Nepean River

Nepean River Cobbitty c. 1900-1910 (Camden Images)

The Nepean River

The Nepean River is one of the most essential waterways in the Sydney basin and has particular significance for Sydney's southwestern rural-urban fringe. Its catchment extends south and east of the Sydney Basin to take in areas near Robertson and Goulburn. West of Wollongong the tributaries including Cataract Creek, Avon River, Cordeaux River that flow north-west and then into the deep gorges of Pheasants Nest and Douglas Park.

The river opens up into a floodplain and flows past  Menangle and crosses the Cowpastures and southern Cumberland Plain past Camden and Cobbitty. The river then flows north through the gorge adjacent to Wallacia and enters Bents Basin before it is joined by the Warragamba River and changes its name to the Hawkesbury River.

The Nepean River is economically vital to the Sydney Basin and is used for mining, irrigation, recreation and other activities. It is ecologically significant to the area and has several rare and endangered species of plants.

Cultural importance

The river has a significant meaning in terms of its intangible cultural heritage to the local landscape. It defines the landscape and the construction of place in the localities along the river, including Menangle, Camden, and Cobbitty.

Learn more

There is the  Little Sandy at Camden, which was a favourite swimming spot for the local community.

The river floodplain is partly covered in Cumberland Woodland an endangered species in the Sydney Basin. Another endangered species in the local area is the Elderslie Banksia Scrub and the  Camden White Gum.

The river catchment is the most important in the Sydney basin and has significant cultural significance in the area.  One example is the 1925 Nepean River flood at Camden.

The Macarthur Bridge across the Nepean River is one of the most critical pieces of economic and social infrastructure in the Macarthur area.

In times of high rainfall, the river has particular characteristics which make flooding a problematic event for the local population. 

In 2006 Camden Council designated the historic Camden town centre in the Nepean River floodplain as a Heritage Conservation Area, and later incorporated it in the 2010 Local Environment Plan.

There is a local walkway located on the river floodplain called the Miss Lewella Davies Memorial Walkway.

Originally posted 2016 Updated 30 August 2020

Menangle Rotolactor

Menangle Rotolactor

The rotolactor was a piece of industrial modernism introduced at Camden Park in 1952 by Edward Macarthur Onslow.


The idea came from the USA in the 1920s and the first rotolactor was built in New Jersey shortly after then.


Construction started in 1950 and completed in 1952. It had a capacity of 1000 cows a day and could milk 50 cows a day on a rotating platform.


The rotolactor was a huge tourist attraction for Menangle with up to 2000 visitors a week.


The rotolactor suffered from technical problems and closed in 1977. It opened shortly after this but finally closed down in 1983.

Menangle Rotolactor on Camden Park closed in 1977 and was a huge tourist attraction to the village (Camden Images)

This postcard from the collection of the Camden Museum shows the view scene by a visitor the facility. (Camden Images)

Reference:

Brian Walsh, Milk and the Macarthurs the dairy history of Camden Park, Camden: Belgenny Farm Trust, 2016

Leppington progress and development

Leppington

76 Rickard Road

 Camden Council, DA 422.1/2016

Brochure for the sale of 76 Rickard Road, Leppington

There has been a development application lodged by NRI Byron Developments Pty Ltd in April 2016  with Camden Council for a project at 76 Rickard Road. The project is for the construction of 3 four storey residential flat buildings containing a total of 250 apartments (1, 2 and 3 bedroom units), basement car parking, road construction, subdivision to create 2 lots and associated site works.

The proposal is to have 26 one bedroom units, 207 two bedroom units and 17 three bedroom units.

The value of the project is $85 million dollars. Currently the project has been referred for environmental assessment.

The heritage assessment of the locality states:

The study area is located within the 3000 acres granted to Alexander Riley in 1816. The grant in part was a consolidation of earlier grants made in 1809 to David Bevan (700 acres in two grants), Samuel Foster (100 acres), and John Pye (200 acres)1 , and Riley's 500 acres. This extensive land holding was located at the junction of Cowpasture Road and Bringelly Road, both key routes to the southern and western fringes of the Cumberland Plain. 

British colonisation of the country south-west of Liverpool began in 1809, and continued in the 1810s under the administration of Governor Macquarie and his successors into the 1830s. This was undertaken by alienation of the land and imposition of the rule of law. In most instances, land grants were made to free settlers and former military men with the wherewithal to establish stock runs. The grants were therefore large in area and consequently the country was sparsely settled. The soils are generally poor, but the creek systems of South Creek and Cabramatta Creek sustained farming over generations. 

In 1821 700 acres were granted to William Cordeaux, a colonial Land Commissioner, on the Cumberland Plains near Denham Court (Roads and Maritime Services 2013:24). On this property Cordeaux built a hill-top mansion which he named ‘Leppington Park’ after a village near his birthplace. The locality soon adopted this name and became known as Leppington. From the original grants at Leppington smaller farm holdings were subdivided, and since then the area has primarily remained a community of small farms.  

The development documents state:

The site is located within the Leppington Precinct of the South-West Priority Growth Area (SWPGA). The SWPGA and the North-West Priority Growth Area are strategic locations identified for the provision of much of Sydney’s long term housing supply. The Leppington Precinct is projected to provide up to 7,190 dwellings to house up to 24,000 people at full capacity.

