Nundle

Sixty kilometres south of Tamworth, in the old gold village of Nundle, one of Australia's last working spinning mills turns raw merino into knitting yarn on textile machinery salvaged and restored from mills that closed decades ago, some of it approaching a century old. Reopened in 2001, it spins its own eight-, twenty- and heavier-ply yarns, sold in the mill store alongside knitwear, accessories and the locally celebrated Nundle socks. Weekday tours walk visitors through the carding and spinning floor while the machines are running, a rare chance to watch a heritage manufacturing process still in commercial use. Drawing tens of thousands of visitors a year, it has become a reason many make the drive up the Peel Valley, part working factory, part living record of the Australian wool trade.

Trading from an 1890s storefront in Nundle that once served as the district's gold and produce exchange, this restored general store was brought back to life in 1999 after two decades shuttered. Owners Duncan and Megan Trousdale have stocked it with goods chosen to outlast fashion: Falcon and Romanian enamelware, Mason Cash mixing bowls, Fowlers preserving kits, Redecker brushware, gardening tools and classic shaving supplies, heritage and contemporary makers united by a bias toward things built to be handed on. The shopfit honours the building's century of retail, and the buying has earned a following well beyond the village, with a mail-order trade running since 2011. Open over the counter Wednesday to Sunday, it anchors Nundle's small main street and is a destination in its own right for anyone who values well-made household objects.