Walcha, New South Wales

Walcha (pronounced "wolka") is a town in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the seat of Walcha Shire. The town is located 425 km by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way.

The district population is approximately 3,283 (2005),^[1] with 1,486 in the township (2001).^[2]

Walcha is known as the "Pasture Wonderland"^{[citation needed]} as the dominant industry in the area is livestock grazing along with an expanding timber industry. Aerial agriculture dramatically increased the stock carrying capacity of the land when it was pioneered here in 1950. Livestock produced in the Walcha district is some best in the country and local superfine wool has been acknowledged as some of the best in the world.

As the Main Northern Railway is located some distance away a separate village called Walcha Road serves as the railhead. This is served by the daily Countrylink Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale. Other centres are the villages of Niangala, Nowendoc and Woolbrook with settlements at Tia, Yarrowitch and Wollun.

The clear mountain climate here has an average temperature range from -2.0 to 11.9 °C in winter (July) to 11.8 - 25.3 °C in summer (January). Average annual rainfall is about 808 mm and snow is not unusual^{[citation needed]}.^[3]

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[edit] History

In 1818, John Oxley became the first white person to discover the area and the falls which were later to be named Apsley Falls. Walcha was gazetted as a village site in 1852, when town allotments were sold, with annual sales following. On 5 April 1878 Walcha was proclaimed a town, when it was gazetted and the boundaries defined. Gold was discovered near Walcha in the 1870s at Glen Morrison, Tia and Nowendoc. Antimony, copper, graphite, manganese, silver and high quality slate was also mined in the district.

[edit] Attractions

Natural attractions abound in the area and include the Apsley Falls located about 20 kilometres east of Walcha just off the Oxley Highway. Their scenic grandeur has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

The first drop of the Falls is 114 metres in depth, and the second, about half a mile further on, drops 195 metres to the bottom of the gorge. Walcha is a natural gateway to the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, one of the great national parks of New South Wales. Composing of mainly scenic gorge country, 900 km² of it, part of it is listed on the register of World Heritage sites in recognition of its importance to nature conservation.

There are many other tourist attractions including scenic 4WD trips, fishing, the State Forests, the unique Open Air Gallery, fossicking opportunities, Amaroo Museum & Cultural Centre, Pioneer Cottage museum and the local history archives.

The Walcha Jockey Club, Walcha Rodeo, Walcha Show Society and the Campdraft Club hold large annual events that extend over several days each. There are numerous other sporting and general interest clubs in the town.