Lightning Ridge in 1975 - Aerial Tour, Mining, Town Tour

[@maradhero3099]

Golden age. The person who has captured this video is very smart. And You too. Thank You very much.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you so much! And thanks for watching, too. 😁👍

[@DATONALKY]

Something something algorithm... Great work as always 👌

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you sir! 😁👍

[@Der_Kleine_Mann]

The quality of the film is actually really good, very interesting to watch. Thank you for uploading the footage.

[@CuriosityMine]

You’re very welcome! Thanks for watching. 😁

[@wisencareful4645]

Bravo ! Someone preserving the Ridges amazing History. Well done !! Wish I had movies of my Dad & his mates when young. Excellent. Thankyou .

[@CuriosityMine]

You’re very welcome! Thank you for watching. 😁

[@leisacarney1700]

Love it Russell, great work yet again x

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks Leisa! 😁

[@MissMorph]

Really fascinating and what an important little piece of history. It must be strange but amazing seeing where your dads journey started. Thank you for sharing.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks Max! Much appreciated. It’s genuinely bizarre to see Dad so young and adventurous, it was a fun piece of history to uncover and restore. Thanks for watching. 😁

[@fredrossiter2028]

What a truly wonderful film, thank you so much for bringing back memories of time I had at the Ridge.

[@CuriosityMine]

You’re welcome Fred! Thanks for watching and giving feedback, it’s much appreciated. 👍👍

[@brettlloyd78]

It's great to see lighting ridge even earlier than I first visited in the late eighties as a kid then moving there in the early nineties. Thankyou for putting in the time effort and sharing something that means a lot to you very much appreciated

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you so much, and you’re very welcome. It’s a pleasure to share these videos. 👍

[@renross6726]

My uncle had a mine on the 9 mile at the Berlin Rush....those were the good ole days in the 70s.

[@CuriosityMine]

Amazing! Great to have those memories, for sure. Really appreciate the comment!

[@anasevi9456]

great work on compiling it and choice of enhancer. Fascinating how much has changed and yet stayed the same.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you! I'm really happy with the final result. 😁

[@theopalmills]

Awesome video, thanks for the tour of Lightning ridge as seen the year I was born. 🤪👍

[@CuriosityMine]

You’re very welcome! Thanks for stopping by. 😁

[@korgothkillings2032]

Nice video

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you, and thanks for watching. 😁

[@leewarry8641]

My brother & 3 of his friends went to lighting ridge in 75 for 6 months in an old had Holden .they got a few opal’s,s enough to live off but nothing great .

[@jasonbrown5263]

That was an awesome video :-)

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! 😁

[@wadelintick9538]

Great stuff, in 1975 i was 16 yrs old, wish i would have come to Australia.

[@CuriosityMine]

Sounds like you would have been the same age as my dad in this video - pretty sure he was 16-17 at the time!

[@wadelintick9538]

@@CuriosityMine Pretty close, born 1959. worked in narrow vein gold mines for most of my mining career. Would have had a blast with your pop

[@CuriosityMine]

Dad was born ‘58. Definitely would have been some great conversations there!

[@willatkins9686]

I was there in 72 and 73 as a 15yr old. My father had 2 partners in a mine. Pollies did away with the Miner's Right then quite controversal then.

[@CuriosityMine]

1974 was a pivotal year for the Miners’ Right at Lightning Ridge. I’ve had a video project ongoing for some time about the protest march and reforms that occurred following the changes. Hoping to publish that one soon, just need to fill in a few gaps.

[@wadelintick9538]

Is there opal under the lake?

[@CuriosityMine]

Unlikely, but not impossible. The majority of the opal at Lightning Ridge is found at the edges of the ironstone ridges (check the area out on Google Maps satellite view, you can clearly see where the most intense diggings are). Flats such as the lake are usually not opal bearing. HOWEVER, a lot can happen in a hundred million years so there will definitely be deposits that have shifted to places that don’t follow the geological pattern.

[@danielfmyers]

Some of the houses looked to be built on raised beds

[@CuriosityMine]

It's pretty common for the houses in Lightning Ridge to be built on concrete stumps, usually made by filling oil barrels with concrete and leaving them in place. Most of the cement board (Fibro) houses in this film would have been made that way. I used to live in one of them....the insulation was awful. Thanks for commenting! 😁

[@scottlubsen9004]

Now I know why I haven’t watched any of the family’s old 8mm. & super 8. Movies. 🤣😂