The Launceston Walking Club (LWC) is celebrating 60 years of its popular Do You Know Tasmania slideshow showcasing the state’s pristine areas.
First hosted in 1954 to raise funds to maintain the club truck, LWC’s regular audiovisual presentations have become a highlight in the community calendar.
The group’s vast image archive reveals changes both to the Tasmanian landscape and in bushwalking fashion and technology since the 1950s.
Club member Ian Ross said: “The club is unique in that it has this longstanding tradition of presenting public wilderness shows, which has enabled it to own and run its own transport for members.”
The idea for the slideshows came from early member John Miller (pictured), an avid photographer now in his 80s. He said: “Through the shows we have helped to spread the word about how wonderful Tasmania is for the bushwalker, and I think we have done a reasonable job.”
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- Bushwalking in the 50s would have been a very different experience compared with today, especially with regarding to gear. Photo: Lindsay Crawford.
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- A club member collecting snow poles in the Cuvier Valley. Photo: John Miller.
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- Members take a moment to absorb their surroundings while rafting the Franklin River. Photo: Vaughan Cruickshank.
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- A flyer inviting the public to attend an early photo evening for the LWC.
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- John Miller receives recognition for his work with LWC.
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- The transportation that was so crucial to the LWC’s early years. Photo: Lindsay Crawford.
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- Minutes from the first LWC general meeting.
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- Unfortunately, the bus would regularly need to be hauled along boggy roads.
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- Members pause to shoot photos of the picturesque Horeb Falls.
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- The famous beach now perennially covered by the damming of Lake Pedder.
