The National Trust is delighted to invite you and your guests to the exclusive
National Trust Members’ & Guests’ Evening on Tuesday 31 October, 5.30pm – 7pm, at the S H Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, for a viewing of the exhibition Portia Geach Memorial Award (parking is available on site). This is a great social opportunity to introduce your friends to the National Trust, meet new members, or join the Trust. This will be one of the last events attended by The Hon. Barry O’Keefe AM QC, before his retirement as Trust President. Enjoy the live string trio, fine wines, and Trust Café finger food. Entry is free. Please RSVP to staleski@nsw.nationaltrust.org.au or (02) 9258 0137 by Friday 27 October. Wines kindly supplied by Tamburlaine.

From Saturday 3 March to Sunday 18 March 2007, the National Trust will bring together community groups, schools, business and local government to create a unique program of events. The theme is Places in Context: Natural & Cultural Landscapes. The Festival looks at our evolving urban and rural landscapes and explores the intersections between community, urban development, sustainability, historical significance and other factors that make up an area’s identity.  Register your event online by Friday 17 November at www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au

The Trust has urged that new developments proposed for the historic and scenically sensitive Catherine Hill Bay, approximately 100km north of Sydney, be sited outside the visual catchment of the present two settlements listed as Urban Conservation Areas by the Trust. Much of the surrounding land is also zoned ‘scenic protection’, and the Land and Environment Court has rejected earlier development proposals. The Trust is urging proper, independent heritage and environmental assessments to establish clear parameters for future development, to preserve the historic and aesthetic qualities of this very special part of the NSW coast.

Thanks to the generous financial support of Zeny Edwards, and services donated by leading heritage architect Clive Lucas of Clive Lucas Stapleton and Partners, the historic Annie Wyatt Room at the National Trust Centre is well on the way to refurbishment. Unsympathetic fittings such as fluorescent lights have been removed, it has been rewired, and the original fireplace has been restored. The next stage of the refurbishment will be the repainting of this important heritage room, which commemorates the founder of the National Trust, Mrs Annie Wyatt.

As part of the Trusts skills training program the first course for owners and managers of historic properties will presented over two half days on the 4 and 12  November at Hunters Hill in conjunction with Hunters Hill Trust. The course has been designed to assist home owners in how to deal with such issues as rotting timber, rising damp, invading pests and the causes of failure of plaster and methods of repair.
Enquiries and Bookings 9816 4047

Pack your champagne and picnic rug and enjoy an outstanding evening of Opera in the Garden, at the National Trust’s Norman Lindsay Gallery, Faulconbridge. The six performers will present well-known opera favourites on 28 October, with gates open from 5pm. Bookings are essential. Cost: adults $25; Friends/NT members $22; children (5-16 yrs): $15. Phone the gallery on 02 4751 1067 or visit http://www.normanlindsay.com.au/

The interiors of this elegant National Trust home will burst into bloom with floral creations on 28-29 October when Bathurst florists, artists and TAFE students transform Miss Traill’s House into The House of Flowers – a special highlight of Bathurst’s annual garden show, The Bathurst Spring Spectacular. Cost: $7 for Miss Traill’s House or $10 for a Spring Spectacular weekend pass. For more information about Miss Traill’s House, please visit www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au

Enjoy Ghoulish frights and delights at the National Trust’s Saumarez Homestead on Halloween night Tuesday 31 October from 5pm to 8pm. Schoolchildren in years 3 to 6 are invited to come in costume (with a prize for the best) and participate in broomstick races, a dance contest, a colouring-in competition, a special Halloween stall and a BBQ. Cost: $5 per child (adults free). Bookings not necessary, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Call 02 6772 3616 for more information or visit www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au

Early November is a great time to enjoy the magnificent jacarandas in full bloom that grace the historic Hunters Hill landscape.  The local community and the National Trust present a series of guided jacaranda walks and cruises, a spring fair, theatre, a Trust forum on old houses and the ever popular Christmas Boutique at the National Trust’s Vienna Cottage from Saturday 4 – Sunday 12 November. For full details visit www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au

Dorothy Hutchings was born in Rabaul on the island of New Britain, where she lived for twelve years.  Living in such an exotic environment surrounded by lush tropical flora left a deep impression on Dorothy and inspired her to capture the rich colours of the plant world in watercolour. Dorothy’s delicate botanical observations are currently on view in this her second exhibition at the Trust Café, located next to the S H Ervin Gallery, at Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney.  All works are available for sale.

This is a rare opportunity to visit this wonderful, now tenanted National Trust property in Paddington, and take a guided tour of the house and its contents. Tuesday 28 November 6.30-8.30pm. Open to National Trust members only. Cost: $50 – includes drinks and canapés in the garden. Numbers limited to 200 people. Please RSVP by Tuesday 21 November, to Nikki Brown on nbrown@nsw.nationaltrust.org.au or call 0413 655 734. There will be fabulous lucky door prizes on the night!

Consider a National Trust gift membership - the perfect gift for Christmas - and help support heritage conservation. If you are a Trust member and purchase a gift membership, you both will receive a special gift of your choice valued at $15: a stylish National Trust tote bag or May Gibbs linen tea towel. PLUS you and your gift recipient will enter the draw to won a holiday to far north Queensland for two, valued at over $9,000.* Competition closes 8 December 2006.  For details call 02 9258 0156 or BUY a gift membership now  *Visit our web site for full terms and conditions.

In the culmination of the National Trust Corporate Breakfast Series, Justice Brian Preston will be addressing National Trust staff and guests at the Hotel InterContinental. Justice Brian Preston was appointed Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW in 2005. Justice Preston has held various editorial positions in relation to environmental law publications and is the author of Australia’s first book on environmental litigation, 23 articles on environmental law and environmental issues. He has also presented over 40 papers at international, national and local conferences throughout the world. Click here for further information or to download a booking form www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/events/brian-preston.asp

Trust Women’s Committee, runs 10am to 4pm Thursday November 16 until Saturday November 18 at the National Trust property Lindesay, 1 Carthona Ave, Darling Point. Choose and buy unique gifts for someone special for Christmas while taking in this magnificent historic estate and its gardens. A highlight is the Gourmet Food Cellar in Lindesay’s flagged stone basement kitchen with its fine biscuits, jams, chutneys, mayonnaises, spices and oils and Christmas puddings. Lunch at the couryard café and enjoy the wine tastings. Lindesay is only open for public inspection on a few occasions each year. Entry to the Christmas Gift Fair is free. For further information see http://www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/properties/lindesay/fair.asp