Gilgandra

Gilgandra is a country town in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia, and services the surrounding agricultural area where wheat is grown extensively together with other cereal crops, and sheep and beef cattle are raised.

Gilgandra is a country town in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia, and services the surrounding agricultural area where wheat is grown extensively together with other cereal crops, and sheep and beef cattle are raised. Sitting at the junction of the Newell, Oxley and Castlereagh highways, the town is located in a wide bend of the Castlereagh River downstream from its source near Coonabarabran, directly downstream from Mendooran, and upstream from Gulargambone and Coonamble. It is 432 km north-west of Sydney (about six hours' driving time), and is located approximately halfway on the inland route from Melbourne to Brisbane. The town is the administrative seat of the Gilgandra Shire.

It is known as the town of windmills and the home of the 'Coo-ees', and is a gateway to the Warrumbungles National Park.

Before the arrival of European squatters taking up pastoral runs in the 1830s the Gilgandra region was home to three Aboriginal language groups including; Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri and Wayilwan." And, according to archaeological evidence cited in the Warrumbungle National Park Guidebook, indigenous groups are believed to have lived to the east of Gilgandra for approximately 25,000 years and in the Warrumbungle Ranges 70 kilometres to the north, for nearly 17,000 years.Gilgandra was proclaimed as a town in 1888, and the first town blocks were sold in 1889. While this was an impetus to growth, the area had been settled by a European population for many years before that. Gilgandra's Post Office had been formally established in 1867, in 1881 a local school had opened, and the first court hearing was held in the Gilgandra court house in 1884. The shire was constituted in 1906.On 20 July 1900, an indigenous man, Jimmy Governor, murdered four members of the Mawbey family, and the children's governess, at their farming property just east of Gilgandra, in the area of Breelong. He was working as a fencing contractor for Mr Mawbey. The story of the murders received great publicity at the time. It was resurrected in 1972 as the basis of a fictional work by Thomas Keneally in his book The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.During World War I, a recruitment march to Sydney began in Gilgandra, known as the Coo-ee March. The men who enlisted on the way became known locally as "Coo-ees". The march was given this name because the marchers shouted the old bush call of "cooee"at each town along their journey to attract recruits. Twenty-six men left Gilgandra on 10 October 1915. At each town on the route, the marchers were feted and a recruitment meeting was held.By the time they reached Sydney just over one month later on Friday 12 November 1915, the number of recruits had swelled to 263. They were welcomed on arrival in Sydney with huge crowds lining George Street near the Town Hall to welcome them and an official address given to them by the Minister for Works representing the Premier of New South Wales.

Gilgandra has many sporting facilities. Local clubs support participation and arrange training and competitions. Gilgandra Panthers rugby league team play in the Castlereagh Cup and won the competition in 2018.

Gilgandra's public swimming pool is located next to the town's main park and is open across the warmer months from October to end March. Learn-to-swim and exercise classes are held here. Set in lovely grassed grounds, the tiled pool was opened in October 1939 and is 33m long. There is also a children's play pool with good sun protection over. Grassed tennis courts are located on a corner opposite the swimming pool (corner Castlereagh and Willie Sts).A 9-hole public golf course, with grass greens and a licensed club-house, is located on Racecourse Rd over the bridge from the main part of the town. Golf competitions are held regularly. The golf course is situated entirely within the town's horse racing track.The town has a race course for horse racing, situated on Racecourse Road, where the Gilgandra Jockey Club arranges race meetings during the year, including the Gilgandra Cup held each January. The race course is picturesque with the town's golf fairways and greens inside the boundary of the track.There is a youth club, which has squash courts, basketball courts, and an indoor area. A fitness centre operates out of the facility.There are two main grassed recreation grounds where many different team and club sports are played (cricket, rugby league, football, Little Athletics). The town's original oval is located in Eiraben St and the Ernie Knight Oval is on Warren Rd.Gilgandra Speedway is a popular track in the district where regular motor (car) racing events are held in many divisions. It is run by Gilgandra District Speedway Club which has hosted both state and national titles here at different times.The track is well fenced and is lit for night racing. It is located on the Newell Highway 4 km south of the township (direction of Dubbo).

The tourist information centre is located in the Cooee Heritage and Visitor Information Centre, at the south end of the town, on the Newell Highway. Coming from the direction of Dubbo, it is on the right-hand-side just after the grain silos and railway track crossing. Coming from Coonabarabran, Coonamble or Mendooran directions, it is along the river bank on the left-hand-side.The Cooee Heritage and Visitor Information Centre houses several museums and galleries. The Gilgandra Art Gallery exhibits local and visiting artists in a range of mediums, and exhibitions are regularly changed. Aboriginal artefacts and ancient fossils and shells are displayed in the Joy Trudgett Gallery. Family history, including details of Gilgandra locals who enlisted in WW2, is on display in the Allan Wise Gallery where exhibitions are also regularly changed.

The Gilgandra Rural Museum displays and preserves an extensive collection of local farming equipment, and agricultural plant and machinery. It was established, and is run, by the volunteers of the Gilgandra Historical Society. The Museum is situated just along from the Cooee Heritage and Visitor Information Centre on the Newell Highway at the edge of Gilgandra and can be identified by a large display windmill outside. Particularly interesting large items include the Howard Rotary Hoe (a version of a cultivator) which was invented at Gilgandra, a Ridley Stripper, and a Ruston & Proctor Steam Traction Engine.Windmill Walk commences at the Rural Museum and meanders along the Castlereagh River to the town centre.Picnic spots and BBQ facilities are located along the way.The Gilgandra Native Flora Reserve is 8.5 ha of remnant bushland which features many plant species. The local wildflowers in the reserve are best seen from September to November. There are picnic and barbecue facilities.Gilgandra has a privately owned observatory open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday.

Hitchen House Museum is set up in the house once owned and lived in by Bill Hitchen, who was the driving force for the Cooee March. Displays in the museum tell the story of the Cooee March. There is a good array of WWI memorabilia in the museum.The Cooee March memorial is a stone cairn marking the spot in Bridge Street where local men commenced the Cooee March on 10 October 1915.A nearby wall mural contributes to the memorial. Recruitment marches like this were called Snowball marches, and sprang up elsewhere in NSW following the example of the Cooee March. The men assembled here in October 1915 to begin their recruitment drive by themselves marching to Sydney.There is a community radio station WARFM, which is on 98.9FM, broadcasting a wide range of programs.

JANUARY – The Gilgandra Cup is a horse race run over 1600m at the Gilgandra Race Course. It is held in January each year during the annual two-day horse racing Gilgandra Cup Carnival, and is run by the Gilgandra Jockey Club. In 2018 the total prizemoney for the Gilgandra Cup was $35,000.

APRIL or MAY – The Gilgandra Show is an agricultural show held in April or May each year at the Gilgandra Showground at the western end of town on Warren Rd. It is run by the Gilgandra Show Society. In 2018 it was held on Friday 20th and Saturday 21 April. The annual show is a gathering point for the local community with displays of livestock, agricultural products and farm machinery, as well as ring events and equestrian competitions, woodchopping competitions, fun entertainment such as sideshows and rides, and food and drink stands.

APRIL – Senior Citizens Week and awards.

OCTOBER LONG WEEKEND – Gilgandra Cooee Festival. Gilgandra organises a fun weekend festival of activities and entertainment for townspeople and visitors for many years on the October long weekend. There is a main street parade. On one day there is entertainment in the town park with wood chopping, stalls, rides, buskers, games competitions, and the coo-ee calling competition. There are sporting competitions such as golf. Live entertainment is offered in the evenings.