Bell, New South Wales

Bell is a small residential area in the Blue Mountains, 87 km west of Sydney, Australia, some 30 km east of Lithgow and 20 km north of Mount Victoria. It is a locality on the junction of the Bell's Line of Road, and the Darling Causeway. Bell is in the north-west corner, and possibly the remotest locality, in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains.

Description and History

Bell is named after Archibald Bell, who crossed the Blue Mountains via the Bilpin Ridge in 1823. This crossing had been partly explored by George Caley, who went as far as Mt Banks in 1804, but Bell was the first to go the whole way from the Richmond area to the Bell area. Bells Line of Road was later established along his route. Bell is on the main NSW Western railway line. There is a railway station, built in 1875, which was built to service the village of Mount Wilson, which is some 14 kilometres away from the station.

The area has a number of properties, and in surrounding areas are various walking tracks, (some in the National park and some on private property) which give views of the Hartley Valley and surrounding areas. Not far east of Bell is the Blue Mountains National Park. This section of the park is dominated by the Wollangambe River, which begins north of Bell and flows to the Colo River. The area is rugged, stoney country with few tracks. A fire trail from Bell gives access to the Wollangambe River and is used as a starting point by experienced bushwalkers venturing into the Wollangambe Wilderness.

As Bell's Line of Road is the only alternative route over the Blue Mountains, apart from the Great Western Highway, Bell is the site of an RTA Heavy Vehicle Checking Station.

The population of the town as of 2001 was 268 (Census 2001).

ee Also

*List of Blue Mountains articles

Links

* [http://au.travel.yahoo.com/guide/australia/new-south-wales/bell/index.html Bell]
* [http://www.id.com.au/bluemountains/commprofile/default.asp?id=212&gid=100&pg=1 Blue Mountains City Council Community Profile]
* [http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/maphvcs_g1.gifNSW Map of RTA Heavy Vehicle Checking Stations]