The surprising rejuvenation of Queensland’s oldest provincial city

While squeezing Ipswich’s imposing St Mary’s Church into a single frame, I bump up against history. Embedded into a stone wall opposite the landmark is a series of iron loops. They don’t make sense until I see a sign saying these hand-forged oddities are hitching rings. Made by a local blacksmith, they formed a parking station of sorts for the faithful who clip-clopped to church on horseback or by horse-drawn buggy.

The 19th-century church still makes history – Australia’s Ipswich-born former governor-general Bill Hayden was farewelled here in 2023. Yet it’d be a mistake to think Queensland’s oldest provincial city – at one time, a contender for capital status – is in any way pretentious. Its blue-collar past includes coal mines and woollen mills as well as rail workshops that have become The Workshops Rail Museum.

Ipswich’s CBD has been rejuvenated.

These workshops were once the state’s largest employer with more than 3000 men and women on the books. Now they showcase Queensland’s fascinating locomotive history. “It’s about connecting people to the past through the experience of rail,” says the museum’s head of campus, Jennifer Garcia.

That story starts in 1865 with the opening of the state’s first rail line; today, 7000 kilometres of steel track stitch together far-flung towns and industrial hubs. Plans are afoot to tell more First Nations and women’s stories here. As I depart, my eye catches an evocative plaque embedded in the footpath. It reads: “A thousand bicycles would stream out of the gate”.

Ungermann Brothers is known for its unusual ice-cream flavours.

All this time-travelling puts me in the mood for a retro milk bar. Ungermann Brothers, with its checkerboard floor and 1950s-style vinyl booths, is known for boundary-pushing ice-cream flavours: lavender, finger lime, carrot cake, and salted caramel and bacon. Burgers come with unlikely components such as pineapple fritters and deep-fried brie. Happy days, indeed.

Nearby is 88 Limestone Precinct. Formerly a technical college, the handsome brick complex now houses the Pumpyard Bar where you can savour brined chicken wings and pizzas along with brewed-on-site 4 Hearts beers in the outdoor courtyard. Between the rail line and the capricious Bremer River is Bakehouse Steakhouse – a much-loved steak restaurant in an unassuming heritage bakery building.

Bakehouse Steakhouse – a much-loved steak restaurant in an unassuming heritage bakery building.

An exciting new development is the Nicholas Street Precinct that’s rejuvenating Ipswich’s CBD. Enlivening this area after dark is The Rusty Nail – a low-lit tapas, craft beer and wine bar that sprawls out of its cosy space with footpath dining. The bar’s striking floor of alternating blond and dark timbers was revealed only when owners, John Keating and Emma Hutchinson, peeled back old blue carpet and painstakingly removed the glue.

They regularly collaborate with other creative powerhouses such as distiller Jason Hannay of Imbibis Craft Distillery. Hannay, with his wine-making background, loves discussing the science behind his artisan gins and brandy (although it’s a closely guarded secret how he distils Ipswich’s jacarandas into a limited-edition seasonal gin).

88 Limestone, home to the Pumpyard Bar.

I can’t indulge in many drinks, though, as I have to be up at sparrow’s. My hot-air balloon companions, some of whom have driven from Brisbane, gather in darkness before heading to our launch pad. Graeme Day, managing director of Floating Images, doubles as pilot. As the dawn light hardens into day, he points out landmarks – RAAF Amberley (the Air Force’s largest base), the Warrego Highway leading to Toowoomba, and the local jail – as we drift north-west towards Lake Wivenhoe before bumping down into a paddock.

My great-grandparents lived in nearby Haigslea. If they met modern-day Ipswich, they’d recognise the enviable timber Queenslanders, landmarks like St Mary’s and a foreboding building that was the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane. The city’s population, though, has soared to 250,000; its energy is effervescent.

Dinner at the Bakehouse Steakhouse.

Before bidding farewell, I make a pilgrimage to Lobley Park, surely named after an ancestor. I discover an oversized playground plane and a sky-blue path painted with cartoon clouds. They say history can weigh heavy but I’m light as air as I skip along its length.

The writer was a guest of Tourism and Events Queensland and Ipswich City Council. See queensland.com; discoveripswich.com.au

THE DETAILS

DRIVE

Ipswich is a 42-kilometre drive south-west from Brisbane’s CBD; it’s also reachable via Brisbane’s suburban train network. Admission to The Workshops Rail Museum is $14.50 adult (theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au).

STAY

Quest Ipswich or nearby BnB Cumquat House (questapartments.com.au; cumquathouse.com.au).

DINE

Ungermann Brothers, Pumpyard Bar, The Rusty Nail and Bakehouse Steakhouse (ungermannbrothers.com.au, 4heartsbrewing.com, therustynailipswich.com.au, bakehousesteakhouse.com). Imbibis’s tasting room, in Bundamba in Ipswich’s east, is open Fridays. (imbibis.com.au)

SOAR

Hot-air balloon rides from $430 (floatingimages.com.au).