Neil Varcoe was a tech executive in Sydney until he bought an old hotel in Carcoar, NSW, population 272. Here’s the 13th instalment of his monthly column for Galah.
Monstrous machines look like Tonka trucks from Carcoar Railway Station. A forklift screams a warning as it unloads 18,000 recycled bricks. Paths that guests will walk on wind through the gardens. The flowerbeds are ready for planting. The vision we have for Saltash Farm is taking shape — and it’s thrilling.
We expected to be open by now. We were fools. Everyone is a fool at the start. You pluck a timeline out of the air, then tell yourself that you’re in front or behind. Mostly behind. How strange.
Saltash Farm is a big, beautiful, complex creature. It’s a heritage-build in a village protected by the National Trust. Saltash needs to both fit in and stand out. It has to feel old, familiar, but look new and fresh. It’s a wild contradiction, and that takes some putting together. I no longer talk about when it will open. I say only that it will take as long as it takes to do it well.
A text notification flashes on Edwina’s phone. “Would you like to join Mumcoar?” It’s Cake Club for mums, and it has a membership group that’s growing.
Three babies have been born in Carcoar this year, adding to a growing brood of kids in the village. The playgroup held at Carcoar Public School each Thursday is a riot. More than 20 kids chomp on apple slices and negotiate the fair use of plastic toys as parents defrost in the winter sun. The true joy of our project is not the making of a building or even the creation of a home — it’s the making of this place and being part of the renaissance of a town.
Wade Blazley has a moustache that arrives before he does. Carcoar was built by foundation families, many of whom still live here 200 years later. The Blazley family is one of these forever families.
Wade's daughter, Leesa, and her husband, Andrew Eisentrager, returned recently to Carcoar with baby Harrison to be part of the town’s renewal. They bought The Saddlery, one of the most beautiful buildings in town. The two-storey brick shop was built by the Clarke family, another prominent family still active in the district. It has become a home for them, and the shop, with its soaring windows and heritage cedar joinery, will become a gallery and cafe.
Carcoar’s next chapter is being written by old families and new. After a 25-year international career in advertising, Felicity Wells is part of Carcoar's new wave. With degrees in fine art and graphic design, along with training at Sydney Royal and Julian Ashton art schools, Felicity will open A Thousand Words Gallery in Carcoar tomorrow. It will be in The Saddlery.
Rob Howarth, who owns the Enterprise Stores building on Belubula Street and the neighbouring workshop, will let Felicity hang art in its windows. It’s a simple idea that will beautify the main street. Rob is the father of our builder, Aaron — old Carcoarians partnering with new to build a future for the town they love.
A new custodian for the old corner milkbar, once the famed restaurant Antica Australis — has been found. The owners will say only that it’s a retailer.
The Carcoar Residents Association and keen gardeners have produced a funding proposal for Blayney Shire Council to beautify the town. An avenue of trees would line the main roads into town, providing a comet’s tail of colour during autumn. A new sign would be built to steal cars away from the highway. The war memorial would also be updated with new trees. A timber fence would replace the sad little fence that leans into the river. Designs are currently on display at The Village Grocer ahead of a village meeting at the pub in July.
Momentum is building. It’s all hands to the tiller.
Byron Writers Festival 2025 (8-10 August) has unveiled a vibrant program featuring high-profile literary luminaries. Themed ‘Passion & Purpose’, Byron Writers Festival will feature over 160 Australian and international guests across three days in Bangalow, and to celebrate, they are giving one lucky winner and a friend the ultimate literary weekend, staying at the beautiful Elements of Byron resort, valued at $2,060. Click here for your chance to win.
RAG Status Reporting is used in project management to update executives quickly using a traffic light system. "Red" means trouble, "amber" signals bumps in the road, and "green" means everything is fine.
Please see the latest report below. Let’s circle back and unlock paradigm-shifting efficiencies across mission-critical silos.
The Project is On Track
Thank you to Byron Writers Festival 25' for sponsoring today's We Bought a Hotel.
