Tag: Ruralism

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Camden Show Sponsors’ Night

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A grand exhibit for a pandemic

This time of the year usually is show week in Camden when the festival rolls into town.

2021 is a bit different. Not normal at all. In the middle of a pandemic, there is no show for the second year in a row.

That has not stopped the Camden Show society from getting into action and the spirit of the event. 

Committee member Jason Sharpe provided a taste of the show with a colourful temporary display at the recent sponsors’ night.

I was lucky enough to attend the sponsors’ night as the guest of Ian Johnson, the principal at IJ Ag Services.

Better known as a horseman and a sometimes renowned bush-poet Jason Sharpe turned his hand to constructing a sample show display for the assembled guests.

Some of the local produce used in the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe for the 2021 sponsors’ event. At the rear of the display are some perpetual trophies used by some show categories. (I Willis)

Jason out-did himself and blew everyone away with his creativity. His artistic work with pumpkins, corn, hay, chooks, and other produce to be seen to be believed.

If you want to learn how to make a pumpkin look classy beside a handsome bale of hay surrounded by a chorus of chooks, have a chat with Jason.

Jason observed that ‘you cannot understand where you are going without knowing where you have come from’. He used this philosophy in his construction of the temporary display and his acknowledgement of the rich history of the Camden Show.

It was a real shame that it was only a temporary display. I am sure it would have appealed to lots of others in the absence of the 2021 show.

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Pumpkins, eggs, wool fleeces, hay bales and chooks in the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe for the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ event (I Willis)

A sponsors’ night in the middle of a pandemic

The show committee regularly holds a sponsor’s event each year to say thank you for their support. Without the sponsor’s support, the show would be unlikely to happen.

The current sponsors are listed on the show society website.

Camden Show President Greg Wall with signage from 2019 Camden Show within Jason Sharpe’s temporary display for the 2021 sponsors’ night (I Willis)

Show president Greg Wall gave a stirring speech drawing from Eddie Jaku’s The Happiest Man on Earth. Jaku uses a quote attributed to French philosopher and Nobel Prize winner (1957) Albert Camus that Greg finds inspirational for life. Camus said:

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.

President Wall said that sponsors followed Camus’s philosophy and walked beside the committee, and were friends of the Camden Show.

What is sponsorship, and why have it?

Larry Weil, from the website The Marketing Guy, defines sponsorship as:

  a form of affinity marketing that provides certain rights and benefits to the buyer or “sponsor”.   Sponsorship is particularly effective when the sponsor and the property have similar goals, values and vision. Properly activated, this affiliation casts a “halo” or conveys certain characteristics to the sponsor as a result of the strong recognition or fan base of the property.

Weil argues that sponsorship  

 provides business access, connections, hospitality, affinity, audience access, data, and helps to shape public perception in a way that can be hard to achieve using your own marketing and branding efforts alone. 

 Others argue that sponsorship uses the notion that

a brand (sponsor) and event (sponsoree) become linked in memory through the sponsorship, and as a result, thinking of the brand can trigger event-linked associations. 

A variety of items including ribbons, newspaper publicity and trophies indicating the breadth of awards used to acknowledge excellence at the show. All part of the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe at the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ event. (I Willis)

Camden Show sponsorship

The NSW Government Office for Sport states that

It is good business practice to create a sponsorship policy within the organisation before you apply for sponsorship. 

The Camden Show committee following this principle on its webpage called ‘Why Be a Sponsor?‘ Here the committee maintains that show sponsorship offers:

opportunities available offer your brand an unparalleled opportunity to reach, connect and engage with an average of 45,000 people over two days at the show. This is in addition to the people we reach through our media campaigns across digital, radio, TV and print avenues.

The Camden Show committee argues that the show allows a sponsor to:

• Generate brand awareness • Showcase products and services • Connect with the community • Engage with consumers face-to-face • Generate immediate sales • Capture Data

Camden Show sponsorship is broken into seven levels ranging from supreme to green to allow large and small sponsors to support this marvellous community event.

A pumpkin that was part of the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe for the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ night (I Willis)

Huge community event

The Camden Show is one of the most significant community events in the Macarthur region and one of southwestern Sydney’s largest festivals. The last show in 2019 attracted nearly 45,000 people.

The show has made a considerable contribution to the construction of place and community identity in the local area. Along with other country festivals, the show integrates cultural identity, belonging, volunteering and paid employment.

The Camden Show is far from unique either in concept or history. The history of agricultural shows goes back to the early 19th century when they copied similar events in Europe. Historian Helen Doyle argues that the early shows were primarily ‘a means of promoting new agricultural technology and were used to teach farmers and display the latest farming innovations. Prizes were awarded, and one of the earliest contests were ploughing contests.

