As part of our Carisbrook gathering, a number of members toured the interesting and well-presented Tilly Aston Memorial Rotunda, and the Avenue of Honour adjacent to the Pyrenees Highway. Rotarian John Williamson informed our group of some of the fascinating history behind both exhibits. See "Read more..."
Tilly Aston was the daughter of a Carisbrook Boot Maker. She became blind in childhood, but didn't allow her setback to prevent her from living a fulfilling and productive life. She became a strong advocate for the abolition of taxes on blind people who wished to travel interstate, and she also produced poetry.John explained that the current trees in the Avenue of Honour are the the fifth set of trees. The first two avenues were based on black wattle trees, each one representing a Carisbrook resident who went to the "Great" war, but the trees were destroyed by animals and vandals within the space of a couple of years. Other trees were tried, but they didn't succeed either. The current set of trees are Spotted Gum trees planted in 2010. Last year, an informational notice board was added to the Avenue which provided details of some of the soldiers who were killed during the conflict.