That time global capitalism converged on a town that now has pop.111

Google maps said it would take 2.5 hours to drive from our place in the Blue Mountains to Hill End. Maybe we’re slow. And sure, we stopped to check out nearby gold mining village Sofala on the way. But we left home shortly after 8am and arrived at Hill End in time for us to claim early seats at the micro-pub for lunch. That was pretty good timing actually, though no thanks to the Google lady. The purpose of this day trip was nerdy, for Hill End might have a reasonable claim to be Australia’s Deadwood. I had never been there. But I had seen lots of pictures like this one (below) of the Australian Joint Stock Bank and the bar (which was right next to bank, where it belongs). I am trying to understand the movement of gold from the gold fields to wherever it ended up, and that means finding out about gold buyers and banks. As one of those people who likes to do history with their Blundstones on, I decided I needed to go see it. The Tourist Information Centre in Bathurst told me to take…