Lithgow is situated in
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and is the centre of the local political division
City of LithgowLithgow is a Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia that includes Lithgow and its surrounding area. It is on the Great Western Highway and the Main Western railway line.- Demographics :According to the , there:...
. It is located in a mountain valley named
Lithgow's Valley by
John OxleyThis article is about the person. For the Australian pilot ship, see John Oxley .John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation....
in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales. Lithgow is located on the
Great Western HighwayThe Great Western Highway is a highway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs 210 km from Sydney to Bathurst.Starting as Broadway at the intersection of City Road near the fringe of the Sydney CBD, and becoming Parramatta Road to Parramatta itself, the Great Western Highway heads due west from...
, about or two hours drive west of Sydney, or via the old mountain route, Bells Line of Road, from
WindsorWindsor is a town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area.-History:...
.
Lithgow is surrounded by a varied landscape which includes national parks, one of which, the
Blue Mountains National ParkThe Blue Mountains National Park is a national park in New South Wales , 81 km west of Sydney, and located in the Blue Mountains region of the Great Dividing Range. The park covers 267,954 hectares, and the boundary of the park is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and...
, is a World Heritage Area.
Lithgow is situated in
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and is the centre of the local political division
City of LithgowLithgow is a Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia that includes Lithgow and its surrounding area. It is on the Great Western Highway and the Main Western railway line.- Demographics :According to the , there:...
. It is located in a mountain valley named
Lithgow's Valley by
John OxleyThis article is about the person. For the Australian pilot ship, see John Oxley .John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation....
in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales. Lithgow is located on the
Great Western HighwayThe Great Western Highway is a highway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs 210 km from Sydney to Bathurst.Starting as Broadway at the intersection of City Road near the fringe of the Sydney CBD, and becoming Parramatta Road to Parramatta itself, the Great Western Highway heads due west from...
, about or two hours drive west of Sydney, or via the old mountain route, Bells Line of Road, from
WindsorWindsor is a town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area.-History:...
.
Lithgow is surrounded by a varied landscape which includes national parks, one of which, the
Blue Mountains National ParkThe Blue Mountains National Park is a national park in New South Wales , 81 km west of Sydney, and located in the Blue Mountains region of the Great Dividing Range. The park covers 267,954 hectares, and the boundary of the park is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and...
, is a World Heritage Area. The
Wollemi National ParkWollemi National Park is the second largest national park in New South Wales, and contains most of the largest wilderness area, the Wollemi Wilderness...
is home to the Jurassic-age tree the Wollemi Pine, which was found growing in a remote canyon in the park.
Location
The city sits on the western edge of the sandstone country of the Blue Mountains and is usually considered the first true country town west of
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
. Immediate surrounding areas include the old mining hamlet of Vale of Clywydd and Oakey Park, a famous iron and steel village, of which fiery night scenes have been depicted in many paintings, as well as large areas of bush and state forest. The next city to the West is
BathurstBathurst is a regional centre in the state of New South Wales, Australia approximately 200 km west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council Local Government Area. It has a population of approximately 37,000 It is the oldest inland settlement in Australia.-History:The...
, away.
Lithgow is in the NSW State electorate of
BathurstBathurst is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Gerard Martin of the Australian Labor Party....
, while federally it is part of electorate of
MacquarieThe Division of Macquarie is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
. Lithgow benefits from being the western terminus for the electric section of the
Main Western railway lineThe Main Western Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains, Central West, North West Slopes and the Far West regions.- Description of route :...
from
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
, and of
CityRail'sCityRail is an operating division of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter, 'intercity' and regional rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest...
intercity
Blue Mountains railway lineThe Blue Mountains Line is a section of the Main Western railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line is part of the 'intercity' region of CityRail, the operator of urban passenger services in New South Wales. It serves the Blue Mountains region to the west of Sydney, including its primary...
. Lithgow is a major location on the iconic
zig-zag railwayThe Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway at Lithgow in New South Wales, Australia on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag which operated between 1869 and 1910...
.
History
The mountainous terrain of the Blue Mountains and the expense of building long tunnels required the construction of the
Zig Zag RailwayThe Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway at Lithgow in New South Wales, Australia on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag which operated between 1869 and 1910...
between 1866 and 1869. The line was opened as far as Bowenfels, just to the west, in 1869, but
Lithgow stationLithgow railway station is a regional railway station on the Blue Mountains Line of the CityRail intercity network, serving the town of Lithgow in the Central West area of New South Wales, Australia...
was not opened until 1877. Although it was superseded in 1910 by more modern
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
methods, including ten tunnels, the Zig Zag remains a popular tourist attraction.
