Santa trail spreads Christmas cheer along the Bridle Track, Duramana Road and Turondale Road north of Bathurst

In 2019, a few residents started the tradition, following several years of drought affecting the farming community, and now there are about 60 Santa displays each year. It has started a yearly tradition now, with the Santa displays spreading joy across the community. Each is created using items from the properties, and many are made completely by the residents.

Local resident Sharon Shelton photographs the displays and publishes them in a large picture book with a rhyming verse about each.

"This year, there are about 30 Santa displays, and new ones are still popping up on farm gates," she said.

"People from Bathurst drive out to see them, and the kids on the school bus love them - it creates a lot of interest.

"When the tradition started, everyone was talking about them, people were laughing, and it was good to see the rise in spirits."

Read more: Riverina farmers embrace Christmas spirit with farm sculpture competition

Sharon started with a paperback copy of the book and printed 200 copies.

Last year, she did a large format hardback. They mainly sell around Bathurst, but people have also purchased them for friends overseas and around Australia.

"This year, the plan is to do the Bridle Track Twelve Days of Christmas. A lady has made all the characters from the song, from the kookaburras to the emus up to the 12 cockatoos," she said.

Garry Browne of Boxwood Pastoral and his friend Jake Sutherland spent many weeks welding, collecting and hand-crafting the display this year.

Santa can be seen cutting wood with a chainsaw, on the back of a dray, with his campfire, billy and wheelbarrow nearby. There are even a pair of metal-forged snakes popping out of the hollow timber logs.

"Gary wasn't interested in doing it the first year, so I put a Santa up at this gate, then the next thing he had one on his verandah. Now he's the first one to have his display done on December 1."

To order the 100-page picture book, email sharon.shelton55@outlook.com