Leppington Precinct Plan

The Leppington Precinct forms part of the SWPGA and planning for Stage 1 of its development is now complete. Stage 1 of the Leppington Priority Precinct was rezoned in November 2015. The Precinct Plan developed by NSW Planning and Environment (NSW P&E) to guide its future development makes provision for:

•  2,500 new homes; 

• A new primary school and K-12 school; 

•  A new community centre; 

• Upgraded rail and road infrastructure; and 

• New open space including playing fields and recreational lands. 

The Precinct benefits from proximity to Leppington Railway Station providing rail services along the South West Rail Link as well as a new ‘Major Centre’ within the Leppington North Precinct which provides opportunities for employment, shopping and entertainment.

Read more at Camden Council 

Camden Show

Camden Showground c.1986  (Camden Images)

The Camden Show returns

The annual festival of farming returns the to the Camden Show ground at the end of March again. The show has been the most important country festival in the district for over 100 years. In the early days it was a celebration of agricultural modernism, by the inter-war period it had matured into a permanent part of the local landscape. The Second World War and the poor state of show finances saw the show disappear for the duration of the conflict. It is now strong than ever and not to be missed on Friday 20 March and Saturday 21 March 2015.

Read more @ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/camdens-favourite-show-returns/story-fngr8h70-1227240262212 

Guess who you meet at the show, the Premier

Historical society members meet the Premier 

It is amazing who you bump into at the Camden Show. Historical society volunteers John Wrigley OAM, Bettie Small PHF and Len Channell, with Peter Hayward in the background, greeted Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Barry O'Farrell, the Member for Camden, Mr Chris Patterson, MP, and Camden Mayor,  Clr Lara Symkowiak. The dignitaries just walked into the pavilion to look at the arts and crafts put in by competitors and who should they meet but the enthusiastic members of the historical society. The encounter didn't phase society members one bit and they just took it all in their stride. Usually volunteers just meet friends they have not seen since last years show and this was a real surprise. The historical society has been fortunate to be able to have a stall in the show pavilion for many years. It has been located in amongst the cakes, flowers, sewing, knitting and other rural crafts.  The stall sells the latest publications, takes new memberships and renewals and answers lots of local history questions.

Mud and slush at the 2014 Camden Show (I Willis)

Mud and Slush 

The 2014 Camden Show featured mud and storms as a special event. It rained on Friday afternoon with a thunderstorm that arrived around 4.00 pm from the south-west. It caught many people unawares and created a mud bath in many parts of the showground. It dumped about 15 mm in about an hour. On Saturday morning show officials were out and about puting down woodchip over the worst patches and straw on other patches. Patrons who wore boots were well prepared to walk around in the mud. On Saturday there was a steady rain from about 4.00 pm with a short storm that came in over the Burragorang Valley and Southern Highlands, and provided drizzle around right through the fireworks.

Aerial view of Camden Show (Camden Show Society)

Miss Camden Showgirl

The Miss Showgirl competition is in many ways an anachronism from the past. It has survived for over 45 years under the onslaught of feminism, post-modernism, globalization and urbanisation. A worthy feat indeed.

The competition is still popular and the local press are always strong supporters. Show time, the show ball and Miss Showgirl are representative of notions around Camden’s rurality. People use the competition as a lens through which they can view the past, including the young women who enter it. In 2008 Showgirl Lauren Elkins ‘was keen’, she said, ‘to get into the thick of promoting the town and its rural heritage’. Camden people yearn for a past when the primary role of town was to service the surrounding farmers and their needs. Miss Showgirl is part of the invocation of rural nostalgia.

Miss Camden Showgirls

1962 Helen Crace 1963 Helen Crace 1964 Sue Mason 1965 Barbara Duck 1966 Dawn Dowle 1967 Jenny Rock 1968 Heather Mills 1969 Michelle Chambers 1970 Joyce Boardman 1971 Anne Macarthur-Stanham 1972 Kerri Webb 1973 Anne Fahey 1974 Sue Faber 1975 Janelle Hore 1976 Jenny Barnaby 1977 Patsy Anne Daley 1978 Julie Wallace 1979 Sandra Olieric

1980 Fiona Wilson 1981 Louise Longley 1982 Melissa Clowes 1983 Illa Eagles 1984 Leanne Reily 1985 Rebecca Py 1986 Jenny Rawlinson 1987 Jayne Manns 1988 Monique Mate 1989 Linda Drinnan 1990 Tai Green 1991 Toni Leeman 1992 Susan Lees 1993 Belinda Bettington 1994 Miffy Haynes 1995 Danielle Halfpenny 1996 Jenianne Garvin 1997 Michelle Dries

1998 Belinda Holyoake 1999 Lyndall Reeves 2000 Katie Rogers 2001 Kristy Stewart 2002 Margaret Roser 2003 Sally Watson 2004 Danielle Haack 2005 Arna Daley 2006 Victoria Travers 2007 Sarah Myers 2008 Fiona Boardman 2009 Lauren Elkins 2010 Adrianna Mihajlovic 2011 Hilary Scott 2012 April Browne 2013 Isabel Head 2014 Jacinda Webster

Read more about Miss Showgirl in Camden and elsewhere in NSW

Read more about nostalgia for Camden's rural past