The event was also marked with a talk from former Merimbula police constable Danny Webster.

Mr Webster came to the area in the 1979, having been posted from Chatswood, at a time when court was still held at Pambula, and stayed until 1992. He said it was fairly quiet but things get a lot busier in the school holidays with the influx of visitors.

He said if anything happened during the quieter times, if a local person was involved, you always knew where to find them but it could be challenging when a lot of visitors arrived in the area during those busy times.

There was a look back in time to the first policeman at Pambula, Adam Ballantyne, an Irshman who was appointed to Pambula in 1852. The Ballantyne family members still live in the area at Nethercote.

There were five pubs in Pambula but both the town and Merimbula were considered quiet in comparison with Eden at the time, Mr Webster said.

He said while it was fairly quiet in the area during his time in the area, there were some terrible crimes committed and recalled the murder of Constable Kenneth Coussens, his wife and son by a bomb planted outside their Bega home in 1957.

"But the good things were generally the locals and the fact it was a beautiful place," Mr Webster said. He said he and his family were disappointed to leave the area when he was recalled to Sydney.