Morongla Creek, New South Wales

Morongla Creek is a small town in Cowra Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is 13 km south of Cowra by road. Other nearby districts and/or villages are: Neila Creek, Cocomingla, Cucumgilliga, Wattamondara, and Noonbinna.

The creek itself rises near Mount Morris and Slatterys Hill and runs in a generally northward direction for about 30 km before joining the Lachlan River. Just south of the village is Mount Stumbler, a well-known landmark. Near its base was Conlon's Swamp which, although now largely displaced by a farm dam, reappears in vestigial form after heavy rainfall.

History

Arthur Ambrose Marks operated a blacksmith and general store from 1911 to 1916. Tom Middlemiss ran the Morongla general store, selling everything from mousetraps to tractors, until it was burnt down during the war when his sister tripped while carrying a lighted kerosene lantern through the rooms late one evening. In the late 1960s Saint Daniel's Catholic church also burnt down.

Ben Cannon operated the smithy at Morongla through the 1920s and 1930s, is buried at the picturesque Morongla Cemetery about 500 metres west from the Mechanics' Institute. Also buried there is Roger ("Rhody") Sheedy (1854—1942), a great horseman sometimes referred to as "the last of the bushrangers", who in his later years lived in a small cottage on "Iambi Park", Morongla. The photographer Olive Cotton (1911—2003) is also buried there.

Events

The Morongla Show, formerly known as the Morongla Carnival, is an annual community event held on the Monday of the October long weekend (Labor Day). There are gymkhana events, "Iron Woman" and "Iron Man" events, displays of local produce, "animals made out of vegetables" and a "garden in a shoe-box lid" children's competition. Afternoon tea is provided in the Mechanics' Institute hall.

The National Bush Tucker, Home Brewing and Billy Boiling Championships were held in Morongla Creek in 2004.

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