Lex Ritchie, OAM - Australian Standing Stones, Glen Innes, NSW
S 29° 44.537 E 151° 45.116
56J E 379311 N 6709119
Just behind the boulder with the plaque for the Opening of the Australian Standing Stones, at Glen Innes, is a granite stone bench, dedicated to Lex Ritchie, OAM.
Waymark Code: WMWCDF
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 08/13/2017
Views: 0
It looks like a new cast-bronze plaque, so it may have been well lacquered initially. It is screwed to the back of a 'one-piece' grey granite slab. The granite slabs for the backrest and seat are faceted, and attached to pink granite supports that have been carved/sculptured. The plaque reads:
"Alexander (Lex) J. Ritchie OAM
Th.ch.E.
A Man of Vision
Founder Member of A.S.S.M.B.
~2008~
From the Glen Innes Tourist Information website: (
visit link)
"The Australian Standing Stones began as an ambitious project by a small, dedicated group of citizens who wanted to mark Glen Innes’ Celtic heritage.
"It was in Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary Year that the Celtic Council of Australia developed the idea of erecting a national monument to honour all Celtic peoples who helped pioneer Australia. Glen Innes responded with a 46-page submission for Australian Standing Stones, inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland’s Orkneys.
"In announcements from Scotland by David Donnelly, then Glen Innes’ Mayor, and from Sydney by Peter Alexander, then convener of the Celtic Council of Australia, it was official: Glen Innes was chosen. But no money came with the right to build the Stones.
"John Tregurtha, a pharmacist, chairman of the committee delegated to build the array, and Lex Ritchie, then the town’s tourist officer and an expert bushman, spent three months scouring the bush within 50km of Glen Innes for the stones. They had to stand 3.7 metres from ground level, which meant each to be 5.5 metres in total length.
"They found only three stones which could be used in their natural state – others had to be split from larger rock bodies."
Visited: 1700, Saturday, 16 April, 2016