Stepping Back in Time || Tamworth 1968 to 1970

1968

NEN 9 extensions made it possible for local television news programs to be produced : // West Tamworth Boys Brigade was formed under the auspices of St Stephens Presbyterian Church, catering for age-groups from 5 to 18 : // Oxley High School was officially opened on April 15 by the State Governor Sir Roden Cutler, who had also laid the Foundation Stone in 1967 : // Tamworth Junior Soccer Association conducted its first knockout carnival at Association Park at the corner of Belmore & Plain St on May 11 : // Extensive additions to Christian Brothers College in Carthage St took place, proceeding for nearly 2 years (now the location of St Nicholas Primary School) : // Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) became available, with all Tamworth telephone numbers to be extended to 6 digits. West Tamworth residents added 65 to their existing digit numbers, whilst East Tamworth added 66. Seven North-West centres were grouped into one Telephone District in which all numbers were prefixed by the Area Code '067', which needed to be dialled by anyone calling from outside the area : // Tamworth VIEW Club was formed on August 14, with meetings held in the Services Club in Marius St : // After the Scully Park Amateur Swimming Club was formed on June 12, the South and West Memorial Swimming Pool (alias "Scully Park Pool") was opened on September 21 by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. Davis Hughes : // The first motor-scooters were made available for Tamworth postmen on October 14, after previous mail deliveries going back through the years were made on foot, horseback and bicycles : // Late in the year a group of Country Music enthusiasts, including members of Radio 2TM staff came up with the promotional title of "Country Music Capital" with the formation of the Capital Country Music Association the following Year : // Joe White Maltings Ltd commenced the first barley malting plant in NSW in Tamworth : // The Moonbria Hostel for Girls at 83-87 Carthage St closed at the end of the year : // A female Water Polo team was formed in December, catering for Secondary School girls in Tamworth. This led to women's teams being formed the following year by the Tamworth Olympic & Scully Park Swimming Clubs : // c 1968 - George Fielder & Co. Ltd oversaw 12 subsidiary companies, more than half based in Tamworth. These companies employed between 800 and 900 people, half of whom were employed in the Tamworth district.

1969

In January Tamworth & District Handicapped Children's Association opened a Foster Home at 106 Marius St, thought to have been the first of its kind in NSW : // The School of Rural Science commenced operations in February in their new premises at the Tamworth Technical College, situated on the northern side of the main Tech building in Janison St : // Following on from the 1963 nephrite/ jade mineral mining operation in the Dungowan district, further discoveries were made in the nearby area : // The re-formed Oxley Vale Primary School opened on its present site with 70 to 80 pupils and a teaching staff of 3 : // Country Music recording in Tamworth had its origins with the formation of "CM Records", initially using 2TM's workshop as a makeshift studio : // After being in recess for around 3 years, Tamworth Musical Society was revived with the Bill Gleeson production of "Kiss Me Kate" : // Tamworth Choral Society celebrated its 20th anniversary with its second presentation of Handel's "Messiah" : // Nundle Shire Council erected a one million gallon water reservoir in the Nundle village. Water was connected to 112 premises through just over 10km of reticulation pipes : // The 'Tamworth Advertiser' newspaper published its final issue on April 19 : // Tamworth Amateur Athletics Club was formed at a public meeting on April 23 (Yours Truly Publicity Officer & Club Coach). Training was held on No.1 Oval and over 200 athletes were registered, largely juniors : // The "breathalyser" came to Tamworth, with initially breath analysis of drivers being targeted for perhaps erratic driving rather than at random. In the first week of operation 17 out of 25 tested positive : // By early May the Tamworth Agricultural College had installed an air-conditioned glasshouse, believed to be unique in Australia : // The first substantial Country Music Concert was held in the Tamworth Town Hall on May 23, with Max Ellis and Radio Station 2TM well to the fore in its promotion : // The Full Gospel Church commenced in Tamworth in June, continuing in the town for 4 years : // During July 20/21 the Dave's Hill communication facilities to the east of Tamworth City were part of a worldwide communication link associated with Neil Armstrong's landing on the Moon : // A Tamworth - Port Macquarie bus service was commenced on August 18, pioneered by Hannaford's Coaches : // Tamworth's first "Brown Bomber" Parking Officer, Alan Pope, commenced operations in the streets of Tamworth in September : // Famous Country Music performer Slim Dusty made his first stage performance at Tamworth Town Hall on October 4 : // Late in the year Norm McKellar, Chief Executive Officer of Tamworth Base Hospital, was elected Mayor of Tamworth, going on to serve in the office for 10 consecutive years (SEE PHOTO) : // A new South Tamworth Fire Station in Kent St was occupied in September with Ronald Garnsey as Captain and 9 volunteer firemen; with the Official Opening occurring on December 11 : // On December 11 the "School Train" made its last journey, after having made return transport for schoolchildren from Werris Creek to Tamworth since 1936 : // After its first 30 years Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School had grown to a staff of 24 teachers and an enrolment of 362.

