town

The Bundaberg Foundry has been a Bundaberg institution on the north side of the river for over 100 years. But it actually had its genesis in Targo Street, about where the Imperial Hotel stood (now the Central Hotel). A Mr Thomas Child (Snr) was employed in, or began, Bundaberg’s first iron foundry either on the site of the Imperial Hotel, or on land in front of the Imperial Hotel, depending on the source.1,2 Other sources credit Thomas’s son Thomas Obadiah Child with adding the foundry arm to the business in 1885. Thomas (Snr) developed a prosperous and well-regarded business, and once he handed over the reigns to his son Thomas Obadiah the business continued to grow and develop. From mid-1887 the foundry is referred to as Messrs. Roberts, Coombe, and Co. Bundaberg Foundry. The firm was in its ‘infancy’ and they had won contracts for the railways, a new wharf, and the railings of the new Queensland National Bank. In 1888 the company was set to change again, with the advertisement of the “Prospectus of the Bundaberg Foundry Company, Limited, Bundaberg”. On 28 November 1888 the new Bundaberg Foundry Co., Ltd advertised its intentions to move their business to North Bundaberg. The Foundry, unfortunately, suffered some losses in the flooding Bundaberg experienced in early 1890. On the evening of 18 December 1920 a fire at the Bundaberg Foundry lit up the night sky. 1926 120 hands were employed by the Foundry which was regarded as the headquarters for the manufacture of machinery for the Australian sugar and mining industries. 1952 Bundaberg Foundry delivers to Mossman Mill in North Queensland two steam coal-fired locomotives, ‘Bundy’ (named after the Foundry) and ‘Speedy’. These two locos now perform tourist service at the historic Bally Hooley Steam Railway at Port Douglas. 1989 Bundaberg Foundry was purchased by Bundaberg Sugar. Bundaberg Foundry becomes a member of the Bundaberg Sugar group. 2001 On a June morning an explosion at the Foundry shook homes and businesses in North Bundaberg and resulted in molten metal landing in surrounding streets. A Foundry worker managed to run from the scene just before the explosion, which was the result of contact between water and molten metal. The explosion set fire to the roof and caused $50,000 damage. 2008 In January Bundaberg Foundry changes its name to Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Limited. The Foundry today Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Limited still remains part of the Bundaberg Sugar group which is owned by Finasucre. They provide a diversified range of products and services for the sugar industry, as well as general engineering products and services. Their work serves domestic and international clients. Peta Browne Bundaberg Regional Libraries www.artsbundaberg.com.au/downloads/file/40/bundaberg-foun...,(now%20the%20Central%20H

Adavale is located approximately 100 kilometres north east of Quilpie. The township was proclaimed on 3 December 1872 and by 1897 five hotels soothed the dusty throats of travellers and locals alike. The mail coach Cobb and Co stopped in the town on its way from Charleville via Cheepie to Windorah. The name Adavale has been said to derive from the horse and buggy days when in 1870 a Mr Stevens, who later became Member of Warrego 1879 to 1922 and State Treasurer, was out driving with his wife when the veil from her hat blew away. It is believed he called out 'there goes Ada's veil' hence the crossing was Ada's Veil Crossing and subsequently Adavale. Today Adavale is a much smaller township with a population of only twelve people. An Artesian bore supplies water and the town has rural power. The town is well worth a look as it is a town filled with history, stories and memories. The locals have done a marvellous job celebrating their history, culture and dry Outback humour. A mini museum, in the old butcher house, displays local relics from more than a century ago. Source: www.australianexplorer.com/adavale.htm#:~:text

Elegant regional city in the heart of Queensland's sugar-growing country. Bundaberg is one of Queensland's gracious coastal cities. It is essentially a sugar town (although it is now large enough to be a major service center) and it is characterized by tropical parks and gardens, a lazy green-brown tropical river (the Burnett), handsome Classical Revival buildings with solid Doric and Corinthian columns, wide streets, palm and fig trees and the heady scent of bougainvillea and jasmine. In summer it quietly swelters under the hot, subtropical sun. In winter it is close to balmy perfection. It is a city rich in attractions where a visitor could easily spend a week visiting the famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery, the beautiful Botanic Gardens with the bizarre incongruity of Bert Hinkler's stucco-and-brick English suburban home, the Lutheran Church with its huge Biblical text facade and the handsome historic buildings in the city center. Only minutes away, through fields of sugar cane, is Bargara with the unforgettable black basalt on the beaches and the loggerhead turtles who come to lay their eggs at Mon Repos. Source: www.aussietowns.com.au/town/bundaberg-qld