Anzac Day 2025
Full details of this year's Anzac Day service can be found in the papers or from the RSL club itself.
Our sub-branch is very keen to preserve our military history so you can find in and around the RSL interesting memorabillia.
At the entrance, a Bofors gun is mounted on a plinth. This was the most effective AA gun produced for the allies in WWII and saw service for many years later. It was of Swedish design and the Americans alone made 60 000 or them for use in both the navy and army.
The second exhibit of interest is the concrete tank traps on the verge of the grassed area. Thousands of these were placed along Stockton Beach to guard against invasion by the Japanese. They have the dates of manufacture scratched into their surfaces.
But what our war heroes? By far the most decorated was Grant Lindeman who took up oyster farming in LTP after the war. A career pilot, he saw much action in North Africa and commanded a torpedo squadron around Britain. He also stood up to senior officers if he thought their orders stupid. His greatest feat was in leading a squadron to Russia to defend the Arctic convoys. For this he was awarded the DFC.
Legacy supports the families of returned servicemen and their badge sellers are very active around Anzac Day. Make sure you buy a badge to help them out.
Photos: Legacy officers selling badges outside Coles....The Bofors gun....Grant Lindeman and the WW2 tank traps.
Much more than Chocolate
To committed Christians Easter is much more than the Easter Bunny and chocolate eggs.
Following Palm Sunday, Jesus was tried , crucified and ascended to Heaven. Most churches have special services on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
If you or visitors would like to partake in these events you can get the exact details by phone.
They are:
Anglican Church of the Holy Name Mallabula......4982 9173
Catholic Church Mallabula....................................4987 1888
Uniting Church Tanilba Bay...................................49872041
Baptist Church Tanilba Bay....................................4982 3022
Christian Reformed Church Tanilba Bay.................4982 4820
If you missed it, the Palm Sunday story was covered last week on tilligerry.com Just scroll down to find it.
Picture: The Anglican Church of the Holy name, Fairlands Rd Mallabula.
Lucky to have a Pool
With PSSC currently reviewing The Aquatic Centre operational hours, it's probably time to reflect on why our isolated town has one at all.
You see, demographers some 30 years ago told us that to break even, a town had to have a population of around 14 thousand. We had about three thousand at the time so Council dismissed the idea. Today the population is around seven thousand and growing.
The late Doreen Bradley headed up the 'Heated Indoor Pool Committee' and started fundraising. They constantly badgered council and finally they came up with a proposal.
If the community raised $100 000, the Council would fund the extra
$900 000. The pool would not be an indoor facility but outdoors and heated. This the committee did so the pool was built.
The current operator, 'Belgravia' which manages the three Shire pools knew that Tilligerry was a loss making concern when they submitted their successful tender which has been renewed.
All three pools shut for winter maintenance and season ticket holders have the option of extending their pass for the period of closure or using it at either of the other two centres. One year, Tilligerry was open all year as both other pools had major problems. Aqua 'junkies' and squad swimmers would still be able to hit the water.
For council, reducing hours saves a fortune in running costs, particulary power as the huge increase in electricity bills lately is a burden on the ratepayer. This is despite solar heaters for the shower block and blanket heaters installed on the roof of the hall next door for the heating the pool.
For Belgravia, any downtime is a huge saving in wages.
Other factors have seen a decrease in pool usage. The sandflats at Tanilba and Mallabula are ideal safe swimming spots for young children and families. On top of this the new tidal pool at Lemon Tree Passage is a great drawcard and what's more it is free. Add to this the proliferation of backyard pools and there is serious competition for patronage. Another ominous factor is the daily battle to make ends meet. Parents just don't have spare cash these days to spend on entry to the pool.
On the positive side, the population is growing and the new seniors village currently under construction at Tanilba will create a need for gentle aqua fitness.
If you want to know more, contact Council and they will put you in the picture and make you aware of a public information meeting which seeks input from residents.
Note: such was the effort and leadership shown by Doreen Bradley OAM, that the pool was named in her honour and a plaque fixed to the pool deck.
Photos: The Aquatic Centre.....changes to come?
Palm Sunday Celebrations
Easter is a v
ery important time on the Christian calendar. It celebrates Jesus's crucifiction on Good Friday and his ascention to Heaven.
This year, Tanilba's Baptist Church will be holding a special service the week before Easter. This is to remember a very happy time for His followers and His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.
