On this weeks show we are in the town of Evandale, just a short drove from Launceston in Northern Tasmania.
The wheels of time turn back over a hundred years as the peaceful village of Evandale in northern Tasmania once again plays host to the Evandale Village Fair and National Penny Farthing Championships.
The Evandale Village Fair is held annually in February, and features a full program of Penny Farthing bicycle racing featuring the National Penny Farthing Championship. Started in 1983, the Evandale Penny Farthing races attract enthusiasts from across Australia and around the world. A village fair and period themed festival in Pioneer Park accompanies the Penny Farthings races. https://evandalevillagefair.com
We first meet up with Warren Flanders, Warren has come all the way from Perth Western Australia. This is Warren’s first time actually racing. He has been before to watch back in 2016.
This inspired him to buy a penny farthing and has borrowed a bike to race. He has come to Tassie for a trip with a friend but decided to also race. The attraction for Warren is that the bike is different.
The bike does not have real brakes but you back peddle to slow down. Some do have calliper brakes. The height of the saddle varies to your height, legs and speed. The size of the wheel also determines the height, and you balance on the back pegs to stop or go.
Next on the show we meet Rodney Bracken who is the race caller. Rodney has been associated with the event since 1983, loosing only 1 year to COVID.
A local lady started the event back in 1983 and has been going strong ever since. One of the local policeman in town helps with the event. They do get competitors from overseas but not so many now unless its a huge event. There were a few bike builders in the town of Evandale.
There are some interesting characters in town but they also dress up in the town in old style clothing which helps make the event. It runs over 2 days with also a fair just of the main street. Rodney has been a rider but not now. Many years ago they even shut the airport down to run the length of the airstrip.
The second day is mainly a race from the town of Evandale to Clarendon House approx 20 miles, which if you have seen some of the roads they are narrow and windy.
Next on the show Phill meets Penny farthing Dan, who actually makes the bikes. Dan has been building the bikes for 20 years but has been fulltime bike building for 10 years. He builds approx 50 bikes a year and exports to 20 countries. Even exporting to Nepal and Saudi Arabia.
There is no real demographic and it ranges in men 35 -60 make up most of the bikes being built. There are a small few that go for display purposes. Dan enjoys racing but is not competitive. He likes to do long distance racing and also puts together a race each year in different places around Australia. They have even done a race the length of the Murray River approx 1400 km’s.
There is no gearing with the bike and the bike is built to suit the rider. When building the bike Dan measures your body to suit the bike. If all parameters with the bike fit like a glove. He sometimes has 10 bikes going at a time, but usually 1 bike a week. Each bike has a VIN number so all his bikes are kept on file.
Check out Dan’s website https://www.pennyfarthingdan.com.au
Next on the show we meet Shannon from The Western Tiers Distillery in Westbury. Shannon takes us on a tour of the distillery but whilst here you can also grab a coffee, light lunch 7 days a week.
They have been running now for 2 years since opening and is a great place to visit when going through the town. You can do a tasting of the different whiskey triple distilled and gins, and vodka and Irish Moonshine.
Back in 2016, sharing a passion for hand-crafted, uncompromising quality, two long-time friends, Mark Kolodziej and Tim Freeman put the wheels in motion and a business was created, Stillsmiths Tasmania. Supplying premium distillation equipment to Tasmania’s emerging spirit industry, in the process learning not just what has been done, but what could be done.
Always looking for new opportunities, they had often tinkered with the idea of opening their own distillery. In 2021 the dream became a reality in the historic village of Westbury, nestled among the rich farmlands at the foot of the majestic Great Western Tiers the Western Tiers Distillery opened its cellar doors to the public.
