Basic HTML Version
Cultural
Sport and Ipswich have long been synonymous. Bowls, croquet and
tennis were popular before Federation and many private homes had
their own tennis court. The first horse race meeting in Ipswich was
held in 1848 and the first official race meeting in Queensland was
held in Ipswich in 1859. The Ipswich Amateur Turf Club came into
being in 1890 at the Bundamba Race Course. The name changed in
1988 and today the Ipswich Turf Club continues the much loved
tradition of horse racing in the region.
The first golf club was established at Limestone Park in 1905 and
the greens had to be fenced to protect the carefully nurtured
couch from grazing animals. Local architect, George Brockwell
Gill, is recorded as complaining that a good shot could be spoiled
when the ball hit a horse!
Many codes of football have been played during Ipswich’s 150 years
including rugby league, soccer, rugby union and Australian rules.
In Rugby Union there were the marvellous McLean brothers (Jeff
and Paul) who both played for the Wallabies. Rugby League has
produced some great Ipswich competitors, with Allan Langer and
the Walters brothers (Kevin, Kerrod, Brett, Andrew and Steve) being
probably the best known. The local League team, now called the
Ipswich Jets, has an enthusiastic following and the Allan Langer Oval
at Blair State School in Sadliers Crossing commemorates its famous
past pupil. Brothers Leagues Club began in 1920 and in 1963 it was
able to establish a ground of its own. It now boasts an extensive
junior development program as well as a very popular club venue.
From humble beginnings prior to 1905, Ipswich cricket can claim
many luminaries, starting with Hubert “Bert” Ironmonger (1882 – 1971),
a left handed spin bowler from Pine Mountain who made his test
debut in the same match as a young Donald Bradman. Others
include players such as Craig McDermott, Andy Bichel, Dirk Tazelaar,
and Shane Watson. Ipswich can also boast world class players in
many sports including those competing in the Commonwealth
Games and the Olympics. Touch football, hockey, swimming,
shooting, indoor cricket, baseball, athletics, soccer, softball,
Since the early days of the city Ipswich has embraced the Arts.
In 1886 the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir was founded and
is now the longest continuously performing choir in Queensland.
The Orpheus Chorale was formed by George Hogg in 1969 and this
has also grown into a highly successful choir. Eisteddfods have been
a feature of Ipswich life since Bob Lulham and Charles Tongue
organised a mini-eisteddfod for children in 1942. Now known as the
Ipswich Junior Eisteddfod, it attracts around 6000 competitors over
a five to six week period. The Ipswich Little Theatre was formed in
1946 and it still entertains audiences today from its home in the
Incinerator Theatre. The group also hosts the oldest play festival in
Australia each May. Officially opened on 19 July, 1975 by then Prime
Minister Gough Whitlam, the Ipswich Civic Centre is the city’s
premier entertainment venue and function centre. Its year-round
program of local, national and international theatre caters for the
community and provides a major drawcard for visitors to the city.
In the past, great names such as Harold Blair, Ray Jones, Margaret
Barton and Valerie Cooney all claimed Ipswich as home. With
the arrival of television, Ipswich’s Hugh Cornish (a veteran of
the eisteddfods as a child) appeared on the first program on
Queensland television. Today this love of the performing arts
continues in Ipswich with many studios of dance, theatre, musical
instrument, singing and chorale scattered all over the city.
Storytellers and poets are also part of the Ipswich art scene and
Ipswich’s Poetry Feast is held each year with a “slam event” taking
place for the first time in 2010.
Ipswich can claim many wonderful visual artists too. One of the
most well known is d’Arcy Doyle (1932 – 2001) whose depictions of
day-to-day life growing up in Ipswich still attracts great attention.
Today, Ipswich boasts an incredible wealth of artistic talent, from
textile and sculpture to oils, water colour, acrylic, mixed media and
photographic. The Ipswich Art Gallery hosts a range of exhibitions
throughout the year and the Ipswich Art Awards, held in conjunction
with the Ipswich Festival each year, is highly competitive. Other
galleries dot Ipswich Central and host a number of exhibitions
throughout the year.
A town perhaps better known for its industry and sporting
prowess, Ipswich is nonetheless a reservoir of diverse and
inspirational artistic endeavour.
the arts
sport
26 Ipswich 150: 1860 – 2010
Proud Past - Exciting Future
d’Arcy Doyle
Wet wicket
1998
Oil on canvas 59.5 x 90 cm. Ipswich Art Gallery Collection, 2003
Ipswich Jets Colts team - Grand Final winners 1990