Retired couple's memorable visit to the Australian Melton Mowbray

Carl and Barbara Watson, who live in Dalby Road, were visiting friends Down Under in Melbourne when they decided to pay a visit to their home town’s namesake in Tasmania.

But they quickly discovered it was very different from our own bustling market town, being a dusty, rural community inhabited by just a few dozen households.

Barbara (79) told the Melton Times: “We went to an information bureau in Australia and when we asked for travel advice to Melton Mowbray the woman said ‘why on earth do you want to go there, there’s nothing there?’

"We explained that we lived in Melton Mowbray in England and she said ‘well I can get you there on a bus but I will have to check if I can get you back as well’.

"The bus driver who dropped us off was surprised because he said he’d been driving buses for 25 years and had never stopped there before.”

Barbara and her 80-year-old husband, who are seasoned international travellers, spent about half-an-hour in the settlement, touring the few buildings and taking photographs on a very hot day.

The main landmark in the town is The Melton Mowbray Hotel, which was built by Samuel Blackwell in 1849 after he emigrated there from the Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray.

The settlement, which was originally called Cross Marsh, then assumed the new name due to the hotel, which became a stopping point for people travelling on horse-drawn coaches between the state capital, Hobart, and Launceston.

"The hotel was derelict but it was very well preserved,” said Barbara.

"It was very dusty and hot and there was not much there at all, no shops and apparently only about 60 people live there.

"As we were walking around, a lady stopped in her car and asked if we were OK as she was surprised to see people walking around the place.”

She added: “It did cross our minds that the bus might not come back to pick us up so we were relieved when it did.”