Australia's East Coast is endowed with a mild, temperate climate and locally with rich, volcanic soils ideally suited to dairying. Although, in the early days, Tilba also had roots in gold mining & timber industries, dairying has endured to the present day. Tilba is known nationally for its cheese production which began with the ABC Cheese co-operative, the first of its kind in this state. Cheeses produced, over time, include cheddar, edam, fetta & romano and in 1925 the price of Australian Tilba cheese topped the London market. Along with strong tourist interest in this National Trust listed village, cheesemaking in Tilba is experiencing a resurgence with a range of soft cheeses being produced.
Source material for the toile design includes photographs from an historic collection taken around the turn of the century by a local photographer. (William Henry Corkhill Collection, National Library of Australia). Some endemic flora species are also featured including ferns, banksia, cabbage palm & macrozamia while local aves represented are black swan, egret & black cockatoo (I resisted the urge to toss in a wallaby/kangaroo!)
