Gulargambone

2023-07-19T14:51:19Z

2603:8080:B200:5CDE:C87D:440C:2202:D268: copyedit

{{distinguish|Girilambone}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = town
| name = Gulargambone
| state = nsw
| image = Gulargambone.JPG
| caption = One of the many sculptured galahs and the post office, Gulargambone
| coordinates = {{coord|31|20|S|148|28|E|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_label_position = right
| lga = Coonamble Shire Council
| county = [[Gowen County, New South Wales|Gowen]]
| postcode = 2828
| est =
| pop = 400
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| pop_footnotes =<ref name=census>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=UCL122065|name=Gulargambone (L)|accessdate=23 February 2019|quick=on}}[[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>
| elevation=
| maxtemp =
| mintemp =
| rainfall =
| stategov = [[Electoral district of Barwon|Barwon]]
| fedgov = [[Division of Parkes|Parkes]]
| dist1 = 382
| dir1 = NW
| location1= [[Sydney]]
| dist2 = 102
| dir2 = N
| location2= [[Dubbo]]
| dist3 = 43
| dir3 = S
| location3= [[Coonamble, New South Wales|Coonamble]]
}}
'''Gulargambone''' is a small town in the central-west plains of [[New South Wales]], Australia, on the banks of the [[Castlereagh River]], in [[Coonamble Shire Council|Coonamble Shire]]. It is 382 km (and 490 km by road) north-west of Sydney. At the [[2016 Australian census|2016 census]], Gulargambone had a population of 400.<ref name=census/>

Its name is derived from the local [[Wiradjuri]] people's word for "Watering place of many birds" or ''Gillahgambone'' for "place of [[galah]]s".<ref>{{NSW GNR|id=MaqwlMrXMa|title=Gulargambone|accessdate=1 January 2009}}</ref> Gulargambone was first occupied by Europeans in the mid-19th century and [[gazette]]d as a village in 1883.

The town came to national attention in 2000, when the local government attempted to close down the post office, leading to the opening of the first [[community ownership|community-owned]] post office in Australia, which has been followed by a number of other community-led initiatives. These include the improvement of the local hospital, creating a multi-purpose health centre, the opening of a new cinema and the transformation of the old cinema, Simmo's Bazaar, into 2828, the community centre, featuring a café and a gift shop. It has also adopted a town logo, the galah. This has led to Gulargambone becoming the model for [[self-sufficiency]] for other small towns in Australia.<ref>{{cite web
|title = Gulargambone's Story
|publisher = communitybuilders.nsw
|url = http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/rural_regional/programs/gular.html
|accessdate = 10 November 2006
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060824084233/http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/rural_regional/programs/gular.html
|archivedate = 24 August 2006
}}</ref>
Gulargambone has won several awards since its revival and most importantly was awarded the 2005 NSW Tidy Towns State winner.<ref>{{cite web
| title=Keep Australia Beautiful
| publisher = Keep Australia Beautiful Pty Limited
| url = http://www.kabnsw.org.au
| accessdate = 10 November 2006}}</ref>

==Population==
According to the [[2016 Australian census|2016 census]] of population, 400 people were in Gulargambone.
* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 45.0% of the population.
* About 79.8% of people were born in Australia and 80.8% of people spoke only English at home.
* The most common responses for religion were Anglican 27.8% and no religion 26.8%.<ref name="census"/>

== Transport ==
Driving by car from Sydney to Gulargambone is 490 km and takes about seven hours. Driving by car from Dubbo to Gulargambone is 114 km and takes roughly 1.25 hr.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Google Maps|url = https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Sydney,+NSW,+Australia/Australia/@-30.0515105,150.0342621,8z/data=!4m8!4m7!1m2!1m1!1s0x6b12ae401e8b983f:0x5017d681632ccc0!1m2!1m1!1s0x6b0898cfde1d3e4b:0x91389ac3898d31f!3e0?hl=en-gb|website = Google Maps|accessdate = 5 September 2015}}</ref>

NSW TrainLink operates coaches between Dubbo and Lightning Ridge, which stop at Coonamble Street, Gulargambone. The coach to Lightning Ridge stops daily at 15:45. The coach to Dubbo stops at 09:00 from Tuesday to Thursday, and 12:00 from Friday to Monday.<ref>{{Cite web|title = NSW TrainLink – Dubbo to Lightning Ridge – Bus Timetable|url = http://www.railmaps.com.au/routedetails.php?RouteSelect=303&traveldate=11&tstyle=|website = www.railmaps.com.au|accessdate = 5 September 2015}}</ref>

== Sport ==
Gulargambone has a [[rugby union]] club playing in the [[New South Wales Country Rugby Union#Western Plains Rugby Union|Western Plains Rugby Union]] competition called the Gulargambone Galahs. The town formerly had a [[rugby league]] club of the same name, who played in the [[Castlereagh League]] and made the 2004 Grand Final.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="110" perrow="6">

File:Gulargambone Spar Supermarket.JPG|Gulargambone Spar Supermarket
File:Gulargambone War Memorial 006.JPG|Gulargambone War Memorial
File:Gulargambone Post Office 001.JPG|Gulargambone Post Office
File:Gulargambone Bank of New South Wales Building 001.JPG|Gulargambone Bank of New South Wales Building
File:Gulargambone Castlereagh River Bridge.JPG|Gulargambone Castlereagh River Bridge
</gallery>

==Notable residents==

* [[Peter Andren]] – independent parliamentarian

* [[Alexander Henry Buckley]] – First World War [[Victoria Cross]] recipient

* [[Harry Chandler]] – farmer at Gulargambone, pilot navigator with the RAAF stationed first in the Middle East, then Malta and finally in England and 1944 recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross in WWII. Chandler was a crew member in a Lancaster on many tours out of England flown by RAAF pilot Frank Morris from the neighbouring town of Gilgandra, who was also a 1944 recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.<ref>'Gilgandra Weekly', 15 June 1944, "Another Decoration",
p.1</ref>

* [[Neil Lambell]] – grazier raised on "Weenya", Gulargambone, 1944 recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross in WWII<ref>Australian War Memorial, Distinguished Flying Cross : Pilot Officer N A Lambell, 576 Squadron RAF, www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1126354 accessed 18 November 2017.</ref>

* [[Sam Irwin]] – current utility back for the rugby union club [[Uni-Norths Owls]] in the John I Dent Cup

* [[Alan Ridley]] – Australian Rugby League test player

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Towns in the Central West (New South Wales)]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Gulargambone