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How far one Thallon couple will go for the love of their town and a pub that pulls people together

Back Roads

Leanne and Stuart Brosnan said they wanted to give back to the town of Thallon by keeping the local pub going.

ABC News

Thallon was a railway town until the passenger trains stopped coming.

Then the railway depot shut down, the café and general store also closed their doors. Even the town's only pub was at risk of going under.

For a town with just one watering hole left, there was very little choice for Leanne Brosnan but to ensure the pub remained the heart and soul of the community.

With a population of just 257 in southern Queensland, Thallon is a 700 kilometre drive from Bundaberg, where Leanne and her husband Stuart now reside.

While the couple haven't lived in the town for about 17 years, Ms Brosnan said she wanted to repay the town, which gave her and her husband so much, by convincing friends and locals to pitch in and purchase the pub.

"Pubs in small towns aren't just pubs. They're the hub of the community, they're where people have their christenings and their wakes, and meet socially," Ms Brosnan told ABC TV's Back Roads program.

"They're really important in times of drought when men off the farms need to get together and have a beer and try and forget that it hasn't rained for six months.

"Without a pub, a town kind of loses its soul."

Through hard work, painting, cleaning, and having a committee of friends to help out, the pub remained the lifeblood and cornerstone of the town as well as being a post office and a general store.

The couple knew they had to do something to ensure locals had somewhere to catch up, socialise and help the town survive so it would not become a long time between drinks.

"We thought, well, if we don't give it a go this would just be really sad," Ms Brosnan said.

"We'll be coming back to nothing, there won't be anything to come home to

"So that's why we got together with a group of former teachers from Thallon and a couple of locals and decided to buy the pub."

A day that changed their lives in Thallon

From Toowoomba to Bundaberg, the owners of the pub vary in location now but all have a connection to the town having met as teachers more than 30 years ago when Ms Brosnan arrived to start her career.

Mr Brosnan was a wool classer and, according to the pair, it was love at first sight.

But two years later, the road to their wedding day took a turn when Mr Brosnan broke his neck while diving off a houseboat while on holiday in northern New South Wales.

It was touch and go for him to make it out alive.

"You realise pretty early on when you're in there [the hospital], there's varying degrees," Mr Brosnan said.

"We classified them, another bloke that was in there with me at the time … there were the quads, the paras, and the slightly inconvenient bastards.

"But some people are a lot worse than I am, so you've got to hang on to what you can to get through."

Leanne refused to leave Stuart's side. Two years after the accident they were married, despite doctors' advice at the time that only 5 per cent of relationships lasted after a spinal injury.

"I wouldn't have survived without Leanne," Mr Brosnan said.

"They they tried to tell Leanne that relationships don't last and you're better off getting out now, so yeah it was pretty pretty brutal."

After rehabilitation and living in Thallon for another eight years on limited disability support and struggling with the harsh climate, they moved to the coast for a sea change.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

While eventually moving away became easier due to professional caring organisations becoming more accessible, Thallon is still home for the Brosnans who miss the town dearly.

"Home's not where you live, it's where you're prepared to die," Mr Brosnan said.

"It never gets out of your system where you're actually from.

"And Thallon gave us a lot, so it's probably our turn to pay it back a bit."

In a case of 'you can take the couple out of Thallon, but you can't take Thallon out of the couple', Ms Brosnan has been a project manager to help coordinate local projects such as the big wombat and silo art murals to boost tourism in the town.

But for the Brosnans, it's the pub that was used as a way to keep bringing people back together.

"I also wanted something really positive and exciting to happen to Thallon," Ms Brosnan said.

"This was a really important statement to say 'No we're here, we're important, and we're here for the long run and we need to celebrate this beautiful place'.

"Stuart and I have had such happy memories when we first met in Thallon and … that commitment comes from the love of the town and the love of the people."

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