Castlemaine
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Radio to rock the Royal
Castlemaine’s not-for-profit radio station MAINfm kicked off its week-long ‘2020 Radiothon’ fundraiser on Saturday evening with an epic PubSing Castlemaine online sing-a-long to this year’s theme ‘Here Comes the Sun’, live from The Taproom at Shedshaker Brewing. The radiothon continues this week and will culminate with another massive virtual live music event – the Big…
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The Tough Guys are back in town
After two months of COVID-enforced hibernation the Tough Guys are back – and this time they’re reading Steinbeck. The return of the Castlemaine chapter of Tough Guy Book Club to the town’s Taproom venue has been none too soon for the local members of this international book club for blokes. “To see everyone come out…
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MAINfm needs you!
If you’re a MAINfm listener, it’s your time to shine as the best little station in the nation is seeking support! Here comes the sun and here comes Castlemaine’s annual MAINfm radiothon, running June 20-27 and kicking off Winter Solstice, when the days get longer and the music gets stronger. In the weeklong radiothon, listeners…
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Foundry powering on through pandemic
Castlemaine’s Billmans Foundry was gearing up for the unveiling of its largest project to date – two beautiful bronze whales created by Wollongong artist Julie Squires and fellow artist Theresa Ardler in Sydney’s Botany Bay – when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Regarded as Australia’s leading manufacturer of bronze fountains, street park, garden furniture and…
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Latest edition of Hot Rodding International hits stands
For the past 43 years, the monthly Australian Street Rodding magazine has been published from the offices of Graffiti Publications in Castlemaine. Now, the latest issue of Graffiti’s large-format annual magazine, Hot Rodding International, has just been released and is available in newsagencies. Produced entirely in the Castlemaine-based production centre, Hot Rodding International is true to its name with international…
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Reading habits change
The reading habits of Castlemaine residents may have changed a tad during lockdown it seems. Joyce Sanders of Castlemaine’s Soldier & Scholar secondhand bookshop has managed to keep her popular little Barker Street business going throughout the pandemic crisis, gaining some interesting insights into readers’ literary tastes in lockdown. With her atmospheric little shop forced…
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Latest edition hits stands
For the past 43 years, the monthly Australian Street Rodding magazine has been published from the offices of Graffiti Publications in Castlemaine. Now, the latest issue of Graffiti’s large-format annual magazine, Hot Rodding International, has just been released and is available in newsagencies. Produced entirely in the Castlemaine-based production centre, Hot Rodding International is true…
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Cheese venture ripens
Castlemaine’s new artisan cheesemaking business is on track to produce its first trial batches of cheese by mid-July and be fully operating by October. And a specialty cheesemaking school that’s also part of the new venture taking shape in premises at The Mill Castlemaine is expected to begin taking classes by August. The Cheese School…
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HELPING BATTLERS
Castlemaine’s Bridge Hotel has teamed up with local businesses to offer free meals to those doing it tough during the coronavirus crisis as part of its ‘Trooper Tuesdays’ initiative. The Bridge recently introduced a pub meal takeaway and home delivery service to enable them to keep their chefs and kitchenhand employed during the pandemic closure…
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Join the fun at Mondo Lounge
Friday afternoons look a little different for young people at the moment so Mount Alexander Shire Council’s youth initiative Mondo Lounge has moved online. Mondo Lounge is mixing things up with approved social distancing activities, including a virtual dance lesson! People aged 12 to 25 years are invited to join a free online hip-hop dance…
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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…
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Impact and opportunity for VGR tourist railway
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Victorian Goldfields Railway to suspend all of its advertised passenger service until the end of June. The VGR has also had to halt its project taking up the old disused main line track between Guildford and Castlemaine for recycling on part of its tourist line. “We’re not happy with…