Nobby

Nobby, The Nobby, Shallow Nobby and Old Nobby are all names for larger the same field, or parts thereof. Old Nobby, located on the eastern side of Fred Reece Way is one of the oldest opal fields at Lightning Ridge. New Nobby is across the road on the western side, toward the Aerodrome.

Many of the earliest miners at Lightning Ridge worked at The Nobby, including Jack Murray, Charlie Nettleton, Frank the Swede, Jack McKenna, Frenchie Lestrange, Ted and Bob Bishop and Mick Manera.

Charlie Nettleton is often credited as discovering the Nobby opal field, however most accounts describe Charlie coming over to the Nobby field after sinking his first shaft at McDonald’s Six Mile and having no success there. This would suggest Nettleton did not find the field, as others were already working it.

Nobby is a very shallow field, hence the name Shallow Nobby for the part of the field with the shallowest opal level. The shallow opal level explains how floaters — opal brought to the surface through erosion — were found in the surface gravel on this field. Opal is found between one and forty feet. The ground has always been reported to be very hard, dusty and difficult to work.

According to The Lightning Ridge Book by Stuart Lloyd, £138,000 had been produced from The Nobby by 1967.

• New Nobby @ MinView.

• Old Nobby @ MinView.

Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 66; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 75; The Occurrence of Opal at Lightning Ridge and Grawin, with Geological Notes on County Finch, J. W Whiting & R. E. Relph, 1958, p. 10; Discover Opals: Before and Beyond 2000 with Surface Indications, Stephen Aracic, 1996, p. 141.