Woombye residents meet to ensure local history lives on

Woombye residents gathered on Tuesday (September 23) for a community get-together focused on preserving the area’s rich local history, with the Woombye Community Business Association (WCBA) leading efforts to safeguard precious memories and artifacts. 

These catchups started several years ago, the information and old photographs gathered was too valuable not to be shared. This led to Lyn Walker asking  former WCBA vice president Grant Palethorpe to help develop a strategy for the group. Grant and Lyn, Margaret Woodrow, Judith Bandidt, Tess Martin and Lynn Mabb were instrumental in bringing the information together. Conversations with some of our older folk were recorded and later transcribed along with research and fact checking. The work of Margaret and editing by Judith lead to the publication of the Woombye Heritage Trail and also Never Give Up - Joyce’s Story ( Joyce Milligan nee Hungerford). 

Grant Palethorpe emphasised the importance of bringing the community together around heritage preservation. The WCBA and community has already achieved significant milestones, including securing grants for publications and working with council on streetscape improvements and a Heritage Trail, including a Heritage Trail booklet, now available for purchase. 

He said the WCBA served as the community’s voice for heritage matters with council, ensuring the town’s historical legacy was preserved for future generations. Residents with historical materials are encouraged to contact the library or WCBA to contribute to these preservation efforts. Future aspirations include extending the heritage trail signage to more sites, and installing town entry signage and information boards near to the original Cobbs Camp Hotel.

Woombye Community Library Convenor Chris Milloy outlined an exciting new initiative called “Woombye Remembers” –  a dedicated section in the library housing memorabilia donated by families and community members. 

Mrs Milloy, who has served the Palmwoods and Woombye areas since the 1980s as a community nurse, shared her vision for monthly heritage meetings at the library.

“My dream is that ultimately maybe once a month we could have representatives from the community come to the library and be available to answer questions,” Mrs Milloy said. “So if people had questions about history or something, there would be a group meet there regularly to keep history our alive and serve as a collection point so it’s not lost.”

Tuesday’s meeting featured remarkable historical treasures, including late 1950s train footage and videos of three local parades, including the unveiling of the World War II memorial section of the park.

Paul McLoughlin, Ross Smith and Jack Callow travelled the furthest to attend, each have a long connection to Woombye.  

Lucille Watson (nee Schubert) attended, as sprightly as ever at a mere 94 years. It was Lucille’s father Friedrich Schubert who took over management of Cobb’s Camp Hotel in 1881, and then in 1900 built the Criterion Hotel, and famous Woombye Pub.  

Anyone with old photos, stories to share or an interest to be involved is encouraged to drop in to the Community Library and ask for Chris or email Grant C/- the WCBA at woombyecommunity@gmail.com