Tamworth, New South Wales

Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest and most populated city in the region, with a population of 43,874 in 2021,^[1] making it the second largest inland city in New South Wales. Tamworth is 318 km (198 mi) from the Queensland border and is located almost midway between Brisbane and Sydney.

Tamworth
New South Wales

31°05′S 150°55′E / 31.083°S 150.917°E / -31.083; 150.917

43,874 (2021)^[1] (34th)

1818 (explored)
1850 (established)
1946 (city)

2340

404 m (1,325 ft)

420 km (261 mi) from Sydney
280 km (174 mi) from Port Macquarie
105 km (65 mi) from Armidale
574 km (357 mi) from Brisbane

Tamworth Regional Council

The city is known as the "First Town of Lights", being the first place in Australia to use electric street lights in 1888.^[2] Tamworth is also famous as the "Country Music Capital of Australia" and "Australia's answer to Nashville", annually hosting the Tamworth Country Music Festival in late January; the second-biggest country music festival in the world after Nashville. The city is recognised as the National Equine Capital of Australia^[3] because of the high number of equine events held in the city and the construction of the world-class Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.^[4]^[5]^[6]

1818 – Explorer passes through the area on his exploration mission. Names the river that now runs through the town: Peel River, after British Prime Minister Robert Peel.

John Oxley

1831 – First sheep and cattle stations, namely Joseph Brown's 'Wallamoul' and William Dangar's 'Waldoo'. The exploring expedition led by Major Mitchell visited 'Wallamoul' in December 1831 on its way to the north-west.

1834 – 6000 sheep of the Australian Agriculture Company were the first to be brought to the Tamworth region.^[13]

[9]

1851 – The white population of the village of Tamworth was 254.

1852 – John Barnes built the Royal Oak Hotel.

1861 – Population 543

1866 – Tamworth Mechanics' Institute opened.

1882 – Tamworth railway station opened.

1883 – Tamworth base hospital opened.

1888 – Power station opened and enables the beginning of electric street lighting. The first electric streetlights in Australia.

[12]

1918 – A pedestal is unveiled as a memorial to the discovery of Tamworth district.

[14]

1926 – An anchor from the HM survey ship Sealark is erected on the pedestal.

[15]

1935 - Radio 2TM began broadcasting. Tamworth's first radio station.

1946 – Proclaimed a town.

[16]

1947 – was established in Tamworth, flying Tamworth to Sydney.

East-West Airlines

1947 – Institution for Boys home for criminal youth opened.

[17]

1973 – The first Australasian Country Music Festival was hosted in Tamworth by radio station 2TM, which has led to the extraordinary success of the Tamworth Country Music Festival that is held every year in Summer, at the end of January, a celebration that runs continuously for 11 days.

[18]

1988 – A country music icon, the 12 m (39 ft) tall is erected as a symbol of the town's country music roots.

Golden Guitar

1990s – The Local Council embarks on a successful campaign of urban and streetscape renewal, including the greening of Peel Street.

1999 – is opened.

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

2004 – A new local government area, Tamworth Regional Council, is formed from Tamworth town, Shire and parts of Parry, Nundle and Barraba Shires.

Manilla

2006 – In December the Tamworth Regional Council voted 6 to 3 against an offer from the Federal Government to take part in a one-year trial rural refugee resettlement programme; the majority of these would be Sudanese escaping civil war in their homeland. Mayor of Tamworth, James Treloar, argued that the refugees being resettled were potentially diseased and criminal.^[19] The decision resulted in national and international media attention on the town. The public outrage unleashed by his comments and the summary decision to reject the refugees forced a reversal of the bill one month later, and Tamworth took part in the resettling program.^[20]

refugees

2008 – The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre opened in September.

2016 – Tamworth hosted the annual rugby league match at Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct.

City vs Country Origin

2020 - Tamworth became the Temporary Training and Isolation facility During the COVID-19 Pandemic

New Zealand Warriors

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 14.1% of the population.

About 82.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were the Philippines 1.2%, England 1.1%, India 1.1%, Vietnam 0.8%, and New Zealand 0.7%.

Around 85.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.0%, Vietnamese 0.8%, Tagalog 0.6%, Punjabi 0.5%, and Nepali 0.5%.

The most common responses for religion were no religion 32.2%, Anglican 22.0%, and Catholic 21.9%.

[30]

According to the 2021 census of Population, 43,874 people were in Tamworth urban area.

Around 89.5% of Tamworth were working in 2021.^[31] At the 2021 census, the industry sector in Tamworth with the most employees was Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) with 6.1% of the workforce.^[32]

Population for Tamworth Urban Area.^[33]^[34]

Tamworth town Plaza is located in the CBD, with 42 shops including and Kmart.

Coles

Centrepoint Shopping Centre is a A$35 million shopping centre that was completed by Christmas 2008 behind the Tamworth Town Hall, in the CBD between the old town library and behind the speciality shops in the main street Peel St. The Centre contains a supermarket, as well as a Cinema Complex that contains five cinemas and a performing arts centre/theatre known as the Capitol Theatre that also doubles as a cinema, six restaurants, a food court and 40 speciality shops.

The Atrium, formerly known as the Tamworth Arcade, is located in the CBD with entrances from Peel St and Kable Avenue.

