General News
7 November, 2022
Avenue restoration a long standing dream for town
Talbot’s historic Avenue of Honour has been restored, with the newly planted avenue officially opened on the weekend, more than 100 years after it was first planted as a sign of reverence for those who have served. The restored Avenue of Honour...
Talbot’s historic Avenue of Honour has been restored, with the newly planted avenue officially opened on the weekend, more than 100 years after it was first planted as a sign of reverence for those who have served.
The restored Avenue of Honour was unveiled at a service in the Talbot Soldiers Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon, where around 60 community members gathered
along with a number of dignitaries.
Talbot Action Inc, the Talbot RSL sub branch and Talbot Soldiers Memorial Park Committee of Management secured a grant of over $14,000 to recreate the avenue, planting 40 Cimmaron Ash trees planted in two rows of 20 along Ohara Street.
It comes over 100 years after the town’s initial avenue was established in 1920, when 106 trees were planted with funds raised by the community, with the avenue of honour believed to be the only one of its kind planted within a public park.
Talbot Action Inc secretary Graham Miller said restoring the avenue had been a long time coming and was a real community effort.
“It’s been a long standing dream of the town to rebuild the avenue after the last of the trees were removed in 2012,” he said.
“When grant opportunities arise you dive in quickly and we managed to pull it off.
“The way the community has come together for this project is significant, Matt Hull donated a week of his time and his excavator to help us out so without people like that, we’d still have the trees sitting in the nursery.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have it opened.”
The project was funded through the Australian Government’s Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program and while 40 trees have been planted, the eventual goal is to recreate in full the original avenue.
Although originally created to honour those who served in the First World War, the memorial park features dedications to those who served in the Boer War, Second World War and Vietnam, among others.
Talbot Soldiers Memorial park Committee of Management secretary and Talbot RSL sub branch member Skip Lynch said restoring the avenue was an important step in recognising the community’s history.
“I’m over the moon to have this open,” he said.
“The avenue is in recognition of the guys that have gone overseas and haven’t come home, as well as those who have gone overseas, come home and passed on since then.
“That’s not just the First World War, it’s for everyone who’s been overseas — we have dedications for the Boer War here in the park as well as some markers for Vietnam Veterans.
“It’s important that this was for everyone.”
The last remaining trees of the original avenue were removed by the Central Goldfields Shire Council in 2012 due to safety concerns, causing significant outrage, and speaking at the opening on Saturday mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor said it was important that the avenue had been restored.
“This is about Talbot and telling the story of our community, we have such rich stories in the Central Goldfields and we don’t do enough to tell those stories,” he said.
“The volunteer contribution to this is significant, there are so many in this community who worked so hard to make this a reality after so long — it’s a fantastic effort.”
Also speaking on Saturday was RSL Victoria president Robert Webster OAM, who said it was fitting the avenue’s restoration was funded to mark the Queen’s Jubilee.
“In the First World War, there were just under 130 people enlisted from Talbot and in the Second World War, enlistments numbered 137 people who were born in Talbot,” he said.
“The original avenue of honour that stood in Talbot probably represents the number of people who served overseas.
“The Queen of course was a veteran in her own right, she served in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) during the Second World War and was since 1953, the patron of the RSL in Australia so to open this avenue in her honour is particularly fitting.”
