Camden Park springs into bloom

2015  Open Day

Camden Park Garden

Camden Park Garden Open Day 2011 in the Cool House with Garden Group volunteers. (Picasa/Leahwyn)

Camden Park Garden historian Colin Mills stated in 2011 that the 'historic value of the Camden Park gardens is almost inestimable' and 'the basic framework of the gardens remains with many historically significant trees and shrubs surviving'. 

The principle founder of the garden was William Macarthur around 1840 as a nursery. According to Mills 'he certainly sought to create a pleasant gentleman's garden at Camden'. Although Macarthur's 'real interest was in growing useful, unusual, exotic and beautiful plants for their own sake as well as for their utility'. He established the first garden in 1820 and up to 1961 grew 'more then 3000 species, hybrids and cultivars'.  

Mills has stated that Macarthur grew many more species in the decades following the 1860s. Macarthur was an 'innovator' and experimented with acclimatisation and sought the knowledge of groups like the Queensland Acclimatisation Society (1862).

The post-war period was not kind to the garden. The estate was under financial pressure and the garden suffered from lack of attention. The present owners John and Edwina Macarthur Stanham have done much to arrest the decline of the garden, with the assistance of the Garden Group volunteers.

Read more about the history of the garden and  its botanical details @  http://hortuscamden.com/ . Inspect the gardens in September 2014. 

This webpost is dedicated to the memory of Colin Mills.

Colin Mills inspects the garden needs in 2012 (L Seed)

Colin Mills investigates the needs of the Bidwell Garden near the Bush House. Colin was the founder of the Camden Park Nursery Group in 2005 which aims to propagate and re-introduce plants that have been lost from gardens of William Macarthur between the 1840s and 1860s.

Camellia Garden at Camden Park (Camden Park)

The magnificence of the lower garden is clearly shown in this early 20th century image of the Camellia garden below the main house. The Camellia garden is one of the areas that the Camden Park Nursery Group has been restoring in recent years. There are a number of early plantings that show promise for the future. It is anticipated that more work is required in the garden to bring it back to the state shown in this image. The Orchid House is shown below with a number visitors in this early 20th century image.

Orchid House in the Camden Park Garden (Camden Park) 

In the early 20th century Camden Park employed a number of garden staff to look after the extensive gardens. During the time of Sibella Macarthur Onslow and Enid Macarthur Onslow the gardens were regularly used as the site of community fundraisers for the Red Cross and other charities. Visitors always spoke glowingly of the magnificence of the gardens, especially in spring. The gardens were always compared to the English style estate gardens.

Clivias in the garden at Camden Park open day 2013 (I Willis)

Open Day 21 September 2013

Visitors today enjoyed a wonderful day at Camden Park with beautiful sunny weather with a temperature of 22 degrees. The mild conditions gave the many people who visited the historic property pleasant conditions to walk around the garden or inspect the colonial mansion. Visitors lined up to inspect the house of James and William Macarthur that was built between 1831 and 1835 and designed by architect John Verge. The house is Palladian style flanked by symmetrical pavilions. Other occupants of the house have included Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow in the late 1800s, her daughter Sibella Macarthur Onslow in the early 20th century and son James and his wife Enid in 1932.

Garden tour open day 2013 (I Willis)

The current occupants of the house John and Edwina  offered the visitors the opportunity to enjoy an atmosphere of an English-style country fair on the lawn with sausage sandwiches, devonshire teas, plant stalls, souvenir stalls, and other stalls. With the backdrop of the colonial mansion. A tour of garden of was led in the afternoon by horticulturalist Euan  who spoke to a large group of visitors who inspected the clivias and a host of the plants in the historic garden. Enthusiastic gardeners could buy a souvenir of a rare plant that had been struck by members of the garden group. Members of the garden group had worked hard to prepare the garden for a wonderful show of colour and charm.





Camden Park Nursery Group

The nursery group has undertaken the restoration, conservation and preservation  of the  19th century garden of colonial identity and horticulturalist William Macarthur. This is  a significant heritage project in the historically important Australian  colonial property of Camden Park.   

