JACK BEASLEY AND TRANSPORT. Photo courtesy C. and G. Clements.

ALF. When his father got that complaint, you know, Jack (Beasley) had to leave school when he was twelve, and take over the horse team, his father's horse team. There was another boy (brother) and he got killed down on the Eden mountain with the horse team.....Leslie, ..... Anyway, Jack was coming home from Eden with the horse team and a truck was coming along. It was up the top of the mountain there, and the horses took fright. They wasn't used to the trucks, you know. They hadn't been around for very long. Anyway, the horses took fright and crushed him (Les) against a tree.
*** Excerpt from Alf Beasley's interview in 'The Forgotten Corner Interviews'

In 1843, Ben Boyd engaged two surveyors from Sydney to define a road from Boyd Town to Cathcart via Towamba, Burragate and Rocky Hall. Construction of which commenced in October 1843.
This first road followed the ridgeline where possible on its route over the mountains from the coast. On lower land, flat areas beside the river and any other natural features that would allow a road to be put through were exploited.
Roads, in the early days of settlement, were basic two wheel tracks cut through bush. In some cases they developed no further than bridle tracks - (only wide enough to ride a horse along).
It was a constant struggle to acquire funding from local councils to improve roads. They took into consideration population numbers and the flow of produce from inland to the coast. Local residents would undertake to improve the roads themselves, at times bargaining with Council to share the cost of the work.

'Bombala Times'
No date
WAGONS HAD A LONG TREK TO THE GOLD DIGGINGS
Submitted by Wilf Ingram
Researching the trek of the bullock and horse wagons taking supplies to the Kiandra Goldfields in the 1959-60's, Mr. Wilf Ingram, of Towamba, has established that they travelled via Honeysuckle, up the Bridle Track to Bibbenluke, the distance being 26 miles, from Bibbenluke to the Woolway, which involved crossing the McLaughlin River, was 40 miles, and from the Woolway to Middlingbank, was a further 20 miles - a very arduous trek indeed - and only part of the journey to the Kiandra Diggings.
Mr. Ingram's enquiries and research establishes that in the period 1832-1860 all the roads from the coastal ports of Eden, Pambula and Merimbula junctioned at the Roan Horse Inn at South Pambula, thence took the route to Honeysuckle near Wyndham, thence to the Stockyard Inn at Rocky Hall, crossing Cow Bail Creek through the Coal Hole, climbing the ridge to the Chimneys - this section of the mountain climb requiring two teams to one wagon - then on to the top at Woolingubrah (or Nicholson's as it was known), thence to George and Dragon Inn at Cathcart and finally, for the wagons and teamsters bringing supplies to the tablelands, to Bombala, Delegate and any of the big stations to deliver their stores and take back wool and produce to the coast for shipment to Sydney.
During Ben Boyd's much talked about occupation of the Tablelands, Boyd's Road was more direct. From Boyd Town on to Twofold Bay, to Towamba. The track came up the ridge to a place called Bee Hive, then followed the Gainor's Creek (or Nullica as now called), to the Figure Head, the Slabs (at Love's, Towamba) then to Towamba and continuing on the same course as today. It crossed the river there and followed it along to the Stockyard Inn and the road via Honeysuckle joining up near where the New Buildings Bridge is today - the last stage following the route previously mentioned from the Stock Yard Inn at Rocky Hall to the George and Dragon at Cathcart, via the Coal Hole on the Bridle Path (the latter being referred to by that name even today).
The Purgatory Line of road came down Big Jack, but was very steep and was rebuilt in the 1880's.
I have heard of the Mr.Darragh Bullock Track but cannot get much information about it to the Coast via Wyndham, writes Mr. Ingram.
Early Property Owners
Ben Boyd owned Towamba Station, then Stiles bought it when the Station was all Towamba to Pericoe. Alexanders bought in Pericoe and selected more land.
Stiles sold Towamba Station to Weatherhead of Nungatta and after the first World War the property was acquired and made into soldier Settlers' blocks.
Oldest Known Tracks
One of the oldest known tracks in the region was the Genore Track which followed the Genore River (Genore, of course, is now Genoa) through to Nangutta (now Nungatta), Boondi (now Bondi), the Spur, to Maharatta and the Snowy Mountains regions. The Aborigines followed the track to the Bogong Moth Feast. It was one of the earliest tracks known to the Tablelands and was first used by the new settlers around 1837.

