1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan · 1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · Advertising · Attachment to place · Built heritag · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Elderslie · Heritage · History · Land releases · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Place making · rural-urban fringe · Storytelling · Uncategorized · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urban Planning · urban sprawl · Urbanism

Elderslie land releases 2000-2023, the background and fancy estate names

The Elderslie area has been identified in Sydney’s strategic growth plans for land releases on the metropolitan rural-urban fringe. It is a valuable exercise to see how and when Elderslie was identified as part of Sydney’s planning framework.

British colonialism · Camden · Camden District · Cawdor · Cobbitty · Colonial Camden · Colonialism · Community identity · Convicts · Cowpastures · England · Farming · Floods · Heritage · Historical consciousness · Historical Research · History · Landscape aesthetics · Local History · Macarthur · Menangle · Myths · Parks · Place making · Regionalism · Royal Tours · rural-urban fringe · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Tourism · Transport · Urban growth · Urban history · Urbanism · Volunteering

The Camden district, 1840-1973, a field of dreams

The Camden district was historically significant, serving as a social and economic center for over a century. It integrated farming, mining, and community life, shaped by Aboriginal heritage and European settlement. However, modern developments and infrastructural changes led to its decline, transitioning to a regional identity tied to Macarthur area governance and branding.

Aesthetics · Art · Artists · Belonging · Colonialism · Community identity · Community work · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Design · Education · Elyard Reserve, Narellan · Heritage · History · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorialisation · Memorials · Narellan · Parks · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Storytelling · Tourism · Urban Planning · Urbanism

Narellan Community Mosaic Project: art in the park

The Narellan Community Mosaic Project was commissioned in 2005 by Camden Council with funding from the NSW Department of Planning. This artwork is one of number in Elyard Reserve in Narellan.

1920s · 1930s · 20th century · Argyle Street · Camden · Camden Story · Collective Memory · Community identity · Cowpastures · Cultural Heritage · Cultural plantings · Dairying · Farming · Gardening · Horticulture · Landscape · Landscape aesthetics · Local Studies · Memorials · Memory · Pepper Trees · Place making · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Storytelling · Street Trees · Town planning · Urban Planning

Camden pepper trees, a remnant of the past

In the 1890s, Camden Municipal Council started beautifying the town area by planting various trees, including peppercorns. These cultural plantings defined the local urban landscape for decades, yet only a handful remain today.

Advertising · Agricultural heritage · Agriculture · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden · Camden Show · Camden Show Young Woman · Camden Showgirl · Camden Story · Community identity · Community work · Country Women's Association · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · CWA · Dairying · Farming · Festivals · History · Horticulture · Lifestyle · Living History · Local History · Local newspapers · Local Studies · Memory · Newspapers · Onslow Park · Place making · Ruralism · Sense of place · Showgirl competition · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Uncategorized · Volunteering · Volunteerism

Camden Show 2023

The Camden Show is on again after floods and Covid stopped it in recent years. The show is back with all the bells and whistles of the past with some new innovations. A must see is the 2023 Camden Show.

Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Craft · Design · Monuments · Narellan · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Storytelling · Uncategorized

Goanna on the loose, public art

In Elyard Reserve Narellan NSW there is representation of a goanna climbing a pole. A local public artwork.

Art · Artists · Attachment to place · Camden High School · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Dharawal · Education · Elyard Reserve, Narellan · Heritage · Monuments · Narellan · Place making · Public art · Storytelling

Mosaic bench: public artwork at Narellan

In a corner of Elyard Reserve at Narellan is a mosaic tiled bench. This colourful artwork was commissioned in 2009 and is hidden in plain sight.

Active citizenship · Agency · Agricultural heritage · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden · Camden Show · Camden Showgirl · Camden Story · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Festivals · Local History · Local Studies · Myths · Pageant · Place making · Ruralism · Sense of place · Showgirl competition · Volunteering · Volunteerism · Women's history · Young Woman Competition

Young Woman trumps the Showgirl

In late 2022 the Camden Show Society announced that Rubey Williams had been named the Camden Show 2023 Young Woman of the Year. The competition had been rebranded by the Royal Agricultural Society in 2019.

20th century · Architecture · Argyle Street · Built heritag · Business History · Camden Story · Camden Town Centre · Colonial Camden · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Heritage · History · Hotel History · Hume Highway · Lifestyle · Local History · Place making · Sense of place

The Plough and Harrow Hotel: an early colonial Camden inn

The Plough and Harrow Hotel is the second oldest pub in the Camden town centre and was built in the early 1850s. The hotel is still on its original site located on the former Great South Road, later the Hume Highway, now relocated.

1920s · 1930s · Architecture · Attachment to place · Built heritag · Business History · Collective Memory · Community Health · Cultural Heritage · Design · Edwardian · Film · Foresters Hall (former) · Heritage · History · Interwar · Leisure · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memory · Modernism · Movies · Narellan Military Camp · Placemaking · Second World War

The former Foresters’ Hall, a marvellous Edwardian building

In Camden NSW the former Foresters’ Hall occupies one of the most prominent sites in the Town Centre on Oxley Street and Argyle Street at 147 Argyle Street. On its opening in 1908, the hall was considered the best in New South Wales by the Order of Royal Foresters.