A DRIVE ON YORKE'S PENINSULA.

Y0RKE PENINSULA COUNTRY TIMES FOUNDED 1865

Wednesday 4 April 1984, Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932 - 1986) Trove

KADINA, at the head of Yorke Peninsula, is a thriving rural town, in the heart of some of Australia's best cereal growing country.

The Yorke Peninsula 'leg', covers the two Counties — Fergusson and Daly — and within this area are a number of other I towns whose communities are mainly I dependant on rural production. These I towns include Paskeville, Ardrossan, Maitland, Minlaton, Curramulka, Yorketown and Edithburg.

The 'leg' surrounded by sea, is bordered by St Vincent Gulf to the East, and Spencers Gulf to the West: both gulfs providing deep sea ports for SA Co-operative Bulk Handling shipping terminals at Ardrossan, Port Giles and Wallaroo.

Cereal crops are the major primary effort, with the average Yorke Peninsula production figures, as supplied by the Department of Agriculture, being wheat 170,000 tonnes, barley 400,000 tonnes, oats 25,000 tonnes and field peas 25,000 tonnes. Triticale, field peas, oil seed rape and sunflower are also grown.

Livestock statistics show that there are 1.1 million sheep (wool and fat lambs), 47,000 pigs and 20,000 cattle.

Fishing is naturally another of the important industries of the Peninsula, with a flourishing fishing fleet of 39 trawlers operating out of Wallaroo during the open season, while scale fishing gives employment to a section of the community commercially, as well as providing additional incentive for tourism during the summer months.

The thousands who come to Yorke Peninsula for holidays enjoy the many beautiful beaches and rocky coastline, which provide opportunities for spear, surf and rock fishing, underwater exploration of the many coastal wrecks, swimming, boating, yachting and skiing.

The development of the 'YP Country Times', the only country newspaper printed on Yorke Peninsula is of particular interest. It is an amalgamation of 12 other papers going back to the Wallaroo 'Times' of 186S, the Southern Yorke Peninsula 'Pioneer' of 1898, the 'Yorke Peninsula Advertiser and Mines News' of 1872, and the 'People's Weekly' of 1890. The 'YP Country Times' was first published in 1968 and now has a paid circulation of 7000.

A number of State Government Regional Offices are situated on Yorke Peninsula, including the Regional Police headquarters, Dept of Agriculture, Dept of Community Welfare, E & WS Dept, Dept of Marine and Harbors, Dept of Lands and Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The Australian Electoral Office for the Division of Wakefield is situated in Kadina.

Sport is a prominent feature of Yorke Peninsula social activity, covering the wide spectrum of summer and winter sports, together with a number of clubs devoted to the less popular sports.

Kadina is the focal point of major sports. Through the Sport and Recreation Centre top grade sporting facilities are provided, as well as catering for many of the larger Peninsula social functions. Trotting is a regular feature on the sporting calendar, with the Yorke Peninsula Trotting Club holding regular night events at the Kadina track. The annual A & H Society Shows also mirror district activity.

One of the major events on the Copper Triangle — Kadina, Wallaroo, Moonta — biennial calendar is the now famous 'Kernewek Lowender' Festival held in May, attended by many thousands, who come to the area to celebrate and remember the Cornish forebears of the district who, in the latter part of the 1800s and early 1900s mined large areas of copper which, at that time, made a valuable contribution to the State's economy.

The famous Cornish pasty and the alcoholic drink of the pioneers 'Swanky', are consumed in large quantities during the Festival. It is interesting to note that the 'YP Country Times' printed on its own Goss Community press, serves an area that at one time or other since 1865, has had a total of 23 other country newspapers.