Framed portraits of past Camden Show presidents normally housed on display at the rear of the Camden Show office not generally accessible to the public. These portraits were part of the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe at the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ event. These images acknowledge the rich history of the show. (I Willis)

 Geoff Raby’s Making Rural Australia details that Australia’s first agricultural show was in Hobart in 1822, organised by the Van Diemen’s Agricultural Society.  The same year several leading colonial ‘gentleman’ formed the Agricultural Society of New South Wales.

Kate Darian Smith argues that the Agricultural Society of New South Wales was formed

  with the aim of encouraging profitable cultivation techniques and livestock production suited to the local environmental and climatic conditions.  A key activity of the new Society was the organisation of an annual competitive display of animals and produce, thus providing agricultural education to the public and enabling its members to meet and conduct business. The first show was held at Parramatta in 1823 and included prizes for high performing servants as well as the ‘best’ rams, cheeses, and beer. 

The cover of Neville Clissold’s Camden Show 1886-2011 The People The Stories (2011) which outlines the history of the Camden Show from its origins in 1886 to 2011 anniversary show.

The original Camden Show in 1886 followed these traditions. The first show was organised by a committee formed in 1885 with the grand title of the Camden Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Society. The AH&I Society was a ‘gentlemen’s club’ made up of the local landed gentry headed by president JK Chisholm of Gledswood and a committee of other ‘local notables’.

The 1886 show held competitive farming displays for stock and produce with the best exhibits awarded prizes. The show had a section for the ‘colonial’ red and white wines reflecting the importance of the area to the foundation of the Australian wine industry. Camden women were encouraged to supervise their children’s efforts and entries in the domestic arts of sewing, cooking and artwork.

The 1886 Camden Show schedule that was part of the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe at the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ event (I Willis)
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The Camden district in 1939

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

The Camden District 1939

The Camden district can be hard to define and has changed over time. Dr Ian Willis conducted research in the mid-1990s to determine the extent of the Camden district at the outbreak of the Second World War. This was part of his post-graduate studies at the University of Wollongong on the effect of the Second World War in Camden.

Map Camden District 1939[2]
Map of the Camden district in 1939 showing the extent of the area with Camden in the east. The silver mining centre of Yerranderie is in the west. (I Willis, 1996)
 

The boundary of the Camden district could be: an arbitrary line on a map based on a political decision; a natural region; an idea in someone’s mind; the delivery round of a Camden business; the geographic circulation area of a Camden newspaper; the emotional attachment of a person to a general area called Camden; the catchment area of a special event in Camden; the membership of a Camden organisation; the social networks of people who live in the Camden area; or any combination of these.

 

From historical research I have conducted I have found the boundary of the Camden district to a moveable feast. By the 1930s it took in an area of 1180 square kilometres and a population of around 5000. The result is on the attached map. It is a combination of the factors outlined above.

 

Origins of the Camden district

The concept of the Camden district was set in motion by 1827 when the early pattern of the early land grants had determined the road network. This process was re-enforced by the arrival of the tramway in 1882, the road traffic along the Hume Highway going to Goulburn, and the movement of silver from Yerrandarie and coal from the Burragorang Valley to the Camden railhead. As a result, the town became an important transport interchange and centre for economic activity for a district, which extended out to Burragorang Valley and Yerrandarie.

 

By the 1930s the growth of the town had attracted additional businesses and the town had become the centre for government services and community organisations. The town was a meeting place for local people and acted as a stepping off point to the rest of the outside world.

Cover Pictorial History Camden District Ian Willis 2015
Front Cover of Ian Willis’s Pictorial History of Camden and District (Kingsclear, 2015)

 

The district’s population came together on Sale Day (still Tuesdays) to meet and do business. The livestock sales were the town’s busiest day of the week  The annual Camden Show was (and still is) always a popular attraction and people came from a wide area to compete and exhibit their crafts, produce and livestock.

 

Daily life in the Camden district is recorded in the two local newspapers

District life was reported in detail in Camden’s two newspapers, the Camden News and the Camden Advertiser, which were widely circulated in the area. Camden businesses had customers from all over the local area. Some had regular delivery runs that reached to Burragorang Valley and beyond.

 

Since the 1930s many things have happened. The largest change has been the growth in population, and the town and district are now part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Sydney. Despite this, the district still has a discernable identity in the minds of local people.

1973 New Cities Plan

The creation of The new cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin: structure plan (1973) was one of the most profound changes to the Camden district. The New Cities proposal was part of the 1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan developed by the State Planning Authority of the Askin Liberal government and became a developers’ dream.

