A note for your diary (volunteers needed!)
Make a note for your diary for Sunday 21st November if you're anywhere near Longford. There's to be a special celebratory Birthday Party at Woolmers and that's when we also need volunteers - to help with the parking of visitors in the paddock behind the woolshed and to the main gate to collect the gold coin entry fees. The special day (intended to celebrate the creation of Woolmers Foundation) will be a great day of entertainment, heritage displays and a relaxing and enjoyable day for all the family.
Highlights will include a major historic wool display including traditional blade shearing; spinning and knitting displays, which include a "Learn to Knit" session for kids of all ages; lots of bands and a lively performance by the Longford Morris Dancers.
At 12.30 there will be a performance by the Longford Primary School Choir and the birthday cake will be cut and a taste handed around.
Everyone is invited to come and help us celebrate a fun day for young and old - soak up the atmosphere in the grounds of this great World Heritage listed Estate and, if you like, bring a picnic or enjoy some of the food on sale over a glass of great wine - Tasmanian of course!
There will be tours of the main house (not to be missed) and the outbuildings, as well as the National Rose Garden, which will be in full glorious bloom. A display of vintage cars and motorcycles - with owners ready and willing to chat - and a display of Red Cross memorabilia - these are just a sample of the fascinating things to see and do.
Entry will be by a donation of a gold coin for adults, but children and adults dressed in period costume will be given free entry - and we hope many will take the trouble to dress up for the occassion.
Come one and all! Help us celebrate our birthday on 21st November!
And if you can volunteer to help in any way please contact the office at Woolmers on 6391 2230 or enquiries@woolmers.com.au
See you there!
Monday, October 25, 2010
VOLUNTEERS - Woolmers needs you!
Do you have one or two hours a week (or perhaps even more) to help out at the National Rose Garden at Woolmers? Actually the Rose Garden at Woolmers needs volunteers to dead-head roses from mid-November until the end of summer (we prefer to call it summer pruning)! This is a lovely way to fill in a few summer-time hours - surrounded as you are by the sight and the heavenly perfume of so many millions of blooms.
Many, many words have been written about volunteering and I know from my own experience how enjoyable and sociable being a volunteer can be. I'm a volunteer at the National Rose Garden at Woolmers and also at Woolmers Estate, and less frequently, at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston. The hours I spend doing a range of tasks, some more demanding than others, are enormously rewarding and have led me into a much wider social circle than I would otherwise have enjoyed.
There's also a small band of dedicated volunteers who help Gwen (the chief gardener) in the formal walled garden and there are others who help with guiding the public through the main house.
Many community organisations would simply not be able to function or even to survive were it not for the many hours donated by volunteers. Fortunately, volunteering is alive and well in Tasmania!
In fact, whatever your particular talent, even if it is riding a lawn-mower, if you have a few regular hours to spare, it's probable Woolmers would welcome your help - why not just ask!
Call Damian on 6301 2230 or email enquiries@woolmers.com.au
Many, many words have been written about volunteering and I know from my own experience how enjoyable and sociable being a volunteer can be. I'm a volunteer at the National Rose Garden at Woolmers and also at Woolmers Estate, and less frequently, at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston. The hours I spend doing a range of tasks, some more demanding than others, are enormously rewarding and have led me into a much wider social circle than I would otherwise have enjoyed.
There's also a small band of dedicated volunteers who help Gwen (the chief gardener) in the formal walled garden and there are others who help with guiding the public through the main house.
Many community organisations would simply not be able to function or even to survive were it not for the many hours donated by volunteers. Fortunately, volunteering is alive and well in Tasmania!
In fact, whatever your particular talent, even if it is riding a lawn-mower, if you have a few regular hours to spare, it's probable Woolmers would welcome your help - why not just ask!
Call Damian on 6301 2230 or email enquiries@woolmers.com.au
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Smoker's Hut
Little paths wind hither and thither almost aimlessely, enabling you to explore the charming old, formal gardens at Woolmers. Nestled in this beautiful walled precinct you'll come accross a strange little turret-like building - this is the Smoker's Hut.
It's a small building which was created specifically so that a Victorian gentleman or two, or even perhaps three, could retire there to smoke. And they did this presumably while their ladies were playing croquet on the lawn at the side of the house, shaded by a truly ancient mulberry tree. I can just imagine their long flowing gowns and picture hats.
One assumes too that the said gentleman would have smoked a pipe or a cigar since there's now quite a collection of pipes in the house and cigarettes were only invented at a much later date. The building was presumably conceived so that gentlemen would go out there in the garden to smoke instead of leaving the scent of smoke in the indoor furnishings.
This little building is quite picturesque and puts one in mind of a miniature castle - there's even a flag post on one side. I almost imagine a flag being run up when the gents were out there in residence!
