 | Glen Innes Things To Do | Tips 1 - 9 of 9 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Miscellaneous Things To Do Tips | All Tips (9)  | |  |  | More prosperous times | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Glen Innes prospered initially with the mineral boom in the late 19th century and its location on a major roads intersection but, along with most other rural towns, suffered after World War II when larger properties and more efficient practices meant less people on the farms and thus less trade.
What to do? Re-invent yourself, add the gimmick mentioned elsewhere and suddenly your town has an air of prosperity and that in itself attracts more people.
Some of the highlights are the Land of the Beardies History House, a 25 room folk museum, one of Australia's finest, Gem Hunters Haven, Cooramah Aboriginal Centre, Reddestone Sapphires, the Big Book on the Gwydir Highway (with more than 100,000 titles including rare first editions) and Highwoods, a 1.2ha arboretum in Macquarie Street.
Just recently one of Australia's famous Leyland Brothers, who used to make documentaries about trips in the Aussie outback, has set up tea rooms on the New England Highway and has an array of photos on display from those trips. (The tea and cake was delicious too!) Leave a Comment
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| | | | The standing stones | Tip Rating: | | | | |
As you have Stonehenge and the other cromlechs of Europe, thus it was that the good citizens of Glen Innes, in a reflection of their Celtic background, decided to erect a series of menhirs on a hill on the eastern side of town. Inspired by the Ring of Brogda in the Orkneys the idea was backed by the Australian Government (nice to see where my taxes went) and today is classified by the NSW National Trust. It's certainly a unique thing in Australia and the park that surrounds makes for a pleasant diversion if you're passing through.
There are 24 stones in the main circle, representing the hours in the day, and outside are four cardinal stones depicting the compass points and a single stone inside the circle making up the Southern Cross, symbolising the link between the old and new worlds.
Other stones mark the Ionic cross, symbol of the early Christian Church and two others mark the solstices.
Three stones in the centre of the array represent Gaelic-speaking Celts (Gaelic Stone), Brythonic-speaking Celts from Wales Cornwall and Brittany (Brythonic Stone) and the Australian Stone hopefully needs no further explanation.
There's also the Gorsedd Stone for the Cornish and Welsh and the Ogham Stone for the Irish but with an interesting inscription "Gleann Maqi Aongusa" meaning Glen of the sons of Angus or, simply, Glen Innes.
There is also a Celtic Festival held annually in autumn, first weekend in May to be precise, which has become more famous and better patronized with each passing year. Leave a Comment Directions: Glen Innes on the northern part of New England.
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Checking out the back streets of country towns in Australia can often be rewarding and, Glen Innes is no different.
I loved the opening shot where someone has transported an old wagon onto their lawn and made it a feature.
The other shot are representative of Federation style housing that is wonderful when restored, as shown particularly in picture two with the bay windows. Leave a Comment Directions: Various streets, these were all taken on the eastern side of the highway
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Getting inspriation from the Stones of Callish in Scotland, this array of stones is one of the first to be built in the world in the last 3500 years (like after Stonehenge). The main circle of the Australian Standing Stones has 24 stones, representing the 24 hours of the day.
Outside the circle, four "cardinal" stones mark true north, east, south and west. These four stones, with a single stone just inside the circle, form the Southern Cross -symbolising the link between the old and new worlds.
Another formation represents the Ionic cross, symbol of the early Christian Church and still used on Roman Catholic churches today. Other stones mark the summer and winter solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year.
Each stone weighs 17 tons. Impressive!
The best time to visit the stones are early morning (foggy - see pic) or near sunset. Leave a Comment Phone: 02 6732 2397Directions: Just outside the town limits
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This colonial style building in basalt with grey granite quoins and galvanised iron roof is still in use. It was built in 1873, replacing the original building completed in 1858, and designed by James Barnet.
It's situated at the northern end of the main street. Leave a Comment
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on November 21, 2004
on February 5, 2005
