Waler sculpture plaque
Freedom Run
Sculpture of a Waler by Andrew Whitehead
The term Waler was first used by the British in Indian for horses bread in the colony of New South Wales.
The first 7 horses came on the First Fleet and were eventually bred in the Hunter Valley as stock horses for the Australian outback. They could withstand extreme conditions and go for long periods without water and were known for their speed, strength and stamina.
By 1887 Walers had developed a reputation as one of the finest Cavalry horses in the world. Over 130,000 Walers from all over Australia and more than 8,000 from New Zealand were sent to the WW1 Battlefields. Most of these horses did not survive, some died on the way to war, others from exhaustion, disease or wounds sustained in battle. The remaining Walers were not allowed to return home for quarantine reasons. They were shot, sold off or given away. One of these heroic horses returned to our shores and one went home to New Zealand.
Andrew Whitehead called his sculpture Freedom Run as a tribute to these beautiful souls who accompanied our brave men to the WW1 Battlefields.
Lest we forget
Freedom Run donated by Andrew and Yvonne Turnbull
Lone Pine plaque
This Aleppo Pine 'Pinus Halepensis' was seeded from the Lone Pine on Gallipoli Peninsula. Planted here by resident, Rex Thompson, to Honour the Spirit of ANZAC and those who enlisted in World War I from the Wollombi Valley 25th April, 2003.