The formal gardens surrounding our eccentric little building are looking simply stunning right now and are well worth a visit - small wonder that this is a present day favourite spot for weddings.
Clematis is in bloom over an arbour and wisteria climbs colourully along the verandas of the main house - and by the way, the personalised tour of the house is something not to be missed!
And while you're there do take a walk through the National Rose Garden at Woolmers which is at its peak from the end of October right through summer until the first frosts ...
It's a small building which was created specifically so that a Victorian gentleman or two, or even perhaps three, could retire there to smoke. And they did this presumably while their ladies were playing croquet on the lawn at the side of the house, shaded by a truly ancient mulberry tree. I can just imagine their long flowing gowns and picture hats.
One assumes too that the said gentleman would have smoked a pipe or a cigar since there's now quite a collection of pipes in the house and cigarettes were only invented at a much later date. The building was presumably conceived so that gentlemen would go out there in the garden to smoke instead of leaving the scent of smoke in the indoor furnishings.
This little building is quite picturesque and puts one in mind of a miniature castle - there's even a flag post on one side. I almost imagine a flag being run up when the gents were out there in residence!
The formal gardens surrounding our eccentric little building are looking simply stunning right now and are well worth a visit - small wonder that this is a present day favourite spot for weddings.
Clematis is in bloom over an arbour and wisteria climbs colourully along the verandas of the main house - and by the way, the personalised tour of the house is something not to be missed!
And while you're there do take a walk through the National Rose Garden at Woolmers which is at its peak from the end of October right through summer until the first frosts ...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
What did those convicts eat?
Especially after I've enjoyed a wonderful (and often filling) meal at the Servant's Kitchen at Woolmers I get to wondering how different things were in days gone by. What, for example, did those convicts assigned to such an estate eat?
When I think about the abundance of wonderful food we can enjoy every day - especially in Tassie - I wonder how different it must have been in the early days of settlement.
It's possible the convicts who were transported here were actually better fed when they arrived than they were in the grindingly poor slums of Victorian England from whence they came.
Those who had originally lived in the country would have been better able to survive as their skills could have included knowledge of edible wild plants, such as nettles, dandelions and wild berries.
Starvation was always a prospect for the poor, especially in the urban slums of England and Ireland. Porridge made with boiled maize, oats or rye in water or milk and vegetable soup bulked out with bread - was what people ate if they were lucky - three times a day.
A family's entire diet might consist of no more than potato parings, vegetable refuse and rotten vegetables made into soup and eaten for want of other food. Or they might have lived chiefly off bread and cheese, with bacon two or three times a week, varied with onions.
At Woolmers there was a thriving veggie garden (just as there is today) and an orchard with many different fruit trees, and at one time there was a sizable apple orchard grown for making cider.
So, when convicts were finally assigned to work at Woolmers or Brickendon or any one of the other large pastoral properties of the day, they were at least much better fed than probably they had ever been before. And they would likely have been well able to produce nourishing meals from a wide variety of meat and vegetables.
Soup seems to have been almost a staple, which could be made from almost anything at all - animal or vegetable.
And the early settlers used wild animals and parts of aminals we would never dream of using now - for example I've seen recipes for stews and soups using wombat and echidna and even for sheep's head soup ..... the mind boggles!
When I think about the abundance of wonderful food we can enjoy every day - especially in Tassie - I wonder how different it must have been in the early days of settlement.
It's possible the convicts who were transported here were actually better fed when they arrived than they were in the grindingly poor slums of Victorian England from whence they came.
Those who had originally lived in the country would have been better able to survive as their skills could have included knowledge of edible wild plants, such as nettles, dandelions and wild berries.
Starvation was always a prospect for the poor, especially in the urban slums of England and Ireland. Porridge made with boiled maize, oats or rye in water or milk and vegetable soup bulked out with bread - was what people ate if they were lucky - three times a day.
A family's entire diet might consist of no more than potato parings, vegetable refuse and rotten vegetables made into soup and eaten for want of other food. Or they might have lived chiefly off bread and cheese, with bacon two or three times a week, varied with onions.
At Woolmers there was a thriving veggie garden (just as there is today) and an orchard with many different fruit trees, and at one time there was a sizable apple orchard grown for making cider.
So, when convicts were finally assigned to work at Woolmers or Brickendon or any one of the other large pastoral properties of the day, they were at least much better fed than probably they had ever been before. And they would likely have been well able to produce nourishing meals from a wide variety of meat and vegetables.
Soup seems to have been almost a staple, which could be made from almost anything at all - animal or vegetable.
