REMEMBER when Coonamble used to have large gatherings of humans?
In the pre-COVID world small groups of people would devise an activity to entertain themselves and others, they’d pick a venue and invite their friends – or the wider world – to come along.
Like many small towns, Coonamble has stages some excellent adventures this way and the delightful riverside garden at Woodlands has hosted more than their share.
Under the supervision of the feisty Sister Christina Cullen, the boarders from the Catholic Convent School would enjoy excursions to Woodlands to have afternoon tea or pick fruit in the orchard.
Many years later – but before health and safety regulations ruled the world – the little people from Coonamble Children’s Services would spend glorious mornings playing hide and seek in the garden or even frolicking in the sand in the river.
In the 1970s, a clever group created an entire community event around a bog-hole in one of Woodland’s further paddocks. They created a muddy racetrack and raced rough cars and motorbikes in circles in front of a large crowd of picnicking spectators.
A more sedate crowd came along to an Autumn Fair with market stalls scattered around the garden, hosted by the Red Cross as a fundraiser in April 1997.
From 1998, as the Streets Ahead Committee and Garden Club took flight, a big push to attract visitors to the district saw a series of Open Garden Days under the Australian Open Garden Scheme.
Known as the Coonamble Ramble, Woodlands was one of half a dozen gardens around the district to attract large crowds of visitors and press coverage aplenty.
In September 2005 the Country Women’s Association held a Spring Fair there, again with market stalls, guest speakers and musical entertainment. Even the then Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson attended with his wife as guests of honour.
At the height of the Moorambilla Festival in September 2007, the visiting performers were treated to a Sunday morning tea in the Woodlands grounds.
Woodlands is a favourite with photographers. Along with private weddings, hordes of debutantes and their partners have been snapped striking poses on the verandah, in front of rustic outbuildings and in the shady gardens.
Alison and John Kennedy say that the drought has taken it’s toll on the garden, which is now a little smaller and more manageable than it once was.
“We’ve worked out what kangaroos don’t like to eat,” Mrs Kennedy said. “I’m an expert on that.”
“But the soils are beautiful and the river water is amazing, the garden is its own little microclimate.”
Among the hardy drought-tolerant survivors are some plants, like hellebores, that don’t usually grow well in this region but thrive at Woodlands.
“The garden is full of things that don’t need a whole lot of water,” Mrs Kennedy said. “It’s been trial and error over the years.”