MANLY Beach might be better known as a tourist spot on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, but did you know that a little spot right in Bathurst was once known as Manly.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Parade recently walked across the Denison Bridge while on a story for the Western Advocate and noted an information board that showed the Macquarie River around 1955.
The photo on the information board showed cars parked along the Kelso side of the river and the beach packed with people on the sand and swimming in the water.
Information on the board said the photo showed the beach looking downstream (north).
“The first people to appreciate the benefits bestowed by the river were the local Aborigines, the Wiradjuris, who knew it by their name Wambool,” the board states.
“The Macquarie River has also been used for recreational purposes since the beginning of white settlement and in the early 20th century the area show [in the photo] was once a popular swimming beach known as ‘Manly’ after the famous Sydney beach.
“With council support, the citizens built a weir of sunken tanks filled with sand downstream from the area shown and erected bathing sheds on the river bank.”
Those days might have long since disappeared, Bathurst Regional councillor Bobby Bourke has called for the beach area to be recreated so that the river can once again be a family-friendly place for the community.
Hot day, but cold record for city
AS the mercury continued to soar on Sunday, Parade thought she’d check out how cold temperatures had dropped previously during the month of March.
A quick look at the Weatherzone website reveals the coldest temperature us Bathurstians have experienced was way back on March 24, 1967.
All these decades ago it dropped to a chilly -2.2 degrees right here in the city.
Looking ahead, however, the summer-loving Parade knows she should embrace any hot day she can get at this point of the year because before she knows it winter will have rolled around again.