Driving back and forth from Deniliquin to Hay over the years, one’s imagination would surely be ignited by the legend of the Headless Horseman.

Legend tells of the Headless Horseman riding the saltbush plain of the Cobb Highway on his grey steed, striking fear and often terror into the very hearts of the drovers moving their stock.

It’s a simple cross of nails mounted on a small wooden plaque. But the story behind the cross and how it came to be a powerful symbol of peace and reconciliation after the Second World War is a poignant one.

The cross is believed to be a Coventry Cross of Nails, made from nails salvaged from Coventry Cathedral in England after it was destroyed by German bombing in November 1940.

It was discovered at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Hay, NSW, and gifted to the Australian War Memorial.

Robert Rice Howard was born in 1833, and was Sydney’s State

Executioner, the hangman, for 30 years.

Howard was considered of dashing appearance before an unfortunate accident disfigured him in he late 1860s when a horse kicked him in the face. This badly disfigured his nose and ruined his taxi business and he turned to drink. The most unpopular job in the city was the role of Hangman.

Nosey Bob, as he was now referred to, assumed the role between the years 1873 through to 1903 and during his time he hanged 64 people.

John William Alexander Jackson born on 13 September 1897 on 'Glengower' Station at Gunbar, and is the youngest Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross.

Over a century ago, before World War I, this paper was praising a young local in the most glowing terms. The Riverine Grazier was predicting that “big things may be expected” from the town’s “boy champion”, who “promises to be … the best Hay has ever produced”. The Grazier also reported the assessment of an admired local teacher, who described the youngster as “a coming champion”.

The Hay schoolboy attracting such lavish compliments was 14-year-old Norman Callaway, who was a highly talented cricketer. His parents, Tom and Emily, had resided at Hay for over thirty years, and Norman had grown up in the family home at Hatty Street.

Read about the tragic tale of Alexander Bryson known as The Boy Murderer, who’s deadly acts near Hay, NSW saw him sentenced to hang.

One of Hay’s cornerstone businesses, Robertson’s Hot Bread Kitchen has celebrated 40 delicious years of baking.