O'Connell Plains Tour

10am Meet at the Mt York lookout (Mount York Lookout, 151 Mount York Rd, Mount Victoria) and then proceed (one hour) to O’Connell /

12pm Self-catered lunch in Hassall Park, O’Connell /

Visit Hassall-sites / Return to Sydney OR stay in O’Connell /Bathurst to continue your own tour of this area, e.g: Holy Trinity Kelso, Bishop’s Court, and Mayfield Gardens.

MEET - Midday in Hassall Park O’Connell Rd (on right before crossing bridge over Fish Riv er)

Picnic lunch in Hassall Park, O’Connell. Purchase lunch from the café opposite the O’Connell Hotel if you wish and lunch with locals who have been invited to join us and chat with us. A councillor from Oberon Council is also going to join us.

Information board in Hassall Park has First Nation’s story on one side and European history on the other which has been compiled by Oberon Council.

Local drives are encouraged and will take you above the village giving you wonderful views across O’Connell Plains, the same views that the Hassall’s would have seen 200 years ago. I will hand out details of these drives so you will not get lost. A mud map has been provided to give you an idea.

Some HISTORIC SITES:

• O’Connell: Thomas Hassall barns at Lindlegreen - view from Beaconsfield Road O’Connell, read council plaque.

• St Thomas Church Beaconsfield Road, O’Connell – the church was funded by the Hassall for the local community and will be opened for us by a local. St Thomas Cemetery – Eliza Cordelia’s grave.

ADVICE – Wear warm clothes and drive to the road conditions. Please follow the road Advisory signs. (It will not be snowing yet in O’Connell but it could be cool).