Latest news with #Bowral
ABC News
5 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Donated 80-year-old letters from home to POW fill a gap in the Australian War Memorial's collection
For almost three years, John Franklin's family wrote him letters, not knowing if he was dead or alive. After the private in the Australian Army became a Japanese prisoner of war during WW2, his family back home in Bowral, NSW, refused to give up hope that their beloved boy would come home. Now, 80 years after they were written, 31 letters and telegrams sent by the Franklin family have been donated to the Australian War Memorial (AWM). Mr Franklin's niece, Rae-Maree Curtis, said she talked about the war with her uncle but only read the letters after his death. She has kept reading them for the 13 years they have been in her possession, and they still bring her to tears. "The letters reveal the agony of war," she said. The earliest letter to John was written by his father William in 1942, with no certainty that his son was alive, yet he apologised for missing John's birthday and suggested celebrating another time. "Every time I'm knitting a pair of socks I think of you, and I know you haven't any," his mother wrote in another letter. In 1943, the Japanese limited all telegrams to just 25 words. The Franklin family tried to condense all family news into fewer and fewer words. Private Franklin was one of around 2,500 out of more than 20,000 Australian POWs taken by the Japanese back to Japan to keep industry operating during the war. He worked in the Kawasaki shipbuilding factory — now better known for motorcycles — and coal mines. Around one-third of the total letters sent by the family made it to Private Franklin because the Japanese blocked correspondence and would not send the others on. Finally, in 1945, the family received a letter from John. "I feel as though I've been born and am starting life all over again. I feel pretty guilty for the worry I must have caused you, but everything is OK now. Don't try and send money or anything — but I'd give a fortune for a letter … I wish you could see me here puffing on a big cigar after a snack of donuts and coffee," he wrote. AWM director Matt Anderson said reading the letters was like "eavesdropping on an intensely personal relationship". "Through this gift — through these stories — he's telling the story of a prisoner … but through these stories he's reminding us to think of all of them — their hopes and dreams and what became of them when they came home." Mr Anderson said it was "very unusual" to have letters from family members to prisoners during the war. "Often, if soldiers kept a diary, they had to keep that diary hidden," he said. He was struck by the economy of words in the letters. "What would you say if you had 25 words to convey to your family everything you want to tell them?" he said. "They're a time capsule. "The most important thing we can do is to preserve them from this point onwards." The letters will now go through a process of conservation, curation, preservation, and digitisation as they are added to the AWM's private records collection. Curator Bryce Abraham is not aware of any other letters in the collection relating to soldiers at the Kawasaki factory. "It's really quite unique."
The Australian
01-08-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Southern Highlands: $4.7m Bowral Lodge joins luxury property surge
A spate of big-ticket homes are about to hit the market following the recent $26m sale of Linden Hall in Bowral, the Southern Highlands district that's become Sydney's answer to the Hamptons because it offers luxurious real estate, high-end shops and fine dining. Sydney eastern suburbs-based corporate executive Alan Stuart-Grant has reluctantly listed his luxury Bowral Lodge with a price guide of $4.5m-$4.7m, saying he is now more tied to Sydney because of his children's sporting interests and doesn't get as much time as he would like to visit the Highlands. Billed as a showstopping Hamptons-style retreat in landscaped gardens, the 13 Hamilton Avenue property is positioned in the heart of Old Bowral and, apart from being occupied by the Stuart-Grant family as a weekender about once a month, is also a popular short-stay luxury rental. Positioned on more than 4600sq m, the property is presently managed by Contemporary Hotels. According to the marketing agents, Drew Lindsay Sotheby's Samuel Lindsay and Lisa-Marie Cauchois, the five-bedroom and four-bathroom Bowral Lodge ranks as the most sought-after Airbnb-style listing in the Southern Highlands, being regularly booked as a luxury weekender for city dwellers. Mr Stuart-Grant told The Australian his family were selling the property, which has three ensuite bathrooms, because of his children's commitments in Sydney, adding: 'Life has taken over.' Expressions of interest close through Drew Lindsay Sotheby's on August 7. Mr Lindsay said Contemporary Hotels had listed the property as one of its best earners in the region. 'A range of prospective purchasers have expressed interest, including a number of locals,' Mr Lindsay said. He said the property was attractive to a mix of locals who understand that the position was very good. 