Individuals

Annabel Pettit speaks with Blackheathen Jeffrey Crompton (above) about the podcast he started during Lockdown: Jeffrey and Mick were raised in a Sydney that had never known any lockout laws, where you could walk into the Riverwood Hotel on any given night and be unsurprised to catch Split Enz or The Church earning their stripes on the city’s vibrant pub …

Phil Hopkins Nineteen years ago we moved to Cleopatra St in Blackheath with our young twin boys. We couldn’t believe our luck when we discovered Santa lived just around the corner on Hat Hill Rd. Every festive season our children joined the throngs to check out his Christmas lights display and to collect a bag of lollies! We’ve since moved, …

After devastation, the restorative forces of nature begin the process of healing. On the 22nd December 2019, Australia’s biggest forest fire, which had already destroyed an area seven times the size of Singapore, raced up the gully below Clarence St and burnt to within 10m of Eva and Bill Johnstone’s property, just above Pope’s Glen in Blackheath. It burnt all …

Food, mothers and kindness bring people together – even during a pandemic. Tonight I felt nurtured by my mother’s dearest friend in Blackheath, who sent me home with a brown paper bag filled with small jars of medlar and quince jellies to taste test. She was eager for me to compare the two.   Carole Lee My mother used to …

During Lockdown the gift of time has been inspiring many to try their hand at art. They’re finding that colouring books are an excellent entry point for doing that because ‘colouring in’ offers an opportunity to play with colour and pattern and work ‘with’ the book artist to complete an artwork flavoured with their own unique creative input. We all …

Deidre Ikin wearing a home-made mask while out shopping How quickly (and understandably) people’s positions are changing in this volatile world we currently find ourselves in! It’s only been a matter of weeks since the WHO and many global leaders said there was no need for anyone, other than health workers, to wear masks during this pandemic. We now know …

On January 8 The Big Fix visited renowned wildlife carer Margaret Gough at Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains. We were thrilled that some of the wallaroos and birds that had disappeared when the fires came, were alive and healthy and starting to return. Margaret demonstrated what we can do to help provide the food and water they so desperately need …

For a young person, deciding on a career is no easy task. This was how I felt when I left high school, not knowing what different jobs were like, what jobs are out there, or what path to take to reach them. At the Blue Mountains Pluriversity, Youth Cafes offer young people an insight into different careers, giving us the …

Rowe teaching in Kabul, Afghanistan After its development in Tasmania in 1978, Permaculture has become one of Australia’s most successful exports. Practitioners are now certified in more than 140 countries and Katoomba resident, Rosemary Morrow, co-founder of the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute, has been one of the pioneers responsible for this global uptake.   This week young people (aged 16+) …

. At Blackheath’s Night of Nights in April this year, the most exciting auction item was a collection of books produced by over 40 Blackheath residents, past and present. This year alone, current Blackheath residents have already published at least three new books, including “Where Once Were Breasts: the inspirational journey of an astonishing body” by Deborah Wells. .   …