John Thistleton

3 weeks ago | aboutregional.com.au | John Thistleton

Former Olympic, Commonwealth Games, and professional boxer Simon Paterson is whipping three historic hotels in Goulburn into shape. Once a devastating counterpuncher, Simon has established the Goulburn Pub Group and wants to go toe-to-toe with cafes over the price of coffee. “The coffee in this town is very expensive,” he said.

4 weeks ago | aboutregional.com.au | John Thistleton

Max Keys can recall his days as a small boy on a school bus keeping a sharp eye out in Goulburn for flash cars. Now a retired businessman and taxi driver, Max has a thousand stories about outstanding cars and their owners. His passion was supercharged in 1968 when a cool young businessman, Doug Fenwick, turned into Finlay Road driving his bright-yellow Holden Monaro, which had a black bolt of lightning painted along the side announcing his speedy dry-cleaning service. Max was 13.

1 month ago | aboutregional.com.au | John Thistleton

Diane Bush was only a year old when she and her 20-month-old sister Susan lost their mother and went to live with their grandparents. Too little to understand the magnitude of what had happened, Diane adapted to her new life. When her mother Wilma died, her father David Brown took his remaining two children to live with him at Vineyard in Sydney because he could not look after all four children.

1 month ago | aboutregional.com.au | John Thistleton

On a train from Sydney to Melbourne one night, Morris Owen woke in the chilly carriage to see Rocky Hill War Memorial’s revolving searchlight above Goulburn. Travelling to see a former schoolmate in Melbourne at the time, the 20-year-old, Sydney-born Morris could not have known how he would later shape the city’s social landscape under that sweeping light. A few years later, in 1972, he relocated to Goulburn and practised law for more than 50 years.

1 month ago | aboutregional.com.au | John Thistleton

The proponent of two proposed gas-fired power stations near Marulan is surveying people in Goulburn about their views on gas and renewable energy, and inviting people to join a consultative reference group. The activity around Marulan and in Goulburn is another step in a long, drawn-out process that began in 2008 when the gas project was first mooted. The two power plants were approved the following year. Since then Energy Australia has over 15 years applied successfully for extensions.