Ben Lomond, New South Wales
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ben Lomond is a village on the in the
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
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 village is situated 6 km off the
New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, an ...
between and . It was located in the Guyra Shire local government area until that council was amalgamated into the
Armidale Regional Council The Armidale Region is a local government area in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of the Armidale Dumaresq Shire with the surrounding Guyra Shire. ...
on 12 May 2016, with parts of the surrounding district in Glen Innes Severn Shire and
Inverell Shire '' Inverell Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia adjacent to the Macintyre River and the Gwydir Highway. The Mayor of Inverell Shire Council is Cr. Paul Harmon, who is unaligned wit ...
. It is primarily a farming area, with most of the residents involved in sheep, cattle and grain farming. Ben Lomond Village is at 1,370 m elevation, making it the highest village in northern New South Wales. As such, even though it is located only a few hours' drive from the
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
border, it receives occasional falls of snow in Winter. Overlooking the village are mountains known as "The Two Brothers", which have a peak elevation of 1,508 metres.


History

The name Ben Lomond originated from
Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...
in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. In 1848, the Manooan run of had the Ben Lomond Range as its southern boundary. In the 1860s there was a station named Ben Lomond which had been robbed by
Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushra ...
, who frequented the region. The slow climb and timber on the Ben Lomond Range proved an ideal place for the robbery of coaches and travellers. The to section of the Main North railway Line, which included Ben Lomond, opened on 19 August 1884. At , Ben Lomond railway station was the highest railway station in New South Wales until the
Skitube The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge electric rack railway in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the Perisher Valley. History In the 1980s, devel ...
opened in 1987. Ben Lomond railway station closed on 10 December 1985, followed by the Dumaresq-Glen Innes section on 3 October 1993. Ben Lomond Post Office opened on 4 November 1879 and closed in 1979. A school was established in January 1881, initially as a "provisional school" because there were not the 15 children to justify opening a full public school. In March 1883 it was upgraded to a full Public School. Ben Lomond was serviced by a general store providing the majority of day-to-day needs as well as farming supplies until it closed in November 2007.


Heritage listings

Ben Lomond has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Main Northern railway: Ben Lomond railway station * Ben Lomond War Memorial Hall * Church - Presbyterian * Church - St Patrick's Catholic Church and Cemetery * Church - St Pauls Anglican Church


Present day


Population

The did not report separate figures for the village of Ben Lomond. Instead, it reports a "Census area" named "Ben Lomond" which covers a considerable area (816 square km), especially to the east of Ben Lomond township, including the small settlements of Llangothlin, Tibbamurra, Falconer, Bald Blair and Green Hills. That census area had a recorded population of 152. Of these people: * The median age was 53 years, compared to the national median of 38. Children aged 0–14 years made up 12.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 27.0% of the population. * 84.7% were born in Australia; the next most popular response was England (2.2%). * Of the employed people, 28.6% worked in beef cattle Farming, followed by sheep-beef cattle Farming 14.3%, sheep farming 7.1%, central government administration 7.1% and primary education 7.1%.


Features

Ben Lomond Public School, located on Inn Road, has been reduced in recent years from thirty students in the mid nineties to a current enrolment of around twelve students. The lack of jobs in the immediate area, drought, as well as the proximity to Glen Innes and has been a factor in this change in school size. Ben Lomond has three Churches representing the Anglican,
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
and
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
denominations. Ben Lomond is home to several tourist attractions, including home stays, the longest hand cut railway cutting in Australia, the highest passenger railway station in the southern hemisphere (at the time of the construction of the railway), and a scattering of old and historical relics of past times in and around the village. Other amenities include a community hall and a volunteer brigade of the Rural Fire Service. The highland areas that include the Ben Lomond district are the focus areas for possible development of large scale wind farms. The original proposal was by Allco, which ran into severe financial problems and eventually liquidated on 4 November 2008, so that project was abandoned. Ben Lomond community has traditionally been active through several groups and local initiatives to maintain and progress the village and district. In recent years the village has formed something of a local rivalry with neighbouring Glen Innes in the form of an annual inter-town friendly cricket match. Whilst at a substantial size disadvantage, Ben Lomond have won four of the games so far, and drawn the other. Games are played on the Ben Lomond Recreational Ground, which once played host to regular games but is seldom used outside of the fixture.


References


External links


Ben Lomond Catholic Cemetery

Ben Lomond General Cemetery

Ben Lomond Public School
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales) Armidale Regional Council