Old bullock wagon.Towamba Homestead. Photo K. Clery

Unknown family in carriage. No date

* Objections to road closure north of Towamba Post Office. (This was the original crossing over the river before the first bridge was built in 1910-11)

Men putting in culvert between Towamba General Store and the Towamba Wine Saloon. c. 1903

'Pambula Voice' June 10, 1898
PERICOE
* The road from Pericoe to Wog Wog is in a fearful state, being axle deep with mud. Those who have to travel it are to be pitied. Unless something is soon done it will be impassable. A maintenance man should be put on the road at once as there is a great deal of traffic on it at present.

'Pambula Voice' July 1, 1898
BURRAGATE
* The Burragate-Pericoe road on the 'Lyndhurst' Estate has been undergoing some extensive repairs and the work reflects great credit on Mr. Kennedy and his sons who are certainly the right men in the right place.

'Pambula Voice' June 8, 1900
PERICOE
* Again during the recent rains the urgent necessity for a culvert over Pericoe Creek has been fully demonstrated. It has a very bad crossing and should have been bridged long ago. We must try again for we are justified in asking in asking for it.

'Pambula Voice' September 28, 1900
PERICOE
* Several weeks ago three maintenance men were removed from the roads in this locality and the residents wish to know why. The road from Pericoe to Wog Wog should certainly have been put in a fair state of repair before the men were dismissed as it cuts up so quickly in bad weather whereas a little attention at the start would save a big outlay later on. Mr. Coombes the maintenance officer who is the right man in the right place cannot be expected to keep all the roads in good repair however energetic he may be.

Bullock wagon at Towamba No Date. No information

'The Land' Excerpt from First Edition. Vol. 1 No. 1. 1911
On January 3, Mr. John Perry, senior vice-president of the F. And S.' (Farmers and Settlers) Association of New South Wales, commenced an organising tour of the Monaro and South Coast. After leaving Cooma, Mr. Perry was joined by another executive councillor, in the person of Mr. James Drummond. On returning to Sydney, Mr. Perry set down some of his impressions.
"Between Bombala and Cathcart, there are a good many farms, and the land seems good, especially around Cathcart. I never saw potatoes growing better, and some of the wheat and oats were as good as one would wish to see.
"Although I admit our trip did not embrace a very large area of Monaro, what I saw proved it a rich pastoral district, and with a railway to Eden, there is a great future for the farmer and grazier in the fat lamb and frozen meat export trade. It cannot be a large agricultural district, as there is too much stone and hill, but where land can be cultivated good results are obtained. Some say that cereals grow slowly there; if so, let the people try artificial manures.
" There is, in my opinion, however, one thing certain, and that is, until Monaro people get the railway constructed to Eden, they cannot prosper to the full, they should give no Government peace till that port connection is an accomplished fact. Another matter of great importance is the connecting of the railway from Germanton with Nimitybelle, which would bring the Riverina farmers so much nearer to a port, than congested Sydney, besides opening up a very large area of Crown land for settlement.
"Big Jack Mountain, three miles from Cathcart, is heavily timbered, steep and rough, and little of it is occupied only by Brer Rabbit, and his number is legion. A great change takes place in the soil, from volcanic to granite, as you get down the range. Rocky Hall is well named, it being surmounted by very steep mountains. What little farming is done here is maize growing. Around this part the drought has played sad havoc with the dairying industry, the country being in a very bad state for want of rain.
"On toward Wyndham the country opens out more, but the agricultural area is very limited. Between Wyndham and Towamba, the country is a little more under cultivation, but dairying is the main industry. The river flats are very good, but limited, and the holdings, as a rule, are small.
"From Towamba to Eden, for the first eight or nine miles, there are a good many farms, and the river flats are much larger, but the mountains are very rough, and heavily timbered, the road winding in zig-zag fashion around the spurs of the hills, till you get right on the top of a mountain range, and descend in the same fashion. I think the road from Towamba is the worst I ever travelled. To live in these places, the settlers must have hearts like lions; they deserve all the consideration the Government can give them. The mountains are immense forests of timber in the virgin state, and when one hears of the shortage of timber, and then sees such fine areas, it is enough to make think it is all talk.
"I am told that fully 75 per cent of the South Coast lands are still Crown lands, and the problem of getting them under settlement, will be a tough one for any Government to tackle. The railway to Eden from Monaro must first be built, and then the land opened for settlement at about 2s 6d per acre under C. P. lease (enough to pay survey fees only).

AUSTIN SAWERS' BULLOCK TEAM. Photo courtesy Jean McPaul. No date.

Harry Grant Photo courtesy Jean McPaul No date.		Harry James Grant Photo courtesy Jean McPaul No date.

'Pambula Voice' April 21, 1911
* The maintenance men are making headway with the culvert and road from the south end of the bridge, and connecting with Pericoe road. It will be ready for public traffic in about 14 days.

'Magnet' May 1929
* Take over of all main roads in shire by Main Road Board.

'Magnet' July 13, 1929
* A Shell bowzer has been installed by Mrs. E. I. Parker at her store. It will, we feel sure, be a boon to motorists both local and travelling.
* Mrs. L. M. Love returned from Sydney last week with a four door Chrysler sedan.

'Magnet' July 20, 1929
* Burragate residents have just invested in new cars.
Mr. Norman Ryan 'Essex Challenger'
Mr. Cornford 'Superior Whippet'

PRINCE'S HIGHWAY.
Main Roads Vol.9, No. 4
c.1929
At the present time, the Highway from Nowra to the Victorian Border performs the functions which other parts of the State are rendered by railways, for which reason it is of special importance to the development and progress of the whole of the South Coast District. It passes through the Municipalities of Nowra, South Shoalhaven, Ulladulla and Bega, and through the Shires of Clyde, Eurobodalla, Mumbulla and Imlay. There are seven roads connecting the Highway with the Southern Tablelands, viz., the Tomerong-Braidwood Road via Nerriga (Main Road 267); the Bateman's Bay-Braidwood Canberra road (Trunk Road 51), traversing the Clyde Mountain; the Moruya-Araluen-Braidwood road (Main road 271); The Bega-Bemboka-Nimmitabel road (State Highway No.4 Monaro Highway); the Bega-Candelo road (Main Road 275), which junctions with the Prince's Highway about 5 miles south of Bega; the Pambula-Mount Darragh-Bombala road (Main road No.274); and the Towamba-Burragate-Wyndham road, which junctions with M.R. 274 at Wyndham (M.R. 276). The Prince's Highway is also linked to the Port of Bermagui by Main Road 272 from Tilba Tilba and by M.R. 320 from Cobargo, also to the Port of Tathra by the Monaro Highway from Bega.
At the establishment of the Main Roads Board in1925, the road surface for almost its entire length was of either earth, gravel, or broken stone, whilst south of Eden for some miles it was little better than a bush track through State forests.

September 1929
New Main and Developmental Roads Proclaimed.
Developmental Road No. 1045.-The road from Main Road No. 276. near Towamba to State Highway No. I, at Kiah, within Imlay Shire.

'Magnet' February 1, 1930
SORROWING TOO SOON
Residents of Rocky Hall are bewailing the fate that will be theirs when the new Mount Darragh Road is completed and open for traffic. They fear that with the deproclaimation of the Big Jack Mountain Road, Rocky Hall will be left high and dry and deadended so far as road communication is concerned. They may be sorrowing too soon in advance of the anticipated event. Deproclaimation will certainly mean the reducing of the status of the Rocky Hall - Big Jack Road from that of a main road to that of a secondary road but not necessarily its closure and nothing has yet been decided to indicate that the road will be allowed to lapse into an untrafficable condition.

'Magnet' February 15, 1930
* Messers J. Arnold and O. Love went to Sydney per car on Monday. It is rumoured that Mr. Love will bring back a new car with him.

Hazelgrove team outside Towamba Wine Saloon. No Date

'Magnet' August 30, 1930
TOWAMBA-ROCKTON ROAD
The highly explosive outburst which took place at Towamba last week, consequent upon the action of the Shire Council in trying to procure the allocation to other roads, of a grant of £800 from the Towamba-Rockton Road, has reverberated throughout the shire. That public dissatisfaction was caused by the Council decision to ask that the money be spent elsewhere than on the road for which it was granted, is not a matter for surprise. Had the grant been originally allocated to the Candelo-Bimbaya and Candelo-Wyndham roads and an attempt been made to get it spent on the Towamba-Rockton Road, one can imagine what a howl of indignation would have been heard from the North-Western end of the shire. Whether or not the action protested against was the outcome of "fair-mindedness" or parochial interest or otherwise, is a question that has been keenly discussed but there is a general feeling of wonderment that any attempt should have been made by the Council to disturb the original allocation.
The brunt of aggressive criticism at the Towamba meeting was directed against the shire president who prefaced the Council's action by stating as his opinion that the money should be spent on more important roads and that there were other roads in the shire which needed money spent on them than did the Towamba-Rockton Road. With this statement, councilors of A and B ridings agreed as also did the shire engineer who stated that though second on the list which he had prepared the Towamba-Rockton Road was the least necessitous. Asked by the President to state the roads on which, in his opinion the grant should be spent, the engineer said he would like to see some money spent on the Wonboyn Road but as that was only a tourist road it would be preferable to ask that £500 be allocated to the Candelo-Bimbaya Road and £300 to the Candelo-Wyndham Road. The way was thus clear for the course that was decided upon.We understand that the President took the view that it would be in the best interests of the Shire that the grant should be spent on roads on which work was most urgently required and that as the shire engineer considered other roads were more necessitous, he, (the President) was justified in expressing the opinions he did. There are many, however, who, while giving the President credit for acting conscientiously consider that from every reasonable viewpoint, a bigger and inexcusable mistake was made in interfering with the original allocation, not the grant. They point out that the listing of the road for a grant, sufficiently indicated its necessitous condition and they hold that the grant should have been unconditionally accepted and that other grants should then have been applied for - or reapplied for - for other necessitous roads.
Unfortunately, not only has the Towamba-Rockton Road been deliberately deprived of its grant but by the Shire Council's action it has been placed at a decided disadvantage in regard to the chance of obtaining for its improvement an adequate grant in the near future. It is regrettable that this potentially important western road from Eden to the tableland - a road that would also be a part of the proposed road from Wangrabelle to Rockton - has received so calamitous setback.

'Magnet' September 30, 1930
* Miss Parker of Towamba gained her driver's licence.

Jim Beasley and horse team with covered wagon. c. 1920

WOOL TAKEN BY BULLOCK TEAM. Photo courtesy Jean McPaul. No date.

'Magnet' October 18, 1930
* Proposed road from Burragate to Wyndham inspected.

'Magnet' November 15, 1930
TOWAMBA STREETS
It was resolved to comply with the requisition by Towamba P & C Association for the repair of streets in the village of Sturt on the return of the tractor from the Rockton Road.

'Magnet' January 3, 1931
* First section of Kiah to Lower Towamba development road is being constructed. "Should not take long to push a 12 foot road through to Towamba".

'Magnet' July 11, 1931
* Donaldson Highway put through from Kiah to Towamba.

'Magnet' July 25, 1931
* Mrs. L. M. Love. Ph. 7. Towamba. " I shall be running a car from here to Bega fortnightly come August 4, 1931. The car will travel either through Eden or Burragate to suit passengers. Fare £1 return."

Main Roads, September 1931
Contractor De La Torre has completed the construction of 2 miles of new earth formation on the Kiah-Lower Towamba developmental road (No. 1,045), in the Shire of Imlay. This is the first section of a new road providing access to rich dairying country along the Towamba River.

SHIFTING HOUSE. ANNIE (Bub) FARRELL MARRIED JIM RIXON AND SETTLED IN ROCKY HALL ON PROPERTY CALLED 'PENTLIN' (spelling?) Photo courtesy Jean McPaul. No date.

'Magnet' August 20, 1932
* Mr. J. Hartneady has purchased a Baby Austin car.

THEY SAY (column)
...that we are thinking of purchasing a milk bowzer for Miss T's (Thelda Hartneady's) Baby Austin car.

'Magnet' February 6, 1932
* Mr. Maurice Egan Snr. as a child he brought over the hills from Rayner's Mill in Nethercote the sawn timber used in the construction of "Ocean House" the business emporium of Mr. A. I. Nicholson. "Fair up the steepest ridges and over the mountain top ran the rocky road to Eden in those days", he said.

Source Main Roads, August 1933
Contractor G. Warne has completed the construction of a second section of 4 ½ miles of the Kiah-Lower Towamba developmental road (No. 1045). The first 2 miles from the Prince's Highway at Kiah were constructed in 1931, as a first step in the opening up of rich dairying country along the Towamba River. The road now extends for 6¼ miles up the valley. Formerly the only means of access was along the river bed. The country is very steep and broken, rendering it necessary to adopt a formation width of only 12ft, with passing places at intervals. The contract price for the second section was £3,951, equivalent to £930 per mile.

'Magnet' September 1, 1934
* The Imlay Shire road grader has been through here and, as usual, had done excellent work.

'Magnet' November 3, 1934
LETTER
To the electors of 'C' Riding, Imlay Shire,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Having accepted nomination as a candidate for 'C' Riding, I am again asking you to accord me your support as at the previous election. During my term of three years I have endeavoured to have carried out a programme of progressive works balanced by economy.
Probably never in the history of the shire has so much been accomplished for 'C' Riding for one term. By the construction of bridges and culverts at Jingera, Stony and Dry Creeks (Towamba-Burragate Road) and Cow Yard and Basin Creeks (Wyndham-Rocky Hall) the opening of Big Jack Mountain; two culverts on Towamba-Rockton Road and numerous wooden and pipe culverts throughout the Riding, a vast improvement has been effected. In the new year it is the Council's intention to have Nullica Creek bridged and with the completion of the Kiah to Lower Towamba Developmental Road, we will have a network of roads to serve the districts requirements. Council has endeavoured to carry out considerable street improvements to Eden including a lighting subsidy and with prospects of a paper/pulp factory at East Boyd it is becoming convincingly evident that a grant is needed to have the Wharf Hill improved.
Regarding the outlying centres of the Riding we have done our best but owing to an abnormally wet season it was impossible to give the relief necessary which also applies to Nethercote Road.
A pleasing feature of the year apart from the flood Relief Grant was two amounts paid to this shire by the M.R.B. £60 towards cost of survey Kiah-Lower Towamba Developmental Road and £40 for clerical expenses.
It has always been my aim to have a clear and businesslike understanding between Council and electors and by dealing with matters such as a Sanitary Contract also road and bridge contracts in the manner we have, the best possible results have been obtained for the people concerned.
Regarding the criticism of the high cost of administration of the shire I would like to state that I was instrumental in having Councilors' travelling allowances reduced by one third. And as to officers' salaries, members were not unanimous that any reduction should be made other than that brought about by the respective awards. Assuring you that I will continue to do my best if elected as one of your representatives.
Yours faithfully,
A.L.Mitchell.

'Magnet' March 2, 1935
* Mr. A. J. Dicker had a stroke of ill luck earlier in the week when a motor truck which he had just acquired for transporting sleepers from the forest beyond Pericoe to Eden, met with a mishap. On a steep hill near Pericoe and with a full load the engine stalled and the outcome was almost irreparable damage to the engine and the truck generally.

Ron McPherson and George Dickie. Towamba Road. No date Photo courtesy M. Mitchell

'Magnet' March 9, 1935
* Motor lorries have been particularly busy of late passing through the district with large supplies of sleepers and wattle bark.
* Mr. Oscar Love has invested in a new Fargo motor truck and is at present using it in his general carrying business.

