01-18-2020: Rylstone

Margaret, Daniel and Clare live in Rylstone, a small agricultural town in an area of New South Wales called the central tablelands of the mid-western region of the state. The community population is around 700. It is increasingly a tourist draw for its scenic, peaceful location and growing arts community. With the Blue Mountains and several national parks nearby, holiday goers have plenty to see and do in this area. Currently, the drought has turned all the lush pastures and fields to brown, and Louis keeps saying he can’t believe how brown it is and if we were to see it in normal conditions we would be amazed at how beautifully lush and green everything is.

When I opened the curtain this morning, this was looking at me.

Still a thrill to see kangaroos up close in the wild

After breakfast, Margaret, Clare, Banjo, Christine and I took a walking tour of the town. There are several heritage sites in town, equivalent to our national historic landmarks, and from many signs posted on buildings we learned a fair amount about the history of the town.

Europeans, predominantly English, Scots, and Irish were some of the first settlers. The town plan was laid out in 1846 with formal establishment of the town coming in 1885. The arrival of the railroad in the 1880s helped to firmly establish Rylstone. This area is rich in minerals and coal and the railroad enabled the mines to ship their coal to cities. There is also sandstone in the area and several of the heritage buildings were constructed using sandstone. It was also interesting to see that a couple of buildings along the main street were in a mission style. Apparently, some Californians came to the area and they used their architectural influence.

Lou, Ray and Daniel came into town and met us for lunch. The guys have been working on an old shed positioning gutters to capture rainwater into a large tank. With the drought it is even more important that any water collection system is in good working order so that when it does rain every drop available can be captured. Today, although the sky is looking threatening, only spits of rain have occurred.

After lunch, we drove 7 km to the neighboring town of Kandos to visit the Kandos Museum. Kandos is a town which was created in 1913 to exploit the limestone in the area. It became a huge producer of cement through the Kandos Portland Cement Company. As a result of the cement production Kandos got the nickname “The Town That Built Sydney.” The town is having to revitalize itself since the closure of the cement factory in 2011 and like Rylstone, it is becoming an “artsy” town drawing in holiday goers.

The Kandos Museum was interesting. I didn’t know anything about how cement is produced and learned that it is quite a multi-stepped process involving coal, ironstone and gypsum. The mines and the equipment used to haul and crush the materials are enormous. Right inside the front entrance was an old company ambulance and on its side was painted a Maltese Cross, which we all were excited to see. The museum had all kinds of tools, gizmos, gauges, gadgets all related to cement manufacturing. It also contained all kinds of memorabilia from decades gone by, typewriters, calculators, clothing, record players, projectors, war-related items, etc. It was quite the collection of stuff.

Kandos Cement Ambulance with Maltese Cross

I was intrigued by a collection of advertising post cards showing places around the world where Kandos Portland Cement had been used. These included Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Mount Vernon, Virginia, and Old South Church in Boston. There were also displays about the cement bags used over time. Initially, the jute bags were collected and used in house construction with the jute lining the walls and then cemented over. Also, there was a display of paper cement bags being formed into clothing, handbags and other useful items. I really enjoyed our visit to the Kandos Museum.

I am fascinated by the cottage houses with the tin roofs. I think this style of home is called the Queenslander cottage. I think they are lovely and it is the style of the original home on Margaret’s property that hopefully one day will be renovated. The house is a box with a large veranda wrapped around. They are typically built a bit above the ground to give good airflow underneath to aid in cooling. And I love the tin roof.

We returned home, had a little rest, and then dinner. After dinner we were treated to presentations by Clare and Daniel. Clare is a very talented artist, seamstress, costume and make-up artist, and cake decorator among other talents. She showed us many of the things she has created and it was quite impressive. Daniel also displayed his work. He draws and paints, makes clothes, and he also spent a year compiling photos and material for his senior yearbook. What he managed to collect and produce was amazing. Daniel has many, many talents and I think he is finding it difficult to figure out just what he will do with his life. At nearly 20, he has yet to focus on a vocation. It will be interesting to see what he will wind up doing.

So, another fun, interesting day.

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