Markwood Primary School

The Markwood Primary School in 2025. It operated for 138 years, but closed in 2007. Image copyright Campbell Mattinson.

The Markwood Primary School was busy with kids for 138 years. "The school was closed in March 2007 when the last student left." This school is on the Snow Road, which connects the Hume Highway to the Great Alpine Road, and then on to Bright, Porepunkah etc, or Beechworth if you turn the other way. Anyway, I've driven past it for 45 years, but for the first time last week I stopped. There are sadder things in life than an abandoned primary school, there are. But, still, walking around, it brought on a certain, lost, feeling. I saw some drawings. I saw a rubber ball.

I posted this on social media and one response was: Markwood girls. Tough netballers.

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com