1970

The Capital Country Music Association took the lead in Country Music promotion from the Modern Country Music Association after the latter had a Music Talent Quest and Jamboree in the Tamworth Town Hall on January 24, with an audience of over 1000 : // One of Tamworth's best individual sporting performances came when local 16-y-o cyclist Leone Roach broke her own World Record for the distance covered in one hour - achieving 52.1 km on January 25 : // On February 26 girls from 8 to 21-y-o were admitted for the first time to the Tamworth Police & Citizens Boys Club, with up to 400 girls attending on the first night : // Twice weekly garbage collections were introduced by Tamworth City Council on March 2, the collected garbage deposited in the Council Dump on the eastern side of Forest Road : // The first reported case of illegal marihuana use came on March 9, virtually the start of recorded illegal drug use in Tamworth : // Oxley High School established an Air Cadet Corps, with 60 pupils involved in the first parade of Air Training Corps No. 10 Flight at the school on March 15 : // Seven new soccer grounds were opened up, to become known as Federation Park, adjacent to the Tamworth Racecourse : // The buildings associated with the Riverside sporting fields came into use - today's Cricket House and a nearby amenities block : // A Vampire Jet was erected on the edge today's 'Hands of Fame Park' near the Peel River Bridge as part of the Captain Cook Bicentennial celebrations (1770 - 1970) : // Work got underway on the construction of Endeavour Drive at the top of Brisbane St, to recognise the Captain Cook Bi-Centenary (1770-1970). The road linked the town to the Oxley Reserve, located within the Wentworth Mounds (SEE PHOTO) : // North Tamworth Rotary Club commenced on May 20 with 28 members : // Tamworth Base Hospital came under stress with a significant influenza outbreak, despite having a bed capacity of 262 and 225 on its nursing staff, the largest hospital of its kind in the State. A total of 8500 in-patients and 12500 out-patients were treated during the year, increasing the need for a new wing : // Locally based East-West Airlines continued to prosper, having carried 282 725 passengers and 2000 tonnes of air freight in the 1969/70 financial year : // Another Agricultural Field Day was held in September on a 4th Field Day site which included over $ 1 million worth of machinery displayed by over 70 exhibitors : // On September 30 T.J.Treloar established Treloar's Fashion Centre at the corner of Brisbane & Peel St, known locally as "Treloar's Corner" : // During the year the Johnston St Tamworth Institute for Boys, which opened in 1948, reached its maximum enrolment of 22, with 65 boys passing through the Institute during the year, with the average stay of residents being 4 1/2 months : // The soon-to- become- famous Evonne Goolagong was invited to Tamworth by Tennis Club President Bob Bourke to compete in the NSW Hardcourt Championships, where she won the Women's Singles Championship, going on to win her first Wimbledon title 6 months later : // Hillvue Public School was opened on October 31 by the Hon. W.A.Chaffey M.P., with Harry Rogers the Principal and 8 teachers with over 260 pupils. Unfortunately the advent of COVID prevented a 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2020 (with Yours Truly having prepared a School History !) : // The first stage of the new St Edward's Primary School location, now within the Primary department on Hillvue Road, was opened on November 1 by the Most Rev. Dr James Freeman, Bishop of Armidale : // Tamworth High School Golden Jubilee Celebration took place, including the opening of a new Resource Centre on November 1 : // A new centre for pathology work was opened on November 2 at Tamworth Base Hospital , servicing 21 hospitals in North West/New England, one of only 3 pathology laboratories in NSW : // The Tamworth & New England Trotting Club was formed at a meeting on November 19, with around 60 in attendance. The first race meeting was then held at the Showground track on March 13, 1971 with around 3000 in attendance : // Tamworth Agricultural Research Station staff employees had grown to 67, with considerable research in wheat and wool quality research : // Tamworth Technical College had grown to offering 42 courses, with the enrolment having grown from 168 in 1938 to 1340, which included 290 trade apprentices : // Fielders pig industry had grown to accommodating about 10 000 pigs, 3rd in the State behind Scone and Young. About 800 breeding sows at its Calala piggery were later transferred to its "Woodlands" property near Kootingal : // With Tamworth 's water needs rapidly outgrowing its supply, plans began to construct a dam on the Peel River at Bowling Alley Point, the dam to be named Chaffey Dam after the strong dam proponents Frank Chaffey & Bill Chaffey : // Two small schools in the upper Peel Valley were closed on December 17 - Bowling Alley Point (101 years) and Hanging Rock (96 years) : // With a population of 24 500, Tamworth had 12 hotels, one for every 2042 people - these being Albert, Central, Court House, Family, Good Companions, Imperial, Locomotive, Post Office, Tattersalls, Town Talk, Tudor & Walls. Interestingly, in 1878, when the population was 3500, there were 35 hotels, one for every 100 people :