Glenfell

Today we arrived at Grenfell – the birthplace of Henry Lawson!  Having studied the works of Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson in school, as did my youngest child, I was delighted to see the pride of this town in celebrating his life and work.  The town has a scattering of heritage streetscapes, from residences to business places.  According to the Information Hub Manager, who was a most delightful, friendly and welcoming ambassador for community, many of the original buildings of the former main street (George St) were razed in a series of fires and a few photos are included here of some of the buildings.   Grenfell was part of the goldrush in 1866 and Lawson was born in 1867.

The Art Gallery at the Hub contained some amazing works of art proudly displayed and owned by the Shire Council who sponsor an annual Art competition with prize monies which then entitle ownership of the work.  Each winning piece may be viewed in the first gallery.  The second gallery was also supported by yet another ambassador who was also very welcoming, informative and vivacious!  A Festival of Arts commenced in 1958 and is held annually over the long weekend of June as a commemoration of Henry Lawson.

There is a magnificent Curtain created by the community over a decade, due to a number of life events and interruptions!  It is magnificent beautifully constructed with different aspects of the community depicted using a variety of applique techniques and stitchery and reminded me of the amazing quilt we saw in Sheffield in Tasmania!

My hubby was at this point in time very annoyed by a persistent itchy kneecap so I convinced him (for a change) to visit the chemist.  Two lovely staff members welcomed us and I jokingly suggested the sore knee was not from groveling or being romantic!  They were extremely helpful and requested their pharmacist to attend to his problem and they were all amazingly welcoming and supportive.  An elderly gentleman entered around this time and I saw his face light up in delight as he approached the counter.  He then announced how magnificent it was that there were so many lovely young ladies to attend to customers!  He was obviously a well-known character!

We also fell in love with an old building for sale but alas of course we do not have the funds for any such purchase!  It was an old bank with five bedrooms,  four fireplaces, two storey (with balcony) and original cobblestones were in the courtyard next to the stables at the back.  The stables also had a loft.

We also drove past but could not see a lot of it, a place called “Iandra Castle” originally owned by Henry Greene in 1878 - the nearby town Greenthorpe was named after him.  He built the house from 1908 to 1911 but apparently family members continued to add to the building as they preferred it to be more grand in size and features.  It is only open in weekends and for events, so we did not get to view it.