It was named Palm Sunday as palm fronds were strewn in His pathway.
This year at Tanilba's Baptist Church on Sunday 13th March, a special service will be held and everyone has been invited. It is planned to start at 9.30 am at the church in Beatty Bvd.
The church is very much moving with the times and each Sunday service is available online live or as a recording.
All of the church's pastoral activities can be found online.
Photos: Rev. Anthony Gentle and Video filming of the Sunday services.
Drive in Voting
Want a free Saturday for the upcoming Federal Election? Want to avoid driving 'round in circles looking for somewhere to park? Want to be free from long queues and people poking flyers in your face? Answer 'YES!' to any of these questions and postal voting is the way to go.
Just go online and punch in 'postal voting 2025 federal election' and follow the prompts. The AEC will post you the kit. All you do is fill in the answers, pop it in the post box and it's all done and dusted!
The best place to vote out here used to be the LTP fire station. The site is now an art gallery. It was on the main road, there was plenty of parking in Mc Cann Park, it was easy walking and elderly or disabled voters could fill in their ballot papers from inside their cars!
They'd drive into the station and the officials would bring them their ballot paper and a pencil. They would mark their paper and the officer would pop it into the box for them. All too easy!
If you happen to be out of the electorate on the day you can vote absentee at any booth in Australia or you can pre-poll personally at Raymond Terrace or Nelson Bay. The local papers or the candidates' offices will tell you exacty where over the phone. If you don't vote you are fined.
The picture shows the old fire station before its conversion to TAG (Tilligerry Art Gallery).
Big Bangs
People have been edgy since the Newcastle earthquake in 1989. Thirteen people died and in today's money some $9 billion damage was done. Understandably, the recent tremors in the Hunter have many residents concerned when something goes BANG.
The first sign of the big earthquake out here was the instant failure of power and the lack of information. Most residents suspected this as there was a distinctly fuzzy 'hum' when they put their hands on the walls of their homes. Some saw small cracks appearing in their brickwork. These were the days before CCTV and sketchy stories filtered thtough with drivers returning home. More would have perished as there were fewer people in town that day due to a bus strike.
It was quite common in the 1980s to feel tremors, particularly in LTP as both PSSC and Jack Boyd extracted gravel from the quarry behind the now industrial estate.
The high cost of road base was in the cartage from somewhere near Raymond Terrace so the conglomerate rock was blasted from the local site to save money. This brought howls of protest from the nearby residents who threatened legal action so the quarry and noisy machinery and crusher were shut down.
The RAAF is very sensitive about noise to the extent that they advertise when aircraft will be practising over populated areas. Indeed at Tanilba, future development near the old DZ will require houses to have double glazing to lessen the noise.
There is no 'live firing' at the Salt Ash weapons range and small 'thuds' can be heard from the non-fragmenting bombs which are recycled.
As much training as possible is carried out over the sea but the sonic boom from an aircraft can be felt many miles away from a fighter at 30 000 feet even though it can't be seen from the ground.
Photo: A flight of 'Mirage' fighters which were based at Williamtown.
Tip Troubles
Dumping of rubbish can get you into hot water as a builder found out when he faced court for offloading asbestos and other building waste at Oyster Cove. He copped a $100 000 fine.
If we backtrack some 40 years, the environmental and recycling rules didn't apply. Indeed, The old LTP tip was open 24/7/365 and free. It occupied what is now Mungarra Reserve. When it reached capacity, a new tip was opened directly across the road . The old site was covered over, grassed and is now a picnic and recreational site linked to the foreshore by a boardwalk.
After a time, PSSC gated the tip, had restricted hours and charged residents to use it. The reaction was swift and unpleasant as ratepayers dumped their rubbish in front of the locked chainwire gates.
Stricter requirements had this tip covered over and it became a transfer s
tation for recycling. This is when the bush was used by disgruntled people to dump rubbish.
That's not all: Vinnies became a dumping site and the Church charity had to erect a fence and put up signs in an effort to stop it. Still people put unsaleable rubbish outside the gates. This meant that Vinnies had to pay contractors to get rid of it and it had less money to spend on the poor and needy.
The latest dumping scandal occurred at the 'Clean up Australia' collection point on the main road where volunteers register and are given bags and protective gloves. Even before the day, rubbish was dumped and it continued during the week after. Council will have to get rid of it.
