20th century · Anzac · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden Story · Craft · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Cultural plantings · Design · Family history · Festivals · History · History of Emotion · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · localism · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Metaphor · Military history · Modernism · Monuments · Patriotism · Place making · Propaganda · Second World War · Sense of place · Sewing · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Symbolism · Uncategorized · Volunteering · Volunteerism · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's diaries · Women's history · World War One

Red Flanders poppies, a field of memories

The red poppy carries a lot of symbolism in cultural mythologies from remembrance to sacrifices. The simple flower triggers outpouring of emotion, memories and commemorations on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day every year.

Art · Artists · Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan · Belonging · Community identity · Cowpastures · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Cumberland Plain · Cumberland Plain Woodland · Dharawal · Heritage · History · Indigenous Heritage · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memory · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Storytelling · Trees · Uncategorized · Wayfinding

Life Blood, public art at the Australia Botanic Gardens

On the forecourt of the Herbarium at the Australian Botanic Garden is an artwork celebrating the heritage of Indigenous culture called Life Blood.

1920s · 1930s · 20th century · Agriculture · Argyle Street · Attachment to place · Belonging · British colonialism · Built heritag · Camden · Camden Story · Collective Memory · Colonialism · Commemoration · Community identity · Country town · Cowpastures · Cultural Heritage · Dharawal · Historical consciousness · Historical Research · Historical thinking · Historiography · History · Legends · Local History · Local Studies · Macarthur · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Monuments · Mysteries · Myths · Newspapers · Pioneers · Place making · Regionalism · Ruralism · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Small communities · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Tourism · Urban growth · Urban history · Volunteering

The Camden Story: the historiography of the history of the country town of Camden NSW

The history of telling the story of a small community has been interpreted in different ways at different times in the past by different historians. This area of study is called the historiography. I have recently published an article on the historiography of the small country town of Camden, NSW.

Attachment to place · Belonging · Blue Plaques · Camden Red Cross · Camden Story · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · First World War · Historical consciousness · History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memory · Military history · Myths · Philanthropy · Pioneers · Place making · Red Cross · Second World War · Sense of place · Storytelling · Volunteering · Volunteerism · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's history · World War One

Blue Plaque recognises Camden Red Cross sewing circle in wartime

The wartime efforts of Camden women have been recognised by the successful nomination for a New South Wales Blue Plaque with Heritage NSW. The women volunteered thousands of hours of their effort and skills to supply hospital requisites for soldiers at military hospitals.

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 Sydneyโ€™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 Sydneyโ€™s planning framework.

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.

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.

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.

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 Forestersโ€™ Hall, a marvellous Edwardian building

In Camden NSW the former Forestersโ€™ 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.

Appin · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · British colonialism · Campbelltown Art Centre · Collective Memory · Colonial frontier · Colonialism · Commemoration · Community identity · Cowpastures · Cowpastures Bicentennial · Cultural Heritage · Dharawal · Governor Macquarie · Heritage · History · Landscape · Landscape aesthetics · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Monuments · Place making · Placemaking · Public art · Sculpture · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Uncategorized

The Cowpastures Bicentennial, Governor Hunter and the Appin Massacre: the memory of the Cowpastures

I often wondered why the cultural material representative of the Cowpastures appeared to have been 'forgotten' by our community. The list of cultural items is quite an extensive include: roads and bridges, parks and reserves; historic sites, books, paintings, articles; conferences, seminars, and workshops; monuments, memorials and murals; community commemorations, celebrations and anniversaries.