Visit Nundle district for a day during the Tamworth Festival

Nundle is an old goldmining town situated amidst some genuinely spectacular scenery between the towering slopes of the Great Dividing Range and the Peel River that is popular with anglers. It still retains its rich heritage in its buildings and main street.

Many old buildings have been transformed into galleries, shops and a guesthouse to name a few. One of the impressive buildings in Nundle is the ‘local’ - the Peel Inn, a two-storey pub built in the 1860s. Practically next door is the Jenkins Street Guesthouse, formally the town’s bank that has been elegantly restored and now offers luxurious accommodation and one of the best country restaurants west of Sydney.

The Nundle Woollen Mill was originally set up primarily as a tourist attraction, and is an example of how tourism can bring new jobs and activity into a rural and regional area. It has a large retail showroom as well as a working wool processing facility out the back where we can watch the local wool transformed from fleece to yarn.

Nundle is said to derive its name from an Aboriginal word meaning 'mouth'. Historically, it is located on the eastern boundary of the enormous Goonoo Goonoo grant made out to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1832. The company considered selling this portion of the grant after it was finally issued the deeds for the land in 1847 but the discovery of gold in 1851 at nearby Swamp Creek changed their minds. They formed and floated the Peel River Land and Mineral Company.

Soon prospectors from California, Jamaica, Europe and China were strewn along the Peel River and up the mountain slopes. By 1865 the population was around 500 with about 50 businesses in operation. Nundle was declared a town in 1885.

It is the gold rush history of Nundle and the spectacular mountain scenery, which makes Nundle an attraction. There are several fossicking sites around the town.

We will visit Mount Misery Underground Gold Mine and Gold Museum. Believe it or not, the Museum was formally a coffin factory, now it is packed with mining and gold rush memorabilia and features a 120-metre underground mine tunnel. There is some mining memorabilia, as well as crafts and antiques for sale.

11 km north of town is an old goldfield known as Bowling Alley Point. Just north of Bowling Alley Point is Chaffey Dam, which holds 60 million litres of water and covers 542 ha. The embankment is 54 m high and 430 m long. The foreshores are quite beautiful with a variety of waterbirds to be seen, including pelicans, plovers, cormorants, ibis and wild duck.

Under the depths of Chaffey Dam there are remnants of the early mining days. The ruins of old mine workings and equipment lie scattered about the valley floor and up the mountainsides to this day. Traces of gold are still found, along with a variety of gemstones, and people continue to pan on the Peel River or fossick in the Hanging Rock area. In times of drought it is possible to imagine the life and times of the gold rush era. In the hills of Nundle and Hanging Rock there are still some working gold mines.

We will make our way up a steep windy road, past old mullock heaps where the hillside was overturned in search of gold, to the top of the mountain range where the massive treeless rock face of Hanging Rock looms overhead. Hanging Rock is 1100 metres above sea level and offers stunning views of the district.

Views from Hanging Rock near Nundle

We will also visit the Arc-En-Ciel Trout Farm where there are conducted tours of the ponds and hatchery. Fishing equipment is available for hire with all catches cleaned and packed for you if you wish. You can also purchase fresh and smoked trout, and smoked trout pate.

Smoked Trout for Dinner tonight?

If fishing isn’t your thing perhaps you would prefer Yabbies. We will also visit the Nundle Yabbie Farm where you can try your hand at catching yabbies or they can be bought pre-caught.

Check out our Tamworth Tour where Nundle and the Hanging Rock district is part of your tour.