President's Report
Neville, as Acting Club Co-President reported the following on Colin’s behalf -
Week in review:
The final instalment from Colin about the history of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook:
Dural
There is some dispute over the origin of the name 'Dural'. It has been claimed that Dural is an Aboriginal word used by the Dharug language group meaning 'gully' or 'valley'. Dural was also recorded as meaning 'valley' in surveyor James Meehan's Field Book No 128 in 1817, and the Reverend WB Clarke gives Dural the meaning of 'valley' in his diary entry of November 1840.
However, until recently, Dural was also thought to mean 'burning logs', from the Aboriginal words dooral dooral. But the supposition that Dural means 'a hollow tree on fire', 'smoking hollow tree' or 'burning logs' was only introduced into the locality by the Rector of St Jude's Church in the 1940s and was taken from the Wiradjuri language.
Dural also appears in early records as Douro, Dooral and Dure Hill. A map by surveyor Meehan, dated 1817, shows the location for Dural as 'Doora', and a similar word appears in the Sydney Gazette in 1805. Meehan also marked out a road between Castle Hill and Dural, but it remained a bush track until 1825, when work commenced on the Great North Road.
James Meehan's map of April 1817 and originally covered the whole area including present day Glenorie, Galston, Arcadia and Dural. Timber cutters opened up the area in the early 19th century and the settlements were originally known as Upper, Middle, Lower, North and Little Dural. Located on the Old Northern Road, a historic road built by convicts between 1825 and 1836 to link early Sydney, in the Colony of New South Wales, with the fertile Hunter Valley to the north. In 1831 George Best established the Half-Way Inn at Middle Dural.
In 1831 Thomas Best established the Half-Way Inn at Middle Dural. Other pioneers of this time were the Fagan, Waddell, Moulds, Hunt and Roughly families – many of their descendants still live in the region today. By 1870 there were dozens of citrus orchards, which drew a large number of workers to the area. As the population increased, schools were built, localities developed and the original names of some of the settlements began to change. Upper Dural became Glenorie in 1887; North Colah became Galston in 1886; Upper Galston or Galston Heights became Arcadia in 1894 and Little Dural became Kenthurst in 1886. Middle Dural, however, retained its name, even though it was no longer the mid-point between Dural and Upper Dural.
In the 1890s, Dural and the Hills district was the chief supplier of citrus fruit for most of Australia. Poultry and vegetable farms also flourished. New Line Road, surveyed in 1829, remained a track until it was sealed in the 1960’s. When the shires of Baulkham Hills and Hornsby were established in 1906, Old Northern Road became the boundary line, which meant that Dural fell into both shires.
- Great to here that Colin should be back on deck from Monday 14 October. Again, good news on Colin’s recovery – with him being able to walk around the block (albeit slowly) and possibly be up to sitting at his computer next week.
- Big thank you to Sandra for representing the Club at yesterday’s National Busking Championship at the Entrance and for helping the Rotary Clubs of Erina and the Entrance in this event.
- We’re still working with the RC of Carlingford to run their Harmony and Hearts Festival on 19 October to raise funds for Australian Rotary Health, Respectful Relationships Program and Mental Health initiatives.
- District Conference – Penrith 21-22 March 2025. ourbetterworld2025.wordpress.com Please let Robyn know if you’re attending. Attached is a link to a 3 minute Video advertising the Conference. Watch this video invitation
- I attended a RCG (Regional Community Group) meeting on Saturday where the Group is developing Growth Plans. The Club will need to agree which Plans they want to get involved in but also taking into consideration what comes out of “Fit for Purpose” which Sue Moore will be attending on 12/13 Oct. The high level areas to be focused on by the RCG are:
- Young Retirees – Retirement Villages
- Business Groups
- Parents of School Children
- RYLA students encouraging them to join Rotaract
- Current Members (retention of and engagement of existing members who are no longer involved)
- The next meeting is a Zoom meeting where we will discuss how we want to have our meetings going forward and then vote on Zoom e.g. all F2F or continue with 50/50 F2F and Zoom plus other options. Please come along if you want to have input.
The final instalment from Colin about the history of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook:
Dural
There is some dispute over the origin of the name 'Dural'. It has been claimed that Dural is an Aboriginal word used by the Dharug language group meaning 'gully' or 'valley'. Dural was also recorded as meaning 'valley' in surveyor James Meehan's Field Book No 128 in 1817, and the Reverend WB Clarke gives Dural the meaning of 'valley' in his diary entry of November 1840.
However, until recently, Dural was also thought to mean 'burning logs', from the Aboriginal words dooral dooral. But the supposition that Dural means 'a hollow tree on fire', 'smoking hollow tree' or 'burning logs' was only introduced into the locality by the Rector of St Jude's Church in the 1940s and was taken from the Wiradjuri language.
Dural also appears in early records as Douro, Dooral and Dure Hill. A map by surveyor Meehan, dated 1817, shows the location for Dural as 'Doora', and a similar word appears in the Sydney Gazette in 1805. Meehan also marked out a road between Castle Hill and Dural, but it remained a bush track until 1825, when work commenced on the Great North Road.
