Wangat "The Place where whisperings are heard"
Our Philosophy
At Wangat we encourage all groups to get out and experience nature first hand - our forest, our rivers and streams, our wildlife. In the way Wangat has been set up, in the way we run it, and in the conduct of our own lives we seek to set an example of living lightly on, and in harmony with, the planet. Mudbrick buildings. Use of solar energy and wind power. Recycling, re-using and composting. Low consumption lights, shower heads, vehicles, appliances. All on the Wangat Wildlife Refuge. We offer no TV's, videos, air-conditioning, spa baths...
Wangat seeks to be simple, down-to-earth, warmly welcoming. In lots of ways Wangat is the way things used to be. And ought to be. It's peaceful. It's simple. It's convivial. It's a wonderful place to live, to work, to share.
Who We Are
KEN RUBELI has worked as a forester, a teacher, and in National Parks and nature conservation. Immediately before coming to Wangat he spent eight years as a freelance writer and nature photographer, promoting a wider appreciation of nature and wilderness. He has a detailed knowledge of the Australian bush, a strong personal commitment to environmental protection, and a contagious enthusiasm for nature! It is Ken who masterminded the Lightfoot philosophy underpinning Wangat's LightFoot Environmental Education Programs.
ROBERT POLLOCK has escaped an urban background in commerce, administration and staff training to pursue a higher calling at Wangat. He is a long time bushwalker and touring cyclist, and supporter of "think-globally-act-locally" causes. Robert's gregarious personality and innovative teaching skills are a great asset to Wangat's programs. Furthermore he understands about GST, BAS, MYOB, whcih keep the ship of Wangat sailing!...and he has a marvellous sense of humour!
HELEN RUBELI is a qualified primary teacher with an environmental sciences degree. She worked as a National Parks Discovery Ranger in the Manning Valley for 6 years. She has developed and taught environmental studies in schools and nature centres for 10 years, in the UK and Australia. Her interests are bushwalking, camping and ecospirituality. Helen provides a gentle touch to our programs at Wangat Lodge and has devised the Biology and Creativity programs. Her green fingers work wonders on a piano as well as in the veggie garden! JANE RICHENS is a talented artist/teacher with a passion for green living. She has a sound "hands on" knowledge of forest plants honed though managing her own rainforest. Her background is in Art and Design including digital media and adult education, with experience both in Australia and Asia. She makes her own delux cholcolates, has dabbled thoroughly in basketry, botanical illustration, running art galleries and producing magazines. Jane joins us for 2010....and beyond?
The History of Wangat
Wangat Lodge was set up by Geoff and Isabel Armstrong as a purpose-built environmental recreation centre. Constructed in 1985 it was officially opened on 16th November that year. We celebrated our 20th anniversary on 26th November 2005 with a party of Wangat stalwarts.
Wangat's earlier history began tens of thousands of years before the arrival of European settlement. Aboriginal names were recorded for many local places (Cooreei, Tillegra, Munni, Bendolba, Dusodie...) but the last of the original inhabitants and custodians of the upper Williams valleys died in 1901. His name is recorded only as Brandy. Pathetically little has been recorded about the last years of the Gringai people, perhaps through shame, certainly through apathy toards their fate. As time slips by new information will be virtually impossible to unearth and document.
In the local Gringai dialect Wangat means "A Place Where Whisperings Are Heard".
The first site of a Wangat village was at the gold diggings six miles above the junction of the Little (Wangat) River with the Chichester. In 1881 there were four claims being worked at Wangat itself. One hundred and twenty six miners' rights were issued during that year; and shafts up to 200 feet deep were dug.
Wangat grew into a village, which was somewhat belatedly surveyed in 1884 and proclaimed on 20th March 1885. The map published in 1887 under the grandiose title of Village of Wangat and Suburban Lands, made provision for one hundred and sixty individual lots, a school site of two acres, several reserves for public buildings or public purposes, and other reserves for water, mining matters and recreation. A cemetery ground which made provision for seven individual religions, plus a General Cemetery for other denominations, was set aside in 1886.
Although a few families remained at Wangat for some years after that, activity in the area gradually fell away. The school was closed in 1907, and in 1916 the village gazettal and all leases were cancelled when the whole valley was proclaimed a catchment area for the proposed Chichester Dam.
There were in fact two Wangat schools, on different locations, which were given the name. The first - Wangat (1) - was established on the gold diggings in 1881 and survived until 1907. The second, built in 1883 on the site which is now part of Wangat Wildlife Refuge, was known as Glenoak until 1887, Dusodie until 1917, and finally Wangat (2) until it closed in 1954.
The area between the Chichester Dam Road and the Chichester River has been occupied by Wangat Wildlife Refuge and Wangat Lodge Recreation and Study Centre since 1985. Most of this land was cleared during the last century, and grazing and agriculture continued there until recent years; but it is now reforested. Immediately to the right of the entrance to the Wangat property is the site that between 1883 and 1954 was used for Wangat Public School. A grove of exotic trees (English Oak - Quercus robur, Live Oak - Quercus virginiana, Coral trees - Erythrina) plus some Australian trees (Kurrajong - Brachychiton populneum) which were planted to shade the school yard, mark its location. Near the entrance itself there was once a red cedar sawpit. And on the hillside beyond the entrance on the eastern side of the Chichester Dam Road was the site of Wangat Village which, with up to 1000 residents, occupied the area between 1917 and 1932 while Chichester Dam was being constructed and later follow-up work completed. Little evidence now remains of any of its temporary dwellings.
If you really want the definitive history of Wangat Geoff Armstrong has prepared 47 pages of such history. One day we will get this published or maybe even downloading it as a file from here.
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