23/02/2026
Timeless Memories - From Toowoomba Chronicle ā 23 March 1998
In our early years, our weekends were often spent setting up displays at local markets and country shows, sharing stories and treasured pieces of the past. But of all those outings, one of the most memorable ā and certainly one of the happiest ā was the Russell Street Heritage Fair.
For that special day, Russell Street was closed from the railway lines through to Ruthven Street and thenToowoomba's city heart seemed to step back in time.
Local history societies and community groups proudly shared their collections and research. Craftsmen patiently demonstrated trades that have almost disappeared from modern life, while ladies stitched and quilted, their embroidery hoops and patchwork frames drawing quiet admiration. There were old-fashioned children's games, steam train rides, bush poets reciting beneath wide Queensland skies and townsfolk dressed in period costume, strolling as though they had wandered straight out of another century.
There was a wonderful sense of community ā laughter, storytelling and the simple joy of remembering. It felt as though history wasnāt something locked away in books, but something alive and breathing in the street around us. It is hard not to feel a pang of sadness that the fair is no longer and lost to history itself.
Still, it gifted us one enduring image by Chronicle photographers: Mark, snapped whilst trapped behind a brass bed, perfectly cast in his convict attire ā a moment of humour frozen in time and one that still brings a smile.
