Tales from the Bushland Shire - Part 2 - Fagan Park

Fagan Park at Galston was gifted to the people of NSW by the Fagan Family in 1980 with Hornsby Shire Council as trustee of the 55 hectare parcel of land.  It had been a large and very successful citrus orchard but The Depression brought an end to that and saw it converted to a dairy farm specialising in the breeding of Jersey cows which were popular at the time.  My mother's family always had a Jersey house cow which kept much of their street in milk during those difficult years.  It also fertilised my grandfather's gardens that helped feed much of that same street.

So fast forward to the Celebration of a Nation or the Masturbation of a Nation as I preferred to call it, our gloriously self-indulgent Bicentenary Year of 1988 when NSW Premier Nick Greiner took time off from closing public schools to open Fagan Park, "the crown jewel of Hornsby Shire's parks".  The latter was probably written by some aspiring PR consultant from the council or even an actual councillor seeking immortality as some do.  I may attach an addendum of Hornsby Shire councillors who fit this category.

To our great shame Peter and I had only visited Fagan Park once before and then just the southern end where the old farmhouse and outbuildings are located.  Given our commitment to holiday within the Shire of Hornsby this seemed like a perfect place to begin and explore some other parts of this very large park.  Besides, my good friend Dawnie had been on my back to get out and move my fat arse so move it I did.

Those of you who remember the Masturbation of a Nation will recall it was a bit like the Sydney Olympics only it went for a full 12 months.  It was the Olympics of steroids which of course the actual Olympics largely were back in those days.  We congratulated ourselves for just about everything apart from Indigenous health, education, housing and stealing the continent off them in the first place.  But never mind that, let's all sing...  "Masturbation of a Nation, give us a hand... "

There were a few good outcomes though, especially for people who made brass plaques because there are more of them scattered around the country than in the crematorium grounds at Rookwood Cemetery.  One is attached to a rock somewhere in Fagan Park which was clearly the result of a very grand 1980s plan which has languished a little over the decades.

Don't get me wrong here, the park is well maintained but some of the vision has been lost.  The international themed gardens have form but their content has thinned over the years as plantings have failed and management has taken a more minimalist approach which is disappointing.  The Japanese Garden has probably fared best of all with hardy plantings of blossoming trees, camellias and azaleas which are all hard to kill.

The Dutch Garden was a bit of a mystery until we spotted the faux canal complete with little bridge which looks like it may have been designed to be raised.  But there's not a tulip to be seen and certainly no cannabis cafes.  Ditto with the English Garden which I think was just a couple of shrubs tacked onto the side of the Dutch Garden.

The North American Garden features a neat little white New England style house with skillfully bricked paths and garden edges which once probably contained an actual garden but now there are just four large succulents borrowed from the nearby South American Garden.

South America, Africa and the Mediterranean have all been stocked with extremely hardy plants, many of them succulents which you'd be hard pressed to kill with a bushfire.  Each garden contains some kind of structure which is indicative of its region and that's all a bit of fun.  I was reminded of the pixie houses I enjoyed so much during Sunday School picnics at the Fairyland Pleasure Grounds by the Lane Cove River only these are much slicker.

There are several ponds, on one of which my mind's eye saw paddle boats which were another childhood joy of mine.  But there are no paddle boats, just ducks and coots who are probably very glad of the absence of water craft.

We left the Australian Garden for when we return in a few weeks to see the blossom trees in the Chinese and Japanese Gardens.  Given that every other garden has a themed structure of some sort be it the terraces and fountain in the Mediterranean Garden or the circular Ndebele hut in the African Garden my money's on a dunny in the Australian Garden.