Hall Heritage Centre

18/10/2026

'BRASS ON THE GRASS' 2026

Beautiful weather set the scene for this year's 'Brass on the Grass' concert.
With a variety of great music from the three brass bands: Newbury Brass, Victoria St. Brass and Canberra Brass, food from the Hall Mens Shed BBQ, sausage rolls , cakes with coffee and tea, ice cream kept the crowd entertained and happy throughout the afternoon. The raffles were also popular with excellent prizes.
Many thanks to all the Bands, the sponsors and the crowd who came and supported the event.
Special thanks to all the volunteers who worked very hard to make the event a success.

Photos;
The Happy Crowd.
Victoria St. Brass
Leanne Castley MLA drawing the raffle
The popular Hall Mens Shed BBQ

16/10/2026

Williams Creek school with boys and girls "drilling" in front of their classroom, 1913. Williams Creek (also known as Dick's Creek) first opened in 1895 as a Provisional School then was a Half-time school until 1942. Upper Gundaroo and Williams Creek (7 miles distant), was the first posting for Charles Catlin.

Photo: Braidwood Museum (P2007/1145a3).

16/10/2026

NATIONAL TRUST ACT 2026 AWARDS NIGHT

The Centre was a finalist in the Local Community Projects category of the National Trust ACT 2026 awards for the "Palmerville' exhibition. Last night presentations were made to the winning nominees at the Hyatt Hotel. However, the Centre was not successful in winning this award. However, the Centre was recognised again for its professionalism and ability to create wonderful and interesting exhibitions.

In addition our resident archeologist Dr Ken Heffernan was also recognised for his contribution to the Mulligans Flat Geoheritage Trail which won the award in the Heritage Interpretation and Education category.

Photo: Allen, Ken, Ros Hull (National Trust), Jane and Phil at the Awards night at the Hyatt Hotel.

15/10/2026

We have a team at the awards tonight hoping to win an award for the ‘Palmerville’ exhibition!

11/10/2026

Community groups in Fenner: expressions of interest are now open for Stronger Communities Programme grants of $2,500–$20,000 for infrastructure projects delivering social benefit. EOIs close 8 November 2026. https://mailchi.mp/australianlabor.com.au/stronger-communities-program-round-10

07/10/2026

Hall Heritage Centre’s resources used in this project.

✨ Canberra's history is now on display in a whole new way at Charnwood District Playing Fields.

This new artwork on the water meter cabinet tells the story of Canberra's early settlement and the people who helped shape the region.

📷 The cabinet features historical photographs and stories, as well as a QR code linking to additional local history resources.

Look out for one of the ACT’s earliest women's cricket teams, 🏏 including Nina Southwell, a pioneer of women's cricket in the region and posthumous inductee into the Cricket ACT Hall of Fame in 2026.

🌱 The project has also upgraded essential irrigation infrastructure at the sportsground, improving water efficiency, enhancing turf quality and supporting an estimated 10% reduction in water use.

🤝 This project was delivered in partnership with the Hall Heritage Centre and the ACT Government Heritage Unit.

07/10/2026

That’s almost how we do it at the Centre without the large scanner.

20/09/2026

Thousands of rabbits were taken from Hall district to the railway for shipping to Sydney.

Twelve tons of rabbits. One shipment. Bungendore, 1908. 🐇

That was the extraordinary cargo leaving Bungendore station in this photograph, more than a century ago.

The railway opened on 4 March 1885, with stockyards following in 1887. These yards handled much more than passengers, and goods traffic continued until 1989.

But who supplied all those rabbits? Where was this particular shipment heading? And how many local families depended on the trade?

The catalogue gives us the year and the weight, but the people behind the picture remain a mystery.

Does your family have stories about rabbit trapping, the rabbit trade or the old Bungendore railway yards? We’d love to hear them in the comments.

19/09/2026

18/09/2026

Thanks to dedicated volunteers at the Hall Heritage Centre, we have photographs like this one of the unique Mugwill School, located in a stone building on the Yass-Gundaroo road.
It opened in 1881 as a provisional school in the home of a Mr Currie, with Tryphenia Fursman as its teacher. But it reportedly closed after less than a year amid allegations that William Fursman only started the school to create employment for his daughter.
Many of the youngsters in the photo bear the surname Lees and Sibley, pioneering family names that are still familiar in the region today.

Photo: Hall Heritage Centre.