Stepping through the doors of Cantwells Store feels like stepping back in time. In essence, it is.
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Though no longer serving the people of Oatlands the goods it once did - from boots to billy cans, and all the other necessities for rural living - for the many who descended on the town for its second annual Heritage and Bullock Festival it offered further context to what a past life in the Midlands was like.
For Heather Briggs it offered a glimpse back to an earlier time in her own life, too. Now living in Ashburton, New Zealand, she has fond memories of growing up in the town while her grandfather operated the general store - still in its original condition with cedar counters and pine shelves.
"As a child ... we had sweets in that little glass counter and I got to just come in and grab whatever I wanted," she said. "It's really, really special. I'd love to see it open again [properly]."
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Her mother, Joan Cantwell, calls the house next door home and has lived in the town all her life - except for about 20 years when she moved "four miles away".
"It went through a lot of stages, it got a bit neglected when I didn't come back here in quite a while," Mrs Cantwell said. "But we soon got it back into shape."
The opened store is just one of the sights to see throughout the village across the weekend, with bullock teams parading through the street, sheep auctions in the original sale yards, weavers and leather workers.
Near the base of the historic Callington Mill, blacksmiths worked their forge. Next to them, a farrier fashioned horseshoes.
The festival was a whole-town affair, said coordinator Andrew Benson, with many community groups and businesses coming together to showcase the town as a living historic village. With the Southern Midlands council also on-board, many of the historic Georgian buildings are also opened to the public.
In a nearby cottage, Graham Green split shingles for groups of curious onlookers - crowding the entrance to catch both a glimpse of the craft and the warmth of the open fire inside.
Mr Green has been carrying on the trade in a part time capacity for the past 26 years. He finds great satisfaction in the work, from sourcing the wood to the final laying of a roof, and plans to host workshops later in the year to pass the knowledge on to a younger generation.
"I think I was born at the wrong time," he said.
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