Jude Conway – Zell Meehan vs Newcastle City Council

Cessnock Coalfield
and the Scottish Connection

The focus of this
presentation is the Aberdare South Colliery, a mine on the edge of the Cessnock
Coalfield. Founded in 1913 with capital raised by the Caledonian Coal Company,
this was to be the greatest mine in the southern hemisphere, producing coal
equivalent in quality to the best in the world. All that is left is a tall
chimney, a crumbling engine house, an overgrown pit dam and a ruined pub, its
gracious second floor and wrought iron balcony removed. The mine closed forever
in 1929.

In this talk, Beverley
Richardson relates her childhood memories of visits to the abandoned mine site
and of summer holidays spent on the Cessnock Coalfield with her mining family.

Lachlan Wetherall
Dating and Locating Historical Photographs
“In the past ten years I have written over 100 short local history articles for Newcastle’s community newspaper, The Local.
Each article is based on an old photograph, but not every photograph
had a clearly identified location or date when I began my research. In
this presentation I explain and give examples of the tools, techniques
and resources I have used to identify the exact date, location, or
occasion of various historical photographs.”

Annual General Meeting

Julie Keating

Come along and enjoy our Christmas in July afternoon tea with a fun a trivia afternoon with John & Judy Mulhearn to follow. Please bring a plate of goodies to share.

Benita Parker – ‘Bush to Bar’, the story of Mary Johnston

Topic: Is the Lower Hunter ready for a flood like 1955’s – or bigger?
Much has been done that will be of help – like the development of a competent flood mitigation scheme and restrictions on building on floodplains – but many people will be unready and will not evacuate when advised. Moreover, there is much complacency about the mitigation scheme and little recognition of its limitations. Some people, perhaps many, may die as a result of complacency and unwillingness to act. Maitland is particularly vulnerable to flooding from the Hunter River but so are Raymond Terrace, Hexham and Newcastle especially Birmingham Gardens and Carrington.

Bio:
Chas Keys once worked for the NSW State Emergency Service, where his principal responsibilities were preparing for and managing floods which constitute the most expensive natural hazard we face in this state. In his employment he learned about flood mitigation, flood planning, flood prediction, flood warning and a lot about human nature in the face of threats. He retired in 2004 as Deputy Director General of the SES and worked thereafter as a consultant in floodplain management, a writer of books about floods and their management (and other things including cricket, the SES, ski clubs and Thredbo) and a teacher at U3As in Newcastle, Maitland and Wollongong. He lives in Newcastle, but not on a floodplain. Many people, probably, think he does too much public speaking.

NO MEETING THIS MONTH