This week I went to dinner at Brickendon Estate near Longford along with 150 others - we were all attending a fascinating symposium in Launceston, all about Interpretation of historic sites, National Parks etc.
A delicious barbequed meal was held in one of the large old barns on the property and we were treated to some good wines - Tasmanian of course.
Brickendon Farm Village interprets the convict story so well and, along with neighbouring Woolmers Estate (the two properties act as one precinct) has recently been made a part of Austalia's World Heritage Convict Sites. These two grand colonial Estates are separated by the Macquarie River and they illustate the "good", or at least the more positive, side of the early convict Assignment System.
Our visit coincided with an enormous hailstorm which lasted half and hour and which seemed to fall exclusively on the very barn in which we were sheltering - luckily we had plenty of wine to while away the time! After the downpour the sun came out and rainbows formed, giving us a wonderful bright evening to wander and take in the lovely little convict-built village.
The old bake-house had been fired up and a baker was there busily making damper, and the picturesque little church was alive with organ music especially for the occassion.
When darkness fell we were treated to a theatrical performance of "Voices from the Graves" performed by members of Launceston's Mudlark Theatre. This was such an evocative performance bringing the stories of convicts vividly alive for us. Hearing these true stories in such an authentic setting, where the convicts actually lived and worked, was just amazing.
A visit to this beautiful historic place is simply a must for anyone interested in the convict story and indeed for every tourist to our state!
Check the website http://www.brickendon.com.au/
Look for "Voices from the Graves"....
Showing posts with label convicts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convicts. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Ghostly voices from the graves...
Ghostly voices came strangely to me from out of the graves in an old country churchyard...
OK not really all that ghostly, as it was a bright sunny afternoon and not at all eerie or mysterious because the voices came from actors at a most unusual theatrical performance.
The church was Christ Church in the middle of Longford and the graveyard clusters around the beautiful little stone church built in the 1800s - the village of Longford has, over the yers, gradually grown to surround the church.
The theatrical performance by Launceston's Mudlark Theatre was actually right in amongst the gravestones, some very old and worn and tilting every which way. It was an enactment of the lives of some of the early convicts buried there. Their lives have been carefully researched and their stories are authentic and highly dramatic.
The story I specially liked best was about a convict woman who had worked for her freedom, married and eventually bore her husband no less than fifteen children. After she died (probably of exhaustion!) he re-married and produced a further eleven children - such unimaginable numbers and telling us of such hard lives.
These stories have been digitised and you can buy the CD in the form of an Audio Companion which, along with two fascinating stories inludes original compositions by guitarist Chris Jacobson and music from The Chordwainers played on unique leather instruments.
The CD can also accompany the self-guided walking brochure of Longford's Christ Church graveyard, Voices from the Graves, which reveals the rich and intriguing stories if 14 people who are buried there, and also the booklet, In Heaven as it is on Earth, telling even more stories.
If you are interested, visit the Heritage Highway website at www.heritagehighway.com.au/news/13125492
OK not really all that ghostly, as it was a bright sunny afternoon and not at all eerie or mysterious because the voices came from actors at a most unusual theatrical performance.
The church was Christ Church in the middle of Longford and the graveyard clusters around the beautiful little stone church built in the 1800s - the village of Longford has, over the yers, gradually grown to surround the church.
The theatrical performance by Launceston's Mudlark Theatre was actually right in amongst the gravestones, some very old and worn and tilting every which way. It was an enactment of the lives of some of the early convicts buried there. Their lives have been carefully researched and their stories are authentic and highly dramatic.
The story I specially liked best was about a convict woman who had worked for her freedom, married and eventually bore her husband no less than fifteen children. After she died (probably of exhaustion!) he re-married and produced a further eleven children - such unimaginable numbers and telling us of such hard lives.
These stories have been digitised and you can buy the CD in the form of an Audio Companion which, along with two fascinating stories inludes original compositions by guitarist Chris Jacobson and music from The Chordwainers played on unique leather instruments.
The CD can also accompany the self-guided walking brochure of Longford's Christ Church graveyard, Voices from the Graves, which reveals the rich and intriguing stories if 14 people who are buried there, and also the booklet, In Heaven as it is on Earth, telling even more stories.
If you are interested, visit the Heritage Highway website at www.heritagehighway.com.au/news/13125492
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