It’s not just about gold, that’s only part of the story. Really gold is about the hopes and dreams of the people who flocked to the new gold districts seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
Some were miners, some were tradespeople while others were merchants. Collectively they built communities that today stand as a window into the lives and hopes of families in rural NSW in the mid-late 1800s.
The goldfields were the best and worst of places. Sometimes collaborative enterprise and tolerance were in play. Other times bitter resentment at a sense of ‘missing out’ – of entitlements not delivered – were the order of the day. Commonly these existed side by side.
In this environment, the arrival of Chinese miners on the NSW fields in numbers from the mid-1850s onwards seeded clouds already heavily laden with unrest and distrust.
The storm when it broke over fields like Tambaroora and then especially at Lambing Flat [at Young / Harden] in 1861 washed away many semblances of tolerance and laid bare simmering racial tensions.
To return to these places of conflict today is to walk in the footsteps of those who suffered injustice and were let down by a society that failed to protect them.
Festivals and events have always played a major role in community life in the towns and villages of central and south-west NSW.
These ranged from the simple weekly Sunday gatherings that often defined the strictly observed day of rest through to major events like the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Birthday on 24th May.
Today community celebrations continue to be a focus of regional life as different towns look to bring their heritage to life through re-enactments and other events featuring different aspects of life in the late 1800s.
Joining in one of these celebrations can be the focus of your journey along the gold trails. Visit the Gold Trails Festival page >>
Sometimes people came to the goldfields with their families, sometimes with fellow workers in a small syndicate, sometimes on their own.
Then there were the well organised groups of Chinese miners who set off into new territory surrounded by their companions.
Many of the gold trails venues have been designed to cater for both larger groups and small parties.
You have a wide choice of where you go and the company you keep on the gold trails journey.
