Cities & Towns – ‘Maitland’ : Brendan Hancock
Maitland NSW is a very beautiful place. When you walk down the High Street Mall section on any given day, you will soon realise it is the same that had trams and bullocks travel down it. It is the same street that experienced the famous 1955 flood and knowing that this very same business district was originally a place for convicts to hang out, you can be forgiven to think that there’s still a few trading today. Picking them is half the fun.
Although Maitland has had great success in farming, sporting, performing and visual arts, it doesn’t take Einstein to work out that the heritage, history and attractions of Maitland from a tourism point of view can be broken up into five main parts:
The Maitland Goal, once the home of Ivan Milat now one of the towns most popular tourist attractions.
Sporting Legend Les Darcy, Called a coward for leaving for the U.S to dodge the war, the boxer had to die before everyone decided to love him again. There’s a statue in his honour and the poor bastard is still getting shit on, but only by pigeons now.
The 1955 Flood – Or The Maitland Flood, It was big, and caused some major damage, there are signs all over the town that indicate how high it got.
The Hunter Valley Steamfest, one of Maitland’s most prized annual attractions, since the government in Canberra felt Maitland wasn’t “heritagegy” enough and pulled major funding, it seems this popular event doesn’t have the same charm about it as it use to, especially when our “historical” railway now looks like something out of star wars.
The Little Black Boy, a statue that has sat on the same piece of footpath on High street for many years doesn’t seem to get the attention that he once did. The symbol and face of Maitland, doesn’t even grace a bumper sticker, has this world of political correctness just gone too far…
But in all seriousness, the population of Maitland has clocked up to around 63,000 people, so it says something about what kind of place it is here. That’s 63000 different faces, opinions, and if your lucky like me, 63000 chances of hearing a great story, maybe some secrets and great wisdom all about the town, that, warts and all, I do love, called Maitland.
The pubs here are fan-bloody-tastic and have some really nice live music. The best bet to come and visit is on the first weekend of every month, because on Sundays we have a market day at the showground and it’s been a very popular thing for quite some time, and because Maitland is central to towns such as Morpeth and Cessnock, with just a few minutes in the car, you can be in wine country in no time. Come and visit us!