Tilpa is a town in the Far West region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The town is located on the

Darling River The Darling River ( Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...

, in the

Central Darling Shire Central Darling Shire is a local government area in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Barrier Highway. Central Darling Shire was constituted in 1959 and at , it is the largest incorporated ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, north west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Tilpa and the large surrounding area had a population of 44. The town itself is said to have a population of nine. The Darling River at Tilpa has erratic flows and is often dry in periods of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. However floods in 1956 saw the Darling River span at its widest, isolating Tilpa for five months.

History

In its heyday, Tilpa was an important river port with

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

s delivering supplies to nearby

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

s and returning down river laden with bales of wool. The wool was taken to

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

—at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Darling and

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

s—and then either to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

or to

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest s ...

for passage to the port at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The town was home to a punt, allowing sheep, horses and people to cross the Darling River safely, for a fee. In June 1886 Tilpa was described as "a small township on the Darling" with "a good store", a telegraph office and "a commodious hotel". The township was known as a crossing-place on the Darling River, on the route between the Paroo district and the Sydney market. A punt was owned and operated by a man called Williams, who charged 25 shillings per thousand for crossing sheep. The punt has since been replaced by a bridge. The photo of the punt and the bridge dates it to after 1963 as that is when the bridge was completed.

Culture

The local

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

—the Tilpa Hotel—was built over 100 years ago. A timber and

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...

building, the inside walls are covered in messages and autographs placed by visitors in return for a donation to the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

. A feature of the town is a

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

memorial in Australia that includes a commemorative to Harry "Breaker" Morant, who was controversially executed by the British Army for murdering Boer prisoners. The town also claims to have the smallest heritage trail in Australia (two signs across the street from each other) and the only cemetery in Australia with no interments. : Confirmation of lack of graves in cemetery.

Economy

Tilpa is mainly an agricultural area, with sheep grazing the primary activity, and some pockets of

irrigated land Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develop ...

along the river. Tourism, including farmstay programs on local stations, is the other major local industry. Fishing and camping are popular along the river. The prolonged drought in 2007 saw Tilpa run out of

potable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...

. A Sydney-based company has offered to trial a portable

water filtration A water filter removes impurities by lowering contamination of water using a fine physical barrier, a chemical process, or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to different extents, for purposes such as: providing agricultural irrigation ...

plant to improve the quality of both the river and bore water.

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Populated places on the Darling River River ports of Australia

History

Culture

Economy

See also

References

External links