Trundle is a small town in

Parkes Shire Parkes Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Broken Hill railway line and the Newell Highway. The area under administration includes the town of Parkes ...

in the Central West of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It and the surrounding area had a population of 335 in the . It lies in wheat-growing country and is on the Bogan Gate–Tottenham railway line, completed to Trundle in 1907. The line is now used for freight only.

History

Trundle lay on the southern boundary of the

Wangaibon The Wangaaypuwan, also known as the Wongaibon or Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan, are an Aboriginal Australian people who traditionally lived between Nyngan, the headwaters of Bogan Creek, and on Tigers Camp and Boggy Cowal creeks and west to Ivanhoe, ...

people's traditional lands. ''Trundle Lagoon'' Post Office opened on 1 May 1889 and was renamed ''Trundle'' in 1892. The (NSW) Geographical Names Board's only record of the origin of the name is a State Rail Authority's archives document on station names which indicates that the name probably originated from Trundle (hill-fort), about 24 km northeast of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England. Trundle' is an old English word for 'circle'. The archives document also said that it was the name of William Cumming's leased runs in 1859, which he called ''Trundle Lagoon''; that the 1866 Gazetteer recorded that Trundle Lagoon was occupied by George and John Palmer; and that the school opened as Trundle Lagoon in 1883, then Trundle in 1885.

Hotel

The Trundle Hotel was opened 17 March 1912, replacing an earlier 1888 building. The hotel was designed with long halls and corridors to allow cool draughts to flow through the building. The building was constructed by A.E.Ware for 5,000 pounds ($10,000). The hotel claims the second longest hotel balcony (with 68 metres facing Forbes St and 18 metres facing Parkes St), in New South Wales. (The longest hotel balcony in New South Wales is in

Cobar Cobar is a town in Outback New South Wales, Australia, whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Highwa ...

, at 91 metres.)

Other buildings

The Union Hotel was also built by A.E.Ware, in 1912. That hotel was subsequently demolished. Other buildings constructed by A.E.Ware included The Trundle School of Arts and the Trundle Picture Palace, both also built in 1914.

Today

The town is noted for having one of the widest main streets in the country, at 60 metres. It was built as wide as this to accommodate turning bullock trains. Health services are provided through the Trundle multi-purpose health centre (formerly the Trundle hospital). There is also a golf course with sand-oil greens, a 25-metre swimming pool, tennis courts, horse-racing facilities and a sporting oval named Berryman Park. In 2011, Trundle took part in ''Country Town Rescue'' for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Old farmhouses were rented out for a dollar per week to encourage new residents to the town. A TV documentary about the scheme was broadcast on 27 March 2012.

Berry Memorial Church

The Berry Memorial Church was opened and dedicated on Saturday 25th March 1939. The church was a gift of Mrs Walter Berry in memory of her husband and to commemorate the arrival of the Berry's in 1887. The church’s architect was Hedley Norman Carr and was built by J. Fullerton. The church is now part of the

Uniting Church of Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

Bush Tucker Day

The town's annual festival called "Bush Tucker Day" is held every September, when Trundle's small population is usually increased 2 to 3 fold. The main event is a

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...

cook off, where contestants strive to make the best tasting bush food. A panel of judges decides the winner. Other competitions during the day include

damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mech ...

throwing,

billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

boiling and dog jumping, and there are also bush stalls to browse through.

Bush music The bush ballad, bush song, or bush poem is a style of poetry and folk music that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush ballad employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of ...

is a major part of the day.

Trundle ABBA Festival

In 2012, in the tradition of the

Parkes Elvis Festival The Parkes Elvis Festival is an Australian annual event celebrating the music and the legend of Elvis Presley held on the second weekend in January in the New South Wales regional town of Parkes. The first festival in 1992 was a one-night perf ...

, Trundle launched its own tribute with the inaugural Trundle ABBA Festival (Australia's first dedicated ABBA festival), which was held in the main street of Trundle, Trundle Memorial Hall, Trundle Hotel and Trundle Services Club in Forbes St, Trundle. In 2013, it won Event of the Year 2013 honors at the Parkes Shire

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

Awards, and features in the ABC Documentary ''ABBA: Bang A Boomerang''. After a break, because of the Covid pandemic, the 2023 ABBA festival was held on Saturday 14 October 2023 and with the 2024 ABBA Festival held on 19 October 2024.

Schools

* Trundle Central School * St Patrick's Primary school

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Parkes Shire