The Castlemaine Lions Club has donated a
defibrillator for the people of Castlemaine and district.
The St John’s Ambulance Defibrillator has been
installed near the registers at the entrance to Castlemaine’s Maxi IGA
supermarket in Mostyn Street. See the Mail for the full story.
Supporting our community
From strength to strength
The Taradale Primary School will receive brand new computers thanks to funding support from the federal government.
Federal Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters visited Taradale Primary School on Monday to announce their success in receiving $14,872 in federal funding. See the Mail for the full story.
On your marks …
A top day of racing is shaping as Castlemaine hosts its annual Gift athletics meet this Sunday.
Castlemaine Athletic Club president Darryl Nettleton says a top day of athletics action is assured for competitors and spectators alike as this Sunday’s Castlemaine Gift has attracted many of the state’s top runners.
“It’s a stepping stone toward the Stawell Gift,” says Mr Nettleton, ahead of the Gift.
“This year we’ve got over 300 athletes entered and they’ll be in more than one race.
“Our main events are the Men’s Gift over the traditional distance of 120 metres and our main women’s race is our 400 metre Women’s Classic which all up is worth $4000.
“It’s one of Victoria’s richest 70 metre races and we’ve got a good mixture of guys and girls that have put their hand up to run in that so it will be run pretty fast I’m guessing.
“The aim of the whole exercise is to present a quality event on an excellent track with a great atmosphere.
“This town has an enormous history in professional running as a lot of the mining towns did.
“We’ve had Gift races here on this ground – the Camp Reserve – going back to the early 1920s – 1921 I think was the first.
Making a splash
Castlemaine Swimming Club held its annual meet at the Castlemaine Swimming Pool on Sunday February 9. See last Friday’s Mail for the full story.
Marvellous market celebrated
Nearly 160 years ago council surveyor, talented
architect and engineer William Downe sat at his desk and designed the
Castlemaine Market Building, a structure now considered to be of national
significance.
William’s desk is part of a historical display
at the Market Building and his great granddaughters Marion Downe and Margaret
Benady, visited the historic building last week to celebrate his impressive
contribution to the Castlemaine streetscape. Catch last Friday’s Mail for
the full story.
Friends rally behind CHIRP
Locals turned out in force to show support for embattled Castlemaine Community Health Service (CHIRP) at an emergency meeting last Monday night. See last Friday’s mail for the full story.
Looking fine for the fair …
Maldon’s Mark Blythe is a man on a mission.
Together with Maldon Events, that mission is to oversee the smooth running of this weekend’s 12th annual Maldon Antique & Collectables Fair.
Held at the town’s Bill Woodfull Reserve over this Saturday and Sunday, the fair is “chock-a-block” in the words of Mark who came up with the idea for the fair after selling antiques locally for about a decade.
“We’ve got 130 stalls and that’s all I can fit,” he enthuses as he shares an anecdote about how the event, that fits so snugly with Maldon’s heritage ambiance, came into being.
“This year there’s a big influx of new blood – what I refer to as the next generation of antique stallholders,” Mark says. Read more in today’s Castlemaine Mail. Friday, February 14, 2020.
Land of milk and honey goes solar
Two months after installing a solar operating system for their commercial dairy farm, Yandoit’s Robert and Belinda Morrison are giving their new 18.5 kilowatt system a big thumbs up.
The Morrison’s system features a Tesla power storage battery and two inverters and has already enabled their local dairy operation to go almost entirely off grid.
“We installed the 59 solar panels in mid-December and in mid-January we got the OK to get paid for the power we’re exporting into the grid so we’re really looking forward to seeing what our February bill will be,” Robert says.
“So far with the sunny weather we’re getting really good generation out of the system – as high as 95 per cent”.
At times power generated by the solar panels directly powers the dairy plant, while surplus power generated may be stored in the Tesla battery for use when needed, or fed back into the grid.
“So nothing is going to waste,” says Robert, noting that they’re able to draw base load power from the grid should the need ever arise.
The Morrisons run a 110-head Friesian dairy herd on the 300 acre property that the family has farmed for generations. It’s recognised as the last remaining commercial dairy herd in Yandoit.
Besides operating the 12-aside herringbone milking plant twice daily, their newly installed Cola Solar system from Bendigo heats the two large hot water services that are key aspects of the dairy’s operation.
“The whole plant will run on solar,” Robert says.
But there’s another reason this local farmer calls their Yandoit farm “the land of milk and honey”.
There’s also bees – 40 hives full of them to be precise.
And responding to popular local demand, the Morrisons have just bought a brand new commercial stainless steel honey extractor that will also be powered by their dairy rooftop solar system. Read more in today’s Castlemaine Mail Friday, February 14, 2020.
Revisiting the Blade’s edge: Castlemaine EV conversions
A Castlemaine man hopes to start a new business converting standard fuel run cars into electric vehicles – like Castlemaine’s former Blade business did between 2008-2012.
In fact Randal Berger owns and drives a 2008 Blade Electron that he recharges using the bank of solar panels on the roof of his Castlemaine home.
Nicknamed “Sparky” his Blade Electron was created right here in Castlemaine back in 2008 when Blade – run by Ross Blade – was operating here, converting conventional Hyundai Getz cars into EVs by retrofitting them with electric motors, speed controllers and battery packs.
“It was built for the City of Melbourne,” Randall says of Sparky.
“I actually saw this car and met Ross Blade in 2009 at a sustainability festival in Fed Square. It is a little piece of Australian engineering history. A total of 54 were built, some of which were exported to New Zealand. Many are still alive”.
While Blade may have wound up back in 2012, today Randall and some of the engineers who were part of the Blade team have a renewed vision to see another similar local business reinstated to affordably “recycle” conventional cars as EVs.
“While many cars have clapped out engines, the rest of the vehicle is in quite good condition,” Randall says.
“Why not extend their useful lives as recycled EVs? More in the Castlemaine Mail, Friday February 7, 2020
Only if it’s shifted
Maldon Vintage Machinery and Museum would be the best place for Thompson’s historic dive bell to be displayed – if the council proceeds with plans to shift it from Castlemaine’s Market Building, the Maldon attraction’s president says.
Alan Miller says the Maldon venue did not suggest that the historic dive bell, made by Thompsons of Castlemaine, should be moved – but was quick to suggest that if it were moved, it should be to join the significant collection of historic Thompson’s items already on display at the Maldon attraction.
“We heard that that the council was thinking of removing it out of there,” Mr Miller said.
“We didn’t suggest that the dive bell come out of the Market Building but I think that if it comes out it should come here.
“The only other options are Thompsons themselves – or Flowserve (which took over Thompsons in 1995). But if it went to Flowserve no-one would ever see it because you can’t access the factory.
“The other one, the whisper I heard, was that it could go to the Mill. If it went to the Mill it would be going into private hands and if ever that was sold then the bell could be scrapped.
“We’ve got more of Thompsons here then what they have themselves,” said Mr Miller who is a retired Thompson’s toolmaker.
His comments come after a Mount Alexander Shire Council spokesperson last week confirmed that relocating the historic dive bell from the Market Building is being considered. More in the Castlemaine Mail, Friday, February 7, 2020.
Shooters take aim
Last weekend the Castlemaine Pistol Club hosted its 33rd annual Goldfields Open shoot. The Open saw competitors from all across Victoria as well as interstate converge on Castlemaine all aiming to win gold. Athletes of all skill levels were represented on the range, from club shooters, to state shooters, even Olympians. See the Mail for the full story.
A call for action
Community members and climate change campaigners gathered on the steps of the Castlemaine Market Building on Tuesday February 4 in a show of solitary for those who had made the trek to Canberra for the ‘People’s Climate Assembly’. See the Mail for more.
