Sir David on mission to breathe life into neglected fish fossils

July 27, 2013

Fish fossils in Canowindra

Sir David Attenborough and Dr Alex Ritchie in Canowindra
where a large fish fossil site was partly excavated 20 years ago.

The naturalist and wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has described a collection of Australian fossils neglected by the state's natural history museum as ''world class''.


On a break from his two-week speaking tour around the country, Sir David was taken to a site in NSW's central west where hundreds of ancient fish perished at the bottom of a small lake 360 million years ago.

Arguably one of the country's most impressive fossil deposits, the site reflects a time when fish ruled the world and animals were on the verge of walking on land.

Rock of ages: Sir David Attenborough and Alex Ritchie
with the fossils in Canowindra. Photo: Janie Barrett

Today, evidence of this event can be seen on several large rock slabs on display at Canowindra's Age of Fishes Museum.

''When you look at one of these slabs you can see it is extraordinary,'' said Sir David.

''What you have here is dozens and, if the rock was big enough, hundreds of these things piled one on top of another.''


The intrepid traveller, who turned 87 in May, was invited to visit the rare fossil deposit by Australian palaeontologist Alex Ritchie, a world authority on early fishes and former senior researcher at the Australian Museum.


Dr Ritchie led the first, and only, excavation of the road side site just outside Canowindra exactly 20 years ago this week.

Several leading international palaeontologists believe the site may contain some of the earliest evidence of tetrapods, the first animals to walk on land.

Sir David said the high quality exhibits at the small Age of Fishes Museum, run by the Cabonne shire council, were a credit to the local community.

''But the find is world class and it deserves even more than it has got here,'' he said. ''It would be nice to think that the state or the nation should support such a thing.''

While it was typical for state museums to support important fossil sites, the Australian Museum said earlier this year it could not support all of the country's regional museums or store all of their material.

The assistant director of research and collections, Brian Lassig, said the museum had reviewed its priorities and was more focused on issues such as biodiversity conservation.

Dr Ritchie said no other fossil fish site of this age in the world compared to Canowindra.

''I reckon there's another 5000 to 10,000, possibly 20,000, more fish under there. It's just waiting to be dug up and turned into a major tourist, educational and research facility. The Australian Museum have pulled out and washed their hands of Canowindra and that's a tragedy.''

The fossil specimens Dr Ritchie discovered belong to the area's regional council, but they could not afford appropriate storage space for all the specimens, which meant most were housed in the dilapidated basement of the town's grandstand.

Dr Lassig said the Australian Museum was working with the shire council to secure funding to improve the storage.

Read more & see video: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/sir-david-on-mission-to-breathe-life-into-neglected-fish-fossils-20130726-2qppk.html#ixzz2aCg8TVZb

Canowindra Historical Society & Museum Inc. (CHS&M)

Photo, courtesy Janet Thompson collection

The Waddell Bridge, officially opened by Hon. Thomas Waddell on 15 May 1901, replaced the first 1874 bridge over the Belubula River at Canowindra. Mrs Allie Finn (wife of Eugene) caused headlines when she crossed in her sulky from this south Canowindra side just before the official opening ceremony on the other side. This photo was taken two days later on 17 May 1901. Remains of the old bridge are visible. The John Grant Bridge replaced the Waddell Bridge in 1997.

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Collections Management - Just say no!

Participants of the workshop. Photography by Tamara Lavrencic.
Image courtesy of Alan McRae.

On 15 March, M&G NSW hosted a workshop, Introduction to Collections Management, at the Orange Regional Gallery, with the generous support of the Sustainable Collections Project. This is the fifth of six workshops funded through a Community Heritage Grant from the National Library of Australia. 

The presenter was Margot Jolly, a Museum Consultant with years of experience working with museums large and small, in a broad cross-section of museum practice. Margot’s experience as a Museum Advisor working with community museums around Bland, Orange and Cabonne Local Government Areas, makes her very approachable and the workshop participants responded with enthusiasm, contributing their own anecdotes and experiences.

Of most interest was the session, Just Say No, where participants focused on refusing a donation and explaining why the object is not being accepted into a collection. It's never easy dealing with the disappointment from someone who has treasured an object and is looking for a safe home for it.

The following organisations were well represented: Carcoar Hospital Museum, Bloomfield Hospital Collection, Millthorpe Museum, Blayney Family History Group, Molong Museum, Orange City Library, Orange & District Historical Society, Canowindra & District Historical Society, and Bathurst District Historical Society.

The success of the workshop is expressed in the following email received a few days later:

“I just wanted to let you know how much I really enjoyed this workshop. Margot is a terrific presenter and she really made a lot of things much clearer...It's great to hear someone who knows what sort of things we have to deal with, and the sorts of problems we have to solve. We really appreciate all that M&G NSW does for small museums, and particularly all the help and assistance we get from you and the others personally.”

- Tamara Lavrencic, Museum Programs and Collections Manager, Museums & Galleries NSW 

Canowindra’s ‘Green Gold’ Celebration

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Please join us for the unveiling of the new interpretive panels in the museum’s 

lucerne display, followed by afternoon tea in the grounds of the railway cottage.
 

When:  Saturday 12th November 2011 at 2 p.m.
                                  

Where:  Canowindra Historical Museum
 

Gaskill Street, Canowindra

 

The Canowindra Historical Society & Museum Inc. invites members of the community to an afternoon of celebrations to acknowledge the importance of Lucerne to the local area.   Lucerne grown on the Belubula River flats brought early wealth and fame to Canowindra and it was dubbed Canowindra’s ‘Green Gold’.   The afternoon will feature the unveiling of panels of information and pictures related to the local area.   The panels will be placed in a section of the shed that houses the museum’s Lucerne objects.   These panels are an outcome of the Sustainable Collections Project, Central NSW, a joint initiative of Orange, Blayney and Cabonne Councils supported by funding from Arts NSW.   The afternoon activities begin at 2 p.m. with the unveiling of pavers, followed by the Lucerne panels.  Afternoon tea will be served by Society members at approximately 3.15 p.m.   Short oral history presentations will feature throughout afternoon tea by selected people involved in Lucerne production.