Tamworth Town Hall

Roll of Renown, Tamworth

Country Music Hands of Fame

The Big Golden Guitar, Tamworth

Tamworth Truckers' Memorial, Tamworth

First Fleet Memorial Park, Wallabadah

Panning for gold at Nundle

Nationally famous as the Country Music Capital of Australia, Tamworth is home to the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, held in January every year. It is also the major regional centre for southern New England region of New South Wales.

Where is it?: New South Wales: New England region. Tamworth is 451 km north of Sydney on the New England Highway, making it close to the half-way point for travellers on the New England Highway between Brisbane and Sydney. Tamworth is 280 km inland from Port Macquarie on the Oxley Highway. Tamworth is served by the Countrylink Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale.

Lookouts: The Oxley Lookout (Endeavour Drive) provides panoramic views of the Tamworth slopes and plains; Hanging Rock lookout, 8 km south of Nundle; Moonbi Lookout, 21 km north east.

Things to see and do:

Tamworth is best known for hosting the Country Music Festival. Held over 10 days during January, the festival is often counted among the world's top ten music festivals. The festival features thousands of Australian and international country music artists performing live shows 24 hours a day. Each year an estimated 100, 000 people pass through the Tamworth for the festival with around 70, 000 staying for a substantial duration of the festival, with camping along the banks of the Peel River a major attraction.
The 10 day festival culminates in the Golden Guitar Awards - the most prestigious award that an Australian Country Music artist can win for their music. It is by far one of the greatest festivals in Australia and the second biggest country music festival in the World (second to Nashville, USA). In honour of its country music, Tamworth is home to the 'Big Golden Guitar', the wax museum and the hands of fame park of successful country music artists.

Surrounding area:

As one of Australia’s agricultural hubs, the Tamworth region has a strong focus on traditional farming such as beef, sheep, poultry, grains, dairy and pastures. The Tamworth region’s abundance of top quality local produce does not stop in the paddock. A number of restaurants and businesses utilise the local products to create a wide range of tasty dishes. Wineries to the North that hug the Peel River have recently been classed as Australia’s newest wine region. To the West the varieties of red and white wines produced, should simply, just be tasted to be appreciated.

Nundle: the Tamworth region has a rich gold mining history, stretching back to the 1850’s when thousands of people came to the Peel Valley Diggings, which incorporated Nundle, to claim their riches. Key fossicking sites in the Tamworth region that allow public access are still found in the Nundle area, along the Peel River and at Hanging Rock. From Nundle keen fossickers can head north to Manilla and Barraba following the Manilla River to seek further precious stones. Nundle | The Fossicker Way >>>

Wallabadah (55km south) is the home to a memorial to the First Fleet Memorial Gardens. Completed in 2005, the First Fleet memorial is the only garden memorial to the First Fleet. Caved by stonemason, Ray Collins, the names of all those who came out to Australia on the eleven ships in 1788 are found on tablets along the garden pathway. The stories of those who arrived on the ships, their life, and first encournters with the Australian country are presented throughout the Garden.

Trivia: In 1888 Tamworth became the first town or city anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere to have municipally-operated electric street lighting, earning itself the title of "The City of Light".

About Tamworth

Tamworth is primarily a service centre for the New England and North West regions, but its economy is diverse, supporting a number of industries, including primary and secondary food production, education, transport and aviation. The latter has been a significant part of the local economy, partly due to the city's exceptionally suitable flying weather, with the former East West Airlines and Eastern Airlines having service and maintenance bases at the Tamworth Airport. More recently the area has become an important centre for flying training activities for both airline and defence force graduates.

Climate: The mean daily maximum temperature is 24.4 °C and the mean annual rainfall is 673.2 mm. The climate is generally warm to hot in summer and cool to mild in winter. Rainfall is experienced all year round, with summer storms providing occasional heavy downpours. Tamworth's rain season, in the early months of a new year (particularly January) can result in major flooding. Snow can occur in and around the Nundle region, occasionally during a winter cold snap. Occasional frosts are also experienced in winter.

History: The Kamilaroi people, from whose language comes the word "budgerigar", inhabited the area before European contact. John Oxley passed through the Peel Valley in 1818. In 1831, the first sheep and cattle stations were formed, and in the same year the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) was granted a lease of 127,000 hectares of land at Goonoo Goonoo, south of the present location of Tamworth, extending to present-day Calala.
Explorer John Oxley passed through the area in 1818 on his exploration mission. He named the river that now runs through the town: Peel River, after English Prime Minister Robert Peel, whose name is also that of the main street. In 1831, the first sheep and cattle stations, namely Joseph Brown's 'Wallamoul' and William Dangar's 'Waldoo', were established in the area. The exploring expedition led by Major Mitchell visited 'Wallamoul' in December 1831 on its way to the north-west.
In the 1830s a company town began to develop on the Peel's southwest bank, the present site of West Tamworth. In 1850 A public town was gazetted on the opposite side of the river from the existing settlement. This town became the main town, called Tamworth after Tamworth, Staffordshire, represented at the time in parliament by Robert Peel. The town prospered, and was reached by the railway in 1878.

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