Coromandel Valley & Districts Branch National Trust SA

21/05/2026

Governor of South Australia's first Winter Conversation on June 5 with History Advocate Dr Kiera Lindsey is sure to be a fascinating presentation. It is to be held in the Government House Ballroom and while tickets are free bookings are essential – see the booking link below.

Bookings for the first Winter Conversation Series with Dr Kiera Lindsey are now open!

The first session will be held on Friday 5 June 2026 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm in the Government House Ballroom, titled ‘titled “Towards 2036: South Australia’s Bicentenary”, where Dr Kiera Lindsey, South Australia’s History Advocate, will join the Governor to reflect on the state’s history and the legacy being built ahead of its 200th anniversary.

The event is free, and bookings are essential.

Visit governor.sa.gov.au/vice-regal/winter-conversation-series to reserve your place.

21/04/2026

One never knows when, where or why inspiration will hit. How wonderful that it hit Graeme Clark back in the 1970s.

National Archives of Australia

13/04/2026

In the mid 1800s the section of Belair that is known as Monalta (adjacent to Belair Primary School), was originally sold in three parts.

The first 80 acres went to Charles Giles on 17th September 1844 for £126. The second, an area of 59 acres went to Thomas Forestell on 7th December 1846 for £53. The third section of 26 acres was bought by James Crofts on 27th May 1848 for £65.10/-.

Learn more about the evolution of Monalta at:
https://cvdnt.org.au/buildings-and-land/land/monalta

11/04/2026

Both the Watchman House and Winns Bakehouse Museum are open this morning.

27/03/2026

Lest we forget.

They buried Frank Gilbert behind the lines at Lagnicourt. After the war, they went back to find him. The grave was gone.

Private Francis Finniss Gilbert enlisted in Adelaide on 10 April 1916. He was 33, single, a farmer from Black Springs in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys of South Australia. Both his parents were dead. His next of kin was his sister, Mrs M. R. Wise. She was the one who sent his photograph to the records office.

The army trained him on the Salisbury Plains and shipped him to France. He joined the 27th Battalion, D Company, in January 1917. By late March, the Germans were withdrawing to the Hindenburg Line, leaving defended outpost villages to slow the Allied advance.

On 26 March 1917, D Company moved forward to hold a new position between Lagnicourt and Noreuil. The Germans shelled them heavily. The record says Frank Gilbert was "killed outright." He was 34.

His mates carried his body out of the trenches and buried him behind the lines. They marked the spot. But the Western Front was fought over that ground repeatedly through 1917 and 1918. When the war ended and they returned, the grave could not be found.

Frank Gilbert has no known grave. His name is inscribed at Villers-Bretonneux alongside nearly 11,000 Australians whose resting places were lost to the war that killed them.

He had no wife, no children, no parents left alive.

He was a farmer from a small town who walked into a recruiting office at 33 and never came home. His sister kept his photograph. The ground at Lagnicourt kept the rest.

Today is 109 years since he was killed.

Lest we forget

Rod Hutchings
Director
Virtual War Memorial Australia

18/03/2026

This rainy weather is on its way out and by Friday, we can expect a mostly sunny day to set the scene for a fabulous evening of family fun when Coromandel Community Centre Inc screens Paddington in Peru on Weymouth Oval.

The movie will start at sunset, but there are lots of fun activities planned from 6pm. See the post below for more details.

MOVIE IN THE PARK - Paddington in Peru

Could you "BEAR" to miss this?!

Friday 20th March 2026
Great family fun from 6pm
Movie from Sunset

Weymouth Oval, Coromandel Community Centre
442B Main Road, Coromandel Valley

FREE Community event for family, friends and neighbours. The Onkaparinga City Concert Band will be performing. Free face painting. Craft activities, outdoor games. Hub Library with Basil Bear will be hosting an interactive activity for the children. Old Macdonald's Travelling Farm
Ramblers Cricket Club fundraising BBQ, drinks and ice-cream available for purchase.

BYO picnic, rug, bean bags and low chairs to enjoy the movie, and your marmalade sandwiches (just in case!)

Dress for the weather.

PLEASE NOTE - Limited car parking.
Please park in the Guardian Childcare Centre from 6pm, or in surrounding streets. Please take care when moving to and from the event.

Gold Coin donation if you would like to support the Centre.

Craigburn Primary School Coromandel Valley Ramblers Cricket Club City of Onkaparinga Blackwood Football Club Childcare & Education Coromandel Valley Hill Scout Group Flagstaff Hill Football Club Onkaparinga Youth Rotary Club of Coromandel Valley Hutchesson MP Cr Marion Themeliotis - Thalassa Ward - City of Onkaparinga Libraries John's Grammar School

04/03/2026

Trove is an amazingly useful and informative digital resource.

03/02/2026

CFS volunteers do truly remarkable work to protect South Australian communities. We are grateful to our local Coromandel Valley Country Fire Service brigade members and the many others who have put their lives on hold and potentially at risk, to battle the Deep Creek blaze. We hope everyone returns home safe and sound.

From the Deep Creek fireground last night.
Many volunteers from Coromandel Valley Brigade (plus many more across our group) are being deployed on strike teams to assist.
Well done and stay safe 💪🏻

24/12/2025

We wish you a Merry Christmas with family and friends. We hope that you travel safely into 2026.

We'll be back on Facebook early in the New Year.

08/12/2025

FYI