The Crookwell Lunch Tour
The plan is to meet at the Little Sutton Bakehouse in Sutton at 9.30 am and kick off at 10 am for a drive to Gunning and a coffee at the Merino Cafe, and then on the Crookwell Road to a lunch at the Crookwell Hotel and Bistro.
They will be expecting us, and should have some tables reserved. We need to get in early and feed quickly because we need to be at the main attraction for this run around 1.00 pm. We have a confirmed tentative arrangement to visit the Workshop of Sydney Vintage Car Restorations, located at lot 3 McIntosh Road: which is a left turn off the road to Laggan at the edge of town. This company does impressive complete car restorations. They are reputed to have even built an E Type Jag from scratch. We could see many interesting cars there when looking through the front door. This business employs some highly skilled craftsmen and body-builders, so management is concerned about wasting their time (we're visiting during the workers lunch time to minimize the interruption). They are not charging us for this visit, but a small donation might be appreciated.
There is a strict maximum of 15 persons for the Workshop visit.
There are many ways to come home from Crookwell and some interesting places to visit. You can go back the way we came, or risk some back roads, or go on through Goulburn and the Hume. We paused to admire the views at the scenic Pejar dam on the Goulburn Road, which is clean and clear and stocked with rainbows for trout fishing. Although the road appears to be in good condition, there are some potholes, best avoided.
This should be a moderate and easy run: so it would be an opportunity to give your partner a MX5 drive. The countryside is looking green and beautiful after the recent rains.
Some interesting stuff:
- A railway once connected Goulburn and Crookwell, which opened in 1902, but passenger services to Crookwell station ceased in 1974, and the last goods train ran in 1985. The line is technically not closed, but has been listed as out of use, and in some locations is now impassable.
- Crookwell lies within the traditional lands of the Gundangurra These people spoke a similar if not identical language to the neighbouring Ngunnawal people to their south.[6]
- The first Europeans known to be in the area were the exploratory party of surveyor James Meehan which camped 1 km south of present-day Grabben Gullen (12 km south-west of Crookwell). John Oxley passed to the north and east later that same year. Crookwell was originally known as "Kiama" but later renamed after the river.[7]The area around Crookwell was first settled in the 1820s, and had received its current name by the 1860s.
Bring your CB on channel 20
RSVP to Barry barry.matson@gmail.com.
Run Grade: This is a cruiser run, suitable for all drivers. It features narrow country roads, mostly reasonably quiet, but the roads may have rough edges and some potholes to avoid. The Club’s Grading System is described at https://nsw.mx5.com.au/events/important-information/run-gradings.