Heritage Importance

The New South Wales heritage branch inventory states that parts of the garden are of unusual industrial and historical archaeological significance and have the potential to reveal much about the 19^th century practice of nursery gardening and horticulture on a large scale.

The Nursery Group

The group was established in 2005 with a grant from the Camden Park Preservation Committee. The work of the group and its volunteers is supplemented through the sale of heritage plants propagated on site.

Colin Mills leading garden tour on Camden Park Open Day 2009 (IWillis)

The group was led by Colin Mills, until his untimely death in late 2012, and has regular monthly working bees of volunteers who undertake a variety of projects in the garden.

The nursery group won the 2011 NSW Government Heritage Volunteers Award for their ground-breaking effort in the restoration of this important colonial garden. 

Camden Park Open day
The work of this voluntary group has meant that in recent years the colonial gardens have become an important part of the Camden Park open days where the members of the general public can gain an understanding and appreciation of this historic asset. 

Members of the nursery group lead tours of the colonial garden on open days and other occasions and explain their work and the historic, social, economic, technological and archaeological importance of the conservation and restoration work of the garden.

Colin Mills leading a garden tour on Camden Park Open Day 2010 (IWillis)

Hortus Camdensus, A web-based catalogue
The work of the Camden Park Nursery Group has been  supported by Colin Mills’s  ground breaking work in  developing the website Hortus Camdensus, An illustrated catalogue of plants grown by Sir William Macarthur at Camden Park NSW Australia between 1820 and 1861. http://hortuscamden.com/

Reference
Ian Willis, Reference Supporting Nomination for NSW Government Heritage Volunteer Awards 2011, Submission, Camden, 2011

Colonial Camden as a settler society

John Hawdon of Elderslie

In 1929 Mrs Madeline Buck the grand-daughter of an Elderslie pioneer James Hawdon published a series of his letters written in 1828 to friends in England. Hawdon had lived in the Elderslie area for five years from 1828.

Hawdon’s letters surfaced in England in 1929 amongst old family papers and have many interesting insights into life in the early days of the colony.

Read about his time in the Elderslie area @ https://camdenhistorynotes.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/john-hawdon-of-elderslie-in-a-settler-society/

Angels of Mercy

Whether as ‘Angels of Mercy’ or ‘Ministering Angels’, from 1914 women joined local Red Cross branches and their affiliates in the towns and villages across the state and the country.  They sewed, knitted and cooked, ran stalls and raffles, and received considerable community support through cash donations from individuals and community organisations for patriotic Red Cross activities.

The Red Cross was national federation of state-based divisions, with a place-based branch network that attracted women as volunteers. Under the enlightened leadership of founder Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, local branches across the country harnessed and thrived using parochialism and localism for national patriotic purposes. The society re-enforced this with an iconography that presented the organisation as mothers and guardian angels to wounded soldiers on the battlefield.  The Red Cross encouraged  women  to immerse themselves in the mythology and serve  ‘their boys’ by volunteering at branch sewing circles and fundraisers, and as voluntary aids at military, civilian and Red Cross hospitals.

Edwardian women provided leadership at a local, state and national level.  These women were intelligent, wealthy and powerful with extensive transnational networks between country towns, provincial Sydney and metropolitan London. Their families provided their fathers, sons and brothers for Australia’s overseas military excursions from the time of the Boer War, and local women worked to support ‘their boys’. The leadership group created ground-breaking opportunities that empowered women and allowed them to exercise their agency by undertaking patriotic activities for the first time.

In their wake the women created the most important homefront voluntary organisation of the war, a small part of the narrative of the Australian Red Cross, arguably the country’s most important not-for-profit organisation. Their stories were the essence of place, and the success of the local  branches meant that over time homefront volunteering became synonymous with the Red Cross. Local Red Cross volunteering in war and peace provides a small window into the national and transnational perspectives of one of the world’s most important welfare organisations.

Community Activism on Town Centre Strategy

Camden Community Alliance meeting 25 March 2015

Community activism marked a new turn in developments around the Camden Town Centre Strategy this week when a noisy public meeting was held at the Camden Civic Centre on Wednesday night March 25.

