One of the real Thargomindah town characters owns and runs the local pub, the Bulloo River Hotel. Shirley Girdler has been immortalised in a ballad as 'Surly Shirley', for pretty good reason. Our encounter with her was quite civil, but I'm told that this was the exception to the normal rule.
We'll meet her later during our town tour which I've decided to begin at the intersection of Dowling and Gilmour Streets. It is worth noting at this point that Dowling Street is the 'main drag', and that it, like all Thargo streets, is named after a local character of enterprise of some kind. In Dowling's case, his contribution to the area was significant, as was that of one John Leahy, two quite remarkable men.
The impressive Bulloo Shire offices, one of the most modern buildings in town, occupies one corner of the intersection I mentioned.
Holding pride of place at the entrance are two bronze busts, one of Dowling and the other of Leahy. I had heard of neither until we came across these tributes and read the accompanying plaques.
Of course, we were aware that the house diagonally opposite the Shire chambers is knows as 'Leahy House' and is a point of historical interest in the town, but we initially had no idea why this was so, other than the fact that it was, like the old hospital, one of the few buildings built of the Thargomindah mud bricks to remain standing.
Today it is unoccupied, apart that is, from another group which make their homes of mud.....these swallows are well and truly settled in here. The house now serves as a local museum (of sorts).
This home has far more significance than the material used in its construction. Leahy House was built in 1885 when a Deed of Grant was made to the Thargomindah Newspaper Company, which was, at that time, owned by John and Patrick Leahy.
John, as we shall see shortly, was an absolute 'doer' in his own right, but the house he and his brother built was soon to be owned by another colossus of the early Australian cattle industry, none other than Sir Sydney Kidman.
John, as we shall see shortly, was an absolute 'doer' in his own right, but the house he and his brother built was soon to be owned by another colossus of the early Australian cattle industry, none other than Sir Sydney Kidman.
Kidman bought the house in 1912, not for himself, but for one of his local managers, Jack Watts, who was nicknamed 'galloping Jack' because of his penchant to ride constantly on horseback between the several properties for which he was responsible.
However, Kidman being Kidman, there was nothing altruistic in this deal. By this time he owned several properties in the district, including Bulloo Downs and Norely Station, and he wanted a say in local affairs which, at this time, were under the control of the Bulloo Divisional Board. Home ownership in Thargomindah was a prerequisite for Board membership. Once he took possession of Leahy House, Kidman then was elected to the Board where he remained a member until his death in 1928. No slouch our Sydney!
The Bulloo Shire Council bought the house in 1995 and it is now managed by the local historical society.
So this relatively humble mud brick house in outback Thargomindah has direct connections with two men who strode the Australian stage with giant steps.
Kidman was no stranger, but, as I have acknowledged earlier, I had never before heard of John Leahy, until, that is, I read the plaque beneath his bust.
This resume of Leahy's life tells only some of the story, as does that dedicated to Dowling. I have
(with some difficulty!) resisted the temptation to include more of the careers of both men and the influence they had in this area, rather leaving that discovery to any who may be interested to know more.
In Dowling's case, in particular, there is much to read, including, for example, the incident when it was only the fact that he was wearing a 'long American hat' which saved him from being speared in the head whilst on one of his outback explorations (his brother was not so lucky)!
Dowling's name lives on in the area by virtue of the fact that the unsealed road which runs south from Thargomindah to Hungerford is known as the Dowling Track.
Whilst on the subject of roads and streets bearing the names of local characters, another example can be found in Sams Street, named after Thargomindah's famous 'fighting parson, the Reverend Frederick Hulton-Sams, a man of the cloth who would hold a sparring session after delivering his sermon. Originally from England, the good parson came to Australia and soon joined the group of outback ministers who grouped together as the 'Bush Brotherhood'. Unable to obtain an Army Chaplaincy with the outbreak of WW1, Hulton-Sams enlisted in an English regiment and was killed in action in France during that conflict.
As I have oft remarked......the things one learns in small Australian towns when eyes and ears are kept open!
Before we leave this particular section of town, the Thargomindah Post Office rose here in on Gilmour street in 1870, and, like the hospital and Leahy House was constructed of mud bricks. Now painted white, with a timber frontage covering much of them, these are a little more difficult to distinguish than those of the other two buildings mentioned.