The New Cities Plan 1973[1]
The New Cities Plan 1973
 

Current planners, bureaucrats, businesses, and residents need to have an understanding of this local identity and build on the opportunities that it presents.

Today the Camden district is part of the Macarthur region.

Macarthur regional tourist guide
Macarthur Regional Tourist Promotion by Camden and Campbelltown Councils

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The Burragorang Valley, a lost Gothic fantasy

camdenhistorynotes

A lost place

The Burragorang Valley is one of those lost places that people fondly remember from the past. A place of imagination and dreaming where former residents fondly re-tell stories from their youth. These places create potent memories and nostalgia for many people and continue to be places of interest. They are localities of myths and legends and imminent danger, yet at the same time, places of incredible beauty.

This is an image of the flooded Burragorang Valley in 1978 from Nattai Lookout. One can only imagine the stories, the memories, the ghosts and the mysteries that lie beneath the waters of Lake Burragorang. Indigenous stories are only starting to be published and add to the mysteries of the Valley and its past. (I Willis, 1978)

One of these people is artist Robyn Collier who tells her story this way:

The Burragorang Valley is the picturesque valley that was flooded in the 1950s to make way for a permanent  water supply for the growing city of Sydney. What was once a thriving valley of guest houses, farms and other small industries no longer exists. Residents were forced to leave their precious valley, livelihoods were lost, people dispossessed with only a small  compensation. The homes and buildings were demoloshed the land stripped of vegetation. That Valley  is now called Lake Burragorang. I have been fortunate enough to have had a very long history with what is left of  this beautiful area  – a history I thought I had left behind 30 years ago.

Robyn Collier was taken on a journey back to the valley in recent years, prompting them to create several works of art. She writes that it is a

 It has been a journey I never thought I would ever make again – and yet, here it is.

Robyn created an exhibition of her works in 2018 and her memories of the valley.

Art Burragorang Valley Robyn Collier 2019
Lake Burragorang behind Warragamba Dam still has some hint of the Gothic elements of the pre-flooded valley of the 1950s (R Collier)

In 2006 Radio National examined the loss of the valley to the Europeans who had settled there over the decades. The notes that support the radio programme state:

In the 1930s and 40s, NSW was experiencing a bad drought, and during the war years planning began in earnest for the building of Warragamba Dam. The site of the dam meant that the 170 residents who called the Burragorang Valley their home would need to leave, either because their properties would be submerged by the dam’s waters or because they would be cut off from road access.

Although protest meetings, petitions and deputations to local members of parliament called for the dam to be stopped, it went ahead regardless. Throughout the 1950s, the Sydney Water Board bought up properties in the area or resumed land that was needed for the catchment area. Houses were pulled down and the valley cleared of trees and vegetation in preparation for the completion of the dam in 1960.

The Burragorang was also a popular holiday spot and was renowned for its guesthouses, where Sydneysiders could come for a weekend to go horse-riding and bushwalking and attend the many dances that were on offer. However, by the 1940s, city planners were already talking about one of the most pressing issues facing Sydney – the provision of a secure water supply – and the Burragorang Valley was earmarked as the site for a new dam.

burragorang-valley Sydney Water
Burragorang Valley (Sydneywater)

The Gothic nature of the Burragorang Valley

Gothic is a term that has been applied to many things, from art to landscape to architecture. The Gothic novel is one expression of this genre and Lauren Corona has written that.

The Gothic novel was the first emergence of Gothic literature, and was sometimes referred to as the Gothic romance. These kinds of novels were characterized by elements of horror, suspense and mystery. Gothic novels attempted to find understanding through exploring the darker side of life. They often contained ruined old buildings, wild landscapes, good and handsome heroes, terrified heroines and, of course, an evil character. Arguably the most famous Gothic novel is Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein.’

The American Gothic novel was characterized by murder, mystery, horror and hauntings.

Gothic architecture usually refers to the large medieval cathedrals built across Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries. These imposing and grand buildings have special religious and spiritual meanings in the history of Christianity. Gothic architecture usually includes abbeys, churches, castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and smaller buildings. The style appeals to the emotions and the mighty grandeur of these buildings.

Gothic places possess a duality of beauty and grandeur combined with evil and danger. That is their attraction. Mountain areas are typical of this with their soaring grandeur and risk of imminent death.

These characteristics can be drawn out in the wild grandeur of the Burragorang Valley with its soaring cliffs and breathtaking vistas that create a magnificent natural landscape. There is also the sense of danger from frequent floods, secret gorges, isolation and difficulty of access.

The Burragorang Valley has captured the hearts of many folks over the years, and stories have been told about the area from the Dreamtime.