Camden Community Alliance

The meeting was called by the newly formed Camden Community Alliance. The numbers attending, estimated to be around 350, so overwhelmed organisers that the meeting had to be shifted from the Art Gallery to the main hall.

The Camden Community Alliance was first formed up by a group of concerned residents on February 3 with seven people. A decision was taken to proceed and the group made a move to incorporate the new organisation.

The public meeting was opened by Alliance president Peter Versluis and he expressed his appreciation of the overwhelming support shown by the Camden community is such a short time. He outlined the concerns of Alliance members about the community engagement process employed by council towards the Town Centre Strategy. He stated that the council needed to have early community engagement in the process and not hold in camera meetings only involving council staff on policy development. He felt that the 2014 public meetings and workshops were held to rubber stamp pre-existing decisions of council.  He stated that he was proud to be called a disgruntled resident on these issues.


Others who spoke included were Alliance secretary Peter Standen who outlined the purpose of the meeting. Urban planner and member of the Camden Chamber of Commerce Maryann Strickling who detailed the planning issues around the Town Centre Strategy.

Questions were invited from the floor of the meeting and there were many cheers and much clapping to some of the comments and questions.

Peter Versluis read a prepared statement from Camden mayor who gave her apologies and he also outlined the details a meeting he had had with the mayor and council officers earlier in the week.

Political candidates attend meeting

The meeting was also attended by Chris Patterson MLA, Labor candidate Cindy Cagney, Greens candidate Danica Sajn, and Christian Democrats candidate Colin Broadbridge. Councillors attending were Eva Campbell and Greg Chapman.

The audience expressed much passion and anger about many aspects of the Town Centre Strategy and supported a motion from the Alliance for a moratorium on its implementation.

Elements of Town Centre Strategy

Some of the key parts of the strategy involve a decked car park, traffic lights, removal jacarandas in the main street and changes to the street furniture. A trust deficit has opened up between the community and the council around the strategy.

The Town Centre Strategy engagement policy has been vigorously defended by the Camden mayor.

For those interested in good urban planning the strategy is an interesting case study of grass roots democracy in action around trust and effective community engagement.

Read more click here

Cobbitty Sports Day Helps Patriotic Causes

Cobbitty's St Paul's Anglican Church 1910 (Camden Images)

A major event on the social calendar of a number of picturesque villages in the Camden district were the annual New Year’s Day Sports Carnivals. They were part of the English traditions brought to the area by colonial immigrants, and in 1915 they were held in the villages of Cobbitty and The Oaks. Sports carnivals were wonderful community events that included all classes of villagers regardless of their station in life and during the First World War they held special appeal for patriotic fundraising.

The New Year Sports Day in the village of Cobbitty was a hallowed community event which started in 1866. The day included a variety of athletic and novelty events and finished with a gala concert in the evening.

The Camden News reported that there was a ten event programme starting with the major event of the day the ‘Narellan and Cobbitty Handicap Footrace’ over 125 yards for male competitors. There was a valuable purse for the winner.

Village women were allowed  to take part in ‘nail driving’.

Village elders held positions of importance as starters, judges and referees and supported their social status by donating appropriate cash prize for races. 

The Red Cross benefited from a host of community fundraisers during the First World World War like these carnivals.

Read more on this and other local New Year's Day Sports Carnivals at Cobbitty NSW

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 

Camden Aesthetic

Fun with Flowers

Azaleas add fun with flowers.

Flowers can be uplifting and provide a bright spot in a dull. The local area is in full bloom with street trees, in private gardens and in other locations.

Flowers offer a sense of the new and bright perspective on a dull place—a sense of a new dawn, a new awakening. Flowers give inspiration when you are feeling down in the dumps. Try walking around the streets of Camden and Elderslie and feel inspired and uplifted.

Spring is Sprung

Flowering Plum in Macarthur Road Elderslie (I Willis)

A casual walk through Elderslie at the moment reveals the wonder of the early spring blooms that you get in the local area. The air has been crystal clear after recent rain with no haze. The light has an intensity that any keen photographer would notice and results in great images. The Sydney Basin is usually enveloped in a haze, and it is pleasant to witness the strength of colour that occasionally happens after rain. The crisp morning air just after dawn is invigorating for the soul when joggers and dog walkers are out in force taking in the fresh air.

