INGHAM, QUEENSLAND

'Ingham' is a town in North Queensland, Australia. It is situated approximately 110km north of the city of Townsville and approximately 60km north of Thuringowa and is part of the Great Green Way region of North Queensland. It is the administrative centre of Hinchinbrook Shire Council.

Contents

Ingham District

Industry

Lee's Hotel - Home of the Historical Original "Pub with No Beer"

Australian Italian Festival

External links

Ingham District

Ingham is situated on the Herbert River and has a district population of 13,000 people. Approximately 40 km west of the township is the Girringun National Park, which includes the Wallaman Falls, the highest single-drop waterfall in Australia.

Industry

Ingham is mainly known for sugar cane farming and the largest sugar mill in the southern hemisphere, Victoria sugar mill, which is owned by CSR Limited and is located close to the town.

★ Sugar Cane

★ Cattle

★ Timber

★ Fishing

★ Tourism

★ Watermelons

Lee's Hotel - Home of the Historical Original "Pub with No Beer"

Dan Sheahan's poem becomes Slim Dusty's most famous song.
In 1943 Local farmer Dan Sheahan rode 20 miles to town for a beer at the Day Dawn Hotel in Ingham. Beer was rationed during the war and the American servicemen had drunk the bar dry the night before. On hearing this from the publican Gladys Harvey, and unhappy about riding home dry, Dan penned a poem that he called the “Pub without beer”.
On January 1st 1944, the NQ Register published the poem in Ben Bowyangs column.
In 1956 songwriter Gordon Parsons was handed a scrap of paper at the Taylors Arms Hotel in NSW with the poem as an “anonymous” verse. He revamped it and presented it as a song to Slim who recorded it on the back of “Saddle Boy” on April Fools Day 1957.
Confusion of the songs origin reigned for years until Slim acknowledged Dan’s claim in his book “The Country Mile”.
The Original Pub With No Beer was owned by the Harvey family and was partly demolished and rebuilt as Lee’s Hotel.
Recently Lee’s Hotel received Queensland Icon Status through the Queensland Heritage Trust and was formally recognized as the Original ‘Pub with no Beer’.

Australian Italian Festival

The Australian-Italian festival is held every year in Ingham. It is one of the most popular events held in Ingham, and nearly the entire of North Queensland. The Australian-Italian festival celebrates the culture background that Ingham has, which can be dated back many years.
During the second World War, the Italians in Ingham were captured and held in detention centres, until after the war, when they were released. A ceremony was held in honour of an Italian's death, through a parade in the central streets.
During the Australian-Italian festival, many Italians venture south to celebrate this famous event, marking the cultural tie between members of Ingham and Italy.

External links

★ Ingham region - Great Green Way

★ HinchinbrookNQ website

★ Hinchinbrook Shire Council

★ Lee's Hotel website