Following the passing of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, last Friday April 9, Castlemaine resident Hans Albers reached out to the Mail to share his memories of meeting the royal consort.
Mr Albers had the honour of taking Prince Philip on a ride aboard his Co & Co Coach at Lilydale during a royal visit to Australia in 1973. See the Mail for the full story.
Traders in Barker Street Block 2 East are calling on Mount Alexander Shire Council to utilise some of the covid funding they have received from the state government to revitalise their precinct.
The traders have penned a letter to council urging them to put their plans for the revitalisation of Frederick Street precinct on hold to focus on cleaning up and rejuvenating their deteriorating streetscape, which they say is a key thoroughfare for community members and visitors to the town.
They would like to see footpaths repaired and regularly cleaned, ageing seating improved and planter boxes or other beautification works carried out to add some colour to the precinct. See the Mail for the full story.
Community members are invited to take a journey back to our mechanical past at the Mount Alexander Vintage Engine Club (MAVEC) 24th Annual Vintage Engine Rally this weekend.
The rally is taking place at MAVEC’s home base at the Dave Bennett Reserve alongside the Muckleford Railway Station and is always a great day out for the whole family.
MAVEC will have everything on display from vintage chainsaws to drag saws and static engines to tractors.
There will also be a jumping castle for the kids, coffee and ice cream vendors and onsite catering.
The rally officially kicks off at 10am Saturday and runs through until 5pm and will run from 10am to 2.30pm Sunday. Entry is just $5 for adults and kids are free.
A new crowdfunding campaign aims to purchase a parcel of land at Chewton as a permanent base for the local Aboriginal community to run a wide range of Indigenous educational and cultural programs.
The campaign aims to raise $150,000 to enable the Nalderun Aboriginal organisation to secure the site of about five acres near Forest Creek at Chewton.
“It’s important that we have a place we can call our own,” local Dja Dja Wurrung Indigenous elder Rick Nelson said as the online campaign went live via the Chuffed this week. Get the full story in today’s Mail…
The 2021 Castlemaine State Festival has come to a close after 17 incredible days of music, live performance and visual arts.
Among the highlights of the final week was avant-garde cabaret and burlesque show – Yummy Unleashed (pictured) on Wednesday and Thursday evening on the Western Reserve stage. See the Mail for more…
Caroline Bellair, Castlemaine
I had a bad fall on the concrete footpath on Forest Street between Barker and Kennedy Streets at about 11.15 am on Wednesday March 24, which resulted in a compound fracture of my thigh bone. I would like to sincerely thank the passers-by, the paramedics and the CFA medical assist team who came to help me. I don’t know who you are, but I am very grateful for the efficient and compassionate care you provided. I am now recovering in the Bendigo Base Hospital.
Kosmac & Clemens Optometrists Castlemaine has a fresh new look and now has the capacity to welcome more clients.
Kosmac & Clemens business manager Michelle Thurlow said they closed the store on March 22 to undertake the refurbishment which includes a new spectacle lab, a new pre-testing area, refurbished original consulting room and the development of an additional consulting room which boosts the capacity of the store to welcome clients and reduce wait times.
The newly refurbished store opened on April 1 and also features a modern new reception area, new cabinetry, new flooring and has had a fresh coat of paint throughout.
“Our additional consulting room means we can now reduce our waiting times for clients and we are better able to cater for patients with ocular emergencies reducing the pressure on our local GP clinics,” Ms Thurlow said. See the Mail for more…
The Castlemaine Football Netball Club will host its first match of the 2021 Bendigo Football Netball League season tomorrow against South Bendigo at the Camp Reserve.
The day will be one of celebration for the club returning to competition as a year off due to covid and also celebrating the 150th game of one of its favourite sons – David Stephens. See the Mail for more…
A proposal by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) to establish a church hall in Castlemaine is headed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after the development’s planning application was rejected by Mount Alexander Shire Council last December.
Local Castlemaine members of the church yesterday provided an update on their proposed church hall development at 83 Blakeley Road.
The development application was rejected by Mount Alexander Shire Council in late December 2020, with councillors citing eight key areas of objection to the project. See the Mail for the full story.
Newstead residents are outraged after steps were taken this week to remove two established oak trees from a private local property.
On Wednesday morning police were called after a tree lopping service arrived on site at the Canrobert Road rental property.
Outraged locals – including the property tenant – quickly gathered on site at the residential rental to make their opposition known in an effort to stop the trees being cut down.
Among those objecting were close neighbours and also the property rental tenant Denis Miller who said he did not want to see the two established oak trees go.
“I’m pissed off that we’re losing a tree which I value considerably,” said Mr Miller who has leased the property for about six years. Get the full story in today’s Mail…
Roger McKindley
G’day Roger. How long have you lived in Newstead now?
This is the 13th year that I’ve lived in Newstead.
Where are you from originally?
Well I’m Castlemaine-born. When I was 21 I went and lived in the Northern Territory. I went up there as a gardener. But after 12 months of working in the Territory I realised it was just too hot for me. This was in 1981. No-one wore a hat. There was no Slip Slop Slap and I remember passing out in the heat.
You actually literally passed out?
Yeh. Even the tar on the road where I worked would just go like sticky glue. Then I went to northern NSW and it was such a pardise. I was seduced by its beauty for about five years. I lived inland, a little bit in from Dorrigo. And it rained. And it rained. And it rained. It rained that much I checked the locals for webbed feet…. Catch our full chat with Roger in today’s Mail..
Newstead artist and creator of Antares Iron Art Garden, Roger McKindley is the Mail’s My Newstead guest. Catch our chat with Roger in today’s Mail…
Castlemaine District Netball Association (CDNA) held their Twilight Competition grand finals on Sunday March 28.
The CDNA would like to thank all the teams, umpires, organisers and spectators for a great season. Members are reminded that the winter season is not far away. For more information check out the CDNA Facebook page. See the Mail for the full story.
