Description
In the early 20th Century, Newnes and its surrounds in the Wolgan Valley, NSW was a thriving hub of oil shale mining with a population of almost 1,000 people, but then, as quickly as it began, the Commonwealth Oil Corporation’s shale interests moved on and with it the town dramatically shrank to four families by the year 1940.
Today, Newnes is best known for its camping, walks and hikes and you’re more likely to bump into a wallaby or wombat than a person, but you are certain to find remains of its former shale industry and the mark it left on the landscape.
FUN FACT: The only surviving remains of the Newnes Railway, a 50km stretch of track which connected to Lithgow is a tunnel, near to the site of the former town, now inhabited by glowworms, it is known as The Glowworm Tunnel.
WEAVE INFO:
100% Handwoven Raw Silk
Lining: Bemberg
Buttons: Spanish Buffalo Horn
Weave Time: 256 days
Weave Yield: 30. yards
Newnes Oil Shale
Fabric#: 1532