Narromine

Early history reports that British explorer and surveyor of Australia John Oxley, was the first man to pass by the site of the town of Narromine in June 1818.[20] From a study of the map showing his route, Oxley set out with boats and horses to trace the course of the Macquarie River, that ran directly through the Narromine district during the early 1800s. From 1818 onwards, other notable explorations by Robert Dixon, Major Mitchell and Captain Charles Sturt. In later years, the land became settled and the land became property of the Crown, meaning that is belonged to the monarch.[20] Today, Crown land under Commonwealth territories are separate to the monarch's private estate and is deemed public land to Australia. However, in Narromine during 1844, squatters began to take possession of extensive areas of Crown land that lead to a list of licence holders of property (known as the Government Gazette of 1848).[20] Most notably, William Charles Wentworth was the first landowner of formally named "Narramine".

The following stations were first retained by landowners as a part of the Government Gazette of 1848:[20]

• "Terramungamine" and "Burroway" – E. Brook Cornish
• "Minore" – Benajamin Boyd
• "Graddell" – J. Corse
• "Mungery" – John Dargin
• "Bulgandramine" and "Tomingley" – J. Gilmore
• "Wallanbillan" – Samuel Phillips
• "Timbrebungan" – Robert Smith
• "Euromedah" or "Mount Park", "Weemabah" and "Gunningbar" – Saul Samuel

Situated on the corner of Burraway Street and Merilba Street, the Court House Hotel was initially established by David Fitch in 1889 and originally opened as Fitch's Court House Hotel.

The town of Narromine is featured in the famous work of Banjo Patterson, The City of Dreadful Thirst published originally in 1889.[21] The poem references the town exactly nine times and satirically narrates the culture of the people of Narromine as well as the floods, dusty plains and landscape of the town. The poem is found within the Collective Versus of A.B Patterson and is 48 lines long.

The stranger came from Narromine and made his little joke⁠—

"They say we folks in Narromine are narrow-minded folk.

But all the smartest men down here are puzzled to define

A kind of new phenomenon that came to Narromine.[21]

Flying Officer M. A. Hough RAAF of Narromine, NSW, on the wing about to climb into one of No. 5 (Tactical Reconnaissance) Squadron's CAC Wirraway aircraft.

Poster celebrating the RAAF Centenary in 2021

During World War II, Narromine was the location of RAAF No.19 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).[22]

Australia contributed to the preparation of troops for World War II and provided a training organisation known as the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). The outbreak of war in Europe, 1939, saw the RAAF headquarters in Melbourne, Australia launch a plan to provide basic training to 28,000 aircrew over a three-year agreement.[23] The facilitation of this training scheme produced forty schools in air navigation, bombing and gunnery, flying, and technical training for ground staff, come to fruition in the late 1930s. Narromine is listed as one of twelve locations for the training scheme as No.5 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF formed in 1940.[5]

There are a variety of small towns situated on the outskirts of the town but are within the Narromine district that make up the Narromine Shire local government. They are well-known areas to the Narromine community, as many residents travel and reside between towns on farms.

The main four neighbouring towns include:

• Tomingley (approximately 37 km South of Narromine along the Newell Highway)
• Trangie (approximately 46 km North-West of Narromine along the Mitchell Highway)
• Burroway (approximately 34 km North of Narromine along the McGrane Way)
• Dandaloo (approximately 65 km West of Narromine along Dandaloo Road)

Due to its proximity to the Macquarie River, the Narromine township has parts which are flood liable.[26] In late March 1926, Narromine experienced its biggest flood since 1893, with the Macquarie River peaking at 50 feet (15 m) at 5 am on 27 March.[27][28] Narromine was isolated due to floodwaters cutting roads, telephone lines and the railway line.[28] A large area of country around the town was covered in water. Very little damage was reported.[28] In the floods of April 1990, the river peaked at Narromine at a record 15.93 metres (52.3 ft).[29]

Multiple plant species are found within the Narromine district with some iconic Australian species noted for the area below:[30]

• Grey Box Eucalyptus
• Leopardwood Tree
• False Sandalwood
• Old Man Saltbush
• River Red Gum
• Wilga Shrub
• Weeping Myall

Barking Owl, found in Central Australia.

Small sized Murray Cod

Narromine is home to many native Australian wildlife with some species noted below:[30]

• Pied Butcherbird
• Short-beaked Echidna
• Barking Owl
• Black Falcon
• Weebill
• Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
• Grey-crowned Babbler
• Magpie Goose
• Spotted Harrier
• Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard
• Murray Cod

Narromine is one of the main growing regions for cotton in the Central West district of New South Wales, Australia, with irrigation agricultural activities remaining a major contributor to the area's economy.[8] Cotton is a natural fibre, planted in spring, grown over summer and harvested in autumn for the region, cotton farming requires irrigated watering systems that are controlled.[31] The production levels of cotton in Narromine, are dependent on water availability, with the quality of harvest reflected in rainfall and fluctuating river levels. Cotton in the area is produced from a variety of irrigation methods including flood irrigation, drip irrigation, spray irrigation and others. The Burrendong Dam was built between 1946 and 1967, which facilitated irrigation schemes that have greatly aided local agriculture in the town and its surrounding districts.[9] Cotton farming came to the area as a result of advances in knowledge and technology/machinery around irrigation and utilising the water available from the surrounding water catchments.

With records of flights from Narromine dating back to early 1919, Narromine is known for Australia's longest standing aero club, with recorded flights dating back to 1919. The Aero Club was established ten years later in 1929.[34] In 1935, commercial flights from Sydney to Narromine commenced for a limited number of passengers.[35] The introduction of a small airline was celebrated at the time, with records showing the first fifty passengers published in newspapers weeks later to gain traction on the occasion.[35] It has developed to international standards of flying, with planes transporting rural citizens daily to main Australian cities and towns. The plans to build the Narromine Aviation Museum begun in the early 1990s, with a committee forming and a National Tourism Development Program grant secured.[34] The museum opened its doors in October 2002, with Australian aviator Nancy-Bird Walton launching the ceremony.[34] The museum facilitates an auditorium to its local community, with a 200-person seating capacity available to hire for town events and meetings. It exhibits long standing and related artefacts, photographs, documents and records to the history of the towns influence in World War II. The museum is home to three distinct and well recognised aircraft including:

• A flyable replica of the 1907 Wright Flyer Model A (2005)
• An original Corben Super Ace homebulit (1938)
• An original Hawkridge Venture glider (1953)

Held annually on the outskirts of Narromine and on the banks of the Bogan River, is the Mungery Picnic horse racing.[36] Traditional to Australian country races, are events such fashion in the field that includes best dressed lady, best dressed man, best dressed couple and best dressed juniors. Events such as race auctions, dash for cash activities, bookmakers and betting, as well as children's entertainment, food and drink services are also provided at the Mungery Picnic Races.