Tubbul, for those who don’t know or who are moved to ask “What’s a Tubble?”, has been an important village 30 kilometres west of Young. Better than Young, it still has trains running through (though there is not much of the station left).
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Tubbul today has lost nearly all the elements that made it a vital village over the last 125 years.
The school and teachers house are demolished, leaving only a slab of concrete where school assemblies were held.
The old pisé church was taken down in 1972. It was a ‘Union church’, owned jointly by Presbyterian and Anglican congregations and for many years had a resident Presbyterian minister.
In 1886 a pub licensed to Mr Gorman was registered as a post office. The pub continued at least until the 1930s.
Tubbul’s more recent post office, now a residence, is the last remaining piece of the village.
On the corner of Ardnaree Lane stood Croke’s General Store, and Mr Croke had a second shop near the railway crossing four miles to the west, which operated into the 1960s.
There had been other businesses, butchers, a bakery, blacksmith, garage, and a sawmill.
“In 1919 Tubbul claimed the longest main street in Australia, 4 1/2 miles from the village…to the Stockinbingal-Forbes railway line”, we are told in the little book Tubbul by Those who Remember (1992).
Tubbul also has a place in our nation’s industrial history. The first shearers’ trade union was formed here, in the late 1880s.
Getting to Tubbul is a delightful trip. Just drive west along Boorowa Street and keep on past Toompang Racecourse, over Stoney Creek floodway (why is there no bridge here?) and up the rises to “the Eight Mile”, the corner with the old stone ruin. Turn right.
Follow the winding road through the hills with views over the plains, dark ranges in the distance. Suddenly you are driving on the flat, the great flat interior of this continent. And very soon, there’s Tubbul – Ardnaree Lane goes off to the right, then there’s the former post office and one or two houses and ruins.
A plaque stands at the gate of the old recreation reserve. It all seems to be on the right hand (northern) side of the road. And that is how it was, when the old maps are examined. Only one or two stores were on the left hand side.
After six kilometres is the railway crossing. Further on lies Morangorell and The Bland. And the great dry interior of Australia.
A point of interest is the vegetation.
All the way from Young, trees have been typical of this rainfall zone – White and Yellow Box, Red Gum, Apple Box, Kurrajong, lots of scrub wattle, wild plum and apple trees along the road edges.
As the plain is reached, signs of a slightly lower rainfall zone are the frequent stands of White Cypress (native pine) and Grey Box; Red Gums are mainly found along the creeks.
They are all beautiful trees, giving character to the landscapes and to this atmospheric place of ghosts and glory.
