Northern Villages is the name that refers to the small villages and

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

that make up the north of the Southern Highlands and

Wingecarribee Shire Wingecarribee Shire is the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of Sydney a ...

. All are north of

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is si ...

. Historically, many either are on the Old Hume Highway or the old Picton Loop Line. In the past they were referred to as the ''Northern Towns''. All of the Northern Villages made up the previous Mittagong (Nattai) Shire. The postcode for the Northern Villages is the same as Mittagong: 2575. However, Balmoral has the postcode of 2571.

Villages

The villages include: * Alpine (Population: 135] Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Census * Aylmerton, New South Wales, Aylmerton Population:194 * Balmoral (Population: 785) *

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...

(Population: 1189) which encompasses the smaller villages of: ** Balaclava ** Willow Vale * Colo Vale (Population: 1618) * Hill Top (Population: 2674) * Yerrinbool (Population: 1164)

History

Hill Top, Colo Vale, Willow Vale, Balmoral as well as

are located on the historical Picton Loop Line which used to be part of the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway (or Great Southern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West ...

but became a separate line in 1919 upon the building of a new alignment for the main line ( ''see Southern Highlands railway line'' ). The Loop line and stations are still intact. The northern section of the line is used by Thirmere's Railway Museum for the museum's antique steam trains, while the remainder of the line is now disused. The new line that was opened in 1919 was built a few kilometres east into the villages of Yerrinbool, Alpine,

Aylmerton Aylmerton is a village in the county of Norfolk, England. It is in the area of North Norfolk and lies south of the North Sea, south-west of Cromer and east of Holt, Norfolk, Holt. The parish is bordered by the parishes of Beeston Regis and W ...

and Balaclava. This line is still in use but Yerrinbool is the only Northern Village to retain an open railway station. Braemar and its surrounding villages are also located on the historic Old Hume Highway along with Yerrinbool, Alpine and Aylmerton until the construction of the current

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

in the 1980s.

National Parks

Hill Top, Balmoral, Yerrinbool, Colo Vale and parts of Braemar are surrounded by the

Nattai National Park The Nattai National Park is a protected area located in the Macarthur and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated approximately southwest of the Sydney central business district and primarily encompasse ...

and small reservations that make up the national park the Bargo State Conservation Area and Jellore State Forest.

Development

The Northern Villages mostly serve as residential areas with small commercial businesses such as general stores. However, recently Braemar (because of its growth is now considered part of Mittagong) has grown commercially and industrially with businesses taking advantage of zoned areas in the North of Braemar. This is because Braemar is next to railway and is close to the Hume Highway and its ramps.

References

{{authority control Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Towns in New South Wales Towns of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales)