First up, a huge congratulations to Trentham and its wonderful people for being awarded the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town in the Tiny Tourism Town category. That should keep the lovers of alliteration happy.
If I didn’t live in Glenlyon, and had more money, I would happily live in Trentham. It has great businesses including fantastic pubs, a local IGA supermarket, The Mechanics Trentham has just celebrated its first anniversary and then there are the people.
I have always thought there was something in the water in Trentham to have so many creatives in the one town. (The Little Gallery Winter Show has just wrapped up but you can still buy tickets for the raffle – which will be drawn on August 1.)

The town just pumps. It used to be only on weekends but we had a meal at the Trentham pub during the week recently and it was really busy.
To celebrate, The Local is going to do a Trentham special in the next edition – so keep an eye out for that.
Next up, The Block has finally wrapped up with it now screening on Sunday evenings on Channel 9.
We were lucky enough to be invited to the media event on Friday, July 18 and meet all the contestants and have a chat to hosts Scotty and Shelley.
It was really interesting going through all the houses, each with a different style, although I am not sure the pools will get a good workout even during summer.
Maybe just one communal pool would have been better. They could have put a cover on it and called it the Daylesford Indoor Aquatic Centre…and charged an entrance fee.

Or skip the pool and create a communal gathering space and call it The Hub. Perhaps Hepburn Shire Council could have one day made the move from its rented premises in Vincent Street to 9 Raglan Street.
The show, that is The Block, seemed to have changed a bit this year. No all- nighters, a family visit after just two weeks away, lovely furnished caravans for all the contestants rather than bunking down on a mattress on the floor. The couple of times we went to the site during production, you would always see a few of the contestants in their deck chairs enjoying a bit of a natter.
One of the contestants also told me they had been pleasantly surprised by the very dry weather during the weeks of construction. They had thought the rain would be a problem but it had luckily held off. Not so lucky for the farmers, but still…
I reckon a lot of people from our region will be watching the show, not so much for the houses, but for the special projects with the Rex Cinema, Hepburn Bathhouse and Daylesford Men’s Shed…and hopefully the final auction will give a push to the currently pretty stagnant real estate market. Watch this space.
Finally, sad news for Clunes with the imminent closure of not only their Bendigo Bank agency but also the newsagency.

Picking up your papers, buying a magazine, trying for a Lotto win and just doing local banking are all really important activities for small towns. Stores provide community hubs – sometimes the only interaction a person will have for the day.
Closing them down might make economic sense but not community sense. I don’t know the answer though. Clearly the bank has crunched the numbers and quite a few of their local agencies are closing this year. But it can’t always be about the numbers. Like home care for the elderly, there is a human element that should override dollars. But it generally doesn’t. Just sayin’…

The Incomplete Folk Singer – Saturday, August 23, 7.30pm.
For the past two decades, stalwart of the Adelaide folk scene, AP D’Antonio, has delivered his unique take on traditional country, folk and blues with charm and musicality to burn.
From big city dive bars to small-town country fairs and the bright lights of TV studios, AP’s raw vulnerability and freewheeling style has won over audiences of all ages and persuasions. His new one man show, The Incomplete Folk Singer, finds AP in his element, showcasing his musical heroes through intimate performance and jovial storytelling. (Image: Catherine Leo)
All gigs correct at time of publication.

Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham

Phil Smith – Saturday, August 2
Freya + Tom McGowan – Saturday, August 9
Dead Beat Daddios – Saturday, August 16
Jeremy Beggs – Saturday, August 23
Andrea Robertson – Saturday, August 30

Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel, Creswick

Wendy Rule – Friday, August 1
Jeremy Beggs – Saturday, August 2
Mark Wilkinson – Friday, August 8
The Incomplete Folk Singer – Friday, August 22
Joyce Prescher – Saturday, August 23
Jordie Lane – Sunday, August 24
Sharon and Slava Grigoryan – Saturday, August 30

Hepburn Springs resident Adam Fawcett has been awarded the 2025 Kerri Hall Fellowship for Performing Arts at State Library Victoria.
Adam plans to spend the next year researching the history of performing arts across regional Victoria, with plans to create scripts for an audio drama series and podcast.
As part of the fellowship, Adam will receive $15,000 in funding, one-on-one support by a specialist librarian and an office in the library’s dome annulus for one year.

Adam is interested in uncovering the lost stories of performing artists whose contributions shaped regional contemporary life, and also the importance of community spaces dedicated to arts and theatre.
The Kerri Hall Fellowship for Arts is held in honour of State Library Victoria librarian Kerri Hall, who grew up in regional Victoria and cared for the library’s performing arts collection, including theatre bills, programs, photos and other manuscripts and ephemera.
Adam is an accomplished playwright, producer and screenwriter who lives and works in Hepburn Springs on Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

Image: Jarrod Barnes Photography

The Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens will hold their Taylor & Sangster Lecture with guest lecturer John Hawker in Stanbridge Hall, Daylesford on Thursday, August 7 from 5.30pm.
In 2022, Mr Hawker carried out a Tree Collections Report for the gardens commissioned by Hepburn Shire.

He was part of a group tasked with this job including John Beetham, John Binnion and John Harvey.
Mr Hawker is a horticulturist with over 40 years’ experience working on botanic and historic gardens with qualifications in Agricultural Science, Horticultural Science and Viticulture.
He commenced work at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne in December 1982, moved to Urban Design in 1990 and Heritage Victoria in 1995. In 1989, Mr Hawker was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study overseas the conservation and management of botanic and historic gardens.
John worked for 23 years at Heritage Victoria assessing places for the Victorian Heritage Register providing advice on their protection and conservation. He retired in January 2019. John has undertaken numerous garden surveys, and participated in heritage studies and master plans.
Since 1982, he has also been involved in the National Trust’s Register of Significant Trees and contributed to the Trust’s publications on Cemeteries: Our Heritage and Conserving Our Cemeteries. John is a co-author of Elms in Australia.
BYO aperitifs with RSVPs by August 1 to Friends secretary Denise Robinson at lake.dc43@gmail.com

Red was the colour de jour as 100+ people headed to the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens on July 19 for The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.
The event is held at locations around the world where participants recreate the music video for musician Kate Bush’s 1978 song Wuthering Heights.
The inspiration was Shambush!’s The Ultimate Kate Bush Experience, which took place in 2013 in Brighton, England, as part of Brighton Fringe, created by performance collective Shambush! who attempted to set an unofficial world record for the most people dressed as Kate Bush in one place, with hundreds attending.

Wuthering Heights is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name Ellis Bell. The main themes of the novel are love, passion, and vengeance. It is the love between Heathcliff and Catherine that runs through the novel, though it assumes dangerous proportions as the plot thickens with Catherine rejecting Heathcliff and choosing Edgar Linton.
Kate Bush wrote her chart-topping debut single when she was just 18 years old. She told the BBC about the origins of a literary love song that began a unique career in music.
It became an unexpected number one hit in 1978 – the first song written and performed by a female artist to reach the UK top spot. What makes the single even more idiosyncratic is that its title and story are borrowed from Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel – but it was actually a television series that spurred Bush to write the song.

“Well, I hadn’t read the book, that wasn’t what inspired it. It was a television series they had years ago,” she told Michael Aspel in a BBC interview in 1978.
As a teenager she had come across the end of an episode of a 1967 BBC adaptation of Brontë’s tale of doomed love. Its startling imagery had captivated her.
“I just managed to catch the very last few minutes where there was a hand coming through the window and blood everywhere and glass. And I just didn’t know what was going on and someone explained the story.”

Bush was 19 years old when the single was released. Born in July 1958, the youngest of three children, she grew up in an artistic household in Kent, England.
Her father, a doctor, and her mother, a nurse, surrounded their children with music, and encouraged them to learn instruments from an early age. Both of her older brothers were heavily involved in music and poetry, and she would join them performing Irish and English folk songs at home.

Jenny Jordan, one of those who took part, said she went “for the pure joy of dancing with a group of women, especially to a song like Wuthering Heights”. “Getting your costume ready, gathering a few friends and doing a few practice runs builds the anticipation. And what an atmospheric place to dance, the Wombat Hill gardens are unbeatable. It was great fun and I loved being there. I’m so grateful to organisers Gary Thomas and Tuesday Telford Perkins for making it happen.”
Words: Donna Kelly, Wikipedia and BBC | Images: Donna Kelly

Fishing was part of Cliff Barnes’ life from the beginning. He muses that he must have used up eight of his nine lives along New Zealand’s Northland coast but, on a recount, concedes he has used up the lot.
“I must have been crazy,” is a thought that often occurs to the father of The Local’s Kyle Barnes, as he reflects on life at the grand age of 80.
Among Cliff’s many scrapes with death was when his boat smashed against the rocks and sank. Another time, he fell overboard and was left fully clothed, treading water as his pilotless vessel motored away into the distance. On yet another occasion, he was stuck in a big marine cave on a distant archipelago for a week waiting for a storm to blow itself out, with no sustenance but a rotting octopus and the rusty radiator water from his boat’s engine.

Cliff is widely regarded as the best longline fisherman of his generation, said to have the Midas touch. But he never let anyone winkle out his secrets for the best spots. His answers ranged from evasion to outright lies. “Over there,” he would sometimes say, keeping his arms crossed and thus giving no clue to where “there” was. Other times he would say “at such-and-such an island” when he had been nowhere near.
He started with nothing – no money, no schooling, no training and very little support. What’s more, fate dealt him a few unfavourable blows on his voyage through life. Through it all, he remained buoyant. Cliff’s adventures and innovations are a testament to his intelligence, flexibility, courage – some might say foolhardiness – to take great risks; the character to pick himself up and start again when things went wrong; an immense capacity for hard work, and an intensely competitive spirit – and why he guards his secrets so closely.
His story also presents an insight into the social history of life on Struggle Street, New Zealand, in the fifties and sixties and how much times changed as the fishing industry went from being a wild-west free-for-all to the highly regulated export industry that it is today.
Cliff sees the sea – and life – with a fisherman’s eyes. His self-deprecating humour and positive attitude helped him ride out numerous hair-raising ordeals, and in the end, look back on his life as a ‘bloody good story’.

“Fishermen,” says Cliff with a chuckle, “are the greatest liars unhung”.
Cliff grew up in Wellington and Wairarapa, before his family moved to Waiheke Island. He later plied his trade as a fisherman in Northland. He knows everything he knows through trial and error. He lives in Whangerei, and on the road in his camper.
Author David Hastings is a retired journalist, historian and language teacher. He has perviously written four books: Over the Mountains of the Sea, Extra! Extra!, The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie and Odyssey of the Unknown Anzac.
Pictured, two legends at the 2015 ChillOut Festival, Daylesford’s Max Primmer and fisherman, and father of Kyle, Cliff Barnes | Image: Kyle Barnes
Below, Cliff in his fishing days in the 1980s
Hook, Line and Misadventure, published by Harper Collins, is available at Paradise Bookstore in Daylesford. For a chance to win one of two copies, head to Kyle’s Rant on page 22.
Or make the old bugger happy and just buy a copy…

Sharks live in our consciousness. Each summer brings reports of swimmers or surfers being “attacked”.
A new book by a local shark expert reveals, however, that they do not set out to attack humans as in the hit film Jaws, but may take inquisitive bites or make a mistake in murky water. And of 500 types, most bites are caused by just three species: white, tiger and bull sharks.
Their longevity is amazing: scientists found by dating eye proteins that Greenland sharks live up to 390 years and could exceed 500 years.
These are just a few of the facts disclosed by John Long, a Daylesford resident for a year, and a prolific author whose latest work, The Secret History of Sharks, has been published globally. John, who turns 68 next month and is pictured in Central Park, New York on July 2, 2024, the day his book was released, sees this book as the culmination of his life’s work.

This began when he gathered shark’s teeth at the age of seven in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Beaumaris. At age 13 he topped a Victorian competition with a hand-written scientific study, complete with maps and drawings.
Some of his information seems almost inconceivable: such as a giant fossil shark in Italy up to 11 metres long and 90 million years old. He is almost exultant as he shows a video of a cage with the deadliest shark on the planet.
He spent three “fantastic” hours in the only place in the world where the bottom of the ocean can be reached, as well as six hours in a surface cage.
Then there is the goblin shark, resembling the Alien in sci-fi movies, it has spindly teeth that poke out in all directions, can reach seven metres in length and has a bizarre head with an elongated flat paddle-shaped snout full of receptors to find prey such as squid or small fish in its dark deep ocean habitat.
Away from sharks, he and other researchers recently made headlines around the world when they found that fossilised claw prints on the banks of the Broken River near Mansfield suggest that the ancestors of reptiles, birds and mammals evolved about 40 million years earlier than thought.
The discovery hints at their emergence in the ancient southern continent of Gondwana, rather than in the northern hemisphere. Researchers say the trackways of these creatures, called amniotes, represent the oldest evidence of these creatures on Earth.
With the 50th anniversary of Jaws upon us, John writes of the frenzy of fear caused by the film, leading to the killing of thousands of these “magnificent beasts”. He quotes the film’s director, Steven Spielberg: “I truly, and to this day, regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book, and the film.”
For this is a creature with a superb sense of smell, with special power that detects faint electric fields of other living creatures (that may be buried under sand).
Some sharks are, he writes, virtually unchanged from when dinosaurs roamed about 150 million years ago. Some change their colour as camouflage on the seabed.
“The patterns of adaptation, survival and extinction that we see in the long evolutionary history of sharks mirrors the trends in the evolution of all life,” he writes, “they can teach us about our own evolutionary journey.” They survived five global mass extinction events, several involving harsh conditions similar to those predicted by climate change models for our planet in the not-too-distant future.
“I think we can learn valuable lessons from these consummate survivors in how to cope with rapid changes to our environment. What worked for them might well work for us.”
In his years of searching, John has found fossil sharks in outback WA and during his four expeditions to Antarctica, where he narrowly escaped falling into seven mountain crevasses while out alone hunting for the Holy Grail of fossils.
John won a national award for a children’s book on evolution, one of many he has written.
“Sharks was the idea of a New York editor. I wrote a 150-page submission which then went out for bidding. The winner was Penguin Random House, one of the world’s largest publishers.”
He has two documentaries in development. His 55 articles written for The Conversation website have reached 2.7 million readers, he says, and he featured on two recent episodes of Britain’s popular History Hit podcast.
John has written or edited over 30 books that fill his home bookshelf, 220 peer-reviewed papers and 160 popular science articles, including a book on the origins of sex.
He retires next month as Strategic Professor in Palaeontology (the study of fossils) at Flinders University, in Adelaide.
In Daylesford, he and his wife, author Heather Robinson, have found everything they want, he says, a great coalition of ideas and friendships. “We have been coming here for a long time and we love it.”
Anyone keen to know more can hear from John at Hotel Bellinzona on Saturday, August 23 at 11.30am as part of the annual Words in Winter festival. Heather will also talk about her book, Beyond the Books: Culture, Value and Why Libraries Matter during the festival, at Stony Creek Gallery on Saturday August 30 at 5.30pm.
For the full program head to www.wordsinwinter.com
Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Heather Robinson

Hepburn Shire artists Marcelle Bradbeer, Bek Saltmarsh, Aleks Danko and Irene Holub are among 115 recipients who will share in more than $1.5 million from the Creative Projects Fund.
The grants support diverse projects spanning design, dance, literature, film, fashion, visual arts and music.
Fine art photographer Marcelle Bradbeer has received an Uncovering Talent grant that will support the project Climate Adaptation Photography Project: Fish Factory Residency & Exhibition.
This will support Marcelle to participate in a residency at Fish Factory in Iceland to document climate-adaptive living through photography. The project will culminate in an exhibition in Victoria.
Bek Saltmarsh has received an Uncovering Talent grant to support Un-weaving Uniformity, a project that seeks to reclaim and subvert the visual language of school uniform, by recreating its plaid using a combination of traditional Aboriginal weaving techniques and loom weaving.
Aleks Danko has received a Projects grant to support material and production costs for A(GAP)E – A Verklempt Snare exhibition at McClelland Sculpture Park+ Gallery in 2026.
Irene Holub has received a Projects grant to support producing and performing Manifesto of Silences – 1880, an experimental opera exploring the impact of the Milan Conference on the deaf community, engaging diverse audiences and driving innovation in performance
The Creative Projects Fund supports Victorian artists, creative collectives and small businesses to bring their projects to life. Grants back the development of new creative work, projects that drive innovation, professional development and career-making opportunities, and initiatives to reach new audiences and markets.
To increase equity of access to these opportunities and ensure projects reflect the diversity of Victorians, the latest round of the program included streams for First Peoples and Deaf and Disabled creatives, and a separate focus area for creatives who have not previously received Creative Victoria funding.
One third of the recipients are based in regional or outer-metropolitan areas.

The Bendigo Bank agency at Clunes will close on October 21 this year – which means the Clunes NewsXpress Newsagency might also going.
Owners Cynthia and Craig Drewer say they cannot afford to continue the business without the bank’s partnership.
Cynthia, pictured, said ideally someone would take on the Tattslotto and newsagency and keep the business going.
“Otherwise when bank closes we’ll have to walk away. Craig has already started applying elsewhere. Fingers crossed it continues. It’s too much of a hub in town not to keep going.”
A Bendigo Bank media release, dated July 22, says Bendigo Bank’s purpose is to feed into the prosperity of its customers and the community.
“The bank operates the second-largest regional branch network and has more branches per customer than any other Australian bank. Bendigo Bank’s agency model, established more than 30 years ago, enabled the Bank to offer limited banking services via third parties in areas where there was not enough customer demand to sustain a branch.
“Following a review, Bendigo Bank has concluded that its agency model can no longer be supported due to decreasing customer use and other relevant factors and will be retired from October 2025.”
Social media has gone into overdrive with the news, evenly divided with anger towards the Bendigo Bank and appreciation for Cynthia and Craig.
“Bendigo bank and shareholders mission statement should change as they are not for the community. Craig and Cynthia are very caring people, they do a wonderful job for the community.”
“I hate to see this for you both, and (with) the amazing supportive service you give to all of us in Clunes. I’m always so grateful to you guys. I hope we don’t lose you.”
“So sad to see this happen. Cyn and Craig such beautiful people.”
“As a community we will lose a couple who for the last eight years have fought their own fights including Covid and robbery, and now for this to happen is typical of large corporate groups who have only money on their minds and sod the small towns and communities. Well done to Craig and Cynthia for everything you have given to Clunes.”
“I am shocked by these actions. Especially when Craig and Cynthia have been so loyal. They do a wonderful job for the community.”
“The bank has given Clunes a real kick in the guts. After years of gloating about their support of small towns, their decision to close agencies will have a lasting effect on the small towns selected. Withdrawing banking services is not community minded. Further funds could be saved by the Bendigo Bank withdrawing the ‘Better Big Bank’ advertisement. We would like to congratulate Craig and Cyn on the excellent job they have done. They don’t deserve this treatment.”
In March 2019, The Local reported that Clunes residents gathered to support all affected by the attempted burglary of the Bendigo Bank ATM from the Clunes Newsagency. About 500 people took part in the March 17 event, arriving with fold-up chairs and picnic baskets, with a few donning green and orange for St Patrick’s Day. The gathering was billed as a “Picnic on Fraser”.
Cynthia and Craig were swamped by locals wanting to reassure and support them.
“We’re overwhelmed,” Cynthia said at the time. “We’ve had so many people come up and hug us, tell us they’re right behind us. It’s just amazing.”

Words: Donna Kelly | File image: Kyle Barnes

Re The Local front page stories of June 30 and July 14 reporting ‘Forest destruction grief’, many in the ‘Wombat Forest community’ have a completely alternate view.
The repeated reference to ‘salvage logging’ occurring is incorrect as salvage logging is the felling of trees whereas what in fact is being conducted is storm debris cleanup of some of the uprooted trees from the June 2021 ‘Big Storm’ where over a million trees were uprooted in an extra-tropical cyclonic event.
Members of the forest community are thankful these works are being conducted strategically along roadsides and near townships providing much improved fire-fighting access.
Additionally hollow and moss-covered logs and many others are retained to meet Ecological Vegetation Class benchmarks for habitat and environmental health.

• Gary McIntosh, Bullarto

Letters, like this one from Gary, are always welcome. Keep them short and sweet, or long and interesting. Email donna@tlnews.com.au
Any addressed Dear Sir will be deleted. You know why. 🙂

Open Access Libraries are being rolled out in Hepburn Shire.
Community members will be able to head to their library and pick up their holds, borrow books or use the printer between 8am and 8pm, seven days per week.

Security will be upgraded to ensure a safe environment, including automatic sensor lighting, security cameras and safety alarms.

Open Access will be launched this year at The Mechanics Trentham and The Warehouse – Clunes, and next year at Creswick Hub and Daylesford Library.

Kingston residents are mounting a campaign to save a huge 130-year-old Algerian oak in Kingston, to be cut down if the Western Renewables Link goes ahead as planned.
Jeremey Harper said one of the 85-metre towers (the height of a 25-storey building) is to be erected right next to Kerrins Bridge, an arched bluestone structure built in 1883, and as the nearby tree is directly under the proposed transmission lines, AusNet says its removal is required.

People can sign a petition at the Commercial Hotel in Kingston and make a submission to the WRL Environmental Effects Statement by August 22.

Copies of the petition available at jerrawh@gmail.com

Ballarat’s Eureka Medical Centre is now a fully bulk billed service.
In November 2023 the federal government tripled the bulk billing incentive for pensioners, concession card holders and children.

Since then 9 out 10 GP visits for this cohort of eligible patients have been bulk billed.

Trentham is the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town in the Tiny Tourism Town category – for its “charm, community spirit, and visitor appeal”.
As the Victorian winner, Trentham will now be considered for a national award.
Hepburn Shire Cr Brian Hood, long-time councillor for the previous Coliban Ward and resident, said winning the small town tourism award was fantastic recognition for the town of Trentham and its wonderful people.
“Trentham really is a hidden gem, perhaps not so hidden any more. Visitors enjoy Trentham’s walking trails and forest, the iconic Trentham Falls and a very warm welcome from locals and traders – from boutiques, eateries and our fabulous pubs to accommodation providers. This award is a great result for a great community. Congratulations to all who make this a fantastic place.”
Mayor Cr Don Henderson said the recognition was a celebration of Trentham’s vibrant community and unique offerings.

“I would like to extend a big thank you to Steve Wroe and the dedicated team at Daylesford Macedon Tourism, whose outstanding work in preparing the award submission, in collaboration with council’s Economic Development team, played a pivotal role in this success.
“The video beautifully captures the essence of our tiny treasure, Trentham. We would also like to thank the amazing local businesses featured in the video, helping to showcase exactly what makes the town so special. And of course, to everyone who voted and supported our campaign. We invite everyone to come and experience Trentham for yourselves.”
Daylesford Macedon Tourism CEO Steve Wroe said: “When you have such great towns in your region it gives you a head start, but thanks to the DMT team for their amazing work on the submission.
“And as always, a huge thank you to the team at Hepburn Shire Council. Their unwavering support and commitment to sustainably growing the visitor economy makes all the difference.”
Warrnambool was named Victorian Top Tourism Town (population 5000+) and Mount Beauty won the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population 1500-5000) and Trentham took home the Top Tiny Tourism Town Award (population <1,500). The silver award for Top Tiny Tourism town went to Halls Gap with the bronze going to to Whitfield.
Inset, back from left, Bradley Thomas & Steve Wroe, front from left, Shire Visitor Experience Officer Libby Rigby & Economic Development & Visitor Economy coordinator Bridgette O’Brien

Words: Donna Kelly