Wingham, New South Wales
Wingham Federal division(s) | Lyne |
---|
Wingham is a town in the
History
Wingham is on the traditional lands of the Biripi (or Birrbay) people.
The first land grant in the area was made at The Bight to George Rowley in 1841. Wingham was chosen as a location for a government settlement because supply boats could not proceed any further up the
Wingham was proclaimed a municipality in 1889. By 1909, Wingham consisted of 285 houses and had a population of 900, but government services had been transferred to Taree, which had a population of 1300 in 269 houses. The municipalities were merged with each other and the Manning Valley Shire in 1981 to form the City of Greater Taree.[5]
Heritage listings
Wingham has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- 52 Farquhar Street: Wingham Memorial Town Hall[6]
- Wynter Street: Wingham Post Office[7]
Climate
Wingham has a humid subtropical climate, bordering on oceanic climate and in keeping with most coastal NSW locations, receives fairly even distribution of rainfall, with only a short dry season between July and October. Wingham supports a small and rare subtropical rainforest ecosystem.
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.9 (84.0) |
28.4 (83.1) |
26.9 (80.4) |
24.3 (75.7) |
21.5 (70.7) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.5 (65.3) |
20.1 (68.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.0 (78.8) |
27.7 (81.9) |
20.1 (68.2) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.3 (64.9) |
18.2 (64.8) |
16.7 (62.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
10.1 (50.2) |
8.1 (46.6) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.8 (44.2) |
9.4 (48.9) |
11.8 (53.2) |
15.2 (59.4) |
16.7 (62.1) |
12.6 (54.7) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 97.3 (3.832) |
135.0 (5.314) |
158.9 (6.255) |
104.7 (4.123) |
93.1 (3.665) |
101.7 (4.002) |
60.6 (2.387) |
54.6 (2.148) |
51.1 (2.011) |
74.4 (2.930) |
115.0 (4.526) |
79.1 (3.114) |
1,125.5 (44.307) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1in) | 9.1 | 9.5 | 10.2 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 5.1 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 91.8 |
Source: [8] |
Town
Wingham's main street, Isabella Street runs east west and fronts the typically English
Central Park itself is home to "The Log," a massive log felled in the surrounding countryside which serves to remind the townsfolk of the timber (and dairy) driven history of the area, a de Havilland Vampire fighter plane (opposite the RSL Club), a cricket pitch (Phil Tufnell played an exhibition match in Wingham in which he was bowled for a duck in the first innings, by Glenn Levine, but made a good fist of it in the second), some children's play equipment, a drinking fountain commemorating the installation of mains water in the town, a small ornamental waterfall (which has been filled in with a garden), and two flag poles at opposite ends of the northern side of the park.
Education
There are five schools in Wingham. Wingham Public School is located in Murray Road, and is known to the locals as Murray Road Public School. St Joseph's Catholic School is located between the Catholic Church and Presbytery on the southern side of Central Park, Wingham Special Education primary school for young mentally challenged children, located in the north end of Richardson Street and Wingham Brush Public School is around the corner between the eastern side of Central Park and Wingham Brush.
Wingham High School is located three blocks northeast of Central Park, and has an extensive agricultural science department, owning three properties and a feedlot. The WHS Agricultural Show Team breeds all their own cattle through both natural mating and artificial insemination. They specialize in commercial beef animals, and have won first ribbons for hoof and hook, steer competitions, as well as junior judging and parading, in such shows as the Royal Sydney Show, Royal Brisbane Show and Tamworth Show.
Tourism
Along the
Wingham is the gateway to the Ellenborough Falls on the Bulga Plateau, the second longest single drop waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere. The Bank Guesthouse, formerly the local branch of the Westpac Bank, featured on the Seven Network's Sydney Weekender with Mike Whitney in 1999.
Jimmy Governor
The infamous murderer and fugitive Jimmy Governor was incarcerated in Wingham immediately after his capture. The cell in which he was imprisoned is on display at the Manning Historical Society Museum. A memorial to Governor is located at the site of his capture, a 30-minute drive west along the Wingham-Elands road, outside the small town of Bobin.
Communications
Wingham has a local newspaper, the Wingham Chronicle, and the Rhema FM Manning Great Lakes radio station.
Di Morrissey, one of Australia's most successful novelists with 23 best-selling novels and two children's books, was born in Wingham on 18 March 1948.
Members of Sydney-based independent bands The Maladies, Love Parade, Purple Sheep and Overdrive grew up in the area and attended Wingham Public School and Wingham High School.[citation needed]
Transport
Wingham is served by the NSW TrainLink Grafton, Casino and Brisbane XPT services on the North Coast railway line with complementing bus services which travel to Broadmeadow and Newcastle Interchange connecting with services to and from Sydney. Six XPT services stop at Wingham (three in each direction). Night time XPT services ceased calling at Wingham from the early 1990s until around 2011. Night time services stopping in Wingham ended in the early 1990s when the station became unattended. Wingham station opened on 5 February 1913 and features single platform and a 780-metre crossing loop which is predominantly used for freight cargo traveling along the North Coast railway line.
People
According to the
The demographic breakdown shows that people in Wingham are generally older, with a median age of 47 compared to the national median of 38 years. 86.4% were born in Australia, higher than the national figure of 66.9%. The next most common countries of birth were England (2.2%) and New Zealand (0.8%). 7.3% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. The question about religion is optional, and 7.6% did not answer it. The most common response was "No Religion" (38.6%), followed by Anglican (25.0%) and Catholic (13.7%).[1]
Annual events
- Wingham Summertime Rodeo. Events include rodeo, bucking horses, saddlebronc, rodeo clowns, and bucking bulls. First week in January.
- Wingham Show held annually at Wingham Showground.
- Wingham Beef Week, is a show specifically geared to accommodate both schools and studs. Competitions include Junior judging, parading, hoof and hook, unled carcase, Weebollabolla shorthorn and Manildra group school steer competition. With around 150 head of cattle and 400 participants this is one of the largest shows off its kind on NSW. WBW traditionally begin the day after mother's Day in mid May.
- Bonnie Wingham Scottish Festival usually held first weekend in June.[14]
- Wingham Campdraft at Wingham Showgrounds, first week in November.
- Wingham Music Festival, formerly known as Wingham Akoostik Festival is held in Wingham Showground every third weekend in October. Originally in 2007, it started in Wingham Central Park before moving to a larger venue in 2015 and still presents various genres of music such as Acoustic, Rock, Country, Reggae & everything alternative from Kasey Chambers, Diesel, Shannon Noll, The Waifs, in the last decade. [15]
References
- ^ a b c d Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wingham". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Wingham Walk" (PDF). Greater Taree City Council. March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ "Taree". The Age website. The Age Company Ltd. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
- ISBN 0-908120-67-2.
- ^ Ramsland 1987, pp. 160, 300–301.
- .
- .
- ^ "Wingham NSW climata data". MLA. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Wingham District Memorial Services Club Limited, Annual Report 2010
- ^ "Historic Wingham pub burnt to the ground". Manning River Times. 5 July 2010.
- ^ "Wingham hotel burns to ground". Manning River Times. 6 June 2010.
- ^ NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (November 2003). "WINGHAM BRUSH NATURE RESERVE PLAN OF MANAGEMENT" (PDF). Wingham Brush Nature Reserve Plan of Management: 25.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Wingham (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ^ Bonnie Wingham Scottish Festival page on Manning Valley Historical Society website [1]
- ^ "Wingham Akoostik Music Festival". Website. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
External links
- "Manning River catchments" (map). Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales.
- http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/wingham-20081113-5yn8.html