Some of the early photographs of the Valley hint at the Gothic nature of the area. Here is one image that expresses some of these characteristics of the Gothic – the picturesque and the dangerous:

Burragorang V Wollondilly River SLV
The Burragorang Valley and the Wollondilly River (SLV)

The Gothic elements within the landscape attracted many visitors to the Valley. One example from 1941:

Burragorang Valley Bushwalkers 1941
Burragorang Valley Bushwalkers standing in the Wollondilly River in 1941

These characteristics made the area a popular tourist destination during the Interwar years of the 20th century. Many European settlers built guesthouses for visitors from Sydney and beyond.

The Oaks Historical Society has captured some of these stories in its recently published newsletter.

The Oaks Newsletter Cover 2019Sept
The story of the Burragorang Valley on the cover of The Oaks Historical Society Newsletter September 2019

Updated 29 April 2023. Originally posted on 29 August 2019

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Living history in southern Queensland

camdenhistorynotes

Out and about in southern Queensland

The CHN blogger was out and about in southern Queensland recently and investigated some of the local aspects of living history.

The CHN blogger was drawn to southern Queensland by the Australian Historical Association Conference held at Toowoomba in early July. The conference was stimulating and challenging and the hosts provided a great venue at the Empire Theatre complex.

Toowoomba

The Toowoomba area provided a number of  examples of living history starting with the Cobb & Co Museum complex. Apart from the displays there is training in traditional trades for the more than curious and there are a number of special days during the year. The blogger was there during the school holidays and there was a motza of stuff for the littlies to do – all hands on. The kids seemed to be having lots of fun, followed around their Mums and Dads. The coffee was not bad either.

Toowoomba Cobb&Co Museum Windmills 2019
These windmills are outside the Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba. The museum has one of the best collections of carriages and horse transport in the country. (IWillis 2019)

 

The generous conference hosts organised some activities for conference goers. I tagged along on a town tour one evening led by the president of the local historical society – very informative. ‘Town by night’ was a great way to see the sights of the city centre from a new perspective.

Toowoomb Empire Theatre 2019 IW
Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre is one of Australia’s best examples of an art-deco style theatre in a regional area. (IWillis 2019)

 

The Toowoomba Visitor Information Centre publishes a number of self-guided walking tours around historic precincts of the town area. This history nut would particularly recommend the Empire Theatre complex, the railway station, Masonic temple, court house–police station–post office precinct, and Harris House.

Harris House

One property that particularly took the fancy of this blogger was the Federation Queen Anne style Harris House. The cottages was bequeathed to the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) in 2017. The 1912 Edwardian villa residence demonstrates the development of Toowoomba in the early 20th century and the place wealthy members of the local society within it.

Toowoomba Harris House 2109
Harris House is an Edwardian Queen-Anne style villa town residence that was owned by some of Toowoomba’s wealthy social elite. (I Willis, 2019)

 

The single storey red brick dwelling has a Marseilles tiled roof and wide verandahs with bay windows. The concrete ornamentation contrasts with the face red brick and the hipped-roof has decorative finials and ridge capping. The house is in a visually prominent position on a corner block and is described by the Queensland Heritage Register as ‘a grand, Federation-era suburban villa residence’. It is quite an asset to the area.

The Woolshed

After the conference this nerdy blogger found himself at The Woolshed at Jondaryan. Originally built in 1859 the woolshed is one of the largest in Australia and today is an example of an extensive living history attraction. The European history of the woolshed illustrates the frontier story of the settler society of southern Queensland and the Darling Downs.

Toowoomba Jondaryan Woolshed 2019
The Jondaryan Woolshed complex is a good example of an extensive living history attraction. The woolshed was one of the largest in Australia and was an important part of story of 1890s shearers strikes and the conflict with pastoralists. (I Willis 2019)

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The Rotolactor, a Menangle milking marvel

camdenhistorynotes

A rotating wonder

One of the largest tourist attractions in the local area in the mid-20th century was a local milking marvel known as the Rotolactor.

Truly a scientific wonder, the Rotolactor captured people’s imagination at a time when scientific marvels instilled excitement in the general public.

In these days of post-modernism and fake news, this excitement seems hard to understand.

Menangle Rotolactor Post Card 1950s
Menangle Rotolactor in the 1950s Postcard (Camden Images)

What was the Rotolactor?

The Rotolactor was an automated circular milking machine with a rotating platform introduced into the Camden Park operation in 1952 by Edward Macarthur Onslow from the USA.

Part of agricultural modernism, the Rotolactor was installed by the Macarthur family on their colonial property of Camden Park Estate to improve their dairying operations in the mid-20th century.

The idea of a rotating milking platform was American and first introduced in New Jersey in the mid-1920s.

Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolacotor Model2 2018
Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolactor Model 2 model in 2018 (I Willis)

The 1940s manager of Camden Park, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Macarthur Onslow, inspected an American Rotolactor while overseas on a business trip and returned to Australia full of enthusiasm to build one at Camden Park.

The Menangle Rotolactor was the first in Australia and only the third of its kind in the world.

Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolacotor Model3 2018
Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolactor Model 3 display in 2018 (I Willis)

The rotating dairy could milk 1,000 cows twice a day. It held 50 cows at a time and was fed at as they were milked. The platform rotated about every  12 minutes.

The Rotolactor was a huge tourist attraction for Menangle village and provided many local jobs.

In 1953 it was attracting 600 visitors on a weekend, with up to 2000 visitors a week at its peak. (The Land, 27 March 1953)

Town planning disruption

In 1968 town planning disrupted things. The Askin state government released the  Sydney Regional Outline Plan, followed by the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan, which later became the Macarthur Growth Centre in 1975.

The structure plan did recognise the importance of the Rotolactor and the cultural heritage of the Menangle village. (The State Planning Authority of New South Wales, 1973, p. 84)

These events, combined with declining farming profits, encouraged the Macarthur family to sell out of  Camden Park including the Rotolactor and the private village of Menangle.

The Rotolactor continued operations until 1977 and then remained unused for several years. It was then purchased by Halfpenny dairy interests from Menangle, who operated the facility until it finally closed in 1983. (Walsh 2016, pp.91-94)

Community festival celebrates the Rotolactor

In 2017 the Menangle Community Association organised a festival to celebrate the history of the Rotolactor. It was called the Menangle Milk-Shake Up and was a huge success.

Menangle Promo MilkShake UP
Menangle Milk Shake Up Community Festival, organised by the Menangle Community Association in 2017 (MCA)

The Festival exceeded all the expectations of the organisers from the Menangle Community Association when it attracted over 5000 people to the village from all over Australia. (Wollondilly Advertiser, 18 September 2017)

The Menangle Community Association Facebook page described it this way:

A true country event like in the old days. So many visitors came dressed up in their original 50s clothes, and all those wonderful well selected stall holders. It was pure joy.

Despite these sentiments, the event just covered costs (Wollondilly Advertiser, 5 April 2018)

The festival’s success was a double-edged sword for the organisers from the Menangle Community Association.

Urban development

The festival’s success demonstrated to local development interests that Rotolactor nostalgia could be marketized and had considerable commercial potential.

The Menangle Community Association attempted to lift the memory of the Rotolator and use it as a weapon to protect the village from the forces of urban development  and neo-liberalism

Menangle land developers also used the festival’s success to further their interests.

Developer Halfpenny made numerous public statements supporting the restoration of the Rotolactor as a function centre and celebrating its past. (The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 December 2017).

Menangle Rotolactor Paddock 2016 Karen
Menangle Rotolactor in a derelict condition in 2016 (Image by Karen)

The newspaper article announced that the site’s owner, local developer Ernest Dupre of Souwest Developments, has pledged to build a micro-brewery, distillery, two restaurants, a farmers market, a children’s farm, a vegetable garden, and a hotel with 30 rooms.

In 2017  the state government planning panel approved the re-zoning of the site for 350 houses and a tourist precinct. Housing construction will be completed by Mirvac.

Mr Dupre stated that he wanted to turn the derelict Rotolactor into a function with the adjoining Creamery building as a brewery next to the Menangle Railway Station.

He expected the development to cost $15 million and take two years. The plan includes an outdoor concert theatre for 8000 people and a lemon grove.

Facebook Comments 6 August 2021

Reply as Camden History Notes

  • Bev WatersonRemember it well. My parents would take us there quite regularly.

JD GoreyThanks Elizabeth Searle ! I’ll show him! He’ll be interested for sure!! 👍

 Elizabeth SearleJD Gorey, The pilot was asking about this during our trip to the farm. He may be interested in the article 👍Originally posted 19 July 2019. Updated 6 April 2021.

Facebook comments 9 May 2023

  • Craige Cole I remember travelling from our family dairy farm on the far south coast to visit the Rotalactor in the late 60s and recall the total awe of my parents. I know that visit was the catalyst for us installing a new more efficient dairy setup.
  • Julie ClarkeMy dad worked on the rotolactor.

Updated 9 May 2023. Originally posted on 19 July 2019.

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Living history at a country festival

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

Camden’s European living history on show

An example of living history has been on display recently at the Camden Show, the annual celebration of the rural heritage of the Camden district.

The show is an immersive experience for participants and observers alike in the real smells, sounds and sights of a sample of the farm in rural Australia.

