The Old Bombo Quarry will have its 15 minutes of fame when it features in an upcoming episode of the Coast Australia series on Foxtel.
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Kiama Historical Society member Malcolm Bedford was contacted by the show’s producers to assist with production of a large segment on the area, and met with the team and television host Neil Oliver in late February.
The program explores when the quarry first opened in 1881 and details how workers blew the rocks up then hammered them into shape, before shipping them to Sydney to be used mostly on roads and railways.
“It had a wild history,” said Mr Bedford. “There were 150 men living there … so they built a temporary pub to have a drink after work, but the behaviour got so bad the pub got closed down and it was turned into a Sunday School.”
The history buff said the show’s host was particularly interested in the 260 million-year-old basalt which had the nickname “Blue Diamond”, hence the name given to a Kiama hotel.
The episode from Botany to Jervis Bay is scheduled to air in early 2017.
The film company has promised to donate the upcoming series on DVD to the Pilot’s Cottage Museum.
