Hear Wangaratta's history from a true local

The Wangaratta Historical Society will host its monthly Guided CBD Historical Walk on Saturday 5 September, with volunteer guide Rob Parsons set to share stories that move beyond the town’s familiar beginnings. The walk will leave at 10am from the Marmungun Rock in Apex Park near the Ovens River footbridge and Stock Bridge, before making its way through the CBD and finishing back at the Wangaratta Historical Society Museum, based in the former fire station. Mr Parsons said the group would try to keep the walk to about an hour, although guided walks “usually go over time”, and this route would include opportunities for participants to sit along the way. Mr Parsons said his walk would briefly touch on Wangaratta’s establishment as a river crossing place before focusing on two less familiar threads of local history: the arrival of the Brigidine Sisters in 1887 and his own memories of the cathedral choir in the 1960s. “The beginnings of Wangaratta can be overdone a fair bit,” he said. “These two other parts of the walk, the Brigidine Sisters and the cathedral choir, will be new to listeners. "Each person who leads the walk brings their own flavour and history to share." One section of the walk will follow part of the route taken by the Brigidine nuns after they arrived by train from Beechworth. Mr Parsons said they were collected at the railway station by Mr Willis, owner of the Albion Hotel, who took them on a tour of Wangaratta before bringing them to St Patrick’s Church, where Bishop Reville was waiting. Mr Parsons said Mr Willis had a strong connection to the church, having bought and donated the land where St Patrick’s was built. His description of Wangaratta was later published in the Chronicle in 1922 and republished in historical notes by Bill O’Callaghan. “We’ve all been down these streets, but we haven’t really realised what was there in 1887,” Mr Parsons said. The walk will cross the bridge to the City Square area, where there will be time for people to sit while Mr Parsons begins the story of the sisters. It will then continue down the main street, through the area behind St Catherine’s, on to the cathedral and back to the fire station. Mr Parsons, a third-generation Wangaratta local, said his own connection to the cathedral dated back to about 1964 and 1965, when he was involved in its choir. He said the walk may also spark memories from others who were involved in the cathedral choir or local music scene, adding that it was always valuable when people on the walks shared their own knowledge with the group. Mr Parsons said the historical walks were originally expected to draw tourists, but the strongest interest had come from locals keen to look again at places they already knew. “What is really interesting when the group started this, we thought this would be good for tourists to Wangaratta, but the cohort of people are locals,” he said. “It is really good when there are people like that that come along on the walks,” he said. “Information makes it interesting to the group too.” The Wangaratta Historical Society runs guided historical walks on the first Saturday of each month, with different guides bringing their own areas of interest to the program. Registrations can be made by calling Adrian Twitt at 0470 403 875. The walk is free, with donations gratefully received by the Wangaratta Historical Society.

Hear Wangaratta's history from a true local

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