WHAT'S IN A NAME: 18 JANUARY 2019

The village of Cudal

My middle sister has always referred to this village, about 25 kilometres south-west of Molong, as ‘Cuddle’ and I rather like her choice of nomenclature.

The name, according to Wikipedia, could well have been derived from a local Wiradjuri Aboriginal world for ‘flat’, and the population by the Australian 2011 Census was 339.

Other suggestions for the meaning of the name have included the particularly unappealing ‘foggy waterhole’ and the more attractive ‘land basin’ and ‘place of many trees’.

Sheep and canola are the main agricultural activities.

Again according to Wikepedia:

“Major Thomas Mitchell left on his exploration of inland Australia from the historic homestead Boree Cabonne near Cudal in 1835.

“Two factors contributed to the establishment of the town of Cudal. One was the 1860s free selection laws of New South Wales, allowing people to move to newer areas of the colony. The second was the need to access the gold fields in Forbes, which required the crossing of Boree Creek. Cudal is situated on the banks of Boree Creek. As a mid-way point between Orange and Canowindra and Eugowra, it was a place to rest, see to horses and stay safe from bushrangers. Cudal was first surveyed in 1867. In 1882 the town had two churches, a bank, a public school, five stores, three hotels and a mixture of other businesses.

“Many men from the district participated in war as part of the duty for King and country. The memorial park gates on Main Street honour their service and list those who made the supreme sacrifice.”

Among the village’s mixture of retail stores is the Cabonne Food Wine and Cultural Centre, built in 1901 at the Commercial Exchange Store and later known as Corden’s Store.

NEXT WEEK: Yuranigh Road, Molong