Castlemaine

  • Quad Fit making good times roll

    Quad Fit making good times roll

    For some exercising conjures images of pain and puffing. Then there’s others, like Castlemaine’s Jo Christy for whom keeping fit is so much fun she doesn’t want to stop. About five years ago Jo started Castlemaine Quad Fit, a fun aerobic workout done to music – with a twist. It’s all done on wheels –…

  • Our own voices

    Our own voices

    Hundreds of Castlemaine school students joined Friday’s global School Strike for Climate Action calling on the nation’s leaders to take more decisive action to address the pressing global issue. Students travelled from Castlemaine to Melbourne – on public transport – joining thousands of more from across the state – and many more across the world…

  • Dramatic palettes

    Dramatic palettes

    Creative Castlemaine couple Rosie McKenry and Bruce Mitchell have notched up the sort of travels many would envy. In their upcoming exhibition this inspired duo share much of what they’ve loved most about some of our planet’s most powerful landscapes. Earth’s Shapes and Colours: Australia and Beyond is the title of this new exhibition opening…

  • Women celebrate

    Women celebrate

    A festive crowd picnicked, danced and celebrated in Castlemaine’s Botanical Gardens to mark International Women’s Day on Friday. The event featured a lineup of live music acts and raised more than $500 for a literacy and life-enrichment program run by the Friends of Castlemaine Library for local prisoners at Tarrengower women’s prison in Maldon. “You’re…

  • A stitch in time

    A stitch in time

    Castlemaine’s Repair Cafe is getting set to return for 2019 bringing broken or dysfunctional goods back to good use while diverting waste from landfill. And as the eager band of Repair Cafe volunteers prepare to get going in their brand-new venue of the Castlemaine Town Hall, that’s not all they’ve been achieving. “It’s been fabulous.…

  • Respect our cyclists: road aggro alarm

    Respect our cyclists: road aggro alarm

    Castlemaine health professionals, parents and cyclists are calling for more care and respect on our roads following recent incidents of motorist aggression towards local cyclists. Castlemaine chiropractor Dr Marg Peck and psychologist Susie Burke both have cycling sons who regularly train on the roads, and they contacted the Midland Express to raise concerns about incidents…

  • Path-breaking project

    Path-breaking project

    The first residents are expected to begin moving into Castlemaine’s new cutting-edge eco village housing development, as early as this September. The Paddock Eco Village is being developed on a site off Castlemaine’s Reckleben Street by a team – that includes architects, a landscape architect, town planner, civil engineer and energy consultant – led by…

  • Parlez-vous Francais?

    Parlez-vous Francais?

    The hot, dry bushland of Walmer is a very long way from Canada’s French Quebec famed for its icy winter carnival. But you don’t have to chat to local French language tutor, Emma Dubuc, for long to see she loves the Aussie bushland she now calls home. Originally from Quebec City where French was her…

  • Billboard blow – VCAT overturns council refusal

    Billboard blow – VCAT overturns council refusal

    Castlemaine residents who opposed plans to erect a large advertising billboard in Johnstone Street have been left in shock after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned Mount Alexander Shire Council’s decision to refuse a permit for the sign. Council received 28 formal written objections to the proposed sign at 42-44 Johnstone Street, which is…

  • Surprise musical legacy for the men

    Surprise musical legacy for the men

    It’s not every day you get left a surprising musical legacy. When dedicated Castlemaine Men’s Shed member Lindesay Hart passed away earlier this year he left a bequest for his mates at the shed – the entire contents of his own home shed. Turns out Lindesay’s shed contained a wide range of goods ranging from…

  • Vote time in Don KR enterprise dispute

    Vote time in Don KR enterprise dispute

    About 70 maintenance workers involved in an enterprise agreement dispute at Castlemaine’s Don KR Factory have been asked to vote on whether to accept the latest offer from parent company George Weston Foods Limited. Pay and conditions are at the heart of the enterprise agreement dispute which erupted in a series of stoppages and bans…

  • On the house

    On the house

    Castlemaine café operator Dot Hardman of The Dot in Barker Street has embraced the community movement ‘One on the House’ that aims to brighten the day of locals doing it tough. Dot said well-loved local ‘Nana’ Barb Templar of the Castlemaine RSL first suggested the idea of ‘donating’ an extra coffee for those doing it…