Mountain Mist Books

18/03/2022

Mountain Mist Books is at the Lithgow Show today Saturday 19 March from 10am. Come along and have a look.

29/04/2021

Mountain Mist Books will be at the Wollemi Artisan Markets at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in Katoomba, tomorrow Saturday May 1st from 10am to 3pm!
Come along and buy a book to take bushwalking or for a read around the fireside or bedtime!

16/03/2021

This week we will be at the Lithgow Show Friday afternoon and all day Saturday in the pavilion with a bookstall of Mountain Mist books plus a few others. And it will be the first time that my new book "The Coal Bubble ~ Blair Athol No. 4 Colliery, Mount Victoria NSW" will be on sale with the author on hand to sign copies at no extra cost!

01/03/2021

New book available mid-March 2021

"The Coal Bubble ~ Blair Athol No. 4 Colliery, Mount Victoria NSW"

Tucked away in a gully a short distance from the village of Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains of NSW there’s an almost century-old mine tunnel that is open to the public. In the vicinity of the tunnel is a sparse collection of relics from the mine’s heyday in the early 1920s. Known locally as the Blair Athol Mine, it was actually the “Blair Athol No. 4 Colliery”. The name came from its developer, the Blair Athol Coal and Timber Company which operated three mines on the fabulous Blair Athol coal field of central Queensland.
The Coal Bubble reveals how a former Lithgow coalminer and his links to the Queensland Blair Athol company brought about this enterprise at Mount Victoria. Author Keith Painter shows how the company spent a fortune driving the tunnel through hazards such as ironstone bands, rising water, unreliable electric power, and finally a shortage of capital and support from directors and shareholders.
Read how Eli Deeley became a virtual millionaire, how Jack Roberts nearly lost his life, how John Hetherington’s visions for the Mount Victoria mine and an open-cut at Blair Athol failed in his lifetime.
After reading this epic story you could even visit the mine site!

132 A4 pages with over 150 photos, maps, document copies etc.

19/07/2020

Some Hazelbrook history this time.

The PDF file of “History Hound No. 6 – Weekend Leases Hazelbrook” is now available for downloading from the Mountain Mist Books website.

In 1912 John Trefle became the Minister for Lands. One of his reform measures was the introduction of weekend leases. Was this where the great Australian tradition of having a “weekender” came from?

Weekend Lease Area No. 1 was at Hazelbrook.

The link is http://www.mountainmistbooks.com/blue-mountains-history-hound.asp

Happy reading!

Mountain Mist Books brings you the Pocket Pal range of pocket-sized bushwalking guides PLUS a growing range of local history books.

29/06/2020

The PDF file of “History Hound No. 5 – Did a printer’s mistake name a waterfall?” is now available for downloading from the Mountain Mist Books website.

The waterfall is not far from Fairy Bower at Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains. This episode is the third covering that area near Mount Piddington.

The link is http://www.mountainmistbooks.com/blue-mountains-history-hound.asp

Happy reading!

Mountain Mist Books brings you the Pocket Pal range of pocket-sized bushwalking guides PLUS a growing range of local history books.

11/06/2020

"History Hound No. 4 -- The Mystery of Diggers Bridge" has just been posted on our website. The bridge was at Hazelbrook in the Horseshoe Falls Reserve but not where the maps showed it! Here's the link: http://www.mountainmistbooks.com/blue-mountains-history-hound.asp

Mountain Mist Books brings you the Pocket Pal range of pocket-sized bushwalking guides PLUS a growing range of local history books.

25/05/2020

Another History Hound has been posted on the Mountain Mist Books website: "History Hound No. 2 – Where is the Lieutenant Moberly plaque?"
Here’s the link: http://mountainmistbooks.com/blue-mountains-history-hound.asp
Each History Hound story is a downloadable PDF file.
Let me know if you would like to be notified when I post a new History Hound.
Hope you enjoy the story.

Mountain Mist Books brings you the Pocket Pal range of pocket-sized bushwalking guides PLUS a growing range of local history books.

17/05/2020

Breaking News!

"Blue Mountains History Hound" has just gone live!

During the past 25 years as I have been researching bushwalking tracks and other Blue Mountains History I have found a few mysteries and sometimes one find has raised further questions.

It has been my privilege to have solved a number of these mysteries, found answers to questions and, on a few occasions, rewritten our understanding of some aspect of local history.

Some of these topics will be covered in "Blue Mountains History Hound" reports.

The reports will be in PDF format for you to download. Please respect the fact that they are copyright and do ask me if you want to reproduce anything.

The first report can be found at
http://www.mountainmistbooks.com/blue-mountains-history-hound.asp

Check it out.

Mountain Mist Books brings you the Pocket Pal range of pocket-sized bushwalking guides PLUS a growing range of local history books.

07/05/2020

Last year we published a new edition of Rosemary Painter's book of poems: "The Green Leaves of Spring". She wrote them some years ago as she was preparing to go to Papua New Guinea to help her husband Keith re-open a church printshop at Tari in the Southern Highlands Province. And then some of them were written at Tari. She writes about her experiences and some of the challenges she encountered.
Here's a few stanzas of a sample poem:

When ...
When the phones don't work
And the airstrip's closed
The bridge is out and the mail's not come
-- You are here Lord!

When the neighbours have left
No whiteskins about
-- You are present Father!

When my job is gone
And I rethink my day
Jesus, you are mine!
..

You are here Lord in this place
I have all Lord and I seek Your face
To say thank You
Your love warms me today
And makes me look at life
In a fresh new way!

Copyright Rosemary Painter

"The Green Leaves of Spring" is just $7 posted anywhere in Australia. www.mountainmistbooks.com

20/04/2020

Many of us are restricted to staying at home most of the time. It's a great opportunity to do some reading! Or buy a book or two for a friend who can't get out and about.
We have a range of easy-reading local history books covering topics such as Mount Victoria's chert industries of the 1920s - including Sentinel steam waggons; Hassans Walls Reserve at Lithgow - with lots of Lithgow area history; also the story of James Padley, one of the driving forces in Lithgow in the early 1900s - even has some Blue Mountains history; and a book about openings of tracks, lookouts, monuments etc in the Blue Mountains.
For those of you don't like reading huge slabs of text each book has hundreds of illustrations - photos, maps, diagrams, and more.
At the moment we have a special offer of a package deal on two Lithgow-related books: "Hassans Walls ~ Prized and Pillaged" and "Padley of the Pedestal ~ James McMillan Padley". Both books posted to you for just $50. That's a saving of $25 on the regular price.
Go to www.mountainmistbooks.com and shop now

07/04/2020

Here's a Blue Mountains history quiz!
What event happened on this date?
1. 25th February 1899 - here's a clue: Blackheath, there was food.
2. 3rd December 1913 - clue: between Katoomba and Leura, there was water.
3. 7th October 1918 - clue: Hazelbrook, there was a plaque.
4. 22nd June 1930 - clue: Hassans Walls, think of the trig station.
5. 6th May 1932 - clue: Lawson, there was concrete.
6. 10th October 1955 - clue: Katoomba, there was a royal connection.

You want another clue? See the picture.

03/04/2020

Hi, I'm Keith Painter. I research, write and publish local history and bushwalking guidebooks with a focus on the Blue Mountains Lithgow areas of New South Wales.
Welcome to the Mountain Mist Books page!
So far there are five local history titles and nine bushwalking guides.
Clicking on the Shop Now button will take you to our website where you can see the full list.

03/04/2020

03/04/2020