The task of renovating her home has uncovered an unexpected glimpse of history for Pamela Brown.
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After purchasing the 1860s-era building 18 months ago, Pamela was greeted with a collection of newspapers, including Mudgee Guardian copies, dating back to the 1920s after she began to pull up the floor.
"I got an absolute buzz because I've been doing up houses for years in France so I've come across all sorts of things but that was just like I was a little kid with excitement," she said.
"So then of course the rest of the day went because I was on my haunches down there reading the papers stuck to the floor."
Instead of finding and forgetting, Pamela is going to add to the collection by putting down copies of recent Mudgee Guardian newspapers to act as a time capsule.
"Who knows how long I'll have the house for and who knows how long the carpet will last, sometimes it's a matter of choice when you change it. But for whoever finds it next time, it'll be fun whether it's been 10 years or 50 years," Pamela said.
"I suspect, sadly, that we're not going to have newspapers much longer so this will be like a time capsule."
After spending decades of her life living in Europe with 22 of those in France, Pamela decided it was time to return home and what better place to spend the next chapter of years than in Mudgee.
"I'm a bit of a country girl at heart, I think. You know, having spent that time in the country when I was a kid," she said.
"I left Australia when I was married at the time, we left in 1990, because my husband was headhunted to America for his work. So we had three years in America, then they sent us to Holland so we had a couple of years there and then he left the company and we moved to France. We got divorced and I lived happily ever after," she said.
I just loved it, absolutely loved it. I've always loved Europe, I miss it dreadfully.
- Pamela Brown
"When I left Australia it didn't even occur to me to buy a property then and rent it out and get a foot in the door so when you get into your mid 60s and you still don't have anything... I looked in all sorts of different towns and just decided on Mudgee because it's got the wineries, restaurants, that sort of country feel and it's not that far from Sydney.
"It's just a lovely area, it's just got a nice ambience about it and I think when you come back and move to a big city, it can be a pretty lonely place if you don't know people, whereas in a smaller town, you've got half a chance of meeting people."