Two Important Local Buildings

BELOW IS HISTORY COTTAGE.

It was built by Hornsby Council in about 1945, on crown land, as a residence for the caretaker of the adjoining showground and the sports ground. The first caretaker was Alan Blaxland and his wife, Gertrude. They had 3 children, and lived there from about 1945 t0 1952. Mrs Blaxland ran a Tea Room there and was famous for her scones. Later other people rented the Cottage as a restaurant, until August 1997 when the Dural Historical Society leased the building, and were able to renovate it, under the leadership of June Roughley, our founding President.

At our next meeting on Saturday, April 14th at 2pm, the guest speaker will be from the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. The topic will be the History of North Head, All welcome.

Did you recognise the mystery item photographed in last month’s magazine? It is a metal wedge used to align steel plates during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was found buried at the northern end of the Bridge, and can now be seen at History Cottage, which is open on Sundays from 10am to 4 pm. But the cottage will be closed on Easter Sunday.

These walks are suitable for all ages. They require participants to be able to walk for two hours and negotiate uneven bush tracks. There are no toilet facilities on this walk.

Wear suitable walking attire – closed shoes, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Bring your camera and a drink.

Bookings are essential for this walk as numbers are limited to 30, first in best dressed.

Please contact either the Convict Trail Project by email: theconvicttrail@gmail.com or The Dharug and Lower Hawkesbury Historical Society enquiries@dlhhs.org.au or 0405 321 478 (leave a message) by Wednesday, 18th April 2018. Please provide contact phone numbers in case of inclement weather.

Lunch: We suggest lunch at Wisemans Ferry Hotel as a fitting way to finish the walk.