Pauline Conolly

THE NEW IVANHOE HOTEL – A BLACKHEATH TIME-WARP
The name New Ivanhoe Hotel is a delightful contradiction in terms. Little has changed at this Blue Mountains pub in 70 years. It’s located at 231 Great Western Highway, Blackheath. I’ve been working on my new book here recently. The pub has just the right atmosphere for...
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THE NEWTOWN BANK BUST
On Sunday, October 6 1929, the Commercial Bank of Australia in Enmore Road, Newtown was broken into and the contents of the safe stolen. The manager was away at the time, and the theft was reported by the caretaker, Bruce Bell. Mr Bell was required to sleep...
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ARNOTT’S MILK ARROWROOT BISCUITS- BEST FOR BABY?
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Arnotts sought testimonials from people feeding their little ones on milk arrowroot biscuits. The possibility that an image of their child might be chosen to illustrate an advertisement was irresistible. The company was soon swamped by photos and letters...
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EDITOR DES AT KAKADU AND BEYOND.
Travel is not easy for someone like me. I never have a proper seat, so no life vest. Pathetic. What would happen if we crashed? Arrived in Darwin. They are obsessed with crocodiles up here. Do I really want to go to Kakadu? Pauline made me pose...
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THE LOST PORTRAIT OF A BIG HEARTED SINGER
To mangle the words of Oscar Wilde, for an institution to lose a miniature portrait would be unfortunate, to lose a life-sized framed oil painting sounds more like carelessness. Catherine Hayes (1818-1861) was a celebrated, Irish born soprana who toured Australia extensively in the mid 1850s. At...
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HOSTILE DESIGN
Recently, on the way home to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, I had to change trains at Springwood. It had been a long, tiring day, but were there any seats on the platform? No, just a bloomin’ rail to prop myself against! It made me think about...
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BIRDS IN SILHOUETTE
We ‘twitchers’ often see birds at dawn or late in the day, in silhouette against the sky. Here in the Blue Mountains of NSW they are balm to my soul. In a world that is increasingly full of stress and strife, chuckling kookaburras herald the new day...
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A TRIBUTE TO TASMANIAN SCALLOPS
There are many reasons to visit beautiful Tasmania, but perhaps the best one is to eat freshly caught scallops. Oh yes indeed. Even as far back as WWI locals complained that too many were shipped off to the mainland. However, it seems this was not the case...
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