Snake bite sorrow
Re: Barry Thorburn’s letter to the editor (GP, Dec 7). On Wednesday, November 30, we were out shopping for just two hours and came home and found our little 13-year-old Dachshund dog was laying on the ground.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We rushed her to the vet hospital and they said that she was bitten by either a red belly black or a brown snake. They did their very best for us, but she passed away 24 hours later. We have lived in Wheatley Avenue for 46 years and never had a snake in this area before.
So, watch out for your loving pets and especially children in our area.
R & F Norris, Goulburn
Goulburn’s botanic garden
The former Kenmore psychiatric hospital is a veritable botanic garden. Have the extensive collections been recently catalogued? Is the community aware of their significance? Is there a concern among the community that this natural environment may be developed and lost forever?
On six foolscap pages, 350 trees were catalogued back in 1933. These included: 53 conifers; 119 deciduous and evergreens; 11 palms; 128 shrubs; 25 creepers; and 14 hedges. Other interesting plantings included species of: willow (5); bamboo (4); privets (8); hawthorn (3); camphor laurel (1); carab tree (1); pine (12); cedar (4); cypress (9); spruce (4); juniper (4); oaks (7); poplars (5); elm (5); witch hazel (1); pepper (1); Tree of Heaven (1); nettle (1); and strawberry (1).
Many of these still exist today. A large California redwood stands prominently behind the recreation hall/chapel. The redwood has a lifespan of about 1500 years. Bamboo was grown from the earliest years for the benefit of a Himalayan brown bear, which was the pet of the first superintendent, Dr Ross.
Much of the hospital’s botanical diversity can be attributed to Dr Moffitt, the second longest-serving superintendent. Many specimens were acquired from overseas at his personal expense.
Gardeners played a significant role, of course. Employee Herbert Fester (1934-1951) had a liquidambar named after him. This was planted about 50 metres in front of the administration building.
Phillip Leighton-Daly, Moss Vale
Dump the fee instead
Goulburn Post (Dec 9) reports the frustration of Bungonia residents with the tip fees and card. I ventured to the tip a few weeks ago with some recycling, garbage and a mattress. Unfortunately, the mattress wasn’t covered under the card. I asked where to take the mattress. The nice council officer said just over to where a truck loaded with mattresses was, near the steel recycling area.
I asked the driver about the mattresses. He said it was the day’s collection of dumped mattresses, and he was a council employee. There were about 16 mattresses on the truck. So my $40 paid for the collection of 16 mattresses that day, hardly covering his costs. Perhaps if the council charged a realistic fee, like $5 per mattress, there would be less dumping.
So the solution the council is forcing on ratepayers presently appears to be 1) dump the mattress at the council offices for free collection within a few days, 2) burn the mattress and generate carcinogenic PVC compounds, but take the metal springs to the tip for free as steel recycle.
Note, council: there’s a stack of mattresses just off Hawkes Lane in Quialigo for your collection – and they’re not mine.
Danny Hansen, Quialigo
Old King Chrisjohn
Just come home from the matinee at the Lieder Theatre of Old King Cole. The sound of lots of children laughing and responding to invitations to participate was so great to hear! I love that easily three generations of members work side by side with Chrisjohn Hancock to provide a hub of artistic excellence and a place of friendly and cooperative work. Goulburn, you are fortunate to have Chrisjohn and the Lieder!