New England Online > Geography > Administrative Divisions > Parishes > Walcha
Walcha
| Town of Walcha | |
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| Motto: The Pasture Wonderland | |
| Geography | |
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| Status: | Town |
| County: | Apsleyshire |
| Demographics | |
| Population : - Total |
Ranked 16th 37,715 |
| Ethnicity: | 98% European
2% Indigenous |
Walcha is a major town in southern New England, located close to the Australian border. It serves as the seat of the county of Apsleyshire. The town is located 60km by road from Armidale on the M1 motorway. The town population is approximately 37,715 in a county of 69,500.
Walcha is known as "The Pasture Wonderland" as the dominant industry in the area is livestock grazing. Aerial agriculture dramatically increased the stock carrying capacity of the land when it was pioneered here in the 1950s. Walcha has always served as a major service centre for the county, but in recent years it has also become an extended satellite centre for Armidale. Livestock produced in the Walcha district is some best in the country and local superfine wool has been acknowledged as some of the best in the world.
Walcha is a major station on the Southern Main Line, which runs between Armidale and Port Macquarie. There are regular commuter trains running between Walcha and the capital every day.
The clear mountain climate here has an average temperature range from -2.0 to 11.9 °C in winter (July) to 11.8 - 25.3 °C in summer (January). Average annual rainfall is about 808 mm and snow is not unusual.
History
In 1818, John Oxley became the first white person to discover the area and the falls which were later to be named Apsley Falls. Walcha was gazetted as a village site in 1852, when town allotments were sold, with annual sales following. On 5 April 1878 Walcha was proclaimed a town, when it was gazetted and the boundaries defined. Gold was discovered near Walcha in the 1870s at Glen Morrison, Tia and Nowendoc. Antimony, copper, graphite, manganese, silver and high quality slate was also mined in the district.
Attractions
Natural attractions abound in the area and include the Apsley Falls located about 20 kilometres east of Walcha just off the Oxley Highway. Their scenic grandeur has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
The first drop of the Falls is 114 metres in depth, and the second, about half a mile further on, drops 195 metres to the bottom of the gorge. Walcha is a natural gateway to the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, one of the great national parks of New South Wales. Composing of mainly scenic gorge country, 900 km² of it, part of it is listed on the register of World Heritage sites in recognition of its importance to nature conservation.
There are many other tourist attractions including scenic 4WD trips, fishing, the National Forests, the unique Open Air Gallery, fossicking opportunities, Amaroo Museum & Cultural Centre, Pioneer Cottage museum and the local history archives.
The Walcha Rodeo, Walcha Show Society and the Apsleyshire Campdraft Club hold large annual events that extend over several days each. There are numerous other sporting and general interest clubs in the town.
| Twenty Largest Urban Centres of New England |
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| Armidale · Bingara · Coffs Harbour · Dangarsleigh · Dumaresq · Glen Innes · Grafton · Guyra · Inverell · Kempsey Laurieton · Macksville · Port Macquarie · Puddledock · Tenterfield · Thalgarrah · Uralla · Walcha · Wauchope · Woolgoolga |