Photos: The pile of rubbish at Tanilba....Furniture dumped in Henderson Park.....and Vinnies with rubbish left at their gate and their warning sign.
Pleased to Meet You... Meat to Please You
What does a young butchery manager do when he is no longer required by a major supermarket chain?
In the case of Zac he decided to start up his own business with his partner Kate in the Kooindah Centre at Tanilba Bay.
“People hunger for the quality service and fresh meats that they used to get,” he said. “The supermarkets don't do this.. You have pre - packed meats which are delivered from distant locations and they use miles of plastic to package them.” he added “We want to give the residents what they want and not what the supermarkets want to force people to buy,” he said.
Tilly Meats also makes its own sausages which are far superior to the massed produced products. Tilligerry.com road tested their pork sausages and gave them the thumbs up. We also tried a leg of lamb which was delicious.
Why not give them a try yourself ? Word of mouth is everything in a small town and this dynamic duo is ticking all the boxes.
Pictures: Opening day and Zac and Kate in their new shop.
'The Caswell takes Shape
With several false starts, 'The Caswell' at Tanilba Bay is moving into overdrive with the final stage of site preparation well under way.
Backhoes are breaking up what was the old Plaza and carpark foundations and piling the concrete waste ready for removal. What's more, the strip of land fronting onto Beatty Bvd has been filled ready for compaction.
The project was put on hold when soil contamination was found on the northern boundary but approval had been given for half of the development while this problem is rectified.
The servo which closed due to the contamination problem has since reopened and a separate news story will detail what's happening there.
Rather than inform interested readers about all the details of 'The Caswell', we ask them to google: 'The Caswell Tanilba Bay' or visit their facebook page and all will be revealed.
Photo: Latest developments at the old Plaza site.
Rabbits to be Shot
If you drive around the streets of Tilligerry you will notice quite a lot of rabbit roadkill these days particularly kitten rabbits which indicates an explosion in their numbers.
Port Stephens Council is well aware of the problem and monitors rabbit infested lands under its control. What's more they are changing their management strategy.
The traditional management of rabbits was to free feed them carrots and once they were used to it, a poison called 1080, (pronounced ten eighty) was added .This was very effective but native creatures which ate the dead rabbits could themselves be poisoned. It was the preferred method used by farmers Australia wide. 'Pindone' is a poison which has far less effect on other creatures. It also has an antidote.
Council would do night-time patrols and use spotlights to do head counts before and after poisoning to gauge the effectiveness of their programs. They would return at intervals to see if the rabbits were back and if needed do it all again.
These days, Council employs contract spotlighters to shoot them and they also release rabbits infected with calicivirus which is transmitted by fleas. Another control measure is to dig out the warrens.
Private landholders need to take responsibility for infestations on their own land.
Until Myxomatosis was introduced in 1950, rabbits over-ran the eastern states to the extent that a rabbit proof fence was erected to keep them out of WA.
The rabbit was also something of a blessing as it provided food for aborigines and farmers during the Great Depression. It was known as 'underground chicken'. The skins were sold to make coats and felt hats.
'Rabbitohs' were men with a horse and cart who plied their trade in suburban streets selling them to housewives. They still had the heads and skins on them which the rabbitoh would remove for his customers. Farmed rabbits are still available from selected butchers but can cost as much as $35 kg.
A NRL team from South Sydney is still referred to as 'The Rabbithos' and has a rabbit as its mascot.
The Chinese have no problem with them according to the TV ad. You see thousands of years back they built a wall....'to keep the rabbits out'.
Picture: Signs on Mallabula oval warning of a baiting program.
Servo Reopens
The closure of our local Servo in Pres. Wilson Walk due to contamination problems on the Old Plaza site is well on the way to being resolved.
Indeed, the new owner Zak Abdo has the business operational selling diesel, burgers, chips, pies soft drinks and lollies. Car washing and basic mechanical services are also available.
Petrol will be back on tap in a month or two as Zak explains: “They have changed the rules so that petrol no longer has to be stored in underground tanks. This means that our storage facility we be online quicker” he said.
Business hours are 9am – 9 pm seven days per week.
Photo: Zac in front of his service station / roadhouse.
Literary Fame
Tilligerry.com
has for some twenty years organized 'The Port Stephens Literature Awards'. This has grown to be one of the best supported short story competitions in Australia. Our local Lions Club now oversee it.