'Magnet' April 20, 1935
IMLAY SHIRE COUNCIL
Burragate-Wyndham Road
It was decided that the president, when in Sydney, interview the president of the Main Roads Department in support of Council's request that the Burragate-Wyndham Road be proclaimed a Main Road.

'Magnet' July 20, 1935
A Main Roads Department steamroller improved the Pambula-Merimbula road considerably during the week and shire graders, power and horse, have been doing good work on Eden-Towamba road.

IMLAY SHIRE COUNCIL NOTES
A bad spot in the street in village of Sturt is in a low lying portion of the roadway. Pipes were put in but the filling is not sufficiently high. It will cost about £8 to gravel the portion required and as this portion of the street is not used (there being no through traffic) it would appear the cost is not justified. Mr. Beasley to be informed. A report shows the work is not necessary.
NEW ROAD PLANT
Tenders to supply plant to replace council's power-grader were received from Waugh and Josephson Ltd., British Standard Machinery Company, Armstrong Holland Ltd., and Motor Tractors Ltd., Resolved 40 H.P. diesel tractor be purchased from Waugh and Josephson and a Britstand grader from the British Standard Machinery Company at a total cost of £1,260, half the amount to be paid on delivery and the balance at the expiration of six months.

'Magnet' September 28, 1935
IMLAY SHIRE COUNCIL
Engineer's Report.
The shire engineer reported that he had inspected the road near Mr. Hartneady's store at Towamba and that it would cost about £5 to fill the road and form to the existing grade outside Mr. Hartneady's property.
The road, Pericoe to Yambulla, had been inspected and was in fair trafficable order but care was necessary to negotiate some of the portions. A conciderable amount of work had been done by miners and long stretches of corduroy had been constructed. About £30 would be required to make the road anything like safe to travel and probably the miners would assist.

'Magnet' October 19, 1935
In the possession of Mr. James McMahon of Kiah River is the box of a wheel of one of Benjamin Boyd's bullock drays that ninety years or so ago used to travel between Boydtown and the Monaro. The wheel box, made of cast iron, is a massive looking affair, is seventeen inches in length and its bore tapers from about six inches diameter at one end to seven and a half inches at the other. For a few inches from the middle of the interior the bore was recessed so as to provide space for grease to lubricate the axle. The nave of the wheel, Mr.McMahon says, was a section of a hollow log into which the wheel box was driven and the axle itself was of wood. When an axle became too worn for further use it was replaced by one of approved hardwood, generally iron bark or box.

Novel team owned and driven by Mr. E. Hazelgrove, Lower Towamba. No date

'Magnet' October 19, 1935
KIAH
Developmental Road - Its completion urged.
Residents of Kiah and Lower Towamba are bestirring themselves in an effort to bring about the completion of the developmental road recommended by Mr. Donaldson and approved by the Main Roads Department a few years ago and part only of which has so far been constructed.
Following is the text of a requisition which has been addressed to the Department by farmers and settlers concerned and for which support was requested and granted at Imlay Shire Council meeting yesterday.
"Kiah River, 18 October, 1835.
The Chairman and Members of Main Roads Department,
Sydney.
Re: Developmental Road No. 1045 - Kiah to Lower Towamba.
Gentlemen:- We respectfully invite your consideration of the position arising from the fact that in the course of the next few weeks, about eight miles of the above-mentioned road will have been made leaving about five and a half miles to be constructed to complete this - to us - vitally important developmental road.
In connection with this matter we desire to:-
1. That the opening of this road to the extent indicated has been productive to a degree of dairy farming development fully equal to that which could have been reasonably expected to result as a consequence of the work that has been done.
2. That the development effected fully justifies your Department's policy in determining to open up this road and furnishes convincing evidence of the urgency of the need for the completion of this road so as to make it available for through traffic as soon as possible.
3. That the opening of the road to through traffic will remove a tremendous disadvantage and will be of district-wide benefit by rendering possible a maximum of profitable production by enabling a great saving in cost of transport and by facilitating access to markets; and that until this has been done the purpose for which the construction of the road was undertaken cannot be fulfilled.
We therefore ask that you will be so good as to make available to Imlay Shire Council a sum of money sufficient to enable the construction of the remainder of the road to be completed by September, 1936 in time to serve the needs of the increased production that is planned by the producers concerned and generally to enable the objective of this developmental road to be achieved.
In conclusion, we take the liberty of suggesting that if Mr. Donaldson, Divisional Engineer, who inspected the route for this road some years ago, will now inspect the roadwork that has been effected and see the development that has taken place on the farms benefited by that work. He will be convinced that your Department's decision to make this road has been amply justified and that our request for the completion of the work as herein asked for, is one that in the local and general interest is fairly put forward and should be readily complied with.