Voices Soar on High

The first concert of A Maiden Chorus, the St John’s Camden Ladies Choir, was held at the St John’s Church Hall on Saturday night 24 May 2014. Under the direction of talented conductor Genesa Lane, the women put their hearts into several splendid a cappella arrangements drawing on influences from African, Latin, Gospel, contemporary and traditional. The angelic voice of Anneleise opened the 2nd set with a solo, and later numbers were supported by an all-male band composed of keyboard, bass and drums.

Acapella singing traces its influences to the religious music of  Medieval period drawing on  Christian, Islamic and Jewish traditions. Some sources claim the origins of a capella are found in the absence of instrumentation is founded in early forms of worship that were without musical accompaniment.

The night’s programme was lifted with talented local cellist Jonathan Bekes who performed several pieces. Jonathan will tour Italy and Norway with the Estivo Piano Trio in 2014 and will also perform in Verona. 

The concert by A Maiden Chorus was a fundraiser for the Hooper family who are undertaking mission work teaching in Tanzania later in 2014.

A Maiden Chorus is a community-based women’s only choir whose members are from a variety of backgrounds and ages. The current choir has 27 members and started in September 2013 amongst women from St John’s church.  The choir rehearse on Monday nights at the St John’s church hall at 7.30pm. 

Community singing provides distinct benefits for health and well-being. VicHealth commissioned a report called Benefits of group singing for health and well-being conducted by the Wellness Promotion Unit from Victoria University. The reports state that group singing promotes social capital which has positive impacts on physical and psychological well-being. Benefits for individuals can include increased social connectedness, increased sense of belonging, physical and emotional benefits and reduced personal stress.

Read more about the benefits of community singing here.

The Doings of the Platypus 

Camden Council held a platypus information night on Wednesday 21 May 2014 at Narellan Library for residents of Camden, Wollondilly and Campbelltown areas. 

Camden Council’s Natural Resource Projects Officer Tracey Poulter introduced  Dr David Phalen from the University of Sydney to 45 keen residents who listened attentively to a very informative presentation.

Dr Phalen outlined the life cycle of the platypus, feeding characteristics, its habits, its characteristics, local sightings, risks to its well-being and habitat. He explained the territorial nature of the platypus and described the movement of platypus in river systems and how they can move between catchments. 

Dr Phalen reported that over the past 50 years, there have been a host of sightings in the Georges River, Nepean River, Shoalhaven River, Wollondilly River Catchment areas. Platypus was recently sighted in the Georges River catchment, with one specimen caught in fishing line. He concluded that the platypus is not threatened and is quite adaptable to changes in its environment. 

Members of the audience reported their sightings of platypus in the Georges River and the Werriberri Creek. 

Nepean River at Little Sandy Bridge Camden (I Willis)

A tranquil water view

The Nepean River has provided poetic inspiration to many people.

While the river has provided inspiration for paintings, sketches and storytelling for other folks.

The river has been at the heart of Camden’s identity for over a century. The river is an integral part of the social heritage of the history of the district. 

The Nepean River is one element of the area’s intangible cultural heritage. Unfortunately, Australia is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. (Paris, 17 October 2003)

The geography of the Nepean River and its floodplain has shaped the landscape of the area.

The river floodplain is the site of many community celebrations, traditions and rituals and some of the most important is the Camden Show and Anzac Day.

Read more on the Camden Show here. 

Read more on Camden’s intangible cultural heritage and the country town here.

Read more on Camden’s charm as a country town.

Read more of the importance of the Nepean River in the area’s cultural heritage.

A moment in Exeter Street, Camden NSW (I Willis)

The essence of a moment

What have you noticed while out and about? Our local community is such a pretty place. We really are privileged to capture it sometimes. Just take a deep breath and soak up the moment. You look around, and there is a glimpse of something special. A moment when the sun catches the branches of a tree. A moment when a shadow crosses your path. 

