Kempton Town Faire

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Our friends Adrian and Josephine invited us to the annual Kempton Town Faire to celebrate its heritage. The folks in Kempton are proud of their Cobb & Co. coach, one of the few surviving in Australia. The web site for the Museum of Victoria says, “The Cobb & Co coach lines began during the Victorian gold rushes…. Importing American ‘thorough brace’ coaches that proved ideal for rough bush roads, they broke each journey into short ‘stages’ with regular horse changes, enabling strict timetables to be maintained.” Kempton was one of the towns on the coach route linking Launceston and Hobart, now known as the Heritage Highway. Kempton has several historic colonial buildings, built of sandstone by convicts. We enjoyed watching the exercises by Australian Light Horsemen, mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry. They served during the Second Boer War and World War I. Classic cars were on display, as well as some of Tasmania’s venemous snakes.