'It's a short walk to town, and is very quiet and private. Local prospective buyers recognise the area is great. It's a cute house,' he said. Buyers from outside the area, mostly hailing from Sydney, are either investors looking for a weekender that has a proven return, or a property that is an easy lock-and-leave. According to publicly available data, Mr Stuart-Grant purchased the Bowral property for $4.05m in January, 2023. Other recent big-ticket sales include the $26m sale of Linden Hall, the Southern Highlands mansion that was sold by restaurateurs and developers David Graham and David Kunde. The sale set a record for the Southern Highlands township of Robertson. The property had a price guide of $25m-$27m when it hit the market 12 months ago. The Covid pandemic might be long over, but the super-rich and middle-class homeowners alike continue to flee Sydney's prime postcodes for the Southern Highlands, whether moving permanently or using a property as a weekender. Agents said there was a raft of homes about to come on the market for the spring selling season. Mr Lindsay said every year there was an expectation that, come spring, there was a lot more property coming on the market. 'But whether it's the seasonal gardens coming into bloom, we do as much trading, listing and selling through winter as we do in spring,' he said. 'Spring is a good time to buy, there's more property on the market, more buyers come out and look, and of course the real buyers who are active if the right property comes up – they will buy. 'We will probably see more property coming on the market come spring.' Another local agent added that most residential sales were negotiated with extended settlement periods allowing Sydney purchasers time to sell their city property before moving to the Highlands. Read related topics: Luxury HomesWealth Lisa Allen Associate Editor & Editor, Mansion Australia Lisa Allen is an Associate Editor of The Australian, and is Editor of The Weekend Australian's property magazine, Mansion Australia. Lisa has been a senior reporter in business and property with the paper since 2012. She was previously Queensland Bureau Chief for The Australian Financial Review and has written for the BRW Rich List. Business Jon Adgemis' financial fate was set to be decided on Friday before a late intervention from the tax office and bankruptcy regulators. AFSA said in a letter bankruptcy trustees may have not satisfactorily investigated Mr Adgemis' financial affairs. Companies The casino company has been left reeling after the deal which would have extracted it from the troubled Queen's Wharf precinct collapsed, leaving it to deal with hefty debts.
Daily Telegraph
16-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Bowral real estate: The latest auction and sales results for week ending June 15
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hyperlocal. Followed categories will be added to My News. A five-bedroom house in Sutton Forest was the most expensive sale reported in Bowral last week. The property at 12942 Hume Highway sold for $2.4 million by auction. A total of four properties were sold via auction last week. data division Proptrack has reported 20 local auction and private sale results in the past seven days. Guide to reading auction and private sale results PI - Passed in PT - Sold by private treaty S - Sold at auction SA - Sold after auction SB - Sold before auction VB - Passed in on vendor bid W - Withdrawn from auction Auction and private sale results in Bowral Click on the address to know more. Balaclava 4 Elsworth Avenue, 3-bedroom house, PT, $801,000 Agency - Gibraltar Real Estate Bowral 29 Sheffield Road, 3-bedroom house, SA, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White - Bowral 60 Centennial Road, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - DiJones - Southern Highlands Bundanoon 40 - 42 Nerrim Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Hindmarsh & Walsh Property - Moss Vale 12/41 Penrose Road, 3-bedroom unit, PT, $795,000 Agency - Hindmarsh & Walsh Property - Moss Vale Burradoo 45 Holly Road, 6-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Highland - Southern Highlands 41F Sunninghill Avenue, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Duncan Hill Property Mittagong 37a Leopold Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Station St Realty - Mittagong 71 Bowral Road, 3-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Hindmarsh & Walsh Property - Moss Vale 2 Reservoir Street, 4-bedroom house, W, Undisclosed Agency - Highlands Property - BOWRAL Moss Vale 12 Caber Street, 4-bedroom house, S, $930,000 Agency - DiJones - Southern Highlands 18 Wyatt Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $950,000 Agency - Marble & Oak Property 17 Chapman Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $1,120,000 Agency - Gibraltar Real Estate 5 Cooke Place, 3-bedroom house, PT, $1,295,000 Agency - Duncan Hill Property 26B Simon Place, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Highlands Property - BOWRAL New Berrima 35 Sydney Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, $890,000 Agency - DiJones - Southern Highlands 44 Adelaide Street, 4-bedroom house, W, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White Mittagong - MITTAGONG Sutton Forest 12942 Hume Highway, 5-bedroom house, S, $2,400,000 Agency - McGrath Southern Highlands Tallong 157 Mulwaree Drive, 4-bedroom house, SB, $920,000 Agency - Ray White - Goulburn Track the value of your home today. The previous auction and sales article for Bowral can be viewed here.
