05-05-2025
Broken Hill teen launches business welding signs for properties
Not many 18-year-olds can boast a practical skill set to match the likes of Annabelle Smith, who comes from a sheep station in the far west of NSW.
Among her talents are welding, butchering, horse riding and shearing.
"I was about 12 or 13, maybe a little bit older when dad first started teaching me how to weld and use things in the shed,"
Ms Smith said.
"Dad's always been pretty creative and done a lot of signs for here and our other [property]."
Annabelle's father, Terry Smith, made a lot of the signs at Scarsdale Station.
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ABC Broken Hill: Katherine Spackman
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Ms Smith further honed her welding skills while undertaking high school at Yanco Agricultural College.
Since then, she has been approached to do work and subsequently started her own side business.
Annabelle Smith welds station signs for the outback.
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ABC Broken Hill: Katherine Spackman
)
"I did one as a present for some friends who let me come to their place for work experience and after that people started ringing me and asking," she said.
Ms Smith said she always had one or two orders on the go.
She said stations liked to have a custom-made sign to show their uniqueness.
"It's just something different and [at] lots of places you drive past, there's a big sign on the driveway, like the name of station and a bit of a logo or a cow's head or something," Ms Smith said.
Annabelle Smith welded the sign for Copago Salt.
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Supplied
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She has used sheep faces and Sturt's desert peas as decorative elements in signs, which she said was the hardest part of the design.
Ms Smith said welding 15-20 letters usually took her a full day or two, but larger jobs could take longer.
"I just did a big one for a station and it took me a couple of weeks because it was huge and it was a lot of work," she said.
Free rein to explore
Ms Smith said growing up on a remote sheep station was the best upbringing.
"We used to go down to the creek and build cubby houses and stuff in the creek and just do whatever we wanted," she said.
"I got a little pony for my third birthday and he bit and kicked and generally acted like a pony. Since then I have been riding.
Annabelle Smith takes part in a gymkhana.
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Supplied: Jane Smith
)
"
We were mustering from when we were big enough to ride motorbikes and not getting in the way.
"
However, she said safety was always a concern.
"We had to slow down around the house and the cars and the motorbikes and all that," she said.
"I wasn't allowed to use anything in the shed when dad was away.
"But we were mostly given free rein as long as we weren't silly and we didn't hurt the animals or upset or crash any vehicles or anything."
Family affair
Ms Smith said her family's long involvement with a rural agricultural event sparked her interest in studying event management at university, which she began this year.
Her father, Terry Smith, is the vice president of Agfair, a two-day biennial event held at Broken Hill Racecourse.
Agfair is held in Broken Hill.
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Supplied: Martin Hogan
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"I love Agfair," Ms Smith said.
"Dad's been on the committee for years and always involved with helping everyone before and after, and I always hated going back to school or back home afterwards."
Ms Smiith said she was on stage helping butcher and educator, Alison Meagher, demonstrate how to break up meat.
Annabelle Smith, right, helps Alison Meagher at Agfair last year.
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ABC Broken Hill: Katherine Spackman
)
She said her interest in butchering started after she did a week of work experience at a Broken Hill butcher shop.
"I went home and I was like, 'Dad, I really love this. Like, it's actually really good'," she said.
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