More about Broken Hill

Following my blip about the lifting of border restrictions Broken Hill opens up here are some more images from our visits to Broken Hill.
 
Broken Hill is and always has been a mining town, in fact Australia’s longest lived mining town, and that gives it much of its unique character. The ‘broken hill’ that gave it its name is no longer there, having been mined away. This is where the mining giant BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) began, mining silver, zinc and lead.
 
Broken Hill was also a leading player in the development of the union movement in Australia. The first miners’ strike took place there in 1889, against the use of non union labour. In 1892 there was a sixteen week strike against the use of imported labour. The striking miners were supported by the Women’s Brigade and the Barrier United Females' Strike Protest Committee.
 
Broken Hill is called the Silver City, but it could also be called the tin city. Building materials are scarce and expensive in so remote a location, and Broken Hill sports a remarkable number of buildings made from corrugated iron. They are in striking contrast to the grandiose public buildings and hotels that were erected in the boom years.
 
As mining declined, Broken Hill has diversified in sometimes surprising ways. The Brushmen of the Bush was a group of five artists formed in Broken Hill in 1973. Among them were Jack Absalom and Pro Hart, and they became internationally known and contributed significantly to the development of outback art.
 
More recently Broken Hill has established Broken Heel, an annual drag queen festival. The festival celebrates the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, parts of which were shot in and around Broken Hill. Sadly, the Broken Heel festival was cancelled this year.