Edith Cavell was a nurse, and WWI heroine. A portrait of her was a fitting gift for a Tasmanian surgeon. IN APPRECIATION….. In 1931, Dr Victor Ratten performed life-saving surgery on 14
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Stephen W. O’Flaherty was a worker in Scott’s sawmill at Derby, a small community in the north-east of Tasmania. In 1913 he suffered a significant injury when a lever at the mill rebounded and a lag slipped, breaking his arm in two places. It was said that
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Recently I paused and looked skyward at this wonderful Sydney building. At street level it’s hard to appreciate its full, 300ft glory, sheathed in glazed cream, terra-cotta tiling. Somehow it reminds me of the toy blocks I played with during my 1950s childhood. However, it was built
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Around Christmas 1950, twin white cats were spotted atop the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There they remained. It seemed the pair had decided it was the best location in the city, with world class views. Well really, who could blame them? The snowy residents
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South Australian Victor Richardson was a talented all-round sportsman. He excelled at tennis, golf baseball and Australian Rules Football. He captained Australia in cricket and played in the infamous ‘Bodyline’ cricket series alongside Don Bradman. With this in mind, perhaps we can forgive him for a bit
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BOTTLER OF AN IDEA MATE! The ubiquitous wine cask was invented by Mr Thomas Angrove, and patented in 1965. As you may know, Thomas was an Aussie; a wine maker from Renmark in South Australia. His original version was fairly rudimentary. It was simply a polyethylene bladder
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The village of Leura in the upper Blue Mountains is famous for its main street avenue of flowering cherry trees. However, even higher up there is Blackheath, with its own, very special ‘cherry walk.’ From the Lithgow Mercury on October 12 1953; In 1953, the women residents
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One feature of cooking during the Great Depression, especially in rural areas, was home made kitchen ware. I especially like the creativity of the flour sifter; Flour reminds me of my husband’s family, who owned Conolly’s flour mill in Goulburn. It’s an unfortunate truth, but they did
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HAPPY 100 YEARS VEGEMITE !💋💋🍾 Vegemite was first produced by Australian businessman Fred Walker, in opposition to the UK’s Marmite. It was first sold in October 1923 I was amused to discover that he briefly marketed it as Parwill (as in Pa will, Ma might.) Walker’s chemist
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Many years ago one tired little traveler apparently found it all a bit much, and took a break in Sydney’s inner city. The following article appeared in The Sydney Sun on January 28 1932. IT SLEPT ON MR PLOD’S CYCLE Alighting on the handlebars of a constable’s
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