Ballimore is a small village in the Orana region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The name also refers to the surrounding rural locality. In the , it recorded a population of 240 people. The area now known as Ballimore lies on the traditional lands of

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people. Ballimore is located about east of

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

on the

Golden Highway Golden Highway (also known as Mitchells Line of Road at its eastern end) is a highway, located in the Hunter and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. It runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle on the coast, allowing road transpo ...

. The village's site is located near the confluence of the

Talbragar River Talbragar River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Orana district of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises on the western side of the Liverpool Range on the so ...

and its tributary Ballimore Creek, being bordered on one side by the river and on another side by the

Troy Junction–Merrygoen railway line Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was add ...

. It was the construction of the railway, which led to the formation of the village. The village of Ballimore was proclaimed on 12 May 1916. Ballimore is likely naned after the identically-named place in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, Scotland. From 1918 to 1975, Ballimore had a railway station. There is still a siding, silo, and grain loader there. The village also has a public school and a hotel. There is a deposit of coal in the area, which has been mined in the past, beginning in the 1880s. The coal was suitable for steaming, but was not suitable for making

town gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

, and could not be used to make coke. While boring to find coal, in 1887, a seam of coal was struck at a depth of 540 feet, but then

artesian water An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of impermeable roc ...

was struck at a depth of 550 feet. The water was under enough pressure that it could flow in piping to around 30 feet above ground, at a rate of 1,000

gallons The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia, ...

per hour. When the water was assessed, it was found to be high-quality mineral water. The predominating mineral content was

sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cat ...

. From 1897, the source of mineral (soda) water was tapped, using deep bores in the area. It was sold under the brand name, 'Zetz-Spa', originally by the Zetz-Spa Proprietary Company and, from 1902, by Tooths. In 1951, there were three mineral water bores; one operated by Tooths, another supplying Schwepps, and a third used for watering livestock. Tooth's continued to market 'Zetz-Spa' mineral water, until 1977.

References

Localities in New South Wales Dubbo Regional Council Springs of Australia {{NewSouthWales-geo-stub