Cobb & Co commemorative mail coach run marks 100th anniversary of last great trip

Sat, 11 May 2024 12:14:39 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-14/mail-run-marks-100th-anniversary-of-last-cobb-and-co-trip/103689394>

'It's around four hours' drive to Adelaide from the south-east rural township
of Penola.

One hundred years ago it was a journey that took five days by horse-drawn
carriage.

Mail travels today by air and truck, but in the 19th century the post came by
stagecoach with a five-horse team, prevailing over rough country, beaten
tracks, and bushrangers.

It's been a century since the last Cobb & Co mail coaches ran in Australia, but
this week a commemorative stagecoach journey marked the milestone by recreating
one of the company's famed journeys.

Rob Fairchild and his team of five heavy horses along with his family,
volunteers, and fellow carriage drivers journeyed from Mount Gambier's Mil-Lel
to Penola, home of an historic Cobb & Co Booking Office, notching up 100
kilometres and sharing the adventure with locals and hundreds of delighted
school children.

"Planning for the adventure began in October last year," Mr Fairchild said.

"I knew it was the centenary of the last mail run this year and wanted to do
something locally to celebrate it because Cobb & Co was integral to the
Melbourne-Adelaide mail service and this part of south-eastern South Australia.

"Even today, there's still a number of historic Cobb & Co sites around the
region. We wanted to bring that history to life again."'

Share and enjoy,
               *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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