Newtown II

Ah, lovely Newtown.  I lived there in my 20's as many SydneySiders do.  These images were taken in a venue filled with sangria, lanterns and Mexican Catrinas.


More a flickr than blog type? Many of the images found here are up on my new flickr site under 'Dalloway Fish'.  By all means drop by and feel free to comment.

Newtown

Mooney Mooney

What's in Mooney Mooney?  Many mud crabs, pelicans, a hills hoist and a former psychiatric hospital.

Coogee

Parramatta

Gramophone man at the Sydney Festival

Good Times with Norman Jay

Our boys in blue enjoying the festivities

Bridge Street II

Bridge Street in March 1866 (courtesy of State Library of NSW) and today 2012

In doing a little research on the Lands Building last week I came across newspaper articles (Empire 23 March 1866; Sydney Morning Herald 16 July 1932) on an explosion of nitroglycerin from two glass bottles stored in the cellars of Molison & Black ship brokers at 17 Bridge Street, 6.30 pm Sunday, 4 March 1866.  “Nobel’s Patent Blasting Oil”, was a quite unknown substance promoted by Mr. Theodorre Winckler of A.Nobel & Co. :

“Consumers will prefer nitro-glycerine to blasting powder, on account of its tremendous force... it is a splendid invention”.

Witnesses saw debris thrown 150 feet in the air, and a 3-4 feet chasm was formed in the earthen floor.  Windows along Bridge Street were shattered.

Having ruled out such factors as a burglar mistaking the blasting oil for spirits, the inquiry focused on the nature of the substance to suddenly explode, the implications for ships unwittingly importing such substances and recommended reasonable distances that commercial premises should be from dwellings to safely continue storing the oil in the city or suburbs.

"The Late Explosion at Sydney"
Wood engraving by Frederick Grosse 1866 (courtesy of State Library of Victoria)

untitled (graffiti proposal 2: the rocks)

Bridge Street I

Sometimes we observe parts of a city that most folk cant see.  I have privilege of exploring  inside of the Department of Lands building on Bridge Street.  I work on the top floor.  I've balanced on wooden stairs and listened to the traffic echoing inside the copper dome.

The Lands Building is one of the most significant public buildings in Sydney as it was established during Australia’s colonial history and has been used continuously as the administrative centre for land use records and planning Sydney’s growth since that time.  It was designed by colonial architect James Barnet and built in stages between 1876 – 1892.  The above photograph was taken eight years after its completion.

A newspaper article in 1876 announces a ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone for what was to be a building of around 100 rooms in the style of “Italian Renaissance, somewhat of the Venetian type”.  

The article suggests that in the cavity of the foundation stone is a glass vase containing  the coins of the realm, copies of newspapers and a formal document drawn up for the occasion.

A man identifying himself only as “A POOR TAXPAYER” grumbles at the expense of the function.

Plaster ceiling nearing the top flight.

Cast iron flight of stairs and chequered floor I run up most mornings.

View from two of the oval windows on the top level, where I have my lunch sometimes.

Clovelly

Schofields

Image from the National Library of Australia

Schofields is named after a thief and convict, who came good, bought land, supported eight children and a wife, went bankrupt, struck Californian gold, survived a shipwreck and settled down to run a saw mill along the railway line.

At the moment, it’s a small village 40km north west of Sydney.  And by small, I mean a few tumbledown shops and a handful of houses.

But things are set to change.  The railway line (built in the 1860’s) has been upgraded and a new station has been built 800 metres south of the original centre.  Master plans are being drawn up to convert the former pastoral lands into a new town centre that will accommodate some  9,000 people.  It will support not one, but all two major supermarket chains, well positioned to stare each other down from across the station.

What’s the interest in the Schofields?  Well, a photo blog can’t all be about tanned, Tamarama swimmers and kinky, Surry Hills laneway markets now, can it?  It’s places like Schofields where Sydney’s increasing population will be living.  It’s an example of modern urban design in Sydney’s north west.  So how are we going?

This is the new station.  The candy stripes, inspired by the tin roofing of the Station Master’s residence, have unexpectedly become a useful landmark for small aircraft.

The former pastoral lands (and former aerodrome in the distance) set to be the new town centre (see the Growth Centres indicative master plan 2011).

And the fate of the original village?  The pelting rain prevented me from jumping out of the car to photograph the cluster of vacant little shops.  But inclement weather didn’t stop me from capturing this monolithic footbridge that replaces the old pedestrian level crossing.  You’ll never see this in Surry Hills.

Birchgrove - public domain project

Ballast Point Park - Walama in Birchgrove - image from landscape architects McGregor Coxall.

The delightful, and ever increasing number of love padlocks (or love locks) on the northern embankment.

Tank 101 is an artwork inspired by the site's historic use as part of Sydney's working harbour.  Wind turbines have been incorporated into the structure, along with a few lines of a poem by Les Murray cut into the steel.

untitled (graffiti proposal 1: hornsby)

Hornsby

The very beautiful Lisgar Gardens....

...with ferny ponds...

...and great big, hungry fish.

Bronte

Waving across Waverley cemetery

Bronte

Waverley cemetery is much loved (and photographed) for its location along the cliff’s edge.  The burial grounds are also hard up against some of the most sought after residential properties in Sydney.  Life, death and real estate - welcome to the emerald city.

Life is beautiful...

Always a challenge getting a cemetery shot without the cliches