News

  • A budding horticulturist

    A budding horticulturist

    A Macedon Ranges flower show has been the seed of inspiration for young green-thumb Bethany Thompson. The nine-year-old scooped prizes in both senior and junior sections of this year’s Mount Macedon Autumn Flower Show and dreams to open her own market garden and café. The Newham youngster impressed judges to win Grand Champion Rose for…

  • The Royal experience – at home!

    The Royal experience – at home!

    Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal had been hosting a series of monthly popup screenings in the lead up to the 2020 Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival. Organisers had planned to show another wonderful film, the aptly titled – The Show Must Go On, later this week. And the show must go on! But it will be a virtual Theatre…

  • Malmsbury in isolation

    Malmsbury in isolation

    Malmsbury photographer Adam Brentnall has embarked on a project to document this never-before-experienced pandemic lockdown on his community. Faced with the prospect of the majority of his work having been essentially wiped out due to social distancing rules and the number of people able to congregate in one place at one time, Adam was suddenly…

  • Help keep VGR on track

    Help keep VGR on track

    Like the rest of the world, the Victorian Goldfields Railway has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society has had to stop running public services and is not sure when it will get permission to resume. However, the wonderful team of dedicated volunteers has not been sitting idle, it…

  • A date with destiny

    A date with destiny

    Big weddings are out during the coronavirus pandemic, so Macedon Ranges newlyweds Fernada and Raymond DeMack found a new way to reach their 300-plus guest list on Saturday. Chairs were empty as they said their vows at Sunbury Baptist Church but cameras captured and livestreamed every moment to friends and family. All understood the significance…

  • Treetop rescue – Wildlife carers urge responsible dog ownership

    Treetop rescue – Wildlife carers urge responsible dog ownership

    A young koala’s brush with death in a canine encounter at Mount Macedon has wildlife carers urging responsible dog ownership. The koala, Amigo, suffered deep puncture wounds and severe bruising after he was attacked on Tucketts Road on Easter Saturday. Fast on the scene, Macedon Ranges Wildlife Rescue’s Sue Anderson and Mel Fraser made efforts…

  • Solidarity in times of crisis

    Solidarity in times of crisis

    It may seem a very long time ago now that Australia was shocked by the devastation of the summer’s bushfires, but the kindness and solidarity shown during that crisis continues in our communities today. During the bushfire crisis the team from Harcourt Valley Winery wanted to do its bit to help raise much-needed funds for…

  • Trees desecrated at Ravenswood

    Trees desecrated at Ravenswood

    Residents of Soldier Road at Ravenswood contacted the Express last week angered at the desecration of a number of mature eucalypt trees on a local roadside. The furious residents said someone had taken it upon themselves to cut down four of the 30-foot trees on the picturesque roadside for firewood. The perpetrator has also reportedly ‘ring-barked’…

  • Return to the post-punk scene

    Return to the post-punk scene

    Castlemaine author Kirsten Krauth has launched her second long-awaited novel, Almost a Mirror. The book was seven years in the making and was developed while Krauth completed her PhD. It explores music of the 1980s, what we make of memories and what they make of us. Like fireflies to the light, Mona, Benny and Jimmy are…

  • Secrets of the past

    Secrets of the past

    On April 16, 1970, the Kyneton Folk Museum opened its doors to the public. Fifty years later, the building now known as the Kyneton Museum is still going strong, sharing the secrets of the past. Macedon Ranges Council is celebrating the museum milestone with a social media campaign that highlights its social history collection. Facebook…

  • The show will go on

    The show will go on

    Campbells Creek couple and international circus performers Caz Walsh and Mason West are set to present an inaugural circus event in Castlemaine in November. The circus celebration will be the couple’s first local event since moving to the region just over 12 months ago. Caz Walsh told the Express they were excited to be among 13 groups…

  • Nowhere to hide

    Nowhere to hide

    Roads across the region over the Easter long weekend looked unrecognisable to Macedon Ranges Highway Patrol officers out on patrol as part of Operation Nexus, as Victorians followed requirements to stay at home. Sergeant Mark Stephenson said the state-wide road policing operation was aimed at reducing road trauma in conjunction with broader Operation Sentinel checks…