Sunday Lunch at Bowning Hotel - COVID POSTPONED
THIS #@*! PLAGUE HAS DONE IT AGAIN - WE HAVE DEFERRED THIS PLANNED RUN TO LATER IN THE YEAR, AS WE FOLLOW ADVICE TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION.
Many apologies to those who have registered, but we are following advice to 'reconsider [our] travel to other parts of Australia', especially those that may be reasonably proximate to areas of concern and vulnerable regional areas. We will review the runs program and try to include this run later in the year. Please check the website for further information in near future.
It's hard to miss the Bowning Hill as you tootle down the highway a little bit from Yass. The Hill, referred to by Captain Charles Sturt in 1829 as ‘a remarkable hill called Pounie’, stands nearly 200 metres above Bowning township, itself gazetted in 1846 (Bowning, possibly a corruption of Pounie, is said to be an aboriginal word meaning ‘hill’). Bowning is not a big place – a population of around 600 – and only a handful of streets, but it has a certain charm.
The Bowning Hotel was built as the Commercial in 1860, one of five pubs and inns built in the town. Almost next door is a private residence, once known as Albury House, and it was here that Henry Lawson and his mate Banjo Paterson wrote some of their works. There are stories that Henry and Banjo argued poetry and politics on the veranda of the shops next door and sat at the Bowning Hotel having a drink and continuing the famous Bulletin debate.
So bust out your poetry books, dust off your short stories, and get yourself prepared for a lunch at the Bowning Hotel. Who knows, maybe we will have a recital?
After lunch, walk the town. There are a couple of beautiful old churches (St James, Anglican, is still in occasional use and St Columbus, Catholic, which opened in opened in 1909 and saw its last service in 2003), an historic railway station and several lovely old homes.
More to come soon.
In the meantime, register your interest with Ian Bottcher on ianbottcher@grapevine.com.au.
*** COVID POSTPONED ***
