If you’re feeling the need to walk off a few of those post Christmas calories Nordic Pole Walking classes by be just the answer.
Bookings are now open for weekly Nordic Pole Walking classes in 2022 with classes to be held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in Castlemaine and on Wednesday evenings in Maldon.
Trained volunteers who have been described by participants as “patient and encouraging” lead the groups and teach participants Nordic Pole Walking skills over 10 weeks.
Previous participants say they’ve noticed health benefits as a result of doing Nordic Pole Walking, with one reporting that he can “now enjoy long walks without aggravating my health issues”.
“I knew I needed to do regular walking for my fitness, but never enjoyed it due to my health issues,” Nordic Pole Walking participant Phil says. Read more in today’s Mail…
Stride into ’22 with Nordic poles
Call for court upgrade
Eve Lamb
Through COVID lockdowns it became one of the favoured neighbourhood spots to grab some sanctioned exercise and fresh air.
But with an uneven and heavily cracked surface, and its little kiosk vandalised, the old tennis courts at Castlemaine’s West End Hall precinct are in dire need of an upgrade, locals say.
About 100 of them have added their names to a petition calling on the council to help fund and facilitate an upgrade of the old courts.
Just before Christmas, longtime local Chris Hosking presented the petition to the Mount Alexander Shire Council at its last meeting for 2021.
“It would complete the upgrade of the West End precinct alongside the West End Hall and the playground which has had a significant increase in usage since it was upgraded,” Mr Hosking told the Mail this week.
“I believe an upgrade will also see a significant increase in usage of the courts. Read more in today’s Mail…
Sutton Grange Syrah a winner!
The team at Sutton Grange Winery are celebrating after their 2018 Sutton Grange Estate Syrah took out multiple honours at the prestigious 2021 Sydney Royal Wine Show.
The local drop collected the Dr Gilbert Phillips Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Best Red Wine; The Drinks Association Trophy for Best Shiraz; and The Restaurant & Catering Industry Trophy for Best Small Producer with 96 Points and a Gold Medal.
Handmade with passion, flair and uncompromising commitment to quality, the 2018 harvest marks 20 years since the Sidwell family, along with the help of Stuart Anderson and Alec Epis, first planted vines at Sutton Grange.
Renowned for her meticulous approach and respect for the rich eccentricities of Sutton Grange, set amongst the granite-earth foothills of Mount Alexander, Head Wine Maker Melanie Chester said they were absolutely thrilled to receive the recognition for the special vintage. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Celebrating Hot Rods Downunder
Castlemaine’s Graffiti Publications recently unveiled a new hot rod offering Hot Rods Downunder created in collaboration with New Zealand publisher Bateman Books.
The impressive new 256 page full colour book is one of the biggest the local publisher has produced and features some of the most incredible hot rods from across the southern hemisphere including 10 vehicles from the local region.
The producers of the renowned Australian Street Rodding magazine celebrate their 45th year in publishing in 2022 and had just sent their 380th magazine off to print before the Mail stopped over to check out the new offering.
There was no rest for the team as they also worked to complete the finishing touches on the 14th edition of their Hot Rod International magazine which is scheduled to go to print in the coming days.
Hot rod enthusiast and Graffiti Publications founder Larry O’Toole said the latest book was a whirlwind project, with Bateman Books approaching them about the book mid-year with a view to having the new offering available for Christmas.
The book is one of a series of specialist books by Bateman Books on various hobby subjects.
As far as hobbies go, O’Toole was perfectly positioned to write this book having been a dedicated hot rodder for more than 50 years.
“We had lots of material to draw on from events and feature pieces over the last four or five years and were delighted to be part of a project which focused solely on cars in the southern hemisphere,” Larry said. See the December 31 edition of the Mail for the full story…
Maldon responds
The Boards of Maldon Hospital and Castlemaine Health recently wound up their community consultation regarding their proposed amalgamation and presented their findings back to the community.
According to the data attained the majority of the feedback about the potential move was overwhelmingly positive.
The two boards believe amalgamation would deliver better health services for the communities of Mount Alexander, and secure Maldon Hospital in its current form for generations to come.
The boards are commissioning a proposal that will examine the potential benefits of unification and sought input from the community over four weeks of consultation.
Maldon Hospital board chair Vanessa Healy said they were very pleased with the response from the community.
“We had 174 surveys returned with the majority submitted online and 34 hand written submissions. We had numbers in the high 90s submitted from the Maldon community and more than 50 responses from the Castlemaine community and surrounds including Harcourt, Elphinstone, Campbells Creek and Newstead,” she said.
“We also had more than 100 face to face meetings and phone meetings with groups and individuals which covered quite a large catchment which was fantastic,” Ms Healy said.
Some of the keys themes were: that the hospital must maintain its building and name and local representative structures; improve access to a diverse range of GPs; increase services for LGBTQI+ and gender diverse people; and many expressed concerns about the hospital maintaining its “independence”. See the December 31 edition of the Mail for the full story…
Cyclists converge on Castlemaine
Cyclists from across the state and beyond converged on Castlemaine last Tuesday December 28 for the Castlemaine Cycling Club’s annual Smartline Christmas Carnival.
The track event kicked off day one of the three day Central Victorian Christmas Carnival series which also saw events at Bendigo’s Tom Flood Sports Centre on Wednesday December 29 and capped off at Shepparton on Thursday December 30.
Castlemaine Cycling Club race organiser Ken Maddern thanked all those who contributed to making the day a success including major sponsors Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers and event supporters Bress Winery and Bananaman Flooring which assisted with prize money for section winners.
