Likable lad. Fresh out of the academy, top of the class in theory, but lowest in application because of his speech impediment. I reckon he could read you your rights, if only he could spit it out before you made your getaway. He’s desperately keen and raring to go, until he actually gets onto the street, and then he’s out of his depth.

Lacking in confidence, he’s not suitable for a city beat, so obviously the powers that be were unsure of what else to do with him, and he’s been sent to me here in Dunbury. I’ve taken him under my wing, and hopefully I can teach him the ropes and mould this young man into the police officer his grades say he can be, but I’ ll have my work cut out with this one.

Constable Stephens

Pengelly once had stars in his eyes, but a transfer to what he calls ‘dead-end’ Dunbury a few years ago - to avoid an embarrassing media scandal for the police force, so I’ve heard - killed his ambition and left him a bitter wreck of a man. He wears the badge reluctantly, but it protects him from prosecution - it’s his immunity. His personal hygiene is on the back burner - he shaves only when I insist. He and I have never really seen eye-to-eye, we’re cut from different cloth… I like to think there is hope for Pengelly, and the arrival of Stephens could have a lot to do with it. Perhaps Stephens’ enthusiasm will rub off on jaded Pengelly. One can only hope…

Constable Pengelly

Constable Stephens & I, about to go out on patrol in Dunb ur y

Local History – The History of

DunburyBy SGT. ROY BARKER

As many of you know, when I’m not keeping law and or-der in Dunbury, I love read-

ing about our rich and colourful local history, the people who made this town what it is today, the events that shaped it... I’d like to thank the ‘Dunbury Historical Society’ for their help in researching this piece. Any mistakes made are theirs.Dunbury was established at the tail end of the gold rush by prospectors who had failed to find gold else-where, and had arrived in Dunbury to take one last hopeful swing of the pickaxe to find instant wealth. Whilst there were substantial finds in neighbouring Wynwyth - trans-forming the former sheep station to a major settlement - there was no such luck in Dunbury, and for want of somewhere better, the set-tlers stayed.

Anxious to defend their paltry claim against indigenous tribes in the area, the settlers erected impressive fortifications – a large wall, some of which still survives today. However, little did they know that the neigh-bouring tribes had unanimously forsaken the land centuries ago. All

indigenous tribes with lands border-ing what is now known as Dunbury believed the land to be cursed and this belief was compounded when the ‘white devils’ decided to settle in the cursed place permanently.

Many mines were dug in the area, but no claims of any great value were ever found. Some locals still believe today that there is gold waiting to be discovered, lurking deep beneath Dunbury’s dark hills; but the only deposits of gold found in any great quantity here in Dunbury are the mushrooms, which locals have over-indulged in since the camp was set-tled.

Dunbury is famous locally for its annual ‘Pumpkin Festival’, where the town has celebrated the fruit with an unrivalled enthusiasm, since a bumper yield of the crop in 1911.

There is a competition for the year’s biggest pumpkin, a prize given to the best pumpkin-themed costume, pumpkin carving lessons, the noto-rious ‘pumpkin toss’, a pumpkin-pie-eating competition, and the annual crowning of ‘Dunbury’s Pumpkin King & Queen’.

Being a country town, there’s also a lot of nature around Dun-bury. There are the native grass-lands of the Dunbury Plains, pop-ular with walkers, but the hidden mineshafts put off all but the most determined of ramblers.

Another big draw for tourists is the Dunbury Cemetery, host to theseventh largest population of crows in the state. Dunbury Cem-etery, like the town of Dunbury it-self, has free admission and is open all year.

Wynwyth & Dunbury GazetteFREE PAPER Since 1887

DUNBURY’S GRASS PLAINS**Walkers, don’t become a statistic. Tourists die EVERY YEAR walking Dunbury’s plains. Beware hidden mineshafts.† †Wynwyth & Dunbury Shire Council take no responsibility for any losses or injuries pertaining to the above.

Visit!

DUNBURY CEMETERY

COME AND SEE THE SEVENTH LARGEST POPULATION OF CROWS IN THE STATE!

OPEN ALL YEAR!