Hi Nancy, I am not sure what farming went on at Vella Beach, more a holiday destination now, but it is within the same region as Nambucca Heads, Urunga, Bellingen, Dorrigo and Coffs Harbour. Farming during this era in the same vacinity would have been banana gowing at Coffs Harbour, potatos at Dorrigo and I guess a good mix of vegetables, pumpkin, tomatoes etc, as the climate is ideal for this sort of farming. First settlers to the area about 1840's were cedar cutters, please find below more info on this area. ******* Before the arrival of Europeans the Bowraville district was inhabited by the Ngaku and the Gumbayngirr Aborigines. Today there are still substantial numbers of their descendants living in the area. The first Europeans to arrive in the area came in the 1840s. Like most of the coastal areas of New South Wales the first settlers were cedar cutters. In March 1841 Clement Hodgkinson explored the upper reaches of the Nambucca and Bellinger Rivers. He was the first European to make contact with the local Aboriginal community. The township, originally named Bowra, grew up in the 1850s and 1860s. It was renamed Bowraville in the 1870s because confusion was occurring with the Southern Highlands township of Bowral. No one knows with any certainty what the word 'Bowra' means. Various sources claim it is a local Aboriginal word meaning either 'cabbage palm', 'bullrout fish', 'scrub turkey' or 'bald head'. There is also a suggestion that the town's name comes from a European, Captain Bowra, who was sent up the river to search for cedar. In the early years of its existence Bowraville was primarily a timber town. It grew to meet the needs of the local timber cutters and so by the 1870s it boasted two hotels a number of general stores, a blacksmiths shop, a tailor, local post office, a school and a number of churches. By the 1880s, while timber was still dominant, the district was also an important dairy and pig raising area. However it is still true that timber remains the predominant industry. People who are interested need only to take a short walk down the hill from the Bowra Hotel to see the size and scale of the local timber mills. Regards Colleen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Finn" <nanfin@xtra.co.nz> To: <AUS-NSW-NORCO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:51 AM Subject: [NORCO] New Lister > Hello Listers > Researching the area of Valla Beach. Believed to be close to Coffs > harbour, Urunga, & Bowraville. Can anyone please tell me what farming > went on in this area. Cattle, Sheep, Fruit farming etc? Time frame would > be 1929 - 1930. Your help most appreciated > Nancy N.Z. > > > ==== AUS-NSW-NORCO Mailing List ==== > Don't forget to Google for the inofrmation you want using the advanced > search: > http://www.google.com.au/advanced_search?hl=en > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >