Kandos, New South Wales
Kandos is a rural town located within the Mid-Western Region in New South Wales, Australia. The area is the traditional home of the Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people. Kandos sits beneath a mountain range including Cumber Melon Mountain. Kandos shares its locality, employment and infrastructure with its neighbouring town Rylstone, 6 kilometres away; the two towns have a shared community which is connected through farming, the arts and Aboriginal culture. Kandos is within an hours drive of Mudgee, and within two of Lithgow and Bathurst. In the 2021 census, Kandos had a population of 1263. Kandos is a three hour drive from Sydney ; and Newcastle.
Local events
Cementa
Cementa is a biennial 4-day International Contemporary Arts Festival which brings together more than 60 urban and regional artists who exhibit video, installation, sound, performance and 2D and 3D artworks in venues and locations across the town and its surrounds. The festival has had events in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024 and has grown each time. Cementa is critically acclaimed and has had coverage on TV programs such as Back Roads on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Kandos Street Machine and Hot Rod Show
Street Machine is held annually on a weekend on or near Australia Day. Their stated aim is 'to put on one of the most laid back and family friendly car shows around'. Many have criticised Street Machine for polluting the town for days following the event, though others have praised it for bringing people together.CWA Kandos Gardens Fair
CWA Kandos Gardens Fair is a biennial weekend open gardens event, which showcases up to 12 town and country gardens in Kandos Rylstone and surrounds. Entertainment, demonstrations, talks, stalls and food are scattered throughout the gardens.The Rylstone Kandos Show
The Rylstone Kandos Show is held annually in February at the Rylstone Showground. The show hosts many rides, food trucks and vans with toys to purchase. There are arts and crafts made by the schoolchildren on display, as well as a section for showcasing animals. Each show ends with a fireworks display.Streetfeast
Streetfeast is an annual lunch held on the main street of Rylstone in early November. Stalls, shops and eateries also feature local produce, wines, art and craft.Amenities
Ganguddy
Ganguddy, is a popular recreation area and lake in the Wollemi National Park. Ganguddy was established when Cement Australia constructed a weir on the Cudgegong River to provide piped water to Kandos' cement factory. Current facilities include bushwalking tracks, picnic areas, camping sites, Aboriginal art, fishing and kayaking services run by locals throughout the summer. Many also recreationally jump off of the rocks that surround Ganguddy. Ganguddy is popular with both locals and tourists from around Australia, with up to 40,000 visitors per year.Kandos Museum
The Kandos Museum, formerly the Methodist Church, is built in Spanish Mission style and is listed on the Australian Heritage Database. There is an outdoor display of large industrial items that were formally in the cement factory. The museum contains a sizeable group of objects, photographs and information about the industrial, social and war history of the area. There is an electric vehicle charging facility at this location. is the tourist information outlet.Coomber Park
Angus Avenue and Rotary Park on Ilford Road have playgrounds, picnic areas and toilets. Smaller parks in the town are on Darton Park and a park on the corner of Noyes and Fleming Streets. The parks have become points of interests for youth.Kandos and District Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool
Kandos and District Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool is a government owned block of lands hosting two swimming pools - a 50 metre Olympic Swimming Pool as well as a covered children's paddling pool. There are modern amenities, bathrooms, a canteen, and a mini basketball court. There is a skate park located beside the swimming pool. The local schools use the swimming pool during the summer.Henbury Golf Course
Henbury Golf Course is an 18-hole championship golf course designed in the 1930s by two eminent golf architects. There are tennis courts and a putting greenKandos Rylstone Community Radio
Kandos Rylstone Community Radio or KRR-FM 98.7 is a local radio station run by the community. It is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and broadcasts programs hosted by locals. KRR-FM also informs listeners of local and national news and events.Train, coach and other transport
Kandos is on the Wallerawang to Gwabegar railway line. The section of the line from Capertee to Rylstone was completed in 1884 and Kandos station was opened in 1915. Scheduled passenger services ceased in 1985 and were replaced by daily road coach services to Lithgow and Gulgong. On 24 October 2017, the NSW Government announced a $1.1 million grant to reinstate the 8km rail link between Kandos and Rylstone, and today has occasional tourist trains run through it.Education
Kandos has one high school and one primary school, both of which are located on Dangar Street. A preschool is located across the road. The schools have shared utilities such as an agriculture plot, a gymnasium, and a cafeteria. Kandos High School has all mandatory courses as well as special interest courses for food education, music, agriculture, communications, ancient history, and woodwork. The school also runs distance education for classes that don't run in person.Health facilities
Two doctor practices service the two towns, being Kandos Family Medical Practice and Kandos Advanced Medical Centre. Neighbouring town Rylstone also has Rylstone Health One.History
Company town
The NSW Cement Lime and Coal Company was registered in May 1913, and floated in August that year to build a cement industry. The company purchased 100 acres from local farmer John Lloyd Junior for £2000 on which to establish an industry and town. The industrial infrastructure was built during the first three years. Limestone was lifted from a nearby quarry and transported via an aerial ropeway. Coal and shale were mined nearby. Dams, railway sidings, a railway station, stacks, silos, and a powerhouse were built, kilns imported and machinery installed. Cement production began in August 1916. It took longer than anticipated to establish the industry because the first plant, supplied by Krupp Ltd Germany, was interned at Portuguese West Africa at the outbreak of the First World War, thus requiring General Manager Frank Oakden to sail to America and England to order another plant. Kandos was originally named Candos - an acronym, it is believed, of letters taken from the Lime and Cement Company directors' names. In 1915 the Post Master General deemed that the name Candos was too similar to Chandos in South Australia, and the name was changed to Kandos.James Dawson, local surveyor and landowner, was contracted by the cement company to survey the first town subdivision and most subdivisions thereafter. At the first land sale at Kandos on 14 August 1915, 200 business and residential sites were auctioned. Local pastoralist Hunter White of Havilah paid an exceptionally high price of £2700 for land set aside for a hotel on the corner of Angus Avenue and White Crescent. The land attracted that price because the company put a caveat on all land titles, to prevent the building of another hotel. White, a large investor in the company and soon to be a company director, later onsold to Tooth & Co. Over ten years, various attempts were made to obtain another hotel licence on non-company land. Each time it was opposed in the licensing courts. In 1926 a licence for a second hotel was finally granted to William Morgan, for the Railway Hotel. It was built on Ilford Road on a crown subdivision, which was unaffected by the cement company's caveat. The streets in the first subdivision were also named after company officials: Angus Avenue Buchanan Street ; White Crescent ; Rodgers Street ; Jaques Street ; McDonald Street ; Noyes Street ; Davies Road. All were successful city capitalists.For a time, it seemed that Kandos would have a second major industry. The copper mining company C.S.A. Limited spent £32,000 on an electrolytic copper refinery at Kandos, which reused electrolytic tanks from the closed Great Cobar copper refinery at Lithgow. The smelting section of the new plant at Kandos entered production, around September 1919, but the electrolytic refinery never entered service. The CSA Mine at Elouera closed due to an underground fire. The plant and buildings at Kandos were sold off in 1925. The timber from its large building was reused at the nearby cement plant, but its concrete chimney stack would remain standing until the 1980s.