TWENTY TO THE MILE

Q&A SCREENING with director ANDREW HYDE and historian DEREK PUGH
WED MAR 06, 7.00pm

In a remote corner of the Northern Territory, 150 years ago, two pieces of wire were bounded together. Australia was instantly connected to the world.

The construction of the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin was as significant to nineteenth century Australia as the arrival of the internet. Messages that previously took 12 weeks to reach Australian shores now arrived in less than 12 hours. The Overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1872, was one of the greatest engineering achievements in our nation’s history. It impacted all corners of Australian society.

As he prepares to write his fifteenth book on Northern Territory history, noted historian and author Derek Pugh OAM, takes us on a 3000-kilometre journey along the original line, unearthing stories of remarkable endurance, survival, massacre, and courage.