ABC News
15-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Southern Highlands students develop technology to help detect PFAS in grocery items
When a group of high school students learnt that elevated levels of PFAS were detected in their local river, they became worried. The five senior students from Bowral High School in the NSW Southern Highlands decided to take matters into their own hands and develop an app to detect the so-called forever chemicals in everyday products. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of more than 4,000 chemicals which have been used in a range of household products such as non-stick cookware and food packaging. In 2023, Australian researchers found 107 types of PFAS in 15 consumer product categories, with the highest levels found in textiles and cosmetics. Last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 85 per cent of Australians have PFAS in their blood. "The scariest part is not just that it's in everyone, but no-one knows about it," group participant and Year 12 student Tukker Lewin said. The relationship between PFAS exposure and human health effects is contested among scientists and public health experts, and scientific evidence remains limited. The app, which is in the prototype phase, is designed to show a product's PFAS levels simply by scanning its barcode. It also provides a heat map identifying known PFAS hotspots across the country. "We wanted to create something that gives people consumer choice because that's something we don't currently have with PFAS," student Meg Paviour said. The app currently only works for two products, with a limited amount of PFAS data being a hurdle for students. Last year, PFAS was discovered in a platypus from the Wingecarribee River near Berrima at the top of Sydney's drinking water catchment and around 15 kilometres from Bowral High School. The project's lead researcher, Ian Wright from Western Sydney University, described Bowral as a "PFAS hotspot". Dr Wright said just 12 months ago there was no data on PFAS levels in our waterways, and there was still little detail on PFAS in everyday products despite being used in Australia since the 1940s. Denis O'Carroll from the University of NSW has been studying PFAS levels in international waters and said accurately identifying the chemicals in consumer products was difficult. "It is challenging because it depends on where the source data comes from," Dr O'Carroll said. "If you were to buy beer or a soda drink from different places, the amount of PFAS in that drink would be a function of where the water used to make it came from, and that could change with time." Apps like the one being developed in Bowral worked better in places that had stricter PFAS labelling rules, like California or the European Union, Dr O'Carroll said. "Then we can be informed as consumers about whether or not we wanted, if we had a choice between two products, which one we think is going to be less of a concern." Alongside the prototype, the students have launched a parliamentary petition requiring 20,000 signatures to mandate PFAS-level labelling on products across Australia. "If people start moving away from products with PFAS because they understand the health concerns, that then pushes companies to move away from PFAS," Year 11 student Chloe Ward said. Last month, the students were invited to speak in the NSW parliament by Member of Wollondilly,Judy Hannan and met with Cate Faehrmann, chair of the Select Committee on PFAS Contamination in NSW Waterways. The group has also met with PFAS documentary director Katrina McGowan and representatives from UNICEF and Apple to develop the prototype into a publicly available app.