One such moment occurred in Exeter Street on the Nepean River floodplain next to the Town Farm. Just another moment in one of Camden streetscapes that visitors come to our community to soak up. These visitors add to the tourism of the area and create jobs in the local businesses that serve them. 

Just as day-trippers have done to Camden for nearly 100 years from the Sydney area. The essence of the day-tripper was the experience of the tourists who visited our community in the 1920s and 1930s—the inter-war period when Camden’s Englishness was its attraction.

Read more about Interwar Camden. 

Attractive flower bed in Oxley Street Camden (I Willis)

Flowers and things

What a wonder a bit of colour does for a drab streetscape. The aesthetic beauty of flowers and green things are a soothing effect on people’s hectic lives. A bright spot in the day. A hit of happiness. A flourish of fun. A corner of quietness.

If you have a moment, have a look in Oxley Street outside Butterflies Florist. The florist, Angela,   has taken time out to plant flowers and different types of greenery in the flower beds opposite her shop. The colour and greenery provide a freshness, a vitality to the otherwise drab urban environment. It generates happiness. Angela said ‘I have planted roses, lavender, sweet william, geraniums, salvia, gazanias, vincas and marigolds’. She has added a burst of sunlight and brightened up a rather dull part of the streetscape in Oxley Street. We need more of it.

This novel and the attractive process has beautified an otherwise colourless streetscape of tarmac and bare brick walls. The flowers make people feel happier, and they smile at you as you walk past them. Butterflies Florist has created a comfortable zone in Oxley Street precinct.

This complements the greenery in other parts of the Camden central business area. The greenery provides a counterpoint to the rush, rush, rush of daily life. Green is a natural colour that has a soothing effect on people’s outlook. By just slowing down a little as you walk past the greenery of a  Camden streetscape, you might lower your stress levels a little.

Other green gems include the shrubbery outside Camden Council’s John Street Entrance which softens an otherwise plain streetscape and heritage office frontage. The greenery provides a pleasant entry to the council chambers adjacent to historic Macaria.

There are also the garden beds along the busy thoroughfare of Argyle Street. The flowers and shrubbery are a touch of authenticity in our ever-increasing artificial environment—a flourish of colour and a bit of nature. A back to basics approaches that there needs to be more of.

Plants are suitable for the soul. They have a calming effect on people. People smile when there are pretty flowers around them. They provide a moment of relief—a moment when people might reflect on other matters. Flowers and greenery can create a tiny therapy space so that they can have a moment of reflection.

There are health and well-being benefits from having plants around people. Plants have a positive effect on people’s outlook and disposition.

The flowers and greenery around the business centre of the town is part of the Camden aesthetic. It is part of the charm and character of the community. It means many things to many people.

Historically it is the desire by some in the community to retain the country town atmosphere based around the ‘country town idyll’ in the face of Sydney’s urban encroachment in and around the town area.

An extension of the ‘country town idyll’ is a desire by some who want to retain the rural atmosphere in the community.

It is reflected in the open space, the urban parks, the rural vistas, the bucolic countryside and the desire of many newcomers to find a spot where ‘the country looks like the country’.

Read more about the ‘country town idyll’.

Read more about the charming town of Camden.

Read about the Camden Dreamtime

Originally posted 30 January 2015. Updated 31 July 2020.

Camden Town Farm

Camden Community Garden (image by Steve)

Summer at the Community Gardens

The Camden Community Garden provides benefits to the local Camden community. It is located on the Exeter Street frontage and being close to the local produce markets venue has given the gardens a great connection with the overall site. The alluvial soils of the Nepean River together with many years of dairy cattle grazing have proved a bonus for the establishment of a garden. The unique platypus shape layout reflects the Council logo and community aim for environmental sustainability, as well as the unconfirmed sightings on the Nepean River.

Read more @ http://www.camdencommunitygarden.blogspot.com.au/

Weddings and more at Town Farm

Wedding at Camden Town Farm January 2015

The Camden Town Farm is now available for weddings, functions and other events.

The farm is located on the former dairy farm owned by local identity Llewella Davies. Miss Davies lived opposite the farm in Exeter Street and would be regularly seen around the town area.

