HISTORY will be made on Saturday, 6 April 2024, when the Singing Bridge turns 50, and local community groups are gearing up to celebrate.

‘Completion of bridge opens area to growth’ read the headline of the NOTA Vol 4 No 4 edition, way back in April 1974, announcing the official opening of the ‘Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest Bridge’, as the official naming plaque still declares.

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The rather bland geographical name was born from the matter-of-fact geographical naming conventions of the Public Works Department of the time.

The ‘Singing Bridge’ moniker, some say, is thanks to an audible tone that plays when the wind blows just the right way through the bridge’s railings, and it acts like a giant harmonica, though only some have been lucky enough to hear it.

Before the bridge’s construction the only way to get across the Myall River to Hawks Nest was by boat, or punt ferry if you wanted to take a vehicle with you.

So at home is our Singing Bridge now that it is by now utterly impossible to imagine the Hawks Nest-Tea Gardens twin townships without it.

Understandably, the locals of 1974 formed a great parade to mark the occasion, complete with floats representing clubs and organisations.

The Hawks Nest-Tea Gardens Progress Association has begun recruiting for the 50th anniversary, with several historical images and newspaper clippings already posted on the group’s Facebook page ‘The Singing Bridge Golden Jubilee Party – 6 April 2024’.

The HNTGPA’s sub committee for the 50th commemoration festival is growing, bubbling with ideas to mark the occasion in a modern way that pays homage to the past as well.

Requests for information should be directed towards the HNTG Progress Association Inc.

By Thomas O’KEEFE