New MP Adam Jogee attended one of our Parish Council meetings and later facilitated the visit of the Australian High Commissioner to the UK, Steve Smith on Australia Day. Steve visited the Miners’ Monument and 86 Newcastle Street in tracing the path of Joseph Cooke in the 1870s prior to emigration and the ultimate achievement of becoming prime minister.
In the 1920s, Cooke returned to the UK as High Commissioner, celebrated in the Bush (then Sneyd Arms Hotel). The last time we had the top Australian diplomat was in 1996 to unveil the Miners’ Monument.