Mulgoa Valley Gazette

Luddenham was named after the Blaxland family property in Kent, England. John Blaxland, elder brother of the more famous Gregory, received a grant of 6710 acres between South Creek and the Nepean River on 30 November 1813. The Blaxlands were the first Australians to export wine. John did not live on the property but employed others to oversee and work this land. Among those employed were German and Swiss families brought out to Australia especially to work in the vineyards. Many descendants of these families still live in the area.
Luddenham is now split between the local government areas of Penrith and Liverpool. Moving the boundary to include the whole village into Penrith has been proposed on several occasions, most recently at the Progress Association AGM. The majority of residents are in favour of this as they go to Penrith for high schooling, shopping and work.  It might also be easier to get the village connected to the sewer line. The Progress Association meets on the first Wednesday of the month in the Progress Hall.  Contact 4773 4454.
Luddenham is well known for the Showground with the popular Luddenham Show held there every year. The Sydney Society of Model Engineers on Luddenham Road is open to the public on the last Sunday of the month and is a great place for a family visit to see the model trains, boats and planes. Vicary’s Winery has been making wine since 1923 and has a regular market there as well as the wool shed dances. The Hubertus German club moved to Luddenham when the Badgery Creek area was chosen as an airport site. There are three churches, the Uniting Church, St James’ Anglican Church and the Holy Family Catholic Church.There are also two schools, the public school, the Holy Family Catholic  school and a child care centre.
There is a Rural Fire Brigade, 4773 4142, and a surprising number of shops and businessess in Luddenham, most of them featured here but also including Trevor Roots butcher, 4773 4102, and SNS Accounting, 4773 4235.
The new Shell service station is the newest development that has grown since Charlie and Maria Cambarari moved to Luddenham in 1971 and took over the small corner store.  The shop has grown into a retail centre with a take away, beautician, work wear shop, doctor, pharmacist, newsagency and post office, supermarket and most recently the new Shell service station.  Charlie and Maria wanted to provide a village shopping centre for the community and they both worked really hard to achieve this.