Archways erected

By Owen Sinclair

Mar 14, 2025

A dedicated team of volunteers has paid homage to their community with the latest addition to Barooga’s cherished botanical gardens.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Barooga Botanical Garden committee spent the better part of the last six months designing and creating two archways, which are now installed at the Nangunia St and Banker St entrances to the gardens.

The iron gates stand almost three metres tall and were designed by the garden committee’s own Tom Ranken.

Their focus on local history was no accident, committee treasurer Vanessa Ranken said.

“We wanted to recognise the contribution of locals to the community,” she said.

The metal artwork which adorns the sides of the two arches was also crafted by Mr Ranken.

“The works feature scarified and header tines in homage to the history of farming in the district,” he said.

“My inspiration was the interaction of metal objects with nature and floral artistry re-imagined.”

A waratah made from horseshoes is also a nod to the state floral emblem of NSW.

Mr Ranken said he wanted to pay homage to locals who served in the defence force.

The inclusion of twisted posts in the works allude to the Australian light horse during its desert campaigns, where the posts were used to temporarily fence horses.