Blue Mountains – latest article

  • THE EASTERN SPINEBILL - aka COBBLER'S AWL 😎
    THE EASTERN SPINEBILL – aka COBBLER’S AWL 😎
    Draw some little legs on a wooden handled cobbler’s awl (even with my lack of skill)  and you would have something  resembling an Eastern Spinebill.   In the old days they were  often referred to as Cobbler’s Awl Birds, and I’m sure that beak could pierce boot...
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History – latest article

  • THE POWLES CASE - GENERATIONAL HARM
    THE POWLES CASE – GENERATIONAL HARM
    The first part of this story involved the strange case of  Ronald Charles Powles, who  kidnapped his own toddler, Philip, in 1938. His plan was  to extort money  from his wife Joyce’s  family. He was never charged owing to lack of proof and no doubt concern for ...
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Humour – latest article

  • THE SAFE BREAKERS
    THE SAFE BREAKERS
    A look at safe breaking in Australia back in the day. Picking a padlock or manipulating tumblers on a combination lock was generally confined to a few experts with sensitive fingers and acute hearing. It wasn’t easy, and of course the contents could be disappointing to say...
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Travel – latest article

  • Collage of Blue Mountains Birds.
    ACER CORNER WELCOMES BIRD LOVERS
    The Studio was home for myself and my partner Rob  while we built our new house at Blackheath, in the beautiful Blue Mountains. After  moving out we  decided to let the detached property to birdwatchers, bushwalkers and nature lovers on a short stay basis.  Acer Corner  is...
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Latest Blog Posts

  • The Kidnapping of Philip Powles
    The Kidnapping of Philip Powles
    Etched into the memory of Australians is the horrific kidnapping and murder of Sydney boy Graeme Thorne in 1960. It represented such a loss of innocence for our country. However, this was not the first time that the kidnapping of a child accompanied by a ransom demand...
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  • Revolving Restaurant - Pure Katoomba Style!
    Revolving Restaurant – Pure Katoomba Style!
    In 1960 a revolving restaurant opened at Scenic World, Katoomba, in the NSW Blue Mountains.  It was the first in Australia and just the second in the entire world.  Katoomba had been pipped at the post by  Florianturm in Germany, which had opened its doors in 1959....
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  • GOLD RUSH DAYS- A PICK AND A TIN PAN PLEASE.
    GOLD RUSH DAYS- A PICK AND A TIN PAN PLEASE.
    Imagine the excitement of the 19th century gold rushes in Victoria and New South Wales. The shops would have been bursting at the seams with everything required for a stay at the diggings. Note the  clever branding in the clothing  advertisement below; a Hargrave’s gold mine top...
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  • RAYMOND MILLER, EXAM IMPOSTER - THE AFTERMATH
    RAYMOND MILLER, EXAM IMPOSTER – THE AFTERMATH
    This is the final chapter in the life of Raymon Campbell Miller. When Miller  was seven years old, his mother began a passionate affair with an Italian Count.  She divorced,  abandoned her son, and left Sydney to marry her lover. Three months after the wedding in Rome...
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