The town is the centre of a
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining district and there are two coal-powered power stations nearby. It is the site of Australia's first commercially-viable
steel millA steel mill is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process...
, the ruins of which are open for inspection at "Blast Furnace Park".
Due to the abundance of coal and relative proximity to
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
, Lithgow is the site of one of the largest power stations in NSW, the Mount Piper and Wallerawang Power Station. It is operated by
Delta ElectricityDelta Electricity is an electricity generation company in Australia. It is fully owned by the Government of New South Wales, and has a portfolio of generating sites mainly using thermal coal power....
.
Lithgow has many heritage sites. The following are listed on the
Register of the National EstateThe Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
:
- Former Station Master's Residence (now Caddie's Restaurant), a sandstone cottage designed by John Clifton and built in 1869
- Zig Zag Railway, designed by John Whitton, built by Patrick Higgins
- Ironworks Blast Furnace, Eskbank, 1875 to 1930
- Eskbank House, Bennett Street, built by Thomas Brown in 1842
- Lithgow Valley Pottery Site Kiln, 1875 to 1908
- Lithgow Court House, corner Bridge and Mort Streets, a brick building in the Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
style
- De La Salle Cottage (formerly Cooerwull Academy
The Cooerwull Academy was an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bowenfels, a small town on the western outskirts of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia....
), Rabaul Street, a stone building in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, built circa 1882
- Methven, Lidsdale Road, a sandstone house built by Andrew Brown in the 1870s
Lithgow was also the location of an alleged
assassinationAn Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....
attempt on the life of
Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
in 1970.
Electronic media in Lithgow is represented by the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC", is Australia's national public broadcaster. With a total budget of AUD$1.13 Billion annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as...
, and television by
PrimePrime Television is an Australian television network owned by Prime Television Limited. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN/CWN in Orange and Dubbo, New South Wales, and has since expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as a Seven...
,
WINWIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions...
and
Southern Cross TenSouthern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
with digital channels
Prime HD-History:Prime HD is a Channel Seven HD affiliate that operates in Victoria, New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory-Programming:Prime HD currently broadcasts a range of programming, with exclusive transmissions on weekday and weekend afternoons, late on Sundays and weeknights, and...
,
GO!Go! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
and Southern Cross One HD.
Tourist Attractions in Lithgow
Lithgow is adjacent to a number of national parks and other attractions. Places to visit include the
Zig Zag RailwayThe Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway at Lithgow in New South Wales, Australia on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag which operated between 1869 and 1910...
, Glow Worm Tunnel, Secret Creek Sanctuary, Newnes in the
Wolgan ValleyThe Wolgan Valley is a largely undeveloped valley located in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is centred on the Wolgan River and is located approximately 150 kilometres west of Sydney.-Description and history:...
and
Glen DavisGlen Davis may refer to:* Glen Davis * Glen Davis, New South Wales, a town in Australia...
in the Capertee Valley, the second largest canyon in the world.
Other places include the Hartley Historic Site, Small Arms Factory Museum, State Mine Heritage Park and the Eskbank House Museum. Lithgow is also close to the Jenolan Caves, which are a World Heritage Area and lie to the south of Lithgow.
By far the biggest, in terms of visitors, tourist attraction in Lithgow is the
Lithgow IronfestThe Lithgow Ironfest is a historical and cultural event created by Macgregor Ross, a local artist and festival director.-History:Ironfest was first held in April 2000 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the birth of steel in Australia, in Lithgow, New South Wales.Comprising of an exhibition of...
, an annual cultural heritage event that attracts over 10,000 visitors a year.Ironfest hosts the annual St George's Day Jousting Tournament which involves contestants from all around the World.
Another major part of Ironfest is the colonial battle re-enactment, called the 'Battle of Lithgow' which involves over 120 participants, kitted out in fully authentic 19th century apparel, and involving cavalry, infantry and artillery.
As well as these two major historical re-enactment events Ironfest comprises historical & auto displays, blacksmith demonstrations, art exhibitions, live music and performance, art making workshops & demonstrations, and much more. (For more info visit www.ironfest.com.au).
