August 2022 – Gundungurra Country
We arrived in Crookwell as the first stop on a long-awaited three-week road trip through NSW. The trip had been cancelled twice during the COVID lockdowns and then again by the seemingly unending wet weather of the last year. We were after a few days of rest, peace and quiet in the country, a glass of wine by the fire – and perhaps a little bit of luxury. We found all that in the pretty little Southern Tablelands town of Crookwell.
Where we stayed
We don’t usually start by telling you where we stayed but in this case our choice of accommodation was integral to how much we enjoyed lovely Crookwell.
Mister Munro townhouse is a beautifully renovated c1890 former tailor’s shop and residence in the main street. Tailor William Munro lived and worked there around the turn of the century, but it’s now been transformed into luxury accommodation (three bedrooms, one-bathroom, wonderful open living space downstairs).
We loved the warm and inviting spaces (Crookwell can be very cold) and the attention to historic detail. The original fireplace, kauri pine floorboards and staircase remain. Sympathetically curated art and furniture added to the ambience.
We spent the most delicious evening curled up in front of the fire with wine and a charcuterie board (with ingredients bought from the excellent IGA across the street) resting and yarning and planning our days.
The townhouse is right in the heart of Crookwell – in easy walking distance to cafes, shops and other must-see local attractions.
What we did
The sock factory
If you are going to Crookwell in the colder months, then you are going to need a superior pair of socks. No visit to this charming little town is complete without visiting Lindner Sock Factory which has been producing wonderful warm woollen socks in the Southern Tablelands since 1987. They moved from Goulburn to Crookwell in 1997 and are now located at 6 Goulburn Street.
The company has a long history, dating back to 1921 when H. Max Lindner began producing socks in Fabrik in Thalheim. The family fled Germany after World War II, operated in the US for a few years, and then migrated back to Germany where they made the socks for the 1974 West German soccer team and were making socks under contract for Adidas. In 1986, fearful of the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, they split the company and Wilfred Lindner moved to Australia.
There’s more to buying the right kind of socks than you might think, and we were expertly advised by Anita and came away with socks we would ultimately wear constantly during our road trip. They were also perfect for our quiet night in! The vintage sock machinery out the back is interesting too – and if you are in town on the right day, you can see it in operation.
Heritage walk
The first inhabitants of the Crookwell area were the Gundangurra Aboriginal people. Europeans arrived around 1820 and the town was surveyed in 1860. An iron ore mine operated in the 1940s, but the town has mostly been a rural service centre. Wheat was the typical crop (and still is) but the area is also noted for its potato growing.
It’s worth picking up the self-guided heritage walk map from the visitor’s centre and taking a wander around town. You will find architecture from many eras – from the stone-constructed Stephenson’s flour mill (1870, now a private residence) and St Andrew’s Church (1882) to interesting turn of the century buildings like the courthouse and the railway station.
The train station
The station is heritage listed and if you are a rail buff, it’s right up you alley. It’s a terminating branch line, which opened in 1902 and its historic interest lies in the fact that many of the original facilities remain in place. A local rail heritage group has put a lot of work into restoring things – including the old turntable which was once used to turn around locomotives and point them back in the other direction.
Several ideas for turning the branch line into a tourism opportunity have been explored over the years. One idea was to remove the tracks and use the route as a shared cycle-walking track as part of NSW Rail Trails system. Another idea was to keep the track and run pedal powered rail bikes along it between the town and Goulburn. To date, neither idea has been actioned.
Country drives
Crookwell is one of those towns that provide the perfect base for leisurely drives through the picturesque countryside. Laggan is a vibrant little community with some very good eateries, excellent markets, a great pub, and brewery. Taralga has some wonderful historic stone buildings. The Argyle Inn serves excellent meals and there is a homewares and arts store across the road that is great for a browse. It all depends how long you are in town. The visitor’s centre can help.
The Crookwell wind farm is not far out of town and there is a great viewing area from which to watch these majestic symbols of a clean green future slowly turning above the pretty hillside. The farm was the first in NSW to be connected to the electricity grid back in 1998 and generates enough electricity to power 2000 homes.
Where we ate
We enjoyed good coffee and a light breakfast at Ensemble and Co in what was an old theatre. You can get great gourmet cakes and sweet treats there too. This building also houses a collective of boutique traders – including clothing, homewares, furniture, jewellery, art, giftware, fresh local produce and courtyard nursery.
Cafe Zestt was a lunch stop during our stay and I have to say their lamb burger was absolutely delicious! They are also open for breakfast. They serve a very good vanilla slice to have with your coffee!
If you decide to stay in by the fire (as we did) the local IGA is well stocked and we found everything we needed, and some things we didn’t, but decided they were too delicious to leave!
