The Charles Sturt University final year Graphic Design students, Mel  Streater, Tom Brown, Abby Artuso and Bek Dennis and Lecturer, Willie Wahlin spent the day in Comboyne, visiting nine locations filming farms, cooks and their creations and various Comboyne landmarks.

It was an incredibly fun day with a very tight schedule, and we were ably herded around by Beau Spry, Heritage Officer for PMHC in a Council minibus. 

Beau initiated the collaboration with CSU as part of the students’ assessment program and gave us the opportunity to draw on the photographic and illustrative gifts of these students to design a beautiful and professional looking publication – a copy of which will be on display at the Back to Comboyne weekend 5-6 May.

A big ‘thank you’ to Phyllis and Rodney Fisher for making a beautiful Devonshire tea for the students as well as the famous ‘Dudley’ pudding, the making of which has now been entrusted to Rodney.

We were also thrilled to photograph Joy Hurrell and her prize-winning Christmas cake and ‘peaches’, Michelle at the Udder Cow who gave us a wonderful description of the old baker’s oven operation, Meredith Stewart and her crew making blueberry jam for the Comboyne Country Xmas produce stall in the War Memorial Hall kitchen and Margie Burch prepping her ‘Perfect Guacamole’ in her kitchen while Gordon refreshed us with iced water and a slice of lime.

The students met Len and Brian Hurrell at the Comboyne Museum site and were given a fascinating retrospective look into their boyhood at Hurrell House. 

The memories were fresh as we walked through the house and learned where the 11 children slept in the two bedrooms allotted, and you could only imagine the sigh of relief of their parents as they retired to the third bedroom after a long day of farm work, cooking and raising 11 children. 

We visited Lilah Amos at her and Colin’s farm off Duck’s Ridge Road and together with Lynn Amos were given a tour and history of the garden and orchard which their grandparents started. 

Penny Tideman of Ticoba Blueberry and Avocado farm gave us a tour of the farm with recently pruned blueberry bushes and a much appreciated jar of Ticoba blueberry jam to the students.

Final stop was at Margot Anderson’s yurt perched on the ridge in O’Sullivan’s Lane and what a show stopping view it is particularly in the late afternoon light.

We were only able to capture a fraction of Comboyne’s beautiful locations, history and people in a one-day shoot and the Cookbook is a way of promoting Comboyne to fund-raise for the Museum and tell the complete Comboyne story.

The Cookbook draft is being finalised, and if you have any last minute contributions, preferably with a photograph, please email to georgiaconnell@hotmail.com

We look forward to its ‘soft launch’ on May 5 and 6.