The drink of choice of many Australian households in Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was tea.  Tea was drunk first thing in the morning, in the afternoon, at ‘smoko’ time, and before bedtime.  Making the tea correctly was a ritual in itself, before the advent of the teabag. Coffee has now taken over as the popular drink, but the paraphernalia associated with tea making and drinking remain: the teapot, the fine...

  The Annis and George Bills horse trough at the Blacksmith’s Cottage is a survivor of a series of troughs donated by the estate of Annis and George Bills. When he died in 1927, George Bills left his estate of 80,000 pounds to ‘construct and erect and pay for horse troughs wherever they……..are desirable for the relief of horses and other dumb animals.’ The Annis and George Bills Bequest donated over 500 troughs throughout Australia. They were...

Please come and visit us during the Strawberries & Cherries Weekend – it is a great festival.  The Cottage and Forge will be open until 4.00pm each day.

We are joining with the Bacchus Marsh Flower and Garden Show and opening our Cottage garden on Sunday, 29th October 2017 between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.  Please join us in our little garden.  Inside the Cottage, embroidered floral pieces will be on display, while in the Bookbarn (the Forge next door) you will see a printed history of the Bacchus Marsh Horticultural and Agricultural Show dating from 1867.  Plenty of news articles to create the...