NABOWLA. The road from Golconda station to Nabowla is extremely winding - sharp turns, up and down long hills, with an occasional sharp dip. Just by Golconda school it takes a loop turn, and apparently we set off again for a mile in the direction of our starting point. The signboard at this turn is nearly obliterated, and it is likely to confuse the stranger, as just there is another road leading in an opposite direction. The corkscrewy turns are thereafter continued up and down hill till Nabowla is reached. Now, if Lebrina's natural advantages cannot adequately be judged from the railway station, still less so can be Nabowla's. The church, store, and few cottages there is not Nabowla.
Hidden by barren scrub country are a number of farms, many of them well worked. Nabowla is a rather important railway post, and lately a Y line has been put in there to serve the frequent goods special which from Herrick and stations between are brought to and left at Nabowla, where more powerful engines take them up the heavy hills and on to Launceston. Until recently there has been a big block of sawn timber in the station yard, but this is now almost altogether cleared away, much to the relief of the several sawmillers in the vicinity.
Mr W. Eales is the energetic and courteous young station-master. On one of the trucks was to be seen an immense boiler, consigned by the Lisle Hydraulic Co. (F. K. Fairthorne and Co.) to Fergusson and McGowan, Lilydale district, sawmillers.
Lisle is about five miles from Nabowla. The old mining works, which have produced about 10 tons of gold, are now in the hands of the Lisle Consolidated Co. - an English company with a capital of £40.000. Work at present is suspended awaiting the arrival of new machinery. Preparatory work has already been done. Sanguine hopes of success are held. Messrs Bills and Co., of Launceston, have a sawmill at Lisle, which is handling a lot of good blackwood. A wood tram five miles long conveys the marketable output to Greeta siding. Nabowla mills are owned respectively by Messrs. Peddle, John Cairns, J. W. Gofton, and Bruce Boyd, and turn out on an average about 60,000 super feet each month.
Grazing, dairying, and agriculture are carried on. Messrs Fulbrook, Rogers, Griffiths, C. F. Allanby, Blackburn, and W. Broadhurst (returned A.I.F.) are all successful and enterprising dairymen.
Agricultural crops generally are heavy, Mr Fulbrook having, as an instance, secured this year the splendid return of three tons of hay per acre. The orchards of Messrs Furlong, Fulbrook, and Blackburn look to be in the best condition. The two latter have been very successful show exhibitors, including the big ones at Launceston and Exeter. The pests, blackberry and rabbits, in places are taking a strong hold though as yet they are not nearly as bad as in some other parts of the island.
Nabowla people are emphatic that the route to Bell Bay should go through Ferny Hills, and thence downhill to the waterside terminus. This would also assist Bridport in a material way. It would save the frequent double banking of engines to get up the hill at the Denison Gorge. From Nabowla it would practically be a downhill grade all the way. Pipers River producers would be relieved from their present harassing position. The development of splendid land of great potentialities is being handicapped by its isolated position. A short route, light obstructions, and a naturally suitable grade, is the summing up of those "in the know."
There is still land at Nabowla open for repatriation purposes.
Residents justly draw prominence to the performance of their state school children at the recent qualifying examination. Although Mr C. Parsons, the young teacher in charge, had only been transferred there a few months ago, he nevertheless succeeded in gaining passes for six out of eight candidates, one of whom (Veda Watson) gained a bursary, and two (Athol Wadley and Veda Watson) of them grants in aid. There are 70 scholars on the roll, with an average attendance (spoiled by a measles epidemic) of 51.6.
An Anglican and a Presbyterian church supply the religious needs of the community. There is also a public hall.
Councillor Watson, of Nabowla, is an energetic member of the Lilydale council, Nabowla being near the irregular boundary line of the two municipalities, Scottsdale and Lilydale. So irregular is this line that the Scottsdale inspector has to pass through Nabowla and Golconda on his way to the outlying parts of his area.
Sport is supplied by a tennis club, good shooting, and fishing in the Little Forester River, whose fertile valleys are a great asset to the district. English trout up to 7lb. and 8lb. weight are to be caught, and blackfish up to 11―lb. are numerous. The summer and winter popular Australian pastimes are not altogether neglected.
Blue Mountain, which looks down on the settlement, has a reasonably easy track to the summit, and tourists and others are rewarded with a grand panoramic view of Scottsdale and district, and in the other direction the view of the mouth of the Tamar and 40 miles of coastline is alone a splendid reward for the exertions attendant on the trip.
NABOWLA. (1921, February 2). Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), p. 7 (DAILY). Retrieved September 17, 2018, fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51109192