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Statistics
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Km
from Perth |
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Population |
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Rainfall |
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Max.
Temp |
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Min.
Temp |
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Autogas |
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Telecentre |
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Caravan
Park
Caravan facility
available
Services
Attractions
Unknown
Buildings of note
Unknown
Calendar of events
Unknown
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Description
There are a
lot of very small towns in W.A. that aren’t covered in this guide and the
main reason for that is the lack of information about them.
I have to admit that I had never heard of Dudinin and had no idea where it
was until I discovered a book on the town in the Narrogin library.
The town lies south east of Wickepin and is well off the beaten track.
It developed, as did many towns, as a result of the construction of the
railways. The name is Aboriginal in origin and is said to mean ‘place of
much water.’ A little hard to imagine in the dry central wheat belt.
The town site was surveyed in 1914 and gazetted a year later.
Dudinin is one of those country towns that has taken a long time to get good
basic services. Scheme water didn’t arrive until 1970 and it wasn’t until
1973 that the town’s electricity was supplied by the S.E.C. Automated
telephone services finally arrived in 1979.
Dudinin’s fate is the same as many small towns. In the early days there was
a great deal more social activity and there were more people needed to work
the land. With modern farming techniques and better transportation people
began to drift to larger centres and gradually services (like the local
school that closed in 1973) were withdrawn from the town.
Today the town a just a shadow of its former self. Children no longer play
in the school yard and the only time the town really seems to come to life
is during the wheat harvest, when trucks and trains make their way to and
from the silos.
There is a small rather basic caravan facility in town with toilets but no
sign of showers or power.
Tall tales & true: Sailors not welcome!
In the early days there was no store in town with a license to supply
alcohol, but an enterprising gent operated a ‘sly grog shop’ out of his
house in the main street.
This was well patronised by the locals but one day a stranger arrived in
town claiming to be a sailor taking a holiday. He spent some time chatting
with locals and looking around town and it wasn’t long before the police
arrived and the ‘sly grog shop’ was out of business.
The locals were none too pleased at this, and from then on, strangers in
town were viewed with quite some suspicion.
When another ‘sailor’ was heard to be staying with a local family he was
bailed up by some locals who insisted he prove his credentials. Happily for
him he was able to do so and avoided being run out of town.
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