We reached Murga and there was nothing there other than the blank eyes of this old house looking at us. Perhaps it was once a staging post.
I've added Murga as a locality at 100 Towns.
We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything. Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this. The roadside monument says: In Memory of WILLIAM LEE (1794 - 1870) of "Larras Lake" a pioneer of the sheep and cattle industry and first member for Roxburgh under responsible government (1856 - 1859). This stone was erected by his descendants. --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an increase in his land to 300 acres. William developed a r
I like to imagine who lived in places like this and why they left. There's just no telling.
ReplyDeleteIt is a terrible name, so depressing! Matches the bleak shot.
ReplyDeleteA bit like Dark Corner, not the best name.
DeleteThe windows do look like sad eyes. Is there a sad story about this house and town, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteWasn't able to find anything. When I google town names I get reams and reams of pages promising hair dressers, doctors, plumbers, you name it ... which are generated from sites that pick up every town name. There are of course none of these facilities within cooee of most the towns I google.
DeleteIt does mean however that I have to scroll and scroll to try and find the real gems of information and generally give up at about page 10.
I like the line of the hills in the background. They give the photo an almost harmonic mood ... hard to explain.
ReplyDeleteYou spotted the very thing I liked about this shot. That and the yellow creeper give it a special character.
DeleteYes Joan ... blank eyes and the heart and soul of the place long gone. I guess there are a lot of similar places that were once a hub of life and activity now remain as nothing more than an empty shell.
ReplyDeleteHeaps and heaps of them. Even though my blog is full of them it is a mere fraction of what I see.
DeleteThis is the style of house that my daughter is looking for. This style, rather than this condition. There is 'your' yellow creeper from your childhood out-house.
ReplyDeleteYes the style is nice ... those bull nosed verandahs ... I wish our house had them.
ReplyDeleteThe yellow creeper cannot be the same one as the flowering time is wrong. I've seen a type of succulent that flowers at this time of year, perhaps it is that.
I was born in this house in 1953. a family of 5 then lived in it, 3 small children and needless to say we all got whooping cough in Dec 1953. The house had no electricity, running water or bathroom. we lived in this little house until 1955, then moved to the new homestead my family built, further up the hill.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was only ever used a family homes.
No family has lived in this since 1955. It is now used by sheep to keep warm and dry and has the occasional piece of machinery inside.
In total there were 5 little room- kitchen was painted black!
I hope it never gets knocked down as it is one of the only ones left in the district.
I was born in this house in 1953. The house was our home until 1955 when we moved to the new homestead my parents built further up the hill.
ReplyDeletethe house had 5 little rooms, no electricity, running water or bathroom.
All us kids, 3 of us, got sick from whooping cough in Dec 1953- not surprising as there was no heating either.
we were the last family to live there.
It has since been used as a machinery shed and shelter for sheep. It was not a staging post but always a residential home. I believe it was built in around 1860.
Please let it stay as there are so few of these old houses left.
I believe the yellow creeper is actually english box and is a pest, takes over everything.
ReplyDeleteWe left only as we built the new house at the back.
Murga used to have a school and was a thriving little community.
Cathie, it is so exciting to hear from someone who knows the history of the home. I will let my readers know so they can also read your story.
DeleteHow wonderful that Cathie read yor post and wasmoved enough to comment, Joan. Good community service.
ReplyDelete