Medlow Bath, New South Wales

Medlow Bath
New South Wales

Hydro Majestic Hotel, at Medlow Bath, 2008
Population 517 (2011 census)[1]
Established circa 1870
Postcode(s) 2780
Location
LGA(s) City of Blue Mountains
State electorate(s) Blue Mountains
Federal Division(s) Macquarie
Suburbs around Medlow Bath:
Megalong Valley Blackheath Blue Mountains National Park
Megalong Valley Medlow Bath Blue Mountains National Park
Blue Mountains National Park Katoomba Katoomba

Medlow Bath (postcode: 2780) is an Australian small town located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba and Blackheath. It has an approximate altitude of 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) AHD  and is located approximately 115 kilometres (71 mi) west-north-west of the Sydney central business district and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-west of Katoomba.[2] At the 2011 census, Medlow Bath had a population of 517 people.[1]

Description

Medlow Bath is set in a semi-rural area which includes fire-prone eucalypt forest, and has been subject to bushfire threats many times during its history.

The Hydro Majestic Hotel was developed by Sydney businessman, Mark Foy in the early years of the twentieth century and was the main economic activity in the area,[3][4] until bushfires nearly destroyed the hotel in the summer of 2003.

View from behind the Hydro Majestic Hotel, with Shipley Plateau on the right.

There is an elaborate network of walking tracks, which were developed in the bushland between the hotel and the escarpment of the Megalong Valley. The tracks offer scope for many fine bushwalks and views of the Megalong Valley, but in more recent years have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance.[5] Other tracks in the area include Bruce's Walk, an old track that was upgraded by bushwalkers and other volunteers in the 1980s. Bruce's Walk is located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath, on the fringes of the Blue Mountains National Park, a huge park that is now a World Heritage Site.

Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, died at the Hydro Majestic Hotel in 1920.[6]

Transport

Medlow Bath was connected to the Main Western railway line in 1880, when the station was called Brown's Siding.[3] Medlow Bath railway station is now served by the Blue Mountains Line.

The Great Western Highway is the main road access route.

Katoomba Airfield is also located a few kilometres east of Medlow Bath.

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "2011 Community Profiles: Medlow Bath (Urban Centres and Localities)". 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Map 220. Gregory's State Road Map of New South Wales (11th ed.).
  3. 1 2 "Medlow Bath". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  4. ↑ Walsh, G. P. (1981). "Foy, Mark (1865–1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Paton, Neil (2004). Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks. Kangaroo Press. pp. 249–251.
  6. ↑ Rutledge, Martha. "Barton, Sir Edmund (1849–1920)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 23 June 2013.

Media related to Medlow Bath, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 33°40′S 150°17′E / 33.667°S 150.283°E / -33.667; 150.283


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