THIS year you can gain insight into Bundanoon's past thanks to a history enthusiast who is shooting a film about the village's history.
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Beryl Seckington is halfway through making a documentary about Bundanoon, titled Glimpses of the Past.
She has always been interested in family history and in 2002 she and her husband put together a book of the Seckington family history which traced the family all the way back to Doomsday.
Family movies was also a passion of Beryl's, and in 2008 when her son enrolled in a filmmaking course, she went to the open day and decided she would do it too.
"I was so excited about it I wanted to do it too. It was very hands-on and I was still working at the bank, juggling the job and classes," Beryl said.
"I decided I couldn't do both, so I gave up the job."
For one of her assessments she made a documentary Water in Tap, about Bundanoon being the first town to eliminate bottled water.
This is where she first got involved with the Bundanoon History Group and her interest in the town's history was sparked.
"I asked if I could borrow some photos for the documentary and they said I could on the proviso I gave them a copy of the movie," she said.
When she finished the course, she wanted to get more involved with the community so she joined the Bundanoon History Group.
She has been responsible for digitising the historical photos and with 1860 on file; she still has 200 to go.
"Being involved with the archives I've realised how much history there is in Bundanoon and it's absolutely amazing."
She is on the committee for Bundanoon's sesquicentenary and when the discussion came up of what to do, she had an idea.
"We wanted to do something special. I suggested that I could make a movie that we could sell that would make people aware of Bundanoon's history," Beryl said.
And so, Glimpses of the Past was born.
The movie is in sections, starting with the early settlement when Governor Macquarie sent an expedition party to the area to find a way to Jervis Bay from Sydney.
"Dr Charles Throsby kept a journal and he wrote about 'Bantanoon'and the Aboriginal settlement by the Gundungurra tribe which had rock shelters near Paddy's River.
"He wrote about the cave paintings and tool sharpening grooves in the rocks," Beryl said.
A feature on the bushfires on 1939 and 1965 will also be included in the movie, as well as Southern Highlands railways, coal mines, the timber mills and quarries.
"The Bundanoon RFS did a drill, they all turned up in uniform and flashed the sirens so I could use it in the film. They were really happy to do it and I made a separate film about the drill as well."
The Scrutineer and Berrima District Press, a newspaper published in Moss Vale from 1874 until 1949 has been a trove of information for Beryl.
She said the Bundanoon Swimming Pool was also a highlight in the town's history.
"The residents needed a safe place to swim because there had been drownings at Leaver Park. The pool was built with community funds and labour."
"I've learnt an awful lot. The research is time consuming and I've learnt a lot of interesting things."
Beryl has been speaking to locals about Bundanoon's history and found while some of the older families knew a lot, many people had no idea about the town's history.
She learnt that not only was there a racecourse in Bundanoon, but there were once three golf courses.
"There is so much material around and a lot of people don't know these things about Bundanoon."
The stories are told through interviews, old photos and footage from around the Highlands.
"I've been interviewing the older residents and families, Audrey Peterson knows a lot and has a lovely story about how they used to get to school. People have been really helpful."
In August at a preview of the film will be shown at the Objects of the Past Exhibition and Glimpses of the Past will be complete by the end of the year.