Lingering Look at Heritage Windows.

Braidwood is another delightful little village we discovered just an hours drive from Canberra and across the border into New South Wales.

Beautiful, historic Braidwood is one of the little gems of NSW’s Southern Tablelands. The town is situated on the Kings Highway halfway between the national capital, Canberra, and the state’s South Coast.

The entire town is classified by the National Trust and Braidwood is the first complete town to be listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. Braidwood also boasts about the fact that we still retain most of the Georgian town plan, one of the last left in Australia. The rural life and charm of the town is carried on against many fine examples of 19th century architecture.

Beautiful churches, pubs, cafes, galleries, craft and antique shops all operate in sensitively restored old buildings which have served the town since the frantic gold rush days of the 1850s.

Braidwood street scene

This was a big temptation

Then we found this interesting place and had to go in for a browse around.

Inside was a wealth of bric-à-brac, memorabilia from days gone by, and local art and craft.

I peered through this window…

It looks very interesting, so went along to go inside.

Oh dear. Well we will have to find somewhere else to eat. I had Googled Braidwood to check out their restaurants. So many and they all sounded good. I chose “The Albion” it had good ratings and excellent comments.

(I wonder how many of you use Google to help you make decisions)

We had 2 friends visiting us for the weekend and had all gone our separate ways, exploring the many interesting shops. Jack had arrived at the Albion before us and when we arrived he was watching the people go by and had struck up a conversation with a local. Notice all the diners on the balcony, fortunately I had booked a table so we ate inside.

We all agreed I had chosen well and we had a delicious lunch. So well fortified we wandered back out to explore the other end of town.

I loved all the details on the buildings, the iron lace balustrades, the embellishments and the carved roof decorations. A treasure trove from the past and so good to see it being preserved.

The camera is in over-drive I could not ignore all the interesting windows.

It was a fascinating place, so much to see. I’m pleased we talked to a local in Bungendore who noticed us taking lots of photos of her village and recommended we visit Braidwood.

There were some older, buildings that had not been renovated and they had a charm of their own.

I hope you have enjoyed this wander around this interesting Heritage town in the glorious spring sunshine.

************************

Dawn invites us to join in her “lingering look at windows” each week and show the windows we have found.

Also Jo invites us to take a ” Monday walk” with her. Now I know this is mid-week Jo, so I’m not sure whether I am late for last Monday, September 29, or cheating a bit and am early for October 6th. But on October 6th we will be on a Greyhound bus heading out on a 7 hour bus ride to Nambucca Heads and our next house sit.