d. 1941)

   Gold was found here in 1870 and ten thousand diggers followed within a year. Start where the rush started: dust, noise, and horses at the gallop.

   Onward: Walk east into Herbert Street, about four minutes.

2. Stop 2

   Herbert Street

   I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago;

   Clancy of the Overflow — Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson (d. 1941)

   The main street keeps its 1870s shopfronts. Clancy's letter went bush; yours can go home from the post office on this street.

   Onward: Continue south along Herbert Street to the old schoolhouse, about five minutes.

3. Stop 3

   The old schoolhouse

   Gulgong boyhood (curator note; no excerpt taken) — Henry Lawson (d. 1922)

   Henry Lawson (d.1922) spent his boyhood in gold towns of this district in the 1870s, and schooled among miners' children. His verses of the gold years belong to streets like this one.

   Onward: Drop down to the creek flats, about six minutes. Take care crossing.

4. Stop 4

   The creek flats

   By channels of coolness the echoes are calling, And down the dim gorges I hear the creek falling;

   Bell-Birds — Henry Kendall (d. 1882)

   Henry Kendall (d.1882) wrote of cool gorges and falling creeks further east, but bell-birds carry across any quiet water in this country. Stand a minute and listen.

   Onward: Climb back to the church on the hill, about seven minutes.

5. Stop 5

   The church on the hill

   The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (curator note; no excerpt taken) — C. J. Dennis (d. 1938)

   C. J. Dennis (d.1938) wrote the city larrikin, but the Bloke's courting Sundays began in churches like this weatherboard one. Gold-town weddings filled these pews.

   Onward: Finish at the lookout above the town, about eight minutes uphill.

6. Stop 6

   The lookout

   New South Wales forest verse (curator note; no excerpt taken) — Charles Harpur (d. 1868)

   Charles Harpur (d.1868) walked and wrote the forests of New South Wales before most of these streets existed. Look out over ironbark ridges and read the town backwards to the diggings.

   Onward: The trail ends here. The town centre is a ten-minute walk downhill.

About the words

Waypoint verse is public domain (every quoted author died before 1955) or curator-written. Full source details for each stop are kept in the trail's sources file.

Waypoint positions are approximate (town-centre offsets) and must be ground-truthed before print. Distances are indicative.