Camden Show collage 2019 IW
The 2019 Camden Show provided an immersive experience for participants and observers alike in a host of farming activities. The authentic sights, sounds and smells of the show ring and surrounds enlightened and entertained in a feast for the senses. (I Willis, 2019)

 

The show represents the authentic real life of country people. It is a performance bringing history to life by storytelling through a host of demonstrations, events and displays.

The show is historical representation of the past in the present  illustrating a host of aspects of rural heritage through experiential learning.

Living history reveals layers from the past

The show reveals itself in a multi-layered story of continuity and change on the edge of the Camden township. What was once a small isolated rural village at the Nepean River crossing and is now a thriving Sydney suburb on the city’s metropolitan fringe.

Competitive sections of the show have come and gone with changes in the farming economy. Livestock, produce, craft and cooking sections each tell a story of different aspect of rural life. What was once an integral part of the rural economy is now a craft activity and completely new sections have appeared over the decades.

Camden Show Sandra Dodds 2019 IW
Camden resident and artist Sandra D entered her creation in the Bush Cuppa Tray competition and won first prize. Her entry provided a feast for the sense with scones, cup of tea, a copy of the Bulletin magazine, a story of painting ‘en plein air’ in the 1890s, gum leaves. All this activity taking place on 21 December 1889 at Montrose in Victoria. (I Willis, 2019)

 

Where once rural artisans were part of the local economy their activities are now demonstrations of heritage and lost trades. Show patrons once used to arrive in a horse and cart today’s show-goers watch competitive driving of horse and sulkies in the show ring.

Camden Show Marily Willis 2019 IW
This excited first timer won second place for a group of zucchinis in the produce section of the 2019 Camden Show. Marilyn Judith W grew her entry on her plot at the Camden Community Garden where a number of other gardeners also entered their produce. Marilyn had an immersive experience at the show and volunteered her time at the community garden stall giving away seedlings to adults and children alike. (I Willis, 2019)

 

Sideshows and carnies continue show  traditions that have their origins in English village fairs and carnivals of the past and even a hint of the Roman Empire and their circuses.

The success of the show illustrates a yearning by those attending to experience and understand elements of the traditions of a rural festival in the face of urban growth and development.

History

The Camden Show is a rural festival that is part of the modern show movement that emerged from the Industrial Revolution.  The first series of agricultural shows in the early 19th century demonstrated modern British farming methods and technology.

The first agricultural shows in New South Wales were in the early 19th century and the first Camden Show in 1886. The 19th century agricultural show movement set out to  demonstrate the latest in British Empire know-how and innovation in farming.

The site of the show on the Nepean River floodplain is one of the first points of contact between European and Indigenous people and the cows that escaped from the Sydney settlement in 1788 former the Cowpasture Reserve in 1795. For living history it is material culture which grounds the audience in time and place.

Camden Show 2019 IW
All good farmers had a reliable truck to cart stock and hay to the market from the farm and to take trips into town. This one dates from the mid-20th century at Bringelly NSW on display at the Camden Show with a friendly passenger. (I Willis, 2019)

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Camden Produce Market and Camden Community Garden, sites of community engagement

camdenhistorynotes

Paths, plots and produce

Produce fanciers can indulge the pleasure at the weekly produce markets in Camden and talk to local growers. While there, you can wander next door and view the volunteer’s garden plots at the community garden.

The produce market and community garden are part of the larger town farm complex.  The town farm was gifted to Camden Council by Miss Llewella Davies in 1999 on her death at 98 years of age.

Llewella Davies Naant Gwylan 33a Exeter St SCEGGS uniform CIPP
Schoolgirl Llewella Davies outside her home Naant Gwylan at 33a Exeter St Camden in her SCEGGS uniform (CHS)

The town farm was formerly a dairy farm with extensive frontage to the Nepean River. The area is part of the Nepean River floodplain and has rich fertile soils. The river shows its anger from time to time, and the whole area is subject to flooding.

A masterplan was developed by Camden Council for the town farm in 2007, outlining future directions for the farm.

Camden Produce Market

Camden Produce Market stall 2018
Camden Produce Market plant stall 2018 (I Willis)

The Camden produce markets are held every Saturday morning.

Camden Produce Market Pick of the Week 2018
Pick of the Week at the Camden Produce Market 2018 (I Willis)

The stall holders are producers from within the Sydney Basin growing or producing their products for sale.

Camden Produce Market sign
Camden Produce Market stall sign 2018 (I Willis)

The markets are managed by Macarthur Growers Pty Ltd and operate from 7.00am to 12 noon.

Camden Produce Market Product 2018
Produce of the week at the Camden Produce Market Product 2018 (I Willis)

The markets have been operating for a number of years. The produce market website states:

Camden Fresh Produce Market evolved from a MACROC (Macarthur Region of Councils) initiative called “Macarthur Agri Tourism Project” which was funded by GROW a NSW government initiative to promote sustainable agriculture in the Macarthur Region. The first market was held in Lower John Street on 3rd of November 2001.

