Narromine’s Rotary Park looks and feels a little empty following the removal of several vintage agricultural machines that had occupied the park since the 1970s. 

Dirt patches now dot the riverside park in the places where steam engines and tractors from the first half of the twentieth century once stood. 

The machinery was removed at the request of Narromine Shire Council due to safety concerns and the potential risk of injury to visitors, according to a council spokesperson. 

For Rotarian John Mann, 82, the removal of the machinery that he helped install with other members of the Narromine Rotary Club decades ago has tugged at his heartstrings as well his memories. 

“[Our club was] devastated knowing how much work went into putting it all together and the enjoyment so many kids got out of [the historic machinery],” Mr Mann said, confirming that legal and insurance concerns were behind the request from the council to remove the equipment. 

“Despite the great enjoyment that the children got, and the little bit of history it provided, the possibility of visitors injuring themselves [climbing or sitting on the machinery] was too great,” he said, indicating, to his knowledge, no one had been injured on the machinery in the decades since it was installed. 

“Everyone I have spoken to about it is bitterly disappointed,” he said.  

“These machines are evidence of how this land was developed after the horse era in farming. Until you talk to them about it, children wouldn’t dream of the work this antiquated machinery could do on farms in those days,” Mr Mann said. 

Mr Mann does acknowledge, however, that the passage of time, repeated vandalism, the ability to maintain the equipment, and exposure to the elements and the periodic flooding of the park by the adjacent Macquarie River had driven safety concerns around the items remaining in the park.  

The area comprising Rotary Park was a travelling stock reserve in 1967 when the then carpenter-builder and businessman first arrived in Narromine with his wife Audrey. He joined Rotary in the early 1970s and the community service organisation was instrumental in lobbying for the area to be turned into a park. 

ABOVE: John Mann with the Marshall Class-S steam engine that once graced Rotary Park, Narromine. 

“Some of the members thought it would be a good idea to develop the travelling stock reserve into a park. We cleared stumps and trees, and it was quite a process for several years,” he said. 

Rotary worked tirelessly to help maintain the park, Mr Mann said, with members using their own slashers and tractors to help control the grass. 

“As the park improved, its lawns needed better mowing. [Rotarians] were busy running our businesses and farms and it was a time-consuming thing,” he said, praising the council for eventually taking on this work. 

“I used to go down on a Sunday and ask people visiting the park where they had come from. A lot of people said they came from Dubbo for a drive and because they enjoyed the atmosphere at the park. When you’ve put a lot of work into something like that, it’s interesting to know what rings their bells,” he said. 

ABOVE: John aboard the Hart Parr tractor that once worked a farm in the first half of the twentieth century. 

The installation of agricultural machinery in Rotary Park in the late 1970s was a natural progression of activity for the Rotary Club, which was instrumental in building the first barbecues and shelters on the riverbank, as well as the very first boat ramp.  

The vintage agricultural machinery was sourced from many locations, Mr Mann said.  

“We picked them up from wherever we could find them. I brought one from Forbes, and we got one from Warren. Most of them arrived in the late 1970s. We had two steam engines, but only one of them was at Rotary Park, and we had several vintage agricultural tractors.” 

The historical pieces include Allis Chalmers, Hart Parr, and McCormick Deering 15-30 tractors and a Marshall Class-S steam engine, all from the first half of the twentieth century. 

And then there were none... 

Mr Mann said that the removal of the machinery unearthed a time capsule that had been buried beneath the bright yellow Allis Chalmers tractor in 1977. The current location of the time capsule remains a mystery.  

“The time capsule has been handed over to its owners. Council is not aware as to when it will be opened,” the council’s spokesperson said in response to our enquiry, not divulging who currently has the time capsule.  

Mr Mann said local people who were present when the time capsule was buried, and now fairly elderly, have asked him about its whereabouts and when it may be opened. Enquiries to the NSW Education Department have confirmed the time capsule did not end up with the local high school as some residents suspected. 

ABOVE: Rotary Park on October 10, 2022, following flooding from the Macquarie River. The vintage agricultural machinery is underwater. 

Following its removal between late 2022 and early 2023, much of the vintage agricultural machinery is currently being housed temporarily at Mr Mann’s property at Narromine while the Rotary Club looks for options to re-home it where possible. The machinery has been repeatedly vandalised and elements removed over time, meaning that restoration is beyond the means and expertise of the club.  

Ideally, Rotarians would like to see the machines go to new owners that are able to restore them to their former glory, Mr Mann said. Rotarians are encouraged by the knowledge that a number of rural communities across Australia actively display restored vintage agricultural machinery as tourist attractions and it is this sort of outcome that the club would like to see happen to its much-loved pieces of agricultural history, he said.  

“Hopefully we may get others interested in taking on the task of restoring them,” Mr Mann said. 

While Rotary Park looks a little bare now the historical relics have gone, and remedial works continue following the impacts of flooding last October, Narromine Shire Council has indicated that other equipment could be installed in the park as part of the Riverside Precinct Master Plan and as funding becomes available. The local community will certainly be watching that space with interest. 

BELOW: Rotary Park looks a little bare following removal of the vintage ag machinery.