Australia So Much to See
New South Wales - Bogan Gate - a tiny town with an unusual name
Much of this road heading north was sealed but narrow, which meant extra caution when heavy haulage trucks approached.
The hotel at Bogan Gate was adjacent to the War Memorial, but it was destroyed by fire in 1930.
Several authors have surmised that Banjo Paterson’s poem, the Geebung Polo Club was based on the above polo match, however this poem
was first published in 1893, so prior to the Ogilvie and Morant’s polo match in 1896.
John Meredith’s fantastic book Breaker’s Mate: Will Ogilvie in Australia details the polo match and how it came about:
In recognition of
Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant
By the Bogan Gate and District people.
Born 9.12.1864 Somersetshire England
Executed 27.2.1902
Pretoria South Africa
Harry worked, played and wrote in our area
Horsebreaker, polo player and poet
"SHOOT STRAIGHT YOU BASTARDS"
On reaching Trundle, you can’t help being impressed by the wide streets, old buildings, and verandahs on the shops with verandah posts
in the old fashioned style.
The heritage listed Trundle Hotel was opened in 1912 built out of pise mud rendered with cement,
replacing an earlier 1888 building. The hotel was designed with long halls and corridors to allow cool draughts to flow through the
building. This hotel claims the second longest hotel balcony in New South Wales (with 68 metres facing Forbes Street and 18
metres facing Parkes Street). The longest hotel balcony in New South Wales is in Cobar, at 91 metres.
Trundle’s main street,
Forbes Street is New South Wales' widest main street, being around 66 metres.
J. Meredith (1996) p.45
From History Parkes
Nelungaloo Station, where Ogilvie met Morant, was owned by the Lackey family and was situated about halfway between Parkes and Bogan
Gate. After leaving the station, Morant rented a paddock near the Bushman’s Mine where he broke-in horses for the townspeople of Parkes.
The
Breaker taught Will and a few others to play polo, and they joined forces with local enthusiasts to form a club. Organising a working
bee, members cleaned up a large natural clearing known locally as The Little Plains, and converted it into a polo field. Situated
on the Trundle Road, it was conveniently close to the Bogan Gate Hotel, owned by Simeon Levi West of Botfield Station, and officially
titled The Selectors’ Arms Hotel.
After the club had played a few chukkas among themselves, somebody had the bright idea of forming
two teams, to consist of the ‘Sterling’ – migrant, or “imported” players – and the ‘Currency Lads’, all Australian-born. Then they
announced a grand international match: Great Britain versus Australia.
Local oral tradition and the rural press of the day have
preserved the names and status of the teams which were as follows:
The Australians: Captain, Victor Foy of Mordialloc Station;
Bert Balcombe of Coradgerie Station; Arthur Pike, Stock and Station Agent in Trundle; and Will Black, storekeeper of Bogan Gate.
The
Great Britain Team: Captain, Harry Morant, representing England; ‘Swinglebar’ (Ogilvie, playing under an alias) for Caledonia; Paddy
Ryan and Ed McDonald for Ireland. Paddy Ryan was trainer and jockey for West of Botfields, and later married one of the West daughters;
of Ed McDonald, nothing appears to have been recorded, particularly the reason for his playing for Ireland.
The name of the Bogan River is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "the birthplace of a great leader ". The Gate
was the boundary gate between the gigantic Burrawang (once 208,000 hectares in size) and Gunningbland sheep and cattle stations. Bogan
Gate provided access to the stock routes to the Bogan River country, which lies further to the north and was an active bushranger
territory in the mid 1800s. A replica gate is on display in the centre of town, in the Memorial Park.
War Memorial, which was originally constructed in 1922. At that time, Bogan Gate was in the Goobang Shire.
Being only thirty kilometres west of Parkes, the town now has little more than a hotel, post office agency (LPO), and an old empty
general store with disused fuel bowsers next door. There is a primary school and a police station in the town. An arts
and crafts centre with shop at the old railway station operates on weekends.
This gate is a replica of the original gate, as depicted in the booklet "Gateway to the Bogan". The actual gate was located
approximately half a mile (800 metres) north of RAAF Base, Bogan Gate.
Original survey peg on display in Memorial Park.
A memorial to Harry “Breaker” Morant (below) in the Memorial Park.
In a wheat and sheep region, between Trundle and Tullamore, there were closed concrete grain receival silos along the railway line
at The Troffs, Kadungle, and Gobonderry.
Former car and agricultural machinery dealership with fuel bowsers now closed in Parkes Street. In the main street, Forbes Street, businesses open include an agricultural stock and services store, a hardware store, a small general store (groceries) with cafe, post office agency with newsagency, and a tyre service with fuel bowsers.
Trundle ABBA Festival is Australia's only ABBA festival,
is held annually on the first Saturday in May each year. Since changed to the second Saturday in October.
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