The Lithgow Greyhound Racing Club is also a popular tourist attraction for sports enthusiasts with Lithgow Workers Club sponsoring the ($5000 to the winner) Lithgow Golden Muzzle every summer. Another feature race of interest at Lithgow is the Quickstitch Cup every spring, which honours a dog who came out of retirement in 1982 at the age of five years and two months to break the 706m track record in winning the John Redden Trophy. Other dogs in the field that day were almost two years younger than Quickstitch, owned and trained by George and Noeline Costandis, of Londonderry. The race is sponsored by Media Director of St George Marketing & Public Relations, Reagan Murphy, who was the handler of Quickstitch, Odious, Ungwilla Lad, General Jeff and He's Some Boy in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The iron and steel industry at Lithgow
In 1848,
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
smeltingSmelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
began in Mittagong, Australia. It proved unprofitable for the remainder of the 19th century. This situation remained until the early 20th century when no
iron oreIron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite , hematite , goethite, limonite or...
was being smelted. The only iron being cast was by William Sandford in Lithgow. His works were bought by
G.&C. Hoskins in 1907, who had previously been making iron pipes in Sydney. The Lithgow works acquired a reputation for industrial disputes.
Climate
Lithgow features an
oceanic climateAn oceanic climate is the climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia...
(
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) with warm summers, mild winters, and generally steady precipitation year-round.
Notable Lithgow Residents
- Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown was the first European settler of the Lithgow Valley and was instrumental in the founding of the township of Lithgow as well as a number of Presbyterian educational institutions.-Early life:...
, first European settler of the Lithgow Valley as well as prominent industrialist and philanthropist. Ran a large agricultural property in Lithgow, built the first mill in the region and was the first individual to exploit Lithgow's vast coal reserves. He also built a number of Presbyterian churches and schools in the region as well as founding the St Andrew's CollegeSt Andrew's College is a Protestant co-residential college within the University of Sydney, in the suburb of Camperdown.-History:St Andrew's College was incorporated by Act of Parliament and received Royal Assent from Queen Victoria on 12 December 1867. The St Andrew's College Act 1998 replaced the...
at the University of SydneyThe University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia. It was established in Sydney in 1850. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" universities that are highly ranked in terms of their research performance...
http://www.lithgow-tourism.com/abrown.htm.
- Marjorie Jackson
Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, AC, CVO, MBE is the former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete...
, Olympic Gold Medalist and Governor of South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
, was brought up in Lithgow and at the peak of her athletic career was famously known as "The Lithgow Flash".
- Marty Roebuck
Marty Roebuck is a former Australian rugby union footballer who represented New South Wales and the Wallabies as a fullback....
, the former Australian Rugby UnionRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
TestThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
FullbackA fullback is a position in rugby. In both rugby union and rugby league codes, teams usually play with a single full back. In addition to being the last line of defence against running attacks by the opposing three-quarter backs, the full back is expected to field high kicks from the opposition,...
, was born in Lithgow.
- David Palmer, Champion squash player who has dominated the world tour with 4 British & 2 world Opens amongst his career highlights.
- Laura Hailtsone, Royal Princess of the Lithgow shire, life long promoter of Lithgow, its inhabitants and their shindigs.
- Stuart holloway-Anthes, current mayor of Lithgow. Since becoming mayor Stuart has done his best to help Lithgow by making its hospitals better and more efficient, he has also lowered crime by 15% and will soon be running for his third term as mayor.
- The town has also been made famous by the comedy/current affairs team of Roy and HG
Roy & HG are an Australian comedy duo, with Greig Pickhaver taking the role of HG Nelson and John Doyle as "Rampaging" Roy Slaven. Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their characters based on archetypes in sports journalism: Nelson the excitable...
. "Roy" -- otherwise known as John DoyleJohn Doyle is an award-winning Australian actor, writer, radio presenter and comedian. -Early life:Doyle was born in Lithgow, New South Wales in 1953 into a music-loving, Catholic household with three sisters and a brother. His mother was a business woman and father a railway fettler...
-- was born in Lithgow and tells frequent stories of when he played for the Rugby LeagueRugby league football is a full-contact form of football, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union...
Football Club, the Lithgow Shamrocks, under coach Grassy Grannell. The Shamrocks were a junior and senior rugby league team until the mid-1990s, when the juniors merged with another local junior league side, the Lithgow Workmen's Club, to form the Lithgow Storm. The Lithgow Workmen's Club Rugby League Football Club (the "Wolves") is Lithgow's only extant rugby league side at senior level.
External links