Glen Davis is a village in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located in the local government area of the City of Lithgow. It is located 250 km north-west of Sydney and approximately 80 kilometres north of Lithgow. In the 2006 census Glen Davis had a population of 354.
Location
Glen Davis is situated in the Capertee Valley, from which the Capertee River flows. Glen Davis is located north of Lithgow, New South Wales, off the road to Mudgee.
History
From 1938, the town became the centre of an oil shale industry. The post office for the town opened on 1 March 1939. The township was abandoned in 1952 because shale oil was not viable in a non-war, non-government supported economic environment. After the closure of the oil shale mine, the skeleton of a town survived in the form of some properties, a post office and a shop or two that survived intermittently. The creation of the Wollemi National Park brought a degree of tourism to the area.
National Parks
The Wollemi National Park takes in 492,976 hectares and is the second-largest national park in New South Wales. It includes some parts of the Capertee Valley, especially downstream of Glen Davis. The National Parks and Wildlife Service marked out a track between Glen Davis and Newnes, in the Wolgan Valley, and this became a popular walk known as the Pipeline Pass. Bushwalkers also use Glen Davis as the starting point for camping trips in the national park; there is also a camp site in the town.
Another national park was created later, known as the Gardens of Stone National Park. This takes in some areas around the Capertee Valley, including the flat-topped mountain—or butte—called Pantony's Crown. This mountain was named after an early farmer who opened the area up to sheep farming. The National Trail, a long-distance walking trail that goes from Melbourne to Cooktown, also passes through the Capertee Valley.
The Glen Davis Shale Oil Works and a property now resumed into the National Park downstream from these sites was the location (Paradise Valley) for the 1980 Australian movie The Chain Reaction. The movie starred Mel Gibson (uncredited) and Steve Bisley, Cinematography by Russel Boyd, and had George Miller as First Assistant Director. Many locals appeared in the movie as extras.
Gallery
Part of Glen Davis, with a backdrop of the Wollemi National Park
Capertee River downstream of Glen Davis
Pantonys Crown, west of Glen Davis
Mount Gundangaroo seen from Glen davis
Farmland, Glen Davis