About the time we kicked off, a budding writer came to stay with us to work on his first novel. We were able to secure him a little green unoccupied weekender overlooking the bay where he put pen to paper.
He wrote of his experience in a major national paper and this is what he said:
“Pale autumn sunlight drifting through the trees, a murmur of the wavelets lapping at the shore, the call of a far off kookaburra, the fitful moaning of a crested dove – how could one not be conducive to the writer's art than the wide Port Stephens inlet, traversed by its ever changing over-lay of clouds, its surface rustled by the odd flotilla of pelicans or the wake of some frail fishing boat?” ….....
At another point he muses:
“I gaze out over the expanse of grey-blue water , towards Tahlee and the hidden headland of Hawks Nest, and wonder whether the stingrays will be in at low tide; or if the pelicans need feeding; and are those really rain squalls breaking up the colours there across the bay? And how many months, or years, am I behind schedule? And who, indeed , is the time keeper? I step outside. The cicadas are humming, the swallows are calling, a light plane, with a note of supreme indolence, cruises high above – and time and deadlines, begin their dissolution into nothingness”......
The tiny weatherboard is now an upgraded white home and Nicolas Rothwell has become an acclaimed writer. Indeed his recent novel 'Red Heaven' has taken out the $80 000 Prime Minister's award.
Our QR codes might one day mention this literary genius, as tourists and locals drink in our history with their mobile devices.
Photo: Nicolas Rothwell......famous writer.
New Food Outlet
The name 'Show us ya Burger' has a certain ring to it and closely resembles 'Show us your Slotz'.
There is a reason for this as the two businesses have the same owner and complement each other.
Amanda Dixon runs the outlet in the Lemon Tree Industrial Estate and even at this early stage, her burgers are making an impression in the community.
“Word of mouth' is the best advertising and it has surprised us just how popular we've become,” she said. “People hunger for that home made taste and that's what we give them,” she added.
“We also provide cold drinks and coffee. Our hours are 7am – 2pm Monday to Friday and on Tuesday it's 7am to 7pm.
Photo: Amanda outside 'Show us ya Burger' in Industrial Drive LTP.
Lift for Library
But where is it? This is most asked question by those wanting to borrow books in Tilligerry.
The town public library is situated on the main road opposite the Lemon Tree Passage Motel and when open, has a 'library' flag fluttering from a pole in front of it.
It's been there for decades and is staffed by volunteers and operates from 10am until noon six days per week. (Monday to Saturday).
A big makeover a couple of years back saw new carpet, reader friendly furniture and a slick paint job spruce it up.
What's more, a heavy cull of the least read books and an injection of new stock has something for everyone, including children.
Tilligerry Men's Shed workers have just removed the old overgrown sign and have carved a new one which is much more visible.
Business is more or less back to normal after a year or so of roadwork disruptions and the construction of a new police station two doors away. Council have taken over the computer access and has 2 brand new computers. A new scanner is on order and you will now be able to print A4 colour pages.
The library augments the mobile service which visits the villages of Tanilba Bay, Mallabula and Lemon Tree Passage on a rotational basis.
Both services have now recovered from the Covid lockdown restrictions and are back up to pace.
Photos: The LTP Library after the makeover......and the new sign giving it better visibility.
Book Donations
Tilligerry Community Library ha
s always enjoyed the support of the community donating their books. Whilst we do appreciate them, we can only accept them with prior consultation. Our hours are 10-12 noon Monday to Saturday and our phone number is 4982 3477 if you wanted to call up or pop in and check with us before bringing them in. Please don’t leave them at the door.
More than Just a News Service
You've seen our illuminated sign 'tilligerry.com' beside the main road near the golf club as you drive into town at night.
With news services moving away from the print media, tilligerry.com for over 10 years now has moved with the times and gives local residents the news that they can't get anywhere else. Indeed, those travelling around Australia or internationally can keep up to date with a click on a mouse or a mobile phone.
Before our 'hit meter' broke down we were averaging around 2000 views each month. We have a few businesses supporting us but we really don't want advertisers as we are a not for profit community service.
It gets even better. There are constant requests, usually from residents new to the area, for general information about available services and organizations out this way.
We now have an extensive community directory listing some 80 of these which includes: churches, clubs, social groups, cultural events, schools, tourist information, community support, JPs, medical services, play groups and pre schools.
Photo: tilligerry.com more than just news.
elebrating the re-opening.
