Tunbridge

An historic bush border town, Tunbridge is spanned by Blackman's River Bridge which was built by convicts and is the oldest timber, single span bridge in Australia. 

The bridge was used as a secret meeting place for a fascinating group of political exiles known as the 'Young Irelanders'.  To avoid being seen, they arranged with the local inn to deliver their food where they gathered under the bridge. 

The Young Irelanders roamed far and wide across Tasmania, where Irish sympathisers often gave them shelter and provisions, as well as hiding them from the authorities.

The midlands of Tasmania has a very high concentration of endangered plant species. The Salt Lagoon Nature Reserve, near Tunbridge is home to the rare and exotic Commutaria orchid and the Tunbridge buttercup (Ranunculus Prasinus), a tiny plant that only grows in Tasmania.