Camden Produce Markt 2018
Camden Produce Market stall 2018 (I Willis)

Next door is the Camden Community Garden.

Camden Community Garden

The Camden Community Garden is set on the idyllic Nepean River floodplain within the Camden Town Farm, formerly a dairy farm of the Davies family.

Camden Community Garden Gate&Signage 2018
Gate and signage at the entrance of the Camden Community Garden (I Willis, 2018)

The Camden Council website states about the garden:

Camden Community Garden is a place for gardeners to meet and exchange ideas, bringing together gardeners across a range of ages, abilities and a diverse cultural background.  

The community garden group was incorporated in 2009, and volunteer gardeners took up plots in 2010.

Camden Community Garden seedling cauliflower
Cauliflower seedling in the early dew at the Camden Community Garden (I Willis, 2018)

Volunteers lease plots and grow their own produce for personal consumption.

Camden Community Garden 2018 IWillis
Paths, plots and patches at the Camden Community Garden 2018 (I Willis)

Each volunteer tends their own plot and is responsible for it. There are around 50 active gardeners.

Camden Community Garden Rose 2018
A rose bud in a garden bed of roses in the early morning dew at the Camden Community Garden (I Willis, 2018)

The community garden is managed by a committee of members meeting monthly.

Camden Community Garden shed
The former farm shed c1900 aptly renamed the barn popular with weddings and other activities at the Camden Community Garden (I Willis, 2018)

Regular working bees are for general maintenance on the 3rd Sunday of each month.

Camden Communiyt Garden Fences 2018
Fields and more at the Camden Community Garden 2018 (I Willis)

Visitors are welcome to attend if they would like to find out more information.

Camden Community Gardens[1]

Yellow gold flows from Flow Beehive for the first time

Yellow golden honey from the Camden Community Garden flows for the first time at the garden when Steve and Justin crack open the Flow Beehive. The bees took 3 years to adopt their new home and 3 months to fill it with honey. Cracking one row yielded over 3 kgs of genuine Camden yellow gold.

Camden Community Garden FlowHive 2018[2]
Apiarist Steve cracks the Flowhive for the first time in the garden, yielding over three kgs of Camden honey. There are several conventional hives in the garden which yield yellow gold. (I Willis, 2018)

Cover photograph: Stall produce at the Camden Produce Market (I Willis, 2018)

Updated on 2 August 2023. Originally posted on 31 March 2018 as ‘Paths, plots and produce’

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Showtime in Camden 2014

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The show is a popular annual rural festival

The annual festival of farming returns to the Camden Showground at the end of March again. The show has been the most crucial country festival in the district for over 100 years. In 2019 the show attracted over 40,000 visitors and was a huge success.

In the early days, it was a celebration of agricultural modernism. By the inter-war period, it had matured into a permanent part of the local landscape.

The Second World War and the poor state of the show’s finances saw the show disappear for the duration of the conflict. It is now more vital than ever and not to be missed.

Camden Show Ring 1986 (Camden Images)

Histories of the Camden Show

There have been two histories produced of the Camden Show. The first was on the show’s centenary in 1986 and written by local identity Dick Nixon from the Camden Historical Society.

Cover Dick Nixon’s Camden Show History was produced on the centenary in 1986. (I Willis)

The second history of the Camden Show was written by Neville Clissold on the 125 anniversary of the show in 2011.

Cover of the 125-anniversary edition of the Camden Show written by Neville Clissold. (I Willis)

Camden Show 1890s

The early years of the Camden Show were big community events when everyone came to town.

Panorama of the Camden Show in the 1890s. One of the most significant changes in the grandstand on the opposite side of the show ring that burnt down in the early 20th century. A new grandstand was built on the left-hand side of the ring in this image. The current show pavilion is on the opposite side of the show ring. St John’s church is centre rear of the hill, and there is an absence of trees that now mark this same view from behind the current sports club. (Camden Images)

Guess who you meet at the show?

The NSW Premier

It is amazing who you bump into at the Camden Show. Historical society volunteers John Wrigley OAM, Bettie Small PHF and Len Channell, with Peter Hayward in the background, greeted the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell, the Member for Camden, Mr Chris Patterson, MP, and Camden Mayor,  Clr Lara Symkowiak.

The dignitaries just walked into the pavilion to look at the arts and crafts put in by competitors and who they should meet but the enthusiastic members of the historical society. The encounter didn’t phase society members; they took it all in their stride. Usually, volunteers just meet friends they have not seen since last year’s show. Meeting the NSW Premier was a real surprise.

