THERE are plenty of quirky stories in the history of Tathra and its surrounding area, a long-time local resident has said.
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Jim Kelly of Tathra is researching little-known stories around his area, seeking to answer questions he has about Tathra’s history in a pursuit he calls “an interesting hobby”.
“There’s a lot of interesting, anecdotal local history stories that people don’t know about,” he said.
Every story started with a question then a search to find an answer for it.
Research is done by talking to people who have lived in the area around Tathra for many years, as well as using sources on the internet and books from the library.
Mr Kelly's stories will appear in editions of the Bega District News once a month.
Tathra forms a surf club
Jim Kelly
THIS is a photo of the men from the Tathra Surf Life Saving Club (pictured), taken at the formation of the club in 1912.
That is over 100 years ago when Tathra’s population was only about 80.
I can understand a surf club that long ago at Bondi, Manly or Bronte, but why Tathra?
Because of the Tathra Wharf that was opened in 1862.
The wharf was serviced by wagons hauled by oxen or horses.
For such heavy, regular traffic the Bega–Tathra Rd had to be up to it.
It was a good dirt road with the boggy bits corduroy sealed.
Corduroy sealing involved spreading small diameter, about 30-40mm, trees across the road, usually tea trees that were plentiful near Penuca Swamp and in Tathra.
Carp St in Bega was similarly sealed in the early days.
The road was sealed later with crushed stone with blue metal from the quarry near White Rock, just south of Kianinny Bay.
A 1920’s road map shows that the only sealed road south of Wollongong was the Bega-Tathra Rd.
People took advantage of the road and Tathra became a holiday and recreational destination mainly for fishing and swimming.
So it is not surprising that a surf club was created - it was originally called a swimming club and several buildings later has survived over all these years.
The reel shown in the photo, on the sand in the foreground, was locally built using lots of rope and a cork belt.
This replaced the previous method of assisting swimmers in trouble where a horse was ridden into the water and a rope tossed to the distressed swimmer who was then hauled ashore.
