Tamworth Removals – You found Us!

Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest and most populated city in the region, with a population of 63,920 in 2021, making it the second largest inland city in New South Wales. Tamworth is 318 km (198 mi) from the Queensland border and is located almost midway between Brisbane and Sydney.

The city is known as the “First Town of Lights”, being the first place in Australia to use electric street lights in 1888.^[2] Tamworth is also famous as the “Country Music Capital of Australia” and “Australia’s answer to Nashville“, annually hosting the Tamworth Country Music Festival in late January; the second-biggest country music festival in the world after Nashville. The city is recognised as the National Equine Capital of Australia^[3] because of the high number of equine events held in the city and the construction of the world-class Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.^[4][5][6]

History

The Kamilaroi people, from whose language comes the word “budgerigar“, inhabited the area before European contact. In 1818, John Oxley passed through the Peel Valley and commented, “it would be impossible to find a finer or more luxuriant country than its waters…No place in this world can afford more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale”.^[7] In 1831, the first sheep stations and cattle stations were formed, and in the same year, the Australian Agricultural Company was granted a lease of 127,000 hectares (310,000 acres) of land at Goonoo Goonoo, south of the present location of Tamworth, extending to present-day Calala.^[8]

In the 1830s, a company town began to develop on the Peel’s southwest bank, the present site of West Tamworth. In 1850, a public town was gazetted on the opposite side of the river from the existing settlement.^[9][10] This town became the main town, called “Tamworth” after Tamworth, Staffordshire, represented at the time in parliament by Robert Peel. The town prospered, and was reached by the railway in 1878.^[7] The first streetlights used in Australia were commercially owned in Waratah Tasmania in 1886,^[11] but on 9 November 1888, Tamworth became the first location in Australia to have electric street lighting powered by a municipally owned power station, giving the town the title of “First Town of Light”.^[2][12]

Geography

Tamworth is located on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, on the banks of the Peel River, about 420 km (260 mi) north of Sydney on the New England Highway, and 280 km (170 mi) inland from Port Macquarie on the Oxley Highway. The city is situated at a narrow point on the Peel River floodplain, nestled at the base of the Wentworth Mounds, a spur of the Moonbi Range, where the Northwest Slopes rise to the Northern Tablelands. The elevation is around 400 m (1,300 ft) AHD. The Peel River runs southeast to northwest through Tamworth. The main city centre is on the northeast bank, between the river and the Wentworth Mounds, which rise to heights of 800 m (2,600 ft), towering over the city. The southwest bank is much flatter, and the city’s suburbs sprawl to the south. Water for residents and the town’s industry is supplied by Chaffey Dam, 44 km (27 mi) south east of the city.

Urban Tamworth occupies an area of 240.7 km² (92.9 sq mi)^[21] as of 2016. The Tamworth Regional Council area encompasses the suburbs, towns, villages and rural localities of Appleby, Attunga, Banoon, Barraba (part), Barry, Bective, Bendemeer, Bithramere, Borah Creek, Bowling Alley Point, Bundarra (part), Calala, Crawney (part), Daruka, Duncans Creek, Dungowan, Duri, East Tamworth, Garoo, Garthowen, Gidley, Goonoo Goonoo, Gowrie, Gulf Creek (part), Halls Creek, Hallsville, Hanging Rock, Hillvue, Ironbark, Kentucky (part), Kingswood, Klori, Kootingal, Limbri, Lindesay, Longarm, Loomberah, Manilla, Mayvale, Moonbi, Moore Creek, Mulla Creek, Namoi River, Nemingha, New Mexico, Niangala (part), North Tamworth, Nundle, Ogunbil, Oxley Vale, Piallamore, Red Hill, Retreat, Rushes Creek, Somerton, South Tamworth, Taminda, Tamworth, Thirloene, Timbumburi, Tintinhull, Upper Horton (part), Upper Manilla, Wallamore, Warrabah, Warral, Watsons Creek, Weabonga, West Tamworth, Westdale, Wimborne, Winton, Wongo Creek, Woodsreef, Woolbrook (part) and Woolomin.^[22]

Climate

Tamworth has a warm temperate climate with hot summers and relatively cool winters. It is included in the rainfall records and weather forecast region of the North West Slopes^[23] or the North West Slopes and Plains division of the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.^[24] Under the Köppen climate classification scheme, Tamworth has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa).

