West Hobart Heritage Day – 2011

Logo for the West Hobart Heritage Day

Link to westhobart.org.au

‘Back to West Hobart Heritage Day’

“Under the Southern Stars”

Sunday 15th May 2011-report

With 18 months planning with a committee of 12 the Heritage Day all came together on Sunday May 15th 2011. Most events were held at Lawrenny Court, 131 Hill Street with colonial games & billy tea & damper held at Lansdowne Crescent Primary School, all the school events were run by Peter Marmion their headmaster.

We began with 4 choirs & ended up with one which was Lansdowne Crescent School Choir with choir mistress Gay Headlam. This choir was absolutely wonderful. Friends school pulled out on the Friday before and were replaced by a brass instrumental trio who were great. The other events to pull out were the maypole dancers, shingle splitter, old fire engine, St. Mary’s Choir, Lawrenny Choir, Evergreens Choir & whipcracking.

The initial idea came about by myself (Cynthia Archer). I have been living at A.A.Lord Homes for almost 8 years. I had previously run 2 other heritage days while I was employed by “Life. Be in it” . The 1st heritage day was held on behalf of the Glenorchy City Council at Tolosa Park on April 4th 1993 & the 2nd was held at Wirksworth House” historic home at Bellerive on Sunday April 17th 1994 this day featured guests of Kevin Sheedy, Ian Redpath & David Foster with the assistance of the Clarence City Council. Interesting to note on this day we had a Premier’s XI cricket match with Mr. Ray Groom & physiotherapist Jill Whitehouse & Mrs. Jean Moore CEO Royal Hobart Hospital. This day was preceded by a meet the stars breakfast. I realised the history of West Hobart was vast & that the children growing up in this suburb needed to be made aware of this. Also the past residents who lived here to get together to catch up with old friends & reminisce.

So after arranging a number of people mostly residents of A.A.Lord Homes but with 6 outsiders the committee was formed. This committee consisted of: Cynthia Archer (convenor) Trevor Sutton, Bill Dalton, Julie Cowley, Pat Leitch, Daryl McCarthy, Paul Turvey, Miriam Sayer, Bluey Watson, Trenna Squires & Margaret Brown. Thanks to all who gave up their valuable time to attend the meetings held each month. Getting closer to the day & on the day these members were given tasks. Trevor Sutton was our media manager who we were most fortunate to have, Trevor who contacted radio, tv, newspaper which we gained a great deal of publicity, we had 2 ads in The Mercury, radio announcements with Magic FM, ABC interview with Chris Wisby on the day, 2 mercury photos, one with Simon Clarkson with apples & pears from trees of 100 years old which Simon donated for the day with a donation to Ronald McDonald house, the other photo was Max Walker with Sue Bennett of Venus Confectionery next day, TV were in attendance both Win & Southern Cross with the day on the 6 p.m. News that evening. Miriam Sayer was in charge of the walk to Friends Park where she met the Friends School historian who spoke about the Quaker’s tombstones (40 people were on this walk) well done Miriam for all the research she did for this.

Bill Dalton was in charge of the Police Pipe Band & also was to be congratulated who along with Daryl McCarthy sold 400 raffle tickets amounting to over $700 for our charity Ronald McDonald house. Paul Turvey was really wonderful. Paul set up our web site http://www.westhobart.org.au. He was also responsible for the lovely invitations which were sent out to 35 VIP’s. He was also great with organising articles all year in the West Hobart Neighbourhood Newsletter along with their chairman Bluey Watson. Bluey was the West Hobart icon who was interviewed by Matthew Groom MP. Trenna was choir manager. Julie was judge of the pedlars parade and along with Trenna was on the apple & pear stand, Pat Leitch helped look after the easy craft stall & ended up in the kitchen serving the Devonshire Teas with Margaret Nielsen & Priscilla Richardson with beautiful scones made by Roseanne of the Rotary Club of Salamanca.

This committee along with Bob Rumbold,  Howard Richardson & other residents helped with the setting up on the Saturday in the hall & on Sunday with chairs, piano, rubbish bins, stalls etc. Many thanks to you all.

Max Walker was great & many thanks to the Friends School for paying his appearance fee of $3000 max was the big attraction on the day along with the No. 39 Tram.

Special thanks to Southern Cross Care (Tas) for all their support especially Mr. Ray Groom chairman & Mr. Richard Sadek CEO. & Bob Rumbold deserved a gold medal for all the stress & headaches prior to the day with public liability which Southern Cross Care (Tas) covered for the street & hall & grounds also the Health Department came up with a lot of stipulations which we didn’t foresee. Also not forgetting Jessica for all the office work.

The programme began with the Historic Walk at 9.30 a.m. With Tony Rayner was great with 60-70 people. Don Fish arrived with 5 sheep on his four wheel drive from Oatlands & his shearing with shears drew a large audience. The Police Pipe Band as ever were great entertainment. The Swing Dance group replaced the Maypole Dancers with an energetic display. The bus trip was huge and was so popular we had four instead of two with eighty people who saw historic homes & places of interest with the highlight being John Glover’s home at 166 Melville Street where the passengers were allowed to walk up the lane & around the garden which is on the market by Remax Real Estate agency. Tony Rayner our historian was incredible imparting heaps of knowledge about West Hobart’s history. The Daystars gave us as usual great music. The highland dancers again created a large audience in the hall. Matthew Groom MP interviewed Bluey Watson a West Hobart icon. Bluey also sang” It’s a Wonderful World”. The official opening with Trevor Sutton MC spoke briefly & then handed over the mike to Ray Groom(AO) & also the chairman of Southern Cross Care (Tas) who thanked all the sponsors, Hobart City Council & then over to the Lord