mining machinery at Mount Hope was dismantled and removed”. Population decline In March 1927 Mount Hope was described as a “decayed mining town” that “has been living on hopes and memories for years”. The price of copper had fallen so low “that the mines closed up and much of the two plants has been sold”. In December 1957 five separate bush fires “were raging out of control” between Condobolin and Hillston. The main Western railway line was cut and tracks destroyed. Fires around Euabalong and Mount Hope were “burning on a 100-mile front”. A fire “threatened to engulf” the village of Matakana (17 km south of Mount Hope) and “20 women and children were driven through an arch of flames to escape the fire” and provided with accommodation at Mount Hope. Fire fighters “managed to divert the flames” around Matakana village. The Royal Hotel The Royal Hotel is a survivor from the heyday of Mount Hope. The Royal Hotel was one of four hotels granted licenses during 1881 as the New Mount Hope Copper Mining Company built infrastructure, installed machinery and commenced mining and smelting operations at Mount Hope. The first of the licensed premises was the Mount Hope Hotel in March 1881, followed by William Clark’s Royal Hotel (July), Thomas Saunders’ Albion Hotel (August) and John Lees’ Commercial Hotel (November 1881). In September 1882 a license was granted to James Lyell for the Great Central Hotel at South Mount Hope. William and Sarah Clark and family had been living in the Mount Hope district since about 1876. Clark was also an owner of a store at Mount Hope township. During the period 1898 to 1905 Louis Mozzini, previously from Hillston, became the licensee of the Royal Hotel. William Clark resumed as licensee of the hotel from July 1905. William Clark died in February 1910 at Waverley in Sydney. His widow Sarah Clark took over the license of the Royal Hotel at Mount Hope after his death. In July 1912 the license was transferred from Sarah Clark to her son, William Frederick Clark. The correspondent made the comment: “We wish the new proprietor luck in his undertaking and hope that business in Mount Hope will soon liven up so as to compensate all business people for their endurance”. In about 1917 the Clark family sold the Royal Hotel to B. A. Davis. In 1930 the Royal Hotel was owned by