The historical society has been fortunate to have a stall in the show pavilion for many years. It has been located in amongst the cakes, flowers, sewing, knitting and other rural crafts.  The stall sells the latest publications, takes new memberships and renewals, and answers many local history questions.

Camden Show with the Camden Historical Society stall amongst the arts and crafts displays. Special guests Mr OFarrell Premier NSW and Member for Camden Mr C Patterson and Mayor L Symkowiak. Camden Historical Society John Wrigley OAM, Bettie Small  and Len Channell, with Peter Hayward  (I Willis, 2014)

Mud and Slush in 2014

The 2014 Camden Show featured mud and storms as a special event. It rained on Friday afternoon with a thunderstorm that arrived around 4.00 pm from the southwest. It caught many people unaware and created a mud bath in many parts of the showground. It dumped about 15 mm in about an hour.

On Saturday morning, show officials were putting down woodchips over the worst patches and straw on other patches. Patrons who wore boots were well prepared to walk around in the mud. On Saturday, there was a steady rain from about 4.00 pm with a short storm that came in over the Burragorang Valley and Southern Highlands and provided drizzle around right through the fireworks.

Camden Show in 2014 on Saturday morning after a heavy rain shower on Friday afternoon. (I Willis, 2014)

2014 Camden Show

The 2014 Camden Show was the usual lively affair, and this showground map illustrates the range of events and activities.

2014 Camden Show Map (Camden Show Society)

2014 Camden Show schedule of events flyer (Camden Show Society)

2014 Camden Show programme schedule of events flyer (Camden Show Society)

Show Merchandise 2013

This is the price list for show merchandise in 2013. Did you buy your tie?

Merchandise available for sale at the 2013 Camden Show (Camden Show Society)

Camden Showgirl

The Showgirl competition is, in many ways, an anachronism from the past. It has survived for over 45 years under the onslaught of feminism, post-modernism, globalization and urbanisation. A worthy feat indeed.

The competition is still popular, and the local press is always a strong supporter. Showtime, the show ball and Miss Showgirl are representatives of notions around Camden’s rurality.

People use the competition as a lens through which they can view the past, including the young women who enter it. In 2008 Showgirl Lauren Elkins ‘was keen’, she said, ‘to get into the thick of promoting the town and its rural heritage’. 

Camden people yearned for a past when the primary role of the town was to service the surrounding farmers and their needs. Miss Showgirl is part of the invocation of rural nostalgia.

 Miss Camden Showgirl (1962-1978)

1962 Helen Crace
1963 Helen Crace
1964 Sue Mason
1965 Barbara Duck
1966 Dawn Dowle
1967 Jenny Rock
1968 Heather Mills
1969 Michelle Chambers

1970 Joyce Boardman
1971 Anne Macarthur-Stanham
1972 Kerri Webb
1973 Anne Fahey
1974 Sue Faber
1975 Janelle Hore
1976 Jenny Barnaby
1977 Patsy Anne Daley

1978 Julie Wallace

Camden Showgirl (1979-2014)

1979 Sandra Olieric

1980 Fiona Wilson
1981 Louise Longley
1982 Melissa Clowes
1983 Illa Eagles
1984 Leanne Reily
1985 Rebecca Py
1986 Jenny Rawlinson

1987 Jayne Manns

1988 Monique Mate
1989 Linda Drinnan
1990 Tai Green
1991 Toni Leeman
1992 Susan Lees
1993 Belinda Bettington
1994 Miffy Haynes
1995 Danielle Halfpenny
1996 Jenianne Garvin
1997 Michelle Dries

1998 Belinda Holyoake
1999 Lyndall Reeves
2000 Katie Rogers
2001 Kristy Stewart
2002 Margaret Roser
2003 Sally Watson
2004 Danielle Haack
2005 Arna Daley
2006 Victoria Travers
2007 Sarah Myers
2008 Fiona Boardman
2009 Lauren Elkins
2010 Adrianna Mihajlovic
2011 Hilary Scott

2012 April Browne

2013 Isabel Head

2014 Jacinda Webster

RAS Young Woman of the Year (2019+)

In 2019 the Royal Agricultural Society re-branded the RAS Showgirl Competition as the RAS Young Woman of the Year. The first Camden Show, Young Woman of the Year, was awarded as the Camden Show 2023 Young Woman of the Year.

A display on the history of the Camden Show with various items, including ribbons, newspaper publicity and trophies. These items indicate the breadth of awards used to acknowledge excellence at the show. All part of the temporary display created by Jason Sharpe at the 2021 Camden Show sponsors’ event. (I Willis)

Updated 22 March 2023. Originally posted 17 March 2017.