The following article appeared on the front page of the Advertiser on July 22, 1965.

SNOW A MAGNET FOR THOUSANDS

Snow covered mountains and fields in the Millfield-Wollombi-Quarrybylong areas during the weekend attracted thousands of people from Hunter Valley and Newcastle areas

Local residents were amazed at the amount of snow which fell during the early hours of Sunday.  It is believed to have been first sighted by dancers at the Millfield Ex-Serviceman’s club at about 1.30am.

An employee of the club, Mr. A. Harris, was in the foyer of the building when he noticed it, he grabbed handfuls of the glistening snow and took it inside the club.

“We could clearly see the snow falling,” he said later.

Rector of the Wollombi Church of England parish, the Rev. Peter Greaves first spotted the snow on Mt. View as he prepared for his first service of the day.

Miles of it

To the south of his home he could see miles of snow covered escarpment laying over the Watagan plateau.

“I rang the church bell [sic] skied often on Barrington Tops, [sic] had told his wife the night before that it was cold enough for snow to fall over that mountain range that night.

Before 7 o’clock next morning several cars had travelled along Wollombi Road to Hayes Road, a forestry track which leads to the summit of Mt. Millfield.

Among the first to reach the area were Messrs Harry Crawford, Ray Davies, P. Phillips, Brain Phillips, Ray McGregor, Eric Coombes, Jack Evans, Garbey Craft and their families, all from the Millfield district.

Mr. Coombes and his family were well prepared. They ate breakfast served from the boot of their car.

A report from the snowfield said that children, middle aged men and women and grandparents threw snowballs with equal enthusiasm.

 Heavy volumes of traffic passed through Millfield during the morning bound for Laguna where a heavy fall had been reported.

Small business and petrol stations en route did a record amount of trade.

Mr. W. Drayton drove to the top of Mt. View where he took photographs before proceeding to Mt. Millfield.

Heaviest falls

Members of the Paxton Cricket Club joined forces to ‘bombard’ fellow member, Mr. S. Parkes, who soon left to drive to Mt. View and Quarrybylong where the heaviest falls were reported.

Mr Parkes said that one farmhouse at Quarrybylong was sitting amidst an “immaculate field of snow”.

At 8am traffic was banked up along the road leading to Newcastle State Forest so Mr Parkes set out for the Hunter Lookout.  There he saw snow three to four inches deep covering the ground. 

He said the snow was still there when he returned before nightfall.

At Wollombi Mr. Parkes met sightseers from Singleton, who had seen snow near Broke.

Wollombi resident, Mr. Mel Jurd, said the earliest reports of snow had come from Mr. Ron Fernance, who had a farm a few miles from the town.

But the snow was not all for fun and games.

From Laguna to Newcastle State Forest it had left a path of destruction.

High winds and the weight of the snow had broken limbs and branches from trees.

Other large trees had been uprooted by the winds, blocking minor roads.

Cattle in some place were left dead by the freezing point temperatures if the previous night.

***

Cessnock resident Myra Hill shared her photos of her children playing in the snowfield of Quorrobolong on July 18, 1965.

She said her family were at church on the Sunday morning, and had heard people who lived at Kitchener and Quorrobolong say it had been snowing in the area.

“We didn’t believe them at first,” Mrs. Hill said.

So the family got in their car and joined the line of traffic who headed out to see the wonder for themselves.

Mrs. Hill said her kids thoroughly enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“They were quite excited,” she said.

“It was a great lot of fun.”

Many flocked to the areas to see the snow for themselves, some engaging in snow fights and building snowmen that they attempted to bring home on the back of their cars, “which of course didn’t last long,” Mrs. Hill said.

***

Eric Burgess of Kurri managed to record the snow day on a slide.

Mr. Burgess received a phone call from a friend at Pelaw Main about snow at Mulbring, but thought there would be more chance of seeing it in a more open area.

So he packed up his and another family and headed out to Quorrobolong to see it for their own eyes.

Mr. Burgess said they were very surprised to hear that the area had received snow.

“I had never even seen or heard of snow in the district,” he said.

“We were very excited.”

Mr. Burgess said waiting for the slides to be developed in Sydney, which was the only place available back in those days, added even more excitement to the event.

“Those photos have done the rounds since,” he said.

***

Former Advertiser managing editor Bruce Wilson shared his memories of the snow day.

"How well I remember that day, feeling the chill outside and gazing at the snow-clad Mount View area," he said.

"Even in those days without Twitter or Facebook, it did not take long for the word to spread that the Cessnock area had become a winter wonderland.

"Along with three mates we ventured to the Weston Soccer ground, huddled under blankets, to see Cessnock Hornets play the Bears.

"A number of cars coming into the ground had been visiting the “snowfields” and had mini showmen on their bonnets."

***

Our 'Throwback Thursday' Facebook post reached more than 26,000 people, with many comments from local residents who remembered that day.

Dale Watson: "Yes I remember playing in the snow at Mt View, I was 5 years old, unfortunately I have no photos, as we didn't own a camera. Their was only one car owner in our street & he took all the kids in our street to see the snow, we were very lucky."

Kristine Burr: "I remember but again no camera in our house back then.. Dad took us to quorrobolong to see the snow...❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️"

Ruth Lorraine Spink: "Golly that was a long time ago-I remember!!"

Jenny Jones: "I remember that event. Snow on Mt Sugarloaf and in the Watagans too."

Linda Rehfeld: "Mum drove us from Southie to Kitchener to build a snow man. We put it on top of the car and drove in to town. What fun"