And the early settlers used wild animals and parts of aminals we would never dream of using now - for example I've seen recipes for stews and soups using wombat and echidna and even for sheep's head soup ..... the mind boggles!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sunny Sunday
On a glorious spring morning, in wonderful bright sunshine, we gathered at Woolmers Cottage, out in the beautiful courtyard, the weather being so perfect. This courtyard is soon to be paved with flagstones made of sandstone to match those used in the verandas around the front of the house. Woolmers Cottage, hardly a cottage, is more a large graceful Victorian mansion with stunning veiws over the fields and hedgerows of the Norfolk Plains towards Longford.
But, I digress. There we were gathered (fifty or sixty people, mostly members of Woolmers Foundation Inc) to hear Barry Jones AO give his take on events leading to the lengthy process of assessment for World heritage Listing (which includes five Tasmanian Convict Sites) at Brazilia in July. He's an entertainng speaker and mentioned Kevin Rudd (remember him? Barry said) at one point because Mr Rudd became fascinated with the convict history of Tas as a result of finding out that he has five convict ancestors in his family. Barry mentioned how very useful it might be if we could find other helpful contacts in Government who also have convict ancestors.
The point being that so many of the sites now listed (jointly) will need some form of financial asistance going forward - and 'going forward' is certainly our intention. It was interesting to hear of the behind-the-scences machinations leading to these World Heritage Listings and to find that the process has taken more than twenty years. Talk about lengthy and complicated!
But now begins the challenge of marketing and promoting this World Heritage Listing in order to tell the fascinating Convict Story to as many visitors as possible.
Should any of my readers (and I hope there are many!) wish to join Woolmers Foundation (which is a not-for-profit organisation run mainly by volunteers) please contact: enquiries@woolmers.com.au or access the website: www.woolmers.com.au or telephone: (03) 6391 2230.
A plea was also made on Sunday for volunteers who are urgently needed right now to weed in the National Rose Garden at Woolmers - please, please do volunteer, even a few hours a week would be wonderful - contact details are as above.
But, I digress. There we were gathered (fifty or sixty people, mostly members of Woolmers Foundation Inc) to hear Barry Jones AO give his take on events leading to the lengthy process of assessment for World heritage Listing (which includes five Tasmanian Convict Sites) at Brazilia in July. He's an entertainng speaker and mentioned Kevin Rudd (remember him? Barry said) at one point because Mr Rudd became fascinated with the convict history of Tas as a result of finding out that he has five convict ancestors in his family. Barry mentioned how very useful it might be if we could find other helpful contacts in Government who also have convict ancestors.
The point being that so many of the sites now listed (jointly) will need some form of financial asistance going forward - and 'going forward' is certainly our intention. It was interesting to hear of the behind-the-scences machinations leading to these World Heritage Listings and to find that the process has taken more than twenty years. Talk about lengthy and complicated!
But now begins the challenge of marketing and promoting this World Heritage Listing in order to tell the fascinating Convict Story to as many visitors as possible.
Should any of my readers (and I hope there are many!) wish to join Woolmers Foundation (which is a not-for-profit organisation run mainly by volunteers) please contact: enquiries@woolmers.com.au or access the website: www.woolmers.com.au or telephone: (03) 6391 2230.
A plea was also made on Sunday for volunteers who are urgently needed right now to weed in the National Rose Garden at Woolmers - please, please do volunteer, even a few hours a week would be wonderful - contact details are as above.
Lovely Lamb Shanks
Simply the most delicious lamb shanks I've ever tasted! And where are these wonders to be found I hear you ask? Well, this is the most popularly requested meal to be had at the Servant's Kitchen at Woolmers Estate near Longford, and was what I enjoyed last week.
Accompanied by mashed potatoes and a most acceptable glass of red wine (Tasmanian of coures!) the lamb shanks were followed by a yummy sticky date pudding. Actually the meal was also accompanied by interesting and stimulating conversation - but that's another story!
Consumed in front of a roaring log fire, we were left feeling very pleased with the world and quite replete! All quite bad for the waist-line of course and now I shall need to be walking a little further and perhaps faster each day - but while I'm doing that I can be planning my next trip for lunch at Woolmers.
Now I wonder which of my friends I should round up for my next delicious (and perhaps equally wicked) expedition.....
Accompanied by mashed potatoes and a most acceptable glass of red wine (Tasmanian of coures!) the lamb shanks were followed by a yummy sticky date pudding. Actually the meal was also accompanied by interesting and stimulating conversation - but that's another story!
Consumed in front of a roaring log fire, we were left feeling very pleased with the world and quite replete! All quite bad for the waist-line of course and now I shall need to be walking a little further and perhaps faster each day - but while I'm doing that I can be planning my next trip for lunch at Woolmers.
Now I wonder which of my friends I should round up for my next delicious (and perhaps equally wicked) expedition.....
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