The Spirit of Lightning Ridge
The Spirit of Lightning Ridge.
The Spirit of Lightning Ridge is a bronze statue commissioned in 2013 to commemorate Charlie Nettleton’s role in the foundation of Lightning Ridge.
The statue was sculpted by Brett “Mon” Garling, and officially dedicated on Saturday April 5, 2014. It stands outside the Lightning Ridge Historical Society’s gallery and museum in Morilla Street, Lightning Ridge.
Charlie’s Face — or not?
Prior to the creation of the life-sized rendition of Charlie, a limited edition series of ten smaller bronze busts were created.
Limited edition bust.
It was during the design of these busts that an error was identified in the printing of Stuart Lloyd’s The Lightning Ridge Book, which almost lead to the statue being designed after the wrong person! Thankfully, some keen research by Lightning Ridge Historical Society researcher Leisa Carney uncovered the truth behind the mis-captioned image.
In short, there are two photographs in Lloyd’s book, both labeled as Charlie Nettleton, but it doesn’t take a historian to notice that one was taken in 1904 and the other in 1938 and the man’s face hasn’t aged a day.
As it turns out, they are not the same person. The top photograph is in fact Jack Gray, a shearer from Walgett. Jack Gray has a fascinating history all of his own, as he was integral to the development of Frederick York Wolseley’s mechanical shears, which revolutionised the wool industry.
The photographs as shown in Stuart Lloyd’s The Lightning Ridge Book. The top photograph is actually Jack Gray, shearer from Walgett. The bottom photograph is Charlie Nettleton.
The panic and subsequent research and discoveries are documented in the Black Opal Advocate, August 2003.
Thankfully, after thorough investigation and verification, the correct photographs were used as reference to sculpt the busts and full-sized statue, so we can be confident the Spirit of Lightning Ridge is the face of Charlie Nettleton.
The Spirit of Lightning Ridge represents the early days of opal mining, the tenacity of the opal miner, the struggle opal miners face and 125 years of opal mining history and heritage.
The photograph of Charlie Nettelton, taken 1938, on which Brett Garling’s sculpture is based. Photograph courtesy of Dawn Swane, Lightning Ridge Historical Society.
Check out the following video from Brett Garling’s YouTube channel documenting the process of creating the bronze statue, and the importance of the piece to the Lightning Ridge community:
Click and drag on the above image to explore an interactive 3D scan of The Spirit of Lightning Ridge.
