I love this photo of a ferry approaching the wharf in Mosman Bay, on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. My partner Rob and I lived just above the wharf in the 1980s and 90s, travelling to the city each day by ferry. There was once a suggestion that
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Ann Hordern (nee Woodhead) arrived in Sydney with her husband Anthony and their four children in 1825. When their ship the Phoenix docked she wrote a letter to her parents, to be sent back to England on the ship’s return voyage. After a wander up George Street
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One of the now forgotten, long term chocolate makers of Sydney was Hilda Gurr (nee Bell) and her husband Arthur. The couple’s enterprise began in the 1930s, when Arthur was seriously injured in a car accident and had to find a way of making a living without
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There was a prelude to the 1912 robbery of the Bank of NSW in Newtown. Six months earlier the Hoskins Street site of the stationery company Penfold’s new building was broken into. The safe was already in place, and had been tampered with; Would the burglars dare
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The luxurious Hotel Metropole was built at the intersection of Young, Bent and Philip Street, Sydney, opening on January 14 1890. The following image appeared in the Sydney Mail on January 18; Along with mosaic tiled floors in the entrance areas and lavish stained glass windows,
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Singing a song of Sixpence. 💛 During a major decluttering, some dusty life vests turned up at our Blue Mountains Home. Dear me, they were very bulky compared to modern ones. And as I was ripping up old diaries I found this gem from the early 1980s.
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Historic York Street in the Sydney CBD was originally known as Barracks Row, because of its proximity to the military barracks parade ground. Governor Lachlan Macquarie renamed it after the Duke of York and Albany, second son of King Richard III. Below is an image looking south
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What could be more wonderful than working at Sydney’s Mitchell Library then popping up to the roof for a drink….or two? 🍸🍹 The space was once used by library staff as a canteen and recreation area, but then just forgotten about. Apparently the young women are playing
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Ceratopetalum gummiferum, is a small tree commonly known as the New South Wales Christmas Bush. Its sepals turn bright red/pink in December. In Victorian times, native foliage such as Christmas bush was very popular as a festive decoration in Sydney. It was growing in the heart of
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Now I do like wearing a hat. I think this trait was inherited from both my mother and my paternal grandmother, particularly the latter. Buying a new one (even a basic sun hat) is the only ‘apparel shopping’ I enjoy. No need to struggle out of your
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