By now everyone who has any connection with Moruya will also know of its connection to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. For want of giving it a focal point and wider significance there has been a continued remarketing of the town's image by way of names and symbolisms. At the forefront of it all is the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the story of the granite that was extracted for the 290 foot high pylons facades at each end of the bridge.
Oddly the first Moruya Mardi Gras Festival in the 1960's wasn't focussed around the quarry and granite but instead celebrated the community with march-bys of the many groups 1960s who were collectively trying to raise money to build a pool. Next came the Granite Festival in 2015 that began as a music festival on the foreshore of Moruya town but was then moved to the racecourse due to the unreasonable conditions placed on it by Council. From a thriving festival that bought the town alight the Granite Festival found the difficulties of being out of town too much and stopped. Roll forward to 2022 and a new push to bring back a festival for the town has revived the Mardi Gras and this year the funds raised will go towards the Moruya swimming pool. History repeats. But in respect of its roots as a Quarry Town, a Granite Town and its only link to fame enough to rest its laurels on the festival pays tribute to the Moruya Quarry by way of a tour of the site conducted by Christine Greig, the great granddaughter of John Alexander Gilmore, the manager of the quarry at the time. For those unable to attend the tour these is a wealth of history to read of the quarry, those who worked it and of the many uses that the Moruya granite has been put to.
A visit to the Moruya and District Historical Society offers up a vast record of Moruya Tonalite, best known for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylons, along with the many Sydney buildings and monuments feature the granite. This link will unlock a trove of fascinating reading The Society also have the following publications for sale Not Forgotten. Memorials in Granite by Christine Greig, Granitetown Memories by Ruth Webberley Moruya's Golden Years by Aubrey Vernon (Bob) Colefax and Set in Stone by Shirley Jurmann.
A personal favourite are these two.
And you can read this article HERE
Once you finish with all of that be sure to read the history of the Loutitt Quarry and its contribution to Sydney as well written by Norm Moore:
The Forgotten History Of Louttit’s Quarry & Construction Of Captain Cook’s Monument. Part 1
You can find the rest of the articles in the series HERE
