All were great with much of the heavy lifting done by horses that saw the light of day once a year for the festival of the valley. It was described as “great burning coal”,“top quality coal” and “beautiful coal”. Some went as far as calling it “the best coal in the world”.
Lithgow locals who had cause to visit the Illawarra or the Hunter Valley took one look at the coal and shook their heads. Some brought back reports of the Latrobe Valley coal,which,quite rightly,they regarded as a joke. “Not worth burning” was a regular appraisal.
All homes had a coal heap in the backyard and as soon as a child learnt to walk they were taught how to get a good fire going.
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And coal brought industry. The first iron and steelworks was in Lithgow,thanks to the Hoskins brothers,and there followed the Small Arms Factory. With all this coal and industry came a real sense of pride and a “can do” attitude that spread into more cultural pursuits.
It surprised no one that Marjorie Jackson was the fastest sprinter in the world – she’d trained on the local cinders track that sat on compacted coal near the Cool Stores. And she trained at night lit by the headlights of the cars of locals who were there to watch and help.
Sport was the glue of the city. Cricket. Basketball. Tennis. Snooker. Squash. Table Tennis. Hockey. Netball. And there was rugby league.