Maddern said it takes a small army to make the annual event happen but a fantastic day’s competition was enjoyed by the 150 riders which participated from Masters through to Under 11s over 10 massive hours of competition. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Community invited to celebrate
Community members are invited to join a family-friendly event to acknowledge Australia Day – Survival Day in Mount Alexander Shire at Victory Park on Wednesday January 26.
This event will include a Welcome to Country, a Citizenship and Australia Day Awards ceremony, and entertainment with local and special guests in attendance. Uncle Rick Nelson will be the MC of this part of the celebrations.
The event will run from 10am-1.30pm.
This is a COVID safe event. All attendees will be required to check in and show proof of full vaccination. This is a waste wise event. BYO bottles and cups. For more information visit mountalexander.vic.gov.au/AustraliaDay.
Hot rodders cruise in
The Castlemaine Hot Rod Centre Limited held its last Coffee Cruise for 2021 on Sunday December 19. This final cruise began with participants gathering in Castlemaine CBD early on Sunday morning with showery weather threatening to spoil the day.
However it cleared enough for the cruise to head off on a tour of the local area through Harcourt then back down the Calder Freeway to Elphinstone, where the line of colourful cars turned back to Castlemaine, ending at Autoplex Castlemaine in time for a barbecue lunch.
Some surprise special guests joined the group including legendary circuit racing driver Norm Beechey pictured. See the Mail for the full story.
What a year!
What a year it was!
Grab yourself a copy of our Commemorative edition of the Mail and see out 2021 by taking a look back at all the stories that made local news headlines in 2021.
The team at the Castlemaine Mail would like to wish all our readers and loyal advertisers a safe, happy and healthy New Year in 2022.
Tropical F**** Storm forecast for the ‘Maine
Eve Lamb
There’s a storm approaching the ‘Maine but it may not be quite what you’re thinking.
Melbourne-based outfit Tropical F*** Storm is bearing down on the town to launch a national tour with its third album.
With its drummer Lauren Hammel now basing herself here, the four-piece outfit has chosen Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal to kick-start the tour on January 7.
After that comes dates at Ballarat, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Torquay and Hobart.
Chatting to the Mail in recent days, the band’s bass player Fiona Kitschin (also well known for her work with The Drones) says she can hardly wait to get cracking after months of performance frustration due to pandemic impacts.
“We had a few shows in March between lock-downs and they’re really the only time we’ve played in the last two years so we’re really looking forward to it,” Kitschin says.
The tour unleashes Tropical F*** Storm’s pent up live-show frustration with third album, Deep States, following in the wake of A Laughing Death in Meatspace and Braindrops, their 2018 and 2019 albums.
“We had to wait for the ring of steel to come down before we could come together to record,” Kitschin says.
It was recorded at Kitschin’s and frontman Gareth Liddiard’s home studio at Nagambie.
The F*** Storm’s bass player and backing vocalist says much of the ground covered in the new album has been inspired by the impacts on the psyche of the post-COVID reality.
“The subject matter reflects the pandemic world,” she says. See more in the Castlemaine Mail…
New twist for old church
Eve Lamb
It was expected to be ticked off for sale, but a surprise decision of council now means Chewton’s historic former Wesleyan church building now looks more likely to end up restored for public use.
At its meeting last Tuesday evening, Mount Alexander Shire Council resolved to overturn the prior decision to sell the property and to instead prepare a staged plan for restoration and repair of the dilapidated former Wesleyan church at 205 Main Road, Chewton.
The decision will also see future consideration of an inclusion in the 22-23 council budget for a first stage of repair works with a view to returning the property to community use.
The outcome is certain to please many locals, including the Chewton Domain Society, keen to see the property remain available for community use.
But it’s something of a surprise as the council had been tasked with deciding whether to proceed with pre-existing plans to advertise for sale the historic former property, that’s previously served as a community centre but has been closed to the public since 2010 when the floor was declared unsafe.
Instead, at last Tuesday evening’s final ordinary council meeting for 2021, Councillor Christine Henderson presented the successful alternative motion for staged restoration.
Among those supportive of Cr Henderson’s new motion, Cr Tony Cordy said there was a “huge amount of support for keeping this building in public ownership”.
Cr Gary McClure also said he’d been “swayed by the level of community input stressing they want the facility for community use”. Read more in the Castlemaine Mail…
Sweet smell of festive fare
Eve Lamb
The aroma greets you the moment you walk in the door.
Rich and sweet, it’s the smell of freshly baked biscuits hot from the oven at Castlemaine micro factory Michel’s Fine Biscuit Co.
Come this time of year there’s an added festive dimension to the mouthwatering fragrance – the fruits and spices that go into Michel’s specialty fruit mince pies and the warm, buttery notes of shortbread.
“Huge,” is the way Michel Mussett describes the lead up to Christmas and the festive holiday season – the busiest time of year for her business.
“This is our last week of cooking before Christmas,” she explained when the Mail dropped in last week.
“It starts the last week of October and goes right through to this week.”
Strong demand from a legion of loyal and hungry customers has enabled this local business to forge on despite the impacts of COVID, with Michel employing five extra casual staff in addition to her usual two to cope with the seasonal upsurge.
But even this successful local enterprise has been impacted by COVID and the lockdowns of the past two years.
“The biggest impact has been losing our wholesale corporate clients which are slowly coming back – the big banks and law firms,” Michel says.
“It’s because they’ve been working from home so there are no coffees being made, basically.
“We’ve lost all bar one of our corporates in Sydney.”
Despite this Michel says it’s been the “exceptionally good, loyal clientele,” that’s seen her business continue to bake, turning out it’s signature products beloved by customers as well as the festive season specialty fare. Read more in the Castlemaine Mail…