Like most small country towns, Thargo's main street is home to the majority of its commercial enterprises and community buildings. We began this particular roam around at the north-eastern end of this wide thoroughfare.
Here we came across the Community Hall
and, on the other side of the road, the Thargomindah State School,
and the town swimming pool, a facililty which I am sure would be packed during the days of extreme summer heat which are an inescapable part of life in this area (a maximum of 48.8 degrees was recorded here in the summer of 2012-13!) .
The recently completed Memorial Park stands on the corner of Stafford Street,
with the rather oddly shaped Shire Hall fronting the footpath opposite.
A small but well stocked Foodworks store allows the locals to replenish their larders when necessary (although many travel further afield for the 'monthy big shop')
whilst those wishing to nurture their souls can do so at the Dowling Street church nearby.
And then we came to the Bulloo River Hotel Motel, where the beer garden overlooks a delightful patch of green lawn.
This is the home of the famous Surly Shirley, shown here standing behind 'Duck and Daisy's bar'.
I must thank 'RM Williams Outback Magazine' for the photo and for the following story penned by John Dunne.
"Chris Rieger, a musician and songwriter with the band Simply Bushed, was on a tour with a group through the outback when they rolled into Thargomindah in far south-western Queensland one sizzling afternoon. They had been playing across the top of New South Wales, had battled a series of indifferent dirt and gravel roads and they were, in Chris’s words, “hot and hungry, dusty and dry”.
So it was to the town’s only pub – the Bulloo River Hotel Motel – that they headed. What happened next is mostly lost in the mists of memory, perhaps because this was back in 2008, but what is certain is that there was a disagreement. The group’s assessment was that their reception was “less than welcoming”. Hotel owner Shirley Girdler says: “I don’t remember the details. Maybe I was a bit cranky. I might have been having a bad day … you can get days like that in this game.”
The group moved on, off in a cloud of dust – which, coincidentally, is the Aboriginal name for the town – back to their Sydney base, where Chris related the happening to band partner Paul Grierson.The pair decided there was a song idea in the visit to the Bulloo bar, a good old outback yarn that could be presented in a fun way. They got to work to write ‘Surly Shirley’".
And the name has stuck! A cartoon of Shirley with her now immortalised nick-name holds pride of place over the door to the bar, but as I mentioned earlier in this piece, our relatively brief converstaion with her was quite cheery.
This did surprise us a little, because by her own admission she was a tad weary. We had arrived in town just after the 'Channel Country Quick Shears Shindig' which was conducted here between 21 - 25 May. Once we learnt what went on we were sorry we missed it.
Apart from the grande finale sheep shearing contest, 'Quick Shears', this five day festival included comedy, country and rock music events, folk music, a trivia challenge and, of all things, pig racing. Damn!
Shirley was a bit concerned about what we may have wanted from behind her bar, which by her own admission, 'until the truck came in', was sorely depleted. But we had popped in for a quick beer only, and this she could manage.
So refreshed and surprised, we returned to Dowling Street, where along the other side of the road we could see past the premises of Thargo Motors and the local motel to Leahy House in the distance.
The Oasis Motel was virtually deserted as we strolled by, and we did note a sign letting all and sundry know that the restaurant would not be serving meals tonight. Another 'Shears Shindig' business hangover we suspected!
The short distance between Gilmour Street and our caravan park could almost be described as the 'emergency service centre' of Thargomindah. On one side of the street we have the local Police Station with its most unusual sign out the front.
We did wonder if the flashing blue light could be activated....and if so, when and why, but unfortunately the local lad was out on patrol for the entire time of our visit. This riddle remains unanswered!
In another tale of the old and the new, the old town Police Station and lockup, a few doors to the west, is undergoing a restoration which, as is inevitable in today's Thargo, includes a new cement access path!
And for those who find themselves ailing, the town medical centre and ambulance service is located across the road from the Police Station.
Given that we have no idea when we may ever be this way again, we were determined to make the most of our stay. A river walk and a drive further west to the Noccundra Hotel were still on the agenda.
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