Let the experience begin ... but first lets establish the foundations

Hello and welcome to the first official blog for Manilla Mayhem. Perhaps the best ways to commence is to tell you a little bit about this gorgeous town of Manilla.
Located at the junction of the Namoi and Manilla Rivers, the town of Manilla is situated 44 km north of Tamworth on the Fossickers Way and 456 km north of Sydney.
With a population of more than 2300, the region is a rich wheat growing, wool, mixed farming and fat livestock district, enjoying a lifestyle 363 m above sea-level in the beautiful north western slopes of NSW.
The traditional owners of this land is the Kamilaroi. The Baldwins of Singleton were the first squatters to occupy land about 10 km south of Manilla in the late 1820s. The family took up the Dinnawirindi station in 1837. It was one of six cattle stations which engulfed all of the local land.
In 1853 George Veness selected a property at the junction of the Namoi and Manilla Rivers. He built a wine-shop, a store and a residence; later Veness became the first postmaster. The postal department asked Veness to select a name for the village - he named it after the Manilla River which had originally been called Manellae, which is believed to be the Kamilaroi word meaning winding river.
In the early 1860s, Arthur Dewhurst named the streets of Manilla after himself, his wife, their English home towns, his chain man and even his employer. Manilla was finally gazetted in 1863 but a major flood the following year swept away a number of buildings and killed four of the twelve residents. Flooding was a major problem until the 1970s.
In 1866 Manilla had a hotel, an inn and a district population of 50, but the construction of a railway line to Manilla in 1899 increased industry and residents.
Manilla became a municipality in 1901, with a population was 888. Tobacco was commercially grown in the early years of the twentieth century.
Despite flood and fire, Manilla also had a regular association with the Bushranger 'Thunderbolt' (alias Fred Ward) in 1865. The story tells how Thunderbolt stole two horses from Lloyd's Station, then committed a series of robberies on the Barraba Road. In 1867, Thunderbolt bailed up the Tamworth mail 3 km from Manilla and then travelled to Hill's Public House in Manilla to partake in refreshments. At Veness’ Store and Hotel in Manilla Thunderbolt robbed everyone, stealing not just alcohol and groceries, but also clothes! The police arrived so quickly that Thunderbolt fled without his pack horse which carried some of his gains. In a rather cheeky or just bold move, Thunderbolt returned later that year to again rob the mail coach.
I can only imagine that the town also had a terrific community focus back then as it does now. Just the mention of a project, promotion or event and the townsfolk turn out in droves.
Over the last few months the Manilla Library has not only moved locations into a new purpose built centre, but has increased the services available – all being greatly supported by the residents of Manilla … all of which I’ll go into in more details in my next blog.
After all, you don’t want the first blog to be a thesis!
Thanks for reading.