Eastpoint Shopping Centre Tamworth, located in the CBD on Peel St

Tamworth Shopping World is located in along Bridge Street, with over 50 speciality shops, including a food court

West Tamworth

Northgate Shopping Centre is situated in ; Coles is located inside the centre, as well as 10 speciality shops. The centre has been recently redeveloped.

North Tamworth

Southgate Shopping Centre in is home to Coles and other speciality shops. The centre was the first mall to be built in Tamworth. In 2012 Southgate undertook a redevelopment and facelift.

South Tamworth

Tamworth Homespace is located out at the Longyard. It is a bulk goods complex.

Calala Court shopping complex, located in , was opened in 2007. It has 10 speciality shops and a supermarket.

Calala

Venues[edit]

Tamworth Capitol Theatre[edit]

The Tamworth Capitol Theatre is fitted with a 405-seat auditorium with two levels of tiered seating, professional theatre lighting, a full sound system, dressing rooms, an orchestra pit, and fly tower, and is fully air conditioned. It is a multifunctional space for live theatre and cinema productions. It has significantly added to the existing cultural facilities in the region and provides a forum for live theatre, including dance, drama, music, educational activities, conferences and community events. During the Country Music Festival, The Capitol Theatre is host to three independent shows per day.^[47]

Tamworth Town Hall[edit]

The Tamworth Town Hall, located in the Tamworth Central Business District, is a historical building used for events, conferences and concerts. Additionally, it is commonly used for career expos, antique shows, meetings and conventions. It was built in 1934, has a proscenium stage, a gallery and a seating capacity of 1074 people.^[48]

Health[edit]

Tamworth in 2020 was dubbed Australia's "Fattest" for having the highest rate of obesity by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 69.6% of residents undertook low or no level of exercise (top 10 highest rate of inactivity) 20.2% smoked tobacco (the highest rate in the state) and 19.6% consumed alcohol at a high risk. 23.5% of adults have high blood pressure.^[50]^[51]^[52] There has been media criticism for the amount of fast food establishments in Tamworth with the town receiving its fourth McDonalds.^[53] Hungry Jacks is also looking to add another restaurant.^[54] The council approved the restaurants because of its potential to create jobs.^[55]

University of New England

University of Newcastle

TAFE New England

Calrossy Anglican School

Carinya Christian School

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School

Hillvue Public School

Liberty College

McCarthy Catholic College

Nemingha Public School

Oxley High School

Peel High School

St Nicholas Catholic Primary School

St Edwards Catholic Primary School

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Tamworth Public School

Tamworth High School

Tamworth South Public School

Tamworth West Public School

Westdale Public School

CAPERS is a show hosted at every two years to showcase the talent of students (both primary and high school) from the North-West region public schools.

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

The Northwest Dance Festival has been held various times in Tamworth at the . This includes a wide variety of dances from all the public schools in the region.

Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre

The Tamworth Eisteddfod is held annually in May and June, with Speech and Drama, Debating, Music and Dance sections at the Tamworth Town Hall.

The Tamworth Musical Society is an important part of the Tamworth culture, and has performed musicals such as "Grease", "Westside Story", and "Les Misérables" in October–November 2007 at the Tamworth Capitol Theatre.

The Tamworth Regional Conservatorium of Music is another important part of the performing arts scene in Tamworth. Over 1000 students learn many instruments from experienced and qualified teachers. It is the largest regional conservatorium in the state behind Wollongong, with students ranging in age from four to 75 years old, learning over 21 different instruments.

Fitzroy Street: ^[60]

Tamworth Post Office

King George V Memorial Avenue (East): ^[61]

King George V Avenue of Memorial English Oaks

Main Northern railway: ^[62]

Peel River railway bridge

Main Northern railway: ^[63]

Tamworth railway station

Marius Street (East): ^[64]

Dominican Roman Catholic Convent

Peel Street (cnr): ^[65]

Tamworth Peel Barracks

Tamworth has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

The following buildings in Tamworth are listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate:^[66]

Museums[edit]

Tamworth Power Station Museum[edit]

Tamworth was the first town in Australia to light its streets by municipally generated electricity in 1888. A larger power station was established in 1923 at a site in Marius Street, East Tamworth due to the high demand of electricity and the main building was demolished in 1982. The Tamworth Power Station Museum's purpose is to tell the story of the town's role in the development of electric street lighting, from the early days of oil lamps in 1876 and gas lamps in 1882, through to the installation of the first electric lights in November 1888. The museum has one of Australia's largest collections of early 20th century electrical appliances.

Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum[edit]

The Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum holds more than 50 motorcycles spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s. The museum specialises in Ducati, Triumph, Honda, Velocette and Laverda. The museum holds an example of the limited edition MV Agusta F4 Serie Oro.

is a long-running daily local paper (Monday to Saturday), with local and regional coverage, owned by Fairfax.

Northern Daily Leader

Tamworth Times is a free weekly paper owned by Fairfax.

Calala Cottage

Endeavour Park (Marsupial Park)

Golden Guitar

Oxley Park Lookout

PowerStation Museum

Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens

Tamworth Regional Gallery

The Big Big Mac

Wax Museum

Military history[edit]

During World War II, Tamworth was the location of RAAF No.20 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).^[74]

Bronwyn Davies – Independent scholar and Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne; author^[76]

[75]

– Associate Professor of Planetary Astrophysics, University of California, Riverside^[77]

Tamworth, New South Wales