The Walcha Witness of August 7, 1885 reported on one of these early shows: "Mr. A.S. Brown gave a magic lantern entertainment on Monday night in the hall of the School of Arts. There was a good attendance and the subjects included temperance, scriptural and comic. The entertainment was interspersed with some nice music and songs."

In 1887 a Mr. Govitt visited Walcha with his show based upon a "Visit to Ireland" and offered images of churches, cathedrals and ruined castles. This was followed by the "Capture of the Kelly Gang". The show was said to be both amusing and instructive.

The magic lantern, which is basically a slide projector, had been around since the 1600s but it was not until the Victorian era, when sufficiently powerful light sources became available, that it was possible to project an image large enough and clear enough to make it suitable for public viewing.

The early slides comprised hand painted images on glass plates that could be manipulated in a variety of ways to produce a "moving" image.

Joe Check, a travelling photographer who was a frequent visitor to Walcha, brought his biograph machine to town for three nights of entertainment in the Temperance Hall during October 1900. The machine screened moving pictures from photographic film.

Mr Check played 32 short films that commenced with a Highland Reel, continued with various items from the Boer War, which was followed in turn by an assortment that included Santa Claus, the ducking of a Boer sympathiser in a river, a boxing match, fires and fire fighting. The last 13 items commenced with Christ's birth at Bethlehem and concluded with his Resurrection.

Magic lantern shows continued into the early 1900s at Walcha despite the arrival of the biograph.

New clubhouse attracts much fanfare

Flood sets bowls clubhouse adrift

The band kicks goals in fancy dress footy