On the fringe of Budgee Budgee

Norman McVicker writes:

The locality of Budgee Budgee is surrounded by other fringe localities. They are not villages. They are Botobolar, Cooyal, Linburn, Buckaroo and Eurunderee. These localities date back to the early days when Mudgee was first settled.

There are many untold stories telling of cattle duffing, gold fossicking, bushrangers, and descendants of pioneer families who can trace their roots to early settlers. Then there is Henry Lawson and his years in Eurunderee and his days at Eurunderee School.

This was patently obvious to me on the Monday after my book ‘Tales from along the Wallaby Track was launched the previous Friday, March 27, 2009 at FairviewArtSpace. I was at the Mudgee Guardian office for a further book signing. It was a morning when seniors came and I was regaled with stories of past events they remembered. Their vivid memories will be recorded on this page as soon as I can write them down—it all takes time.

Holyoake Bridge

On Monday March 23, 2009 I had written about the incorrect spelling on the signage on Holyoake Bridge that crosses the Cudgegong River at the end of Church Street in Mudgee. One of the first visitors that morning was Harold Barton who was able to fill me in with some information I had been seeking.

He told me: The correct spelling is Holyoake. I had got it right. As I had written the bridge was named after Lyttleton Holyoake Bayley, the NSW Attorney-General and the MP for Mudgee in the Legislative Assembly.

In years past, at one stage, the Barton family had lived in a house immediately opposite the junction of Cassilis Road and the turnoff to Lue Road. The land in front of the house was the site of the Holly Oak Inn, later renamed the North Shore Hotel.

The Holly Oak Inn (or North Shore Hotel) was demolished and the cellar filled in with soil. During a flood, whilst a major tennis tournament was in progress, the tennis court built there had sunk. End of match!