There are some fascinating places for grey nomads to stop as they travel along the Hume Highway linking Melbourne and Sydney, but the tiny NSW village of Bookham is one that is commonly passed by.
It could have all been so different, though. At one stage, the community – which now has a population of less than 200 – was among the favourites to become the capital city of Australia!
Before Canberra got the nod, this was being heavily pushed as part of a proposed site for the capital, which would have been known as Mahkoolma.
Today though, Bookham’s initial appeal to weary travellers is that it is within spitting distance of the highway, and makes for a quick and easy stop.
The historic old Catholic church in Bookham is now available as a holiday rental. PIC: Cizza
There is a spacious rest area here with toilets but it is not intended for overnight stays, and the noise of the trucks rumbling by wouldn’t make it overly appealing anyway.
However, just because Bookham’s not the best spot to actually camp, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth a look. As with so many of Australia’s tiny communities, there is a hidden depth – and a hidden history – to the village located about 30 kilometres west of Yass.
The first thing that strikes most visitors as they turn off the highway is the surprising grandeur of the Old Bookham Church. Built in 1910 from local granite, the former St. Columba’s Catholic Church has recently been lovingly restored by private owners and can now be rented as short-term accommodation.
It still boasts the original stain glass windows, and the altar has been converted into a kitchen island. Surprisingly, for such a small village, Bookham has a second impressive church, the Uniting Church which was built in 1926.
Standing next to the Old Bookham Church on one side is the Bookham Memorial Hall and, on the other, is Barney’s Café, which has great scones, a hungry-traveller-friendly menu … and plenty of space to park the van.
The building in which the café is housed was once the local post office. The original Bookham Post Office opened in 1864 soon after a mail run from Tumut was established. The area, initially known as Bogolong, was attractive to early pioneers because of its rich grazing lands, and it was a place where bushrangers also plied their trade in the mid-19th century.
It is said that Banjo Paterson’s iconic poem ‘Old Pardon the Son of Reprieve’ was inspired by his childhood memories of races on the old Bogalong Racetrack, which is now a simple paddock near the village.
One fascinating remnant of Bookham’s past that is still visible though are the ruins of part of the Bogolong iron mine and blast furnace, built in the early 1870s on Jugiong Creek about three kilometres north of the village.
While the ‘forgotten furnace’ did do some test smelting, it was never developed into a commercial operation. These are thought to be the only remaining ruins of 19th-Century iron-smelting blast furnaces left in New South Wales.
Are you a Grey Nomad member yet? Click here to find out about the discounts, competitions and other benefits on offer.
