History of Peak Hill & District

21/07/2026

Condolences to the Stanford's family Sally ,Jenna and Troy. May the both of You're Parents RIP 😢🙏🥀

13/07/2026

I am also devastated to see another loss , this time on our Kiwi/Australian iconic movie star Sam Neill passed away at least 78. Once did a film in our Home Parkes Shire region , Movie called The Dish 📡 , based in the year 1969 ,When Neil Armstrong about to first land on the moon . Also, we won't forget the blokes working at the telescope playing cricket up the top 🏏in the film , that was pretty hilarious. He had an amazing career. Hollywood and all of us fans will be lost without him forever. May he RIP 😢🙏📿🎬🛐👏❤️😞✝️

In light of today’s sad news, I wanted to highlight a film that often gets overlooked in Sam Neill’s incredible career, The Dish (2000). It’s a quiet, clever, good‑hearted movies that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Set in rural Australia, the film tells the true story of the team operating the Parkes radio telescope, the unlikely group responsible for transmitting the live TV images of the Apollo 11 moon landing to the world. It’s warm, funny, beautifully understated, and full of that gentle charm Sam Neill did so well.

Neill plays Cliff Buxton, the calm, thoughtful director of the observatory, grounding the film with a performance that’s both subtle and deeply human. No dinosaurs, no explosions, just great storytelling, great characters, and a slice of history told with affection and comedy.

If you’ve never seen it, it’s absolutely worth seeking out.
If you have seen it, you’ll know exactly why it deserves a moment in the spotlight today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dyGpXcQl-g

- Rob

08/07/2026

I am beyond devastated 😔💔 today! ... This Man I knew since I was about 3 or 4. Bruce Gray has passed away about a couple of weeks ago! ...Was a great friend to my father and me! ...Who was completely admired to everybody in town. We were all impressed with his amazing work , fixing things to make everyone Happy, including I. Condolences to his family, siblings ,Wife Paula , children, grandchildren and maybe Great too? ..With his lovely sign out the Front ,that gave everyone in Euchie St a great positive quote. Good Christianity message " God is Love " ...And Now up there with him! ..RIP Bruce ⚰️🙏🛐📿🥲♥️ Can still hear you're voice echoing 😄..Will always remember you like Yesterday!

04/07/2026

Peak Hill is one of those Australian mines that had two lives.

Then somehow found a third.

Gold was first found in the Peak Hill district in 1889, turning a quiet part of central western New South Wales into a working gold town.

The first major mining period ran from 1893 to 1917.

In that era, miners pulled roughly 60,000 ounces of gold from about 500,000 tonnes of rock, using underground workings and early processing methods that were still developing fast.

Then the field went quiet.

For most mines, that would’ve been the end.

But Peak Hill came back in the 1990s, when Alkane Resources moved in and reworked the old ground with modern open-cut mining.

This second run wasn’t nostalgia.

It was commercial.

Alkane mined the oxide cap of a large sulphide body, taking the pit down to about 100 metres and recovering around 153,000 ounces of gold through heap leach processing.

That made Peak Hill far bigger in its second life than in its first.

Mining ended in the early 2000s, and the site could’ve been left as another fenced-off scar in the bush.

Instead, Peak Hill became something unusual.

The open cuts were rehabilitated, walking tracks were built, and visitors can now look straight into the old workings from viewing platforms just a short distance from the town’s main street.

It’s still tied to Alkane’s wider Tomingley Gold Project, but its main role has changed.

Peak Hill no longer sells gold.

It sells memory, geology and proof that a mined-out pit doesn’t always need to disappear behind locked gates.

That’s the strange destiny of Peak Hill.

A gold mine that became a history lesson in plain sight.

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16/06/2026

Snap shots of the Old Peak Hill Railway station, 1970s & 80s. 🛤️🚂🚃🚉

12/06/2026

Unfortunately our school leavers have not showed up in time for today's game but they are coming. So as soon as they get here we will update you.
But you can still support today's old boys day we have some of the bear jerseys for sale only $10 each.
Come check out the gear and some old photos from back in the day.

28/05/2026

03/05/2026

Before Redenbach's , Those were the bags. 🛍️😊🇦🇺

25/04/2026

🎖️🪖🌺🙏😌

07/04/2026

Catholic Parish Meeting held at the St Joseph's School in 1959.