Jack Sawers and Moina South. Towamba c.1940

'Magnet' December 7, 1935
BIG MEETING AT BURRAGATE
Proposed Daily Mail Service
Mr. I.W. Ryan, President, and Mr. J. Anderson, Vice-President, of Burragate Progress Association visited Bega on Saturday with a view of finding out the disposition of Bega people towards a proposed daily mail service between Towamba and Bega to run through Burragate, Wyndham and Candelo. The mission was very favourably received.
At a meeting held the following Wednesday at Burragate, Mr. Ryan gave a detailed account of their reception in Bega by the Bega Businessmen's Association and gave great praise to Mr. Anderson, (Vice-President B.P.A.) who, he said, deemed to know everyone in Bega and put before them forcibly the requirements of residents of Towamba River Valley in regard to this mail service. He said that increased business would accrue to Bega not only through the mail service but by passengers travelling that route to join up with 'plane, car and train services from Bega and Nimitybelle to Sydney, not to mention the number who would go to Bega to do their business. Bega was the business centre for the South Coast today and it would mean a lot to the people of Towamba and district if this service were inaugurated. Their business was at present done in a round about way via Nimitybelle or Pambula which made it very costly; this could not be called progress. it was astounding to find that centres enroute were not at present linked to Bega by a main road. From Wyndham to Candelo was a by road - with innumerable bends and turns. The Bega Businessmen had suggested that all centres enroute cooperate with them in urging that the present Candelo-Bega daily mail service be extended to Towamba.
Mr. Ryan asked the meeting for its support. A motion was placed before him "That Burragate cooperate with Bega in its suggestion and ask Towamba, Wyndham and Candelo to support." The motion was carried unanimously. It was also decided to write and inform Bega Businessmen's Association and the Municipal Council of the meeting's decision.

'Magnet' February 1, 1936
STURT HIGHWAY
It was decided to grade a road from below Towamba's Church to connect with the Pericoe - Towamba Road, the cutting to be 3ft deep in front of Heartneady's store. Repairs to Barney Street also to be effected.

'Magnet' May 9, 1936
In regard to representations made by Burragate Progress Association concerning the desired provision of a through mail service between Towamba, Burragate, Wyndham and Candelo in lieu of the existing services, Towamba - Wyndham, Wyndham - Candelo and Candelo - Bega, the PMG's Department has arranged that when tenders are being invited for renewal of the three services from the 1st January, 1937, alternative offers will also be called for the proposed daily mail between Towamba and Bega.

'Magnet' July 11, 1936
NULLICA-BOYDTOWN DEVIATION
It was resolved that Imlay Shire Council be requested to urge the Main Roads Board to proceed as soon as possible with the construction of the proposed road shortening deviation of the Princes Highway from Brandy Creek through Nullica flat to the Boydtown turnoff.

'Magnet' June 3, 1965
HIGHWAY COMPLETELY SEALED
The Department of Main Roads has completed the sealing of the Princes Highway from Eden to the Victorian border.
Tenders, closing on June 15, have also been called for the construction of a bridge over the Nullica River about four miles south of Eden.
The bridge will be reinforced concrete with an overall length of 448 feet and a 28-foot carriageway. A footpath will also be provided.

Magnet July 5, 1979
TOWAMBA ROAD NAME
Imlay Shire Council has officially named what was known locally in Towamba as Cemetery Lane, as 'Ben Beasley's Road'. The road runs from the junction of the Towamba-Pericoe Road to Towamba Cemetery.