A respected pastoral spread now for sale in the Western Division owes its origin - and its present ownership - to the man who once presided over Australia's biggest woolgrowing operation.
Edward Scott, who died prematurely in 2002, was during the 1980s and '90s the local director of the UK-based Swire group and founder of Clyde Agriculture, at one time Australia's biggest woolgrower.
And while it was one thing to preside over a corporate pastoral empire of some 350,000 sheep, Scott hankered over a modest slice of pastoral action for himself, close to Clyde's birthplace at Bourke.
He found what he was looking for in a property called Mundiwa, between Bourke and Brewarrina.
Mundiwa's owner at that time, Dubbo stock agent Bruce Sinclair, ran a flock of Roseville Park Merinos on the property.
Scott took over the Merino flock when he bought the property in 1988, and Graham Coddington, the studmaster then of Roseville Park at Dubbo (now operated by his son Mathew), did the annual sheep classing.
In due course the property was expanded by the subsequent purchase of the adjoining Twin Rivers (at the junction of the Culgoa and the Birrie).
The addition of the homestead portion of Milroy made for a total spread of 19,123 hectares.
Coddington must have liked what he saw on his annual visits, because in 2016 he seized the opportunity to buy Mundiwa/Twin Rivers himself, as a breeding outstation for his Wellington-based Coddington Uardry Poll Merino stud.
And now it's for sale again, as part of a scaling-down into retirement by Graham and his wife Susan.
They have listed the property for auction in Brewarrina on July 11 with CBRE and Schute Bell Property.
The property now comprises 14,827 hectares (36,622ac), a previous owner (after Scott) having offloaded the Milroy portion, and despite the drought it was carrying 4500 sheep until destocked in December.
Since then, however, useful rains have resulted in sufficient new growth for the property to be restocked.
It is now again carrying some 4500 Coddington Uardry Merinos including 3200 joined ewes.
Situated 30 kilometres north-west of Brewarrina, Mundiwa/Twin Rivers is a property of grey clay floodplain soils with red loam rises carrying a productive mix of native grasses, trefoil and edible bush.
Approximately one-third of the total area is pulled gidgee on red loam, where pasture responds rapidly to even moderate rain events (such as the 47mm and 26mm falls recorded since Easter).
Long frontages of 30km to the Culgoa River and 26km to the Birrie provide opportunity flooding to adjacent plains, while stock water is secured by 15 ground tanks as well as reticulation from the river and a shared bore.
Each of the property's 21 paddocks has at least two water sources, while fencing is described as 'excellent' following more than 120km of upgrade work by the present and previous owners.
Working infrastructure includes the eight-stand Mundiwa shearing shed (shared with two other properties) and steel sheep yards to work 3000 head.
There also includes two sets of steel cattle yards, machinery sheds and a workshop.
An elevated five-bedroom, air-conditioned homestead now occupied by a manager is set (inside a levee) on the banks of the Culgoa.
Bidding for Mundiwa/Twin Rivers is expected to top $5 million.
This is a reflection on the property's prized location, quality improvements and proven suitability for Merino breeding and woolgrowing.
By PETER AUSTIN.