Daily Telegraph
07-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
Bowral real estate: The latest auction and sales results for week ending June 7
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hyperlocal. Followed categories will be added to My News. A four-bedroom house in Exeter was the most expensive sale reported in Bowral last week. The property at 522 Ellsmore Road sold for $2.5 million by private sale. data division Proptrack has reported 37 local auction and private sale results in the past seven days. Guide to reading auction and private sale results PI - Passed in PT - Sold by private treaty S - Sold at auction SA - Sold after auction SB - Sold before auction VB - Passed in on vendor bid W - Withdrawn from auction Auction and private sale results in Bowral Click on the address to know more. Balmoral 59 Railway Parade, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,460,000 Agency - Century 21 - Picton 87 Railway Parade, 4-bedroom house, PT, $906,500 Agency - Exclusive Estate Agents - MACARTHUR Berrima 20 Argyle Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Dunne Real Estate southern highlands - BOWRAL 3 Wilshire Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White Mittagong - MITTAGONG Bowral 53 Purcell Street, 3-bedroom house, PI, Undisclosed Agency - Duncan Hill Property 6 Wycliffe Place, 5-bedroom house, PT, $2,410,000 Agency - Stone Real Estate Southern Highlands 6/51 Robinia Drive, 5-bedroom house, PT, $1,775,000 Agency - Ray White - Bowral 81 Merrigang Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $1,750,000 Agency - Duncan Hill Property 43 Mount Road, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,370,000 Agency - Bruce White Real Estate - MOSS VALE 4/24-26 Purcell Street, 3-bedroom unit, PT, $1,100,000 Agency - McGrath Southern Highlands 5 Rowan Place, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - CARLTON REAL ESTATE - MITTAGONG 13/2 Cypress Parade, 2-bedroom unit, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Colliers - SYDNEY Burradoo 15 Patchway Place, 6-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Dunne Real Estate southern highlands - BOWRAL Colo Vale 20 Banksia Street, 5-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Campbell Jones Property - Bowral Exeter 522 Ellsmore Road, 4-bedroom house, PT, $2,450,000 Agency - Ray White - Bowral Hill Top 10 Rocky Waterholes Road, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White Mittagong - MITTAGONG 2-4 Raglan Street, 3-bedroom house, W, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White Mittagong - MITTAGONG 11 Pirrillie Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $890,000 Agency - Gerard Smith First National - Picton Mittagong 187 Oxley Drive, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - CARLTON REAL ESTATE - MITTAGONG Moss Vale 10 Cooke Place, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Highlands Property - BOWRAL 7 Roe Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $800,000 Agency - LJ Hooker Bowral 7 Bellevue Avenue, 3-bedroom house, PT, $745,000 Agency - Highlands Property - BOWRAL 12/35-41 Watson Road, 3-bedroom unit, PT, $785,000 Agency - First National Real Estate Bowral - BOWRAL 34 Narellan Road, 4-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Raine & Horne - Southern Highlands 194 Argyle Street, 5-bedroom house, PT, $1,250,000 Agency - Ray White - Moss Vale 7/61 Kirkham Street, 2-bedroom unit, PT, $637,750 Agency - Ray White - Moss Vale 11 Throsby Street, 2-bedroom house, PT, Undisclosed Agency - Hindmarsh & Walsh Property - Moss Vale Renwick 6 Roty Avenue, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,095,000 Agency - McGrath Southern Highlands 8 Bold Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,250,000 Agency - Belle Property Southern Highlands Robertson 2-4 Swan Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,000,000 Agency - Ray White - Bowral Welby 12 Joadja Street, 3-bedroom house, PT, $850,000 Agency - Highlands Property - BOWRAL Wingello 45-49 Marulan Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,135,000 Agency - The Agency - Southern Highlands Woodlands 80 Woodlands Road, 3-bedroom house, W, Undisclosed Agency - Ray White Mittagong - MITTAGONG Yerrinbool 17B Kent Street, 4-bedroom house, PT, $1,195,000 Agency - Gibraltar Real Estate Track the value of your home today.
