North Turramurra, New South Wales

North Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Turramurra is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Turramurra and South Turramurra are separate suburbs.

History

Turramurra is an Aboriginal word which is thought to mean either big hill, high place,^[2] or small watercourse.^[3] Early settlers referred to the area as Eastern Road until the name Turramurra was adopted when the railway station was built in 1890. Eastern Road was an area of orchards. Samuel King, born in 1828 in County Donegal Ireland, arrived in Sydney in 1853. With his wife Ann, he established several orchards along Bobbin Head Road and at North Turramurra and was a noted church and community supporter.^[4]

Eccleston du Faur secured the name Turramurra. Du Faur was born in England in 1832 and was recognised in Sydney as a supporter of the arts and sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1875 and was an early bush conservationist. Most importantly, Du Faur secured the land for the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park from the government of the day. The Chase was declared in 1894. Du Faur personally funded and made a road through the bushland to Bobbin Head. In 1895 he built a house on 25 acres (100,000 m²) at the Chase Gates. After his death in 1915, part of this property became Lady Davidson Home, a convalescent hospital, later Lady Davidson Hospital.^[5]

North Turramurra became a separate suburb from Turramurra when it was officially gazetted as on 5 August 1994.^[6]

Landmarks

North Turramurra is home to the sphinx war memorial. This 1.5 m high replica of the Great Sphinx of Egypt was carved out of sandstone in the 1920s by a returned soldier, in memory of fallen comrades. The suburb is a popular starting point for many bush walkers as it has easy access to Bobbin Head, the upper reaches of Cowan Creek and St Ives Chase. North Turramurra is also the site of an official Bureau of Meteorology rainfall observation station .

Geography

North Turramurra lies on a narrow spur between two creeks (Lovers Jump Creek and Cowan Creek) that flow eventually to the sea through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on the northern outskirts of the city. The heavily forested valleys pose a bush-fire threat each summer, but residents are blessed with common sightings of a wide variety of peculiar and beautiful native wildlife. This is a suburb where you can often see wallabies hopping around backyards.

Population

At the 2011 census, North Turramurra recorded a population of 3,970. Of these:^[1]

• The age distribution is very unusual, due to the large number of Aged Care Facilities. The median age was 53 years, compared to the national median of 37 years. Children aged under 15 years made up 16.1% of the population (national average is 19.3%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 37.5% of the population(national average is 14.0%).
• 65.8% were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth were England 8.8%, South Africa 3.3%, New Zealand 2.0%, Scotland 1.2% and China 1.2%.

The suburb is characterised by a close-knit community and has a strong community group known as NTAG (North Turramurra Action Group), which is one of the most active and successful community groups in the Ku-ring-gai area.

Commercial area

There is a shopping village in North Turramurra on Bobbin Head Road which has an IGA supermarket, bakery, restaurants, post office, newsagent and other facilities.

Restaurants

The village has a number of well known and well loved restaurants on the north shore. These include Happyland Asian Cuisine, The Cook's Garden, The Garden Tap, Mario's Cucina, along with The Far North.

Education

Public education is provided by:

• Ku-ring-gai Creative Arts High School
• Turramurra North Public School. The school was established in 1914.

Climate

North Turramurra has warm, humid summers and cool-to-cold winters. North Turramurra has not been below freezing point for years and the last recorded snow fall was in 1836. North Turramurra gets rain all year round with the most in February (231.9mm). On 6 February 2010 North Turramurra got 180mm of rain in one day; that's almost a month of rain in a day and the most rain recorded since 1990. On 12/13 February 2010 North Turramurra got 60mm in a night and on 13 February 2010 80mm of rain was recorded in North Turramurra. The highest recorded temperature was 46 °C on 14 January 1939. -5 is an unofficial record low in 1836.

Transport

The nearest train station is Turramurra railway station. Buses to North Turramurra are serviced by Transdev NSW at Turramurra train station. Transdev NSW bus route 577 runs through North Turramurra. Burns Road creates a boundary with Turramurra, to the south.

Hospitals

• Lady Davidson Private Hospital one of the largest dedicated rehabilitation hospital in Australia and has a long and distinguished history of providing health services for veterans and private patients.
• Nazareth House is an aged care hospital run by the Sisters of Nazareth.

Ku-ring-gai Council area

References

External links

• North Turramurra, New South Wales is at coordinates 33°43′34″S 151°08′50″E / 33.72615°S 151.14712°E / -33.72615; 151.14712Coordinates: 33°43′34″S 151°08′50″E / 33.72615°S 151.14712°E / -33.72615; 151.14712
• Turramurra & Kissing Point Rover Crews, both based in Turramurra, are active groups of young people aged 18~25, who are into a wide range of outdoor, social and community service activities.