by Evelyn Hampton

A tiny school in the heart of the Pilliga Forest has celebrated 100 years.

Past students, teachers and residents gathered earlier in the month to pay homage to Gwabegar School, 139 kilometers south west of Narrabri.

Bobby Williams, Tim Currey, Ted Dewson and Gary Worrell catching up at the Gwabegar centenary celebrations.( Photo E Hampton)

The school is at the heart of the largest naturally forming cypress pine forest in the Southern Hemisphere and was once at the centre of the timber industry.

Established in 1924, it began in a time when there were a large number of timber mills in the area and families had settled in the town, coming from all around the state looking for work.

In the early 1900s Gwabegar was integral in the ‘sleeper cutting’ process that largely enabled the creation of a railway across Australia. Sleeper cutter camps and koala colonies are points of interest in the area.

The Goonanyah Post Office opened on 15 August 1912 and was renamed Gwabegar in 1924. Gwabegar is the historical terminus of the Gwabegar railway line, which is now truncated to Binnaway.

The now closed railway station opened in September 1923, and many travelled from Sydney up to the town to find work. The Gwabegar railway line is a railway line in the Central West and North West Slopes of New South Wales, which passes through the towns of Mudgee, Gulgong, Dunedoo, Coonabarabran and terminates at Gwabegar.

The centenary celebrations began on 8 November with special guest, Mayor of the Narrabri Shire Mayor Darrell Tiemens. Local Aboriginal Land Council representative Michael Ross conducted a smoking ceremony led and the crowd was entertained by a performance by the current students.

Lil Head, Laura Purdy(nee Milson),Jan Milson & Jo Milson-Comerford had a great catch up at the Centenary Celebrations, (Photo E Hampton).

Principal Tracey McGlashan and teacher Samantha Alderton and a keen committee had a big display of photos out for the crowd to see and the students made a tableau of the township as it was in the 1930s.

The township may only have a population of about 160 but it is a strong community and the school serves as the centre of that, with 21 students currently enrolled.

Cutting the Centenary Cake, all students gather around Director Chris Jackson. The students in this image are Oceania Gold, Hunter Gold, Campbell Fester, Reahna Dunn, Kayla-Rose Townsend, Leelan Howe, Trinity Collison, Shaun Sherwood, Isabell Hall, Nate Martin, Sarvahna Dunn, Lawana Gold, Charlie Bowling and school captains Lily Hall and Dallas Fester.( photo Tracey McGlashan)