Banjo Paterson Memorial Park

Banjo Paterson is an Australian Icon. Best known as a Poet, Writer and Journalist, he was also a lawyer, a War Correspondent and farmer, as well as having fought in the First World War. He took the nickname "Banjo" in his late twenties, from the name of a horse his father once owned.

A. B. "Banjo" Paterson was born in 1864 at Narambla near Orange in N.S.W., which was the home of Mrs Rose Templer, his mother’s aunt, but in fact he spent the first 7 years of his life on a property now known as "Buckinbah" in Yeoval N.S.W.

His father was a farmer from Lanarkshire in Scotland and the family lived in a small cottage on the property, the remains of which are still visible to this day.

The Vision

To build a world class tourist facility, giving access to the place where Banjo Paterson spent some of his most formative years. Years that were in no small way to shape the rest of his life and the way he would see the world.

The Plan

Stage 1

The first step will be to acquire the use of some land currently controlled by Cabonne Council, which will entail the re-alignment of a road and the clearing of both the ground and adjoining riverbank. Secondly, the site of the cottage remains will have to be cleared of weeds and overgrowth and a walking track from the road to that site put in place. Figures 1-5 show the cottage site and the surrounding areas as they now are.

Figure 1

This shows the cottage site from an existing road through private property.

This road is the one proposed for re-alignment,

which will allow for the establishment of the park site

Figure 2

A view of the cottage remains and the river

taken from private property.

A walkway from the park along the riverbank

will provide access to the site of the cottage.

Figure 3

This is a view of the remains of the cottage

with the river in the background.

One of the first tasks will be to remove all

of the weed growth from the area.

Figure 4

A closer view of the cottage, showing the outer stone walls

still standing.

These trees will be removed as they are not native to this area and will allow a better view of the site.

Figure 5

Buckinbah Creek, which runs near the Paterson cottage.

Banjo wrote in later life of his memory of spending time

down by the creek.

It is proposed to install a walkway beside the creek to

allow access to the cottage.

Stage 2

Step 2 will be to progressively clear the proposed parkland and provide facilities such as barbeques, seating, shade and amenities. It is intended to plant Wilga trees, a type of tree which Banjo would have been very familiar with and which were a common source of both shade and materials in his era. These trees will provide shade for the park area and a focus for the walkway.

A mature Wilga tree. Typically these trees grow to

10 metres with an umbrella shaped canopy.

In Banjo's day they would have provided shade and

in times of drought, the leaves may have been used

for sheep fodder

The flowers and leaves of the Wilga tree.

Sheep would have grazed on the leaves of immature,

growing plants and in times of severe drought

the branches of mature trees might have been cut down

to provide emergency food

How are we going to pay for all this?

As well as applying for government funding, we will be looking for assistance from the Public. For $138.00 you will be able to buy a tree in the park, which will have your name inscribed on a plaque attached to a permanent marker next to the tree. Each tree will be provided with a tree guard till it is mature enough to stand on its own. All of the trees in the park will be fully maintained and cared for.

The following photographs show the first tree planting ceremony with Yeoval’s oldest residents, Will Job and Janet Johnson, together with local council member Colin Francis planting the first of eventually 200 trees.

Mr Will Job 95, planting his tree,

one of over 200 planned for the park.