Echo Point is probably the most visited attraction in the Blue Mountains yet few people have ever heard an actual echo from this location. There are in fact a number of Blue Mountains locations named for and associated with echoes. The traditional method to test for an echo was to shout Coo-ee and wait. An Echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the listener. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by … Continue reading Searching for Echoes in the Blue Mountains

Springwood: Historical context The area now known as Springwood was originally occupied by the Aurang-ora band of the inland Dharug people. Crossing the Blue Mountains On Tuesday, May 11, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Went worth, and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs, and four horses laden with provisions, ammunition, and other necessaries, left Mr. Blaxland’s farm at the South Creek, for the purpose of endeavouring to effect a passage over the Blue Mountains.  On 13th May the explorers reached the vicinity of Springwood, “After travelling about a mile on the third day, in a west … Continue reading Walking Through History Springwood Town Centre

John Spark was born at Twickenham, Middlesex on August 8th, 1853, where his father held an extensive medical practice. John was the eldest son of a family of eight born to John and Emma née Pool, and with his sister Fanny, were the only survivors of childhood. At the age of 14, he lost his father, and was trained for the medical profession by his father’s friends. He showed aptitude, and at the age of 18 was dispensing for a doctor with a large city practice. Dr John Spark, Lic. Soc. Apoth. Lond. 1875, M.R.C.S. Eng. 1875, trained at St … Continue reading Dr John Spark, (1853-1910) Katoomba’s First Doctor

Elsa Ernestine Lilias Garrett was born in Waverley in 1914, the daughter of Ernest Gordon Garrett (1890-1959) and Lillian, nee Penrose (1888-1965). In the 1920s the family moved to the Blue Mountains where Ernest took up a position as accountant and company secretary at the Katoomba – Leura gas works. Ernest spent all his leisure time, fishing rod in hand, on the local streams and at meetings of the Blue Mountains Rod Fishers Society, which was actively involved in local trout stocking programs. In 1939 Ernest and his future son-in-law William Lowry were elected office holders in the Katoomba and … Continue reading Elsa Lowry, nee Garrett (1914-1991)

The structure in question is an open vertical shaft, some seven metres deep by two metres in diameter, cut into the top of the sandstone cliff at the end of Somers Street, Lawson. A domed, iron grill protects the top; … Continue reading The mystery shaft in Somers Street, Lawson

Copyright (c): Lindsay Paish First published 1989 EDITOR’S NOTE The Author has lived in the Blue Mountains all his life, was born at Katoomba and moved to Springwood in 1949.  In his early years he gained an intimate knowledge of the region as a bushwalker. He gained experience of topographic survey and photogrammetry while working for the Forestry Commission and is an experienced cartographer and surveyor. In preparing this booklet acknowledgement is made of the help and guidance given by Jack Maddock, President of the Springwood Historical Society and the staff of the Local History Centre of Braemar, Springwood. PREFACE. … Continue reading William Dawes: The first white man on the Blue Mountains by Lindsay Paish

The Toll-bar cottage, photo John Merriman – flickr On 1862, on the morning of a late September day, two riders cantered through the township of Mount Victoria on their way to attend an auction in Hartley. As they approached the descent at Victoria Pass four men burst from the bush, their faces hidden beneath rough crepe masks. It was George Sheppheard the bushrangers were after. Their informants had led them to believe he would be passing with a large sum of money collected at the toll bar he leased on the Western Road. As it turned out it was not George … Continue reading George Sheppeard and Broughton’s Waterhole Toll Bar, Mt. Victoria