The farm is located on the picturesque Nepean River floodplain adjacent to the town centre fronting Exeter Street on the north-western side of the township.

The Camden Produce Markets are held on a regular basis next to the community gardens.

Camden Community Gardens

The Camden Community Gardens are on the Camden Town Farm on the edge of the Camden Town Heritage Precinct. They are located on the Nepean River floodplain with extensive river frontages. The adjacent Town Farm hosts community markets, food festivals, concerts, fishing competitions and a host of other events. The rustic farm shed which dates from the early 20th century has recently been sensitively restored. 

Garden plots with a friend

Community gardening is an ever increasingly popular pastime. The Camden Community Garden at Llewella Davies Town Farm is one of these in our local area.

The Camden Community Garden started in 2009. In 2011 Camden Council employed a project officer to co-ordinate the garden project.

It currently has around 70 active members who tend their own plots.

The Old Dairy

Old Dairy at Community Garden (S Cooper)

Adjacent to the garden  is the old dairy building from Llewella Davies farm. It is a vernacular construction using traditional bush craftsmenship typical of pre-First World War period. The stalls in the dairy were used for hand milking dairy cows on the farm before it was mechanised sometime after the Second World War.

The dairy building was built by one of Camden's bush carpenters who were practical men. They placed their mark on the district and were amongst the first in the Camden area to erect farm buildings. They were also responsible for erecting post & rail fences that were scattered across the farming landscape. One example is to be found in the community garden.

For more information about the Camden Community Garden click here

 

Camden Airfield

Macquarie Grove Flying School 1930s (Camden Images)

A small airfield with a big history

Aviation buffs come to Camden to visit a little airfield that has a glorious history from the early 20th century. It still retains much of its original character located on the Nepean River floodplain at Macquarie Grove, including being surrounded by Hassall Cottage (1815) and on the other by Macquarie Grove House (1930s). Camden Airfield has a wonderful wartime history that few know about. Pay a visit to this hidden gem on Sydney's rural-urban fringe.

Read more from the magazine article here

Camden Airfield Hut No 72 (I Willis)

Camden Airfield Hut No 72

The last remaining hut at Camden Airfield from the Second World War is still standing. It is Hut No 72. It is located adjacent to the current carpark.

Huts were built at the airfield for the arrival of the RAAF Central Flying School in 1940. Other flying schools were built at Bradfield Park in Sydney and Narromine around the same time. In December 1941 the personnel at the school included 45 officers, 422 airmen, with 48 officers and 81 airmen in various training courses. There were around 35 huts on the airfield that were used to accommodate the personnel and a variety of other uses.

Read more here

Camden Airfield Macquarie Grove flooded in 1942 (Camden Images)

32 Squadron RAAF, Camden Airfield, 1942-1944

Camden has hosted 32 Squadron RAAF since the time of the Second World War. The members of the squadron have developed a special relationship with the local community that has been marked by tragedy and celebrations. 

The members of  32 Squadron arrived in Camden in September 1942 after seven months of hazardous operational duties supporting Allied Forces in New Guinea and the surrounding area, including New Britain. The squadron had been ‘hastily formed in the field’ in February 1942 with personnel drawn from other units.1  Large scale air attacks on Rabaul in January 1942 had resulted in the virtual elimination of the 24 Squadron,  and this was followed by the invasion of New Britain by the Japanese forces (23 January 1942).

Read more here

  A wartime photo of A6-15, with Central Flying School at Camden. The Collection p6525-0080

 RAAF Central Flying School Camden 1940-1942

Australia’s entry into the Second World War created a demand for trained pilots. In July 1940 the Commonwealth Government acquired 468 acres of land on the Nepean River floodplain at Macquarie Grove `for defence purposes’ for an airfield. The site had been inspected in January 1940 for the RAAF by Wing-commander EC Bates (RAF). He had found it eminently suitable for the establishment of a flying training school. The Air Board had taken control of the airfield in April with the initial expectation for the airfield to house 150 men and 50 aircraft. According to reports the airfield had an ideal location with a long runway (1100 feet), clear approaches, room for expansion and existing hangars. 

Read more here 
For more information on aircraft in image A6-15 click here