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A Region of Sensory PerfectionMudgee, Gulgong, Rylstone A History of Mudgee ......................................................................................3 A History of Gulgong ................................................................................4 A History of Rylstone ...............................................................................5 Things you need to know ........................................................................6 All that Mudgee has to Offer..................................................................7 Cultural Services............................................................................................7 Communications............................................................................................8 Migrant Support .............................................................................................8 Transport ........................................................................................................9 Main Industry of the Mudgee Region .........................................................10 Accommodation...........................................................................................11 Real Estate....................................................................................................13 Childcare ......................................................................................................14 Education .....................................................................................................15 Higher Education .........................................................................................16 Employment Agencies ................................................................................17 Attractions/ Things to Do ............................................................................18 Sporting Clubs/Associations......................................................................19 Community Groups/Associations ..............................................................20 Churches/Religious Services......................................................................21 Financial Institutions ...................................................................................22 Services and Trades ....................................................................................22 Retail Services .............................................................................................24 1 A Better Life A Region of Sensory Perfection Mudgee, Gulgong, Rylstone Cafes/Restaurants .......................................................................................25 CAFÉS...........................................................................................................25 RESTAURANTS............................................................................................25 TAKEAWAYS................................................................................................26 Clubs/Hotels.................................................................................................26 The Country Careers Program.............................................................27 Health Service Details .................................................................................28 History on Mudgee hospital/MPS ..............................................................28 History on Gulgong hospital/MPS .............................................................29 History on Rylstone hospital/MPS.............................................................29 GWAHS Learning & Development Division......................................30 The Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching (IRCST)31 AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements ................................................................................32 Created by: Catherine Deverell Country Careers Coordinator March 2008 2 A Better Life A Region of Sensory PerfectionMudgee, Gulgong, Rylstone A History of Mudgee 'Mudgee' reputedly derives from the Wiradjuri Aboriginal term 'Moothi' meaning 'nest in the hills'. This is a suitable title as Mudgee is an attractive town of fine old buildings, located in the broad, picturesque and fertile Cudgegong River Valley. Surrounded by hills of green and blue. The area is noted for its fine wool, beef, fat lambs, cereal crops, lucerne, vegetables, vineyards and honey. There is also a coal mine at Ulan, a large export abattoir, a livestock exchange and numerous horse, sheep and cattle studs. The first European in the immediate vicinity was James Blackman who headed north to the Mudgee area from what is now Wallerawang in 1821, becoming the first European to cross the Cudgegong River. It is known that he had a slab building on the townsite by 1837. Once Blackman proved the route passable William Lawson, who had failed in an earlier attempt, travelled north to Mudgee where he found some excellent grazing land. Lawson had been a member of the first European party to cross the Blue Mountains in 1813 and was then commandant of Bathurst. He later took up 6000 acres along the Cudgegong River. He was immediately followed by George and Henry Cox (sons of William Cox who built the first road over the Blue Mountains) who became the first permanent European settlers on the Cudgegong River when they established the 'Menah' run, 3 km north-west of the present townsite. It was here that the first settlement developed. A police station and lock-up were established in 1833. The village of Mudgee was gazetted in 1838. By 1841 there were 36 dwellings, mostly of slab construction, including three hotels, a hospital, a post office, two stores and the first Anglican church. The first school (Anglican) was established in a slab hut in the 1840s and the police station was moved from Menah to Mudgee in the mid-1840s. The population had only reached about 200 by 1851. However, a gold rush began when a huge nugget was found at Hargraves in 1851. Mudgee became a centre for the local goldfields, benefiting considerably from the consequent through-traffic which peaked with the finds at Gulgong and Hill End at the beginning of the 1870s. It is a sign of Mudgee's early success that the population increased to 1500 by 1861 and it was declared a municipality in 1860, making it the second-oldest town west of the Great Dividing Range. Methodist and Presbyterian churches, the present Catholic and Anglican churches and the first National school were all built in the 1850s. In addition a police station, courthouse, post office, mechanics institute, the present Uniting Church and a town hall were added from 1860 to 1865. There were four coach factories operating in the 1860s to cater for the overwhelming transport demands. 3 A Better Life A Region of Sensory Perfection Mudgee, Gulgong, Rylstone Fortunately, Mudgee was not just dependent on gold. The immediate area became noted for its quality wool and merino studs, its vineyards (introduced by a German immigrant in the 1850s) and its agricultural production. When the gold began to peter out late in the 19th century it was the strength of these staples which sustained the town. When the railway arrived in 1884, it further boosted agricultural sales. One of Australia's most famous poets and short-story writers, Henry Lawson (1867-1922), had very strong ties to Mudgee. His parents were married there in 1866. But for a brief stay at Gulgong, he was raised, from the age of six months to 15 years, in a cottage 8 km north at Eurunderee which was established after a gold find in 1863. Lawson was educated at Eurunderee and Mudgee and many of his stories are inspired by his memories of the area. A History of Gulgong If you wish to gain some insight into how a 19th-century Australian goldmining town looked, it would be hard to do better than Gulgong - a highly picturesque and well-preserved settlement of single-storey weatherboard, iron, stone and brick buildings with old-fashioned iron-lace verandahs, tiny wooden cottages, horse troughs and hitching rails. The generally antiquated and intimate air also arises from the narrow winding streets which developed as bullock tracks connecting the major mining claims. Gulgong is 28 km north of Mudgee and 466 m above sea-level. The mainstays of the local economy are kaolin clay mining, magnetite mining, a flour mill, the enormous coal mine at Ulan (25 km north-east), tourism and rural industries such as wool, wheat, oats, cattle and fat lambs. Prior to white settlement, the district was occupied by the Wiradjuri people whose language furnished the term 'Gulgong', said to mean 'deep waterhole'. William Cox's sons extended their Mudgee holdings into the Gulgong area when they established the 'Guntawang' cattle run in 1822, 8 km south-west of the present townsite. Conflict with the Wiradjuri saw them withdraw. However, the Rouse brothers took cattle to the property and, in 1825, Richard Rouse was granted the station, upon which the village of Guntawang developed. The discovery of gold saw the gazetting of the Gulgong goldfield in 1866 but initial finds were negligible. However, Tom Saunders, one of Rouse's shepherds, uncovered a treasure trove on the future townsite (at Red Hill) on April 14, 1870, thereby sparking off a major gold rush. There were 500 people on the site within six weeks and when the town was gazetted in 1872 there were reputedly 20 000 people in the area. Gulgong became a municipality in 1876 although the gold had already begun to dwindle. In all it is estimated that 15 000 kg of the precious