About Murray Bridge
On the River Murray, 74 km from Adelaide is the rapidly expanding community of Murray Bridge. The local Ngaralta clan of the Ngarrindjeri called the area, 'Mooppolthawong' meaning ‘haven for birds’. Europeans adapted this name to Mobilong. When the first bridge was built over the Murray River the town became known as Murray Bridge and in 1924 the name became official. For over a century Murray Bridge was the vital road and rail link across this mighty river and became a prosperous rural centre through river trade.
Now Murray Bridge is in transition, one of the fastest growing regional cities in South Australia. It has many new settlers from diverse cultural backgrounds; about 11% of the population were born overseas. And there are still many who have been here for generations, one in 5 residents are over sixty. It is expected the population of Murray Bridge will double in the next 10 years.
For the last decade, Murray Bridge has been at the frontline of Australia’s most pressing environmental crisis - the drought.
The Big Stories team spent part of 2010 living in Murray Bridge and our residency coincided with the breaking of the drought! We ran work digital storytelling workshops and assisted locals to produce photo essays and digital stories about their lives.
As filmmakers, our journey into community took us to the clubhouse of the Longriders Christian Motorcycle Club and to the homes and businesses of new settlers from Africa, Bhutan, Korea and India who have been welcomed to the ‘Bridge’, and we found many stories from the ‘Oldies’ who have lived here for generations.