Wobbly Boot Hotel
| Wobbly Boot Hotel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Australian pub |
| Address | 92 Merriwa Street, Boggabilla, New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 28°36′20″S 150°21′37″E / 28.60555556°S 150.36027778°E |
| Opened | 1935 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
The Wobbly Boot Hotel is an Australian pub located in the town of Boggabilla near the state border of New South Wales and Queensland. The current concrete building was constructed in 1935 to replace a 12-room wooden hotel on the same site that was destroyed by fire in 1934,[1] leaving the railhead town without visitor accommodation. The new hotel was designed with modern amenities including electric lighting throughout, large balconies and a septic tank system to help take advantage of the business opportunities brought by the recently opened Boggabilla railway line.[2] Originally known as the Boggabilla Hotel, the name was changed to the Wobbly Boot, an Australian slang term used to describe the sensation of being drunk and unable to walk straight, during the tenure of publican Glen Bryan in the early 1980s.[3]
In 1989, the Wobbly Boot Hotel was damaged after a fight outside the pub sparked a riot amid racial tensions related to the living conditions of Indigenous Australians at nearby Toomelah Station. Additional police were called from the towns of Moree and Goondiwindi and 11 people were charged.[4]
The Wobbly Boot has featured regularly in Australian media and travel blogs on lists of strange and iconic Australian pubs owing to its unusual name and notoriety as the inspiration for the Stan Coster song The Wobbly Boot Hotel.[5][6][7]
In popular culture[edit]
- Country music artist Stan Coster wrote the 1982 song The Wobbly Boot Hotel about the pub while sitting at the bar at the request of publican Glen Bryan, who reportedly paid him $1000.[3] The song has since been performed and re-released by artists including Slim Dusty and John Williamson.[8]
- Walker Models produce 1/160 (N scale) and 1/87 (HO scale) model kits of the Wobbly Boot Hotel for use with model railways.[8][9]
References[edit]
- ^ "HOTEL FIRE: Building and Contents Destroyed". Glen Innes Examiner. Glen Innes, NSW. 23 August 1934. p. 2. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "BOGGABILLA'S NEW HOTEL". The Inverell Times. Inverell, NSW. 12 June 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Saw, Ron (12 January 1982). "People". The Bulletin. Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Weekend riot in border town". The Canberra Times. Canberra, ACT. 24 April 1989. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Samantha Townsend (21 April 2016). "15 wackiest country pubs you have to visit". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Unusual Pubs in NSW". Caravan and Camping Industry Association of NSW. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ Louise Acret (28 February 2014). "Weird and wonderful pubs around Australia". news.com.au. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ a b Rebecca Holland (16 April 2019). "Wobbly Boot Hotel for sale: Famous pub could be yours for a song". Domain Media. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Wobbly Boot Pub". Walker Models. Retrieved 27 May 2023.