Bathurstian David Bullock is ready to step back to a time when horses and cattle grazed lush paddocks around lower Havannah Street – and he wants others to join him.
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As Bathurst celebrates its bicentenary in 2015, heritage and history will feature heavily in the city’s Autumn Colours program of events.
The program features music, theatre, food and wine, history, markets, active and outdoor events – and Mr Bullock’s walking tours.
Mr Bullock has lived his whole life in Bathurst and, after taking part in many Autumn Colours tours, he decided he’d share his knowledge of his city.
His walking tour, called “Where the Vale enters the Macquarie and its surrounds”, will depart from the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre.
Participants will walk back into the days before the railway arrived in Bathurst and get a better understanding of the areas around lower Havannah, Durham and Bryant streets.
“It was part of Bathurst in the early days. Before the railways, that’s where everyone grazed their cows and horses and there were brickworks down there,” he said.
The brickworks belonged to James Morgan, and Patrick Chifley (brother of former PM Ben) once ran a blacksmith shop there.
Mr Bullock will also explain how the Vale Creek once had a different route.
“I hope they [tour participants] do come down and follow us around and find out what’s happened down there,” he said.
Bathurst Visitor Information Centre tourism manager Felicity Baines said local people will often rush past some of the city’s history without realising its significance.
“It [the tour] lets you look at it for the first time, even though you might drive past it a million times,” she said.
“It just makes us all appreciate what we’ve got here.”
Mr Bullock’s free tour will run on March 7, April 4 and May 2, and bookings can be made by contacting the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre on 6332 1444.
Pick up a copy of the Autumn Colours program from the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre, The Bathurst200 Pop-Up shop in the Scots Centre on George Street, and at various council venues, or online at www.bathurstregion.com.au/visit-bathurst.
