Robertson Common, Gardens & Grounds
Robertson CommonThe Robertson Common is a large triangular shaped grassed area with two picnic shelters, bordered by large pine trees to the north and the road through the railway precinct to the south.
The Common is a quiet space away from the busy main street, yet when needed this large area can be used for special events, such as our annual Spring events. |
Reconciliation GardenThis garden is a small raised area bounded by a dry stone wall and planted with Australian natives.
The Reconciliation Sculpture consists of three vertical ironbark poles carved by local artists. A lovely space for photos on special occasions |
Robertson GroundsThe RHRS committee continues to maintain the gardens established by our founding Committee members Helen and David Tranter. David and Helen planted a bank of waratah bushes on the south side of the railway line, opposite the railway station platform, as well as other native plants in the railway precinct.
In areas around the station itself, cottage annuals have been planted in keeping with the heritage nature of the buildings. |
Reconciliation Sculpture
Speech notes August 2002
Pauline Maynard and Beth Boughton
In late 2000, the Robertson Environment Protection Society (REPS) set up a steering committee of REPS and other community members to manage a project to create a village common passive recreation area and to conserve the heritage railway station, with the key aim to develop Robertson as a 'Nature Tourism Gateway to the Southern Highlands.
The vision for the Heritage Railway Station precinct at Robertson was for a restored railway station, a village common with shelter sheds and picnic spaces, an attractive garden area and as a centre piece, a reconciliation sculpture.
The reconciliation sculpture consists of three vertical ironbark poles carved by loc al artists to lead the way towards the reconciliation of indigenous and colonial cultures in Australia. The Atlas of Aboriginal Australia indicates that Wingecarribee may have been shared between the Gundungurra People of the Highlands and the Tharawal People of the coast, who moved back and forth across the escarpment using a variety of trade routes which, in the course of time, became known to colonial explorers, surveyors and settlers (e.g. Bong Bong Pass, Osborne‚s Pass, the Butter Track). The plaque at the foot of the sculpture reads - "A Tribute to the Aboriginal Peoples and Pioneering Families of Wingecarribee".
The artists are the Koori brothers Wayne and Chris Maynard (Kurnai Gunnai), who grew up in Moss Vale; Louise Cornwell of Hill Top (Ngarandjeri); and Neil Boughton a well-known local potter, married to a descendant of one of Robertson‚s pioneering families. This team of artists was brought together to develop a concept and design for a reconciliation sculpture by means of a small grant from Southern Tablelands Arts. The actual carving was made possible by a Wingecarribee Shire Council Community Grant.
The Maynard Brothers sculpture, the largest pole, symbolises the Dreaming of their youth as boys in Moss Vale. The animals which they have carved on this pole are powerful symbols of the survival of their people - their food, their hunting tradition, their dance, their song, their culture - animals that they identify with, their own personal dreaming.
Louise Cornwell’s "Past and Future Dreamings" tells the story of the past and her hope for the future in a reconciled Australia. Beginning at the bottom of the pole with Man the Hunter, the symbols to one side represent women gathering berries and fruit for food and medicine and to the other side are European things that changed the Aboriginal way of life, such as religion and missions. Towards the top are symbols of the separation of families ("Stolen Generations") and, at the very top, are two hands holding a boomerang a symbol of reconciliation.
Neil Boughton, the non-indigenous artist, has endeavoured to make a statement about some of the cultural changes that colonisation has brought to Australia, carved in the style of the Aboriginal "scar trees" of south eastern Australia. Some of the symbols are - Ships that brought the colonists here; houses that represent settled occupation; the cross, symbolising the introduction of a foreign religion; the tractor (major changes in land use); the wheel (transport and industry); the telephone (communications); the pound sterling symbol (a new form of trade and commerce); barbed wire (for keeping stock in and people out) acknowledging the pain borne by the dispossessed, excluded from lands they regarded as their own.
The tilted scales in his carving represent the concept of "Terra Nullius".
These wonderful sculptures together with other improvements you see around you today forms a lovely heritage precinct, which can be enjoyed by the Robertson community and visitors to our beautiful region for many years to come.
Speech notes August 2002
Pauline Maynard and Beth Boughton
In late 2000, the Robertson Environment Protection Society (REPS) set up a steering committee of REPS and other community members to manage a project to create a village common passive recreation area and to conserve the heritage railway station, with the key aim to develop Robertson as a 'Nature Tourism Gateway to the Southern Highlands.
The vision for the Heritage Railway Station precinct at Robertson was for a restored railway station, a village common with shelter sheds and picnic spaces, an attractive garden area and as a centre piece, a reconciliation sculpture.
The reconciliation sculpture consists of three vertical ironbark poles carved by loc al artists to lead the way towards the reconciliation of indigenous and colonial cultures in Australia. The Atlas of Aboriginal Australia indicates that Wingecarribee may have been shared between the Gundungurra People of the Highlands and the Tharawal People of the coast, who moved back and forth across the escarpment using a variety of trade routes which, in the course of time, became known to colonial explorers, surveyors and settlers (e.g. Bong Bong Pass, Osborne‚s Pass, the Butter Track). The plaque at the foot of the sculpture reads - "A Tribute to the Aboriginal Peoples and Pioneering Families of Wingecarribee".
The artists are the Koori brothers Wayne and Chris Maynard (Kurnai Gunnai), who grew up in Moss Vale; Louise Cornwell of Hill Top (Ngarandjeri); and Neil Boughton a well-known local potter, married to a descendant of one of Robertson‚s pioneering families. This team of artists was brought together to develop a concept and design for a reconciliation sculpture by means of a small grant from Southern Tablelands Arts. The actual carving was made possible by a Wingecarribee Shire Council Community Grant.
The Maynard Brothers sculpture, the largest pole, symbolises the Dreaming of their youth as boys in Moss Vale. The animals which they have carved on this pole are powerful symbols of the survival of their people - their food, their hunting tradition, their dance, their song, their culture - animals that they identify with, their own personal dreaming.
Louise Cornwell’s "Past and Future Dreamings" tells the story of the past and her hope for the future in a reconciled Australia. Beginning at the bottom of the pole with Man the Hunter, the symbols to one side represent women gathering berries and fruit for food and medicine and to the other side are European things that changed the Aboriginal way of life, such as religion and missions. Towards the top are symbols of the separation of families ("Stolen Generations") and, at the very top, are two hands holding a boomerang a symbol of reconciliation.
Neil Boughton, the non-indigenous artist, has endeavoured to make a statement about some of the cultural changes that colonisation has brought to Australia, carved in the style of the Aboriginal "scar trees" of south eastern Australia. Some of the symbols are - Ships that brought the colonists here; houses that represent settled occupation; the cross, symbolising the introduction of a foreign religion; the tractor (major changes in land use); the wheel (transport and industry); the telephone (communications); the pound sterling symbol (a new form of trade and commerce); barbed wire (for keeping stock in and people out) acknowledging the pain borne by the dispossessed, excluded from lands they regarded as their own.
The tilted scales in his carving represent the concept of "Terra Nullius".
These wonderful sculptures together with other improvements you see around you today forms a lovely heritage precinct, which can be enjoyed by the Robertson community and visitors to our beautiful region for many years to come.