Temperatures exceed 35 °C (95 °F) on around 20–25 days a year, but over the past few years have exceeded this number substantially. The average maximum temperature in summer is 33 °C (91 °F), and the average minimum approximately 18 °C (64 °F), the mean annual rainfall is 673.2 mm (26.50 in). Winters are mild and sometimes even warm by day, and cool to cold by night. Daytime temperatures average around 16–17 °C (61–63 °F) and occasionally make it to 20, and overnight minima average 3 °C (37 °F). On 12 January 2013, Tamworth recorded a new record maximum of 42.5 °C (108.5 °F), eclipsing the previous record by 0.5 of a degree, but only a year later, on 3 January 2014, this record was broken by almost 3 degrees, with a new record maximum of 45.1 °C (113.2 °F). This record has since been broken with a maximum of 45.9 °C (114.6 °F) recorded, during a significant heatwave, on 12 February 2017.^[25]

Rainfall is experienced all year round, with summer storms providing occasional heavy downpours. Tamworth’s rainy season, in the early months of a new year (particularly January) can result in major flooding. Snow is very rare in Tamworth, but does occasionally occur in the surrounding higher villages such as Nundle (although far from reliable). Frosts are frequent and often severe. On 28 and 29 November 2008, Tamworth, Gunnedah, and the surrounding area received torrential rain that caused severe flooding and led to the area being declared a natural disaster area.^[26]

Suburbs

Central business district

The Tamworth central business district is the town centre and is located north of the Peel River. It is primarily a business area of Tamworth, with many shops, restaurants, car dealerships, as well as shopping centres and public facilities. The Tamworth Regional Council has its headquarters in Peel Street at Ray Walsh House. Bicentennial Park and number one cricket oval are also located in the suburb.

Economy

Tamworth is primarily a service centre for the New England and North West regions, providing services to a population of some 200,000 plus people from the Tamworth region and satellite areas. The retail industry is the biggest employer, followed by manufacturing and health services. The industries with the most number of businesses in order are property and business services, agriculture and construction, closely followed by finance and insurance services. With a diverse economy agriculture, education, transport and aviation are major industries.^[35]

Transport

Tamworth Airport has daily flights to Sydney Airport with QantasLink, and previously by Virgin Australia.^[65] Regional carrier Fly Corporate, now known as Link Airways, began a regular service between Brisbane and Tamworth on 31 October 2016.^[66]

Tamworth station is situated on the Main Northern railway line. Trains no longer continue all the way to the Queensland border, but the town is still served by the NSW TrainLink Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale, where daily coaches continue to Tenterfield.

Other NSW TrainLink coaches operate to Inverell. Until November 2009, Pacific National operated a regular fuel service from Sydney, carrying 30 million litres (6,600,000 imp gal; 7,900,000 US gal) of fuel a year to Tamworth and Dubbo. It was the last freight service to serve the town; in the 1980s, up to six trains a day ran.^[67]

Tamworth was served by thrice-weekly bus services to Coffs Harbour and Brisbane by New England Coaches until 2021.^[68][69]

Greyhound Australia stopped servicing Tamworth in 2016 citing unprofitable passenger loadings.

Local services are provided by Tamworth Buslines^[70] who also provides interurban services to nearby Quirindi (Rt 428), Manila (Rt 443) and Bendemeer (Rt 444)

External links

• Tamworth Regional Council
• Tourism Tamworth
• Northern Daily Leader – Newspaper
• Country Music Festival Page
• Tamworth -VisitNSW.com
• Tamworth, Australia statistics – ZhujiWorld.com

Tamworth travel guide from Wikivoyage