Monday 6 August 2012

Gold Gold Gold..........A$155

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  
Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series .....

The big sports carnival in London has me thinking of all things gold this week. Your scribe has  been on any number of adventures that involves wineries and some good old fossicking around archaeological digs and historic sites.  Having read History at university your scribe is always up for a field trip. 

I was lucky enough recently to visit one of the localities of the 1850's gold rush just outside of Mudgee in NSW Australia.  The abandoned town is now barely what it was then and armed with a metal detector your scribe had a days outing along the river banks of the "ghost" mining town.


On a freezing cold morning armed with a flask of coffee, rum and a few sandwiches, I entered an eerie world of an abandoned  gold town from over 160 years ago.  Any number of old stores and shacks that people lived in are now ruins and it was something to behold.  A local told me to head to the orange tree..."you cant miss it".  There along the banks of the now dry river bed was a magnificent orange tree that was once the "comfort stop" for the horse and coaches that plied the routes of these old towns. The orange tree of course provided refreshments for all the passengers eager to alight from what must have been a very bumpy ride by modern standards.

The gold rush of course bought prosperity to a lot of towns across Australia and the western states of the USA in the late 19th century.  Amateur prospectors seeking to get rich quick converged on these towns for afar away as China.  The abandoned creek bed along which your scribe wandered all day without seeing a soul was populated by no less than 30,000 during the hey day of the gold rush.

My local contact reliably informed me that there as still gold along the now dried out river bed but that there just wasn't enough of it to make it worth while as a day job!!!  Regardless your scribe, armed with metal detector set off on a day's adventure amongst the ruins and dried out river and creek beds.  Unfortunately your scribe found nothing but nonetheless it was a wonderful day out.


On return to the town later that day I was eager to sample some local fare, some local wines and to take in the thrift and antique stores. And that brings is to today's links that were in a local odds and ends store. They are gold leaf set in a resin of some sort and have a blue background set in gold plate.  They are in great condition for links from what appear to be the late 50's or early 60's. I wear them today with a white cotton Brooks Brother's shirt and a sky blue Chanel silk neck tie.


 Til Later

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