TOURISM attractions emerge at times in the most unexpected of places and this is certainly the case with the precinct around what was once Terrys Brewery in years gone by.
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It is a development that old JAS (‘Jackass’) Jones would never have envisaged in the brewery’s heyday as a source of imbibement.
The heritage listed brewery also gained fleeting fame as the location for a movie ‘The Coca Cola Kid’ that starred ‘Pretty Woman’ Julia Roberts’ brother Eric, Greta Scacchi and an assortment of Lithgow extras.
But these days something new and obviously exciting is drawing visitors and locals alike to that pretty Oakey Park gully.
The brewery has for some years been used by the Schindler family as a successful water bottling facility.
Last year the operation reached out to a former life and created a boutique brewery, including a stout based on a recipe that won a gold medal in London many years ago.
That was the catalyst for a plunge into the local tourism world as the word spread.
Then a couple escaping from Sydney to a new life in the bush purchased the restored heritage building that had been a residence for the brewery ownermanager and reflected classic old world charm.
Restoration of the house had been completed some time earlier by Les and Mary-Lou Green and the new residents quickly saw potential for a B and B (bed and breakfast) facility.
Renaming the old home as Linden Tree Manor completed the transformation of what existed at the end of Brewery Lane.
Since then the precinct has become a magnet for visitors and locals with social events, birthdays, charity fundraisers, the Halloween Ball and even ‘ghost tours’ exploring the innards of the old brewery.
A recent major event in what is now The Old Zig Zag Brewery was a hugely successful bush dance held as a fundraiser for breast cancer research.
The B and B, once the grand home of wealthy brewer JAS Jones (unkindly known as ‘Jackass’) is owned by Gabe and Stacia Very.
They saw the opportunity for a treechange and fell in love with the home and its surroundings at first sight.
The Verys have been installed in Lithgow for almost two years but Gabe, perhaps unknowingly, already had a link with our city.
Back in the 1960s he was a first grade footballer with Parramatta around the same time Barry Rushworth was making his name from Parramatta to the touring Kangaroo side.
Now Gabe and Stacia call Lithgow home and won’t be going anywhere soon.
