News
Well what a busy few years it has been at Chimney Cottage and Mt Wilson.
Our baptism of fire was the shooting of The Great Gatsby and having Baz Lurhmann & personal staff as our first guests.
Then Mt Wilson celebrated the 100 year birthday of Patrick White who resided at Withycombe
It was also Blueberry season and it rained and rained and rained but the berries held up and the infamous Blueberry muffins for guests arrival came into being.
We worked hard in cleaning up the property as we had bought it at the time when a massive storm came through Mt Wilson and many an old tree was lost.
3 years later we are still cleaning up and cutting up the debris for the lovely wood fires that keeps us and The Loft nice and warm and cosy.
We then had snow fall in the peak season of spring - it was such a sight, this beautiful cold crisp white snow with the most magnificent colour protruding of azaleas and rhododendrons.
But the most exciting discovery was a platypus colony in our creek. We are now, in conjunction with the Hawkesbury Nepean catchment management team cleaning up the creek of all exotic trees and weeds. With the recent rain the creek is running beautifully and the waterfall in Waterfall reserve is looking magnificent.
Then came the fires. The community gathered together and at times we fed up to 400 fire fighters and supporters. Most of the community are in the RFS with training on a regular basis. Mt Wilson/Mt Irvine have been honored with the NSW and Australian Resilient Community Award for the not for profit sector and Beth Raines our Captain won Blue Mountains Woman of the year 2015. During The State Mine Fires 58,000 hectares burnt around us and with the luck of the gods due to a wind change and the dedication of our force only 2 houses and 7 sheds were lost. It was a very busy and tense 10 days.
Donations can still be sent to Mt Wilson/Mt Irvine Rural Fire Service (BSB: 062 559 Account Number: 10334493). The donations have been earmarked for the training room extensions at the Mt Wilson Fire Shed.
Well we have just come through Autumn 2016 and The Mt Wilson Autumn Festival was a huge success. Many new gardens were open to the public and The Study Centre was the home for some fabulous speakers on all things garden as well as a country market and a pop up cafe.
We also have made some big changes at Chimney Cottage. Last month we demolished the Lodge allowing The Loft to now have a view down across the paddock and creek and the original Chimney Cottage has been incorporated into our home
We thank all our guests who have come to stay and welcome new guests.
For more information on the village visit the Mt Wilson/Mt Irvine webpage and Facebook page.