James Meehan's map of April 1817 and originally covered the whole area including present day Glenorie, Galston, Arcadia and Dural. Timber cutters opened up the area in the early 19th century and the settlements were originally known as Upper, Middle, Lower, North and Little Dural. Located on the Old Northern Road, a historic road built by convicts between 1825 and 1836 to link early Sydney, in the Colony of New South Wales, with the fertile Hunter Valley to the north. In 1831 George Best established the Half-Way Inn at Middle Dural.
In 1831 Thomas Best established the Half-Way Inn at Middle Dural. Other pioneers of this time were the Fagan, Waddell, Moulds, Hunt and Roughly families – many of their descendants still live in the region today. By 1870 there were dozens of citrus orchards, which drew a large number of workers to the area. As the population increased, schools were built, localities developed and the original names of some of the settlements began to change. Upper Dural became Glenorie in 1887; North Colah became Galston in 1886; Upper Galston or Galston Heights became Arcadia in 1894 and Little Dural became Kenthurst in 1886. Middle Dural, however, retained its name, even though it was no longer the mid-point between Dural and Upper Dural.
In the 1890s, Dural and the Hills district was the chief supplier of citrus fruit for most of Australia. Poultry and vegetable farms also flourished. New Line Road, surveyed in 1829, remained a track until it was sealed in the 1960’s. When the shires of Baulkham Hills and Hornsby were established in 1906, Old Northern Road became the boundary line, which meant that Dural fell into both shires.
So, Let’s stay safe look after each other and create magic.
Night Report
Opening: Sgt Tony Coote opened the meeting, welcomed guests and visitors.
President’s Report: Refer President’s report in bulletin.
Director’s Reports:
Community Service (Anne Sharpe)
The District Conference 2025 will be held 21 & 22 March 2025 at The Pullman Penrith and emails have been sent out by the Conference Co-Ordinator, Robyn Hain, to register. Theme TBA.
Guest Speaker (Fleur Bishop)
The guest speaker this week was Fleur Bishop, who is a trained trauma counsellor, who specialises in treating people with anxiety, depression and PTSD. She stressed that most people have experienced some kind of trauma in their life, be it sexual assault, natural disasters, childbirth, domestic violence or suicide and said that awareness of how you feel is the key to healing. Fleur took us through a very effective simple technique with slow breathing and eye movement which has had extraordinary results to calm people down quickly, which we all can use in our every day lives.
Kindness and love are the key for people to heal from conditions of trauma.
Raffle won by Karen Lambert.
Heads and tails won by Douglas.
President’s Report: Refer President’s report in bulletin.
Director’s Reports:
Community Service (Anne Sharpe)
- The team are looking for 1 person to mow lawns this week at the Transitional Housing at Kenthurst.
- Neville, Adrian & Anne are looking at a new shed at the Op Shop opposite the Dural IGA shops on Old Northern Road this week.
- A request to get involved with the Community Service Team and it comes with coffee!!
- Christmas Markets meeting this Thursday night, 3rd October if you would like to be involved.
- Andrew Little was away. Peter let us know that we have donated to the Indonesian Embassy our used laptops and yes, 14 October Peter Stanton, Andrew Little & Robyn Hain will fly across to Bali for some time in the sun prior to the Nusa Tenggara Assocation field visit to Flores and West Timor on 20 October. Sandra White will join them a few days later.
- Harmony & Hearts Wine & Music Festival - $25 entry fee on 19 October 10.00am to 5.00pm at John Wearn Reserve, Carlingford.
- Level 1 (12 October)– New members introduction plus 101 Rotary
- Level 2 (16 & 23 November) – Traditional broader leadership skills (F2F + Zoom)
- Level 3 (Date TBC) – Advanced leadership skills
- The kids from Coonababran are here from 8-12 October and Janelle will be organising activities and a dinner out.
- After a discussion with members & guests, we decided to have Melbourne Cup with Hills Kellyville Rotary on Monday, 4 November, to arrive at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start for dinner. Please wear your best Melbourne Cup outfit for a casual and fun night of friendship and fashion in the field. $25.00 byo drinks at St Joseph Conference Centre, Baulkham Hills.
The District Conference 2025 will be held 21 & 22 March 2025 at The Pullman Penrith and emails have been sent out by the Conference Co-Ordinator, Robyn Hain, to register. Theme TBA.
Guest Speaker (Fleur Bishop)
The guest speaker this week was Fleur Bishop, who is a trained trauma counsellor, who specialises in treating people with anxiety, depression and PTSD. She stressed that most people have experienced some kind of trauma in their life, be it sexual assault, natural disasters, childbirth, domestic violence or suicide and said that awareness of how you feel is the key to healing. Fleur took us through a very effective simple technique with slow breathing and eye movement which has had extraordinary results to calm people down quickly, which we all can use in our every day lives.
Kindness and love are the key for people to heal from conditions of trauma.
Raffle won by Karen Lambert.
Heads and tails won by Douglas.
