Thanks to a devastating fire in 2015 Cudal is a town with a pub with no beer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But things were a lot different back in the 1920s when two hotels competed for local and passing trade in the small town.
The Tattersalls and Royal hotels were near each other on the main street.
When a Tooths Brewery inspector first visited Cudal in 1925 the Royal had been trading for 11 years but the Tattersalls was struggling.
A fire in late 1928 damaged the building and according to a report in the Molong Express and Western District Advertiser in January 1929 it was "condemned for destruction" at a Special Licensing Board hearing with 12 months given for a new building to be erected.
A brewery inspection in April 1930, contained in official records held by the Australian National University and the Noel Butlin Archive, said it had temporarily closed.
"Licence surrendered by [licensee Austin] O'Neill but Mr Brown [who is not further identified in the report] said he went back into the hotel," the inspector wrote.
But Cudal's days as a two-pub town were about to come to an end. "Licence surrendered, hotel closed 30.6.30," was the death notice an inspector recorded.
The Royal continued to trade with a constant change of licensees.
The inspectors recorded the coming of the electric light to Cudal in 1938.
Business was slow during the 1930s and war years but gradually picked up in the 1950s, dipping again in the early 1960s.
The inspectors recorded that the bars were renovated in 1972.
However, fire would again play its part in the life of Cudal pubs with the 2015 blaze, just after the pub had celebrated 100 years trading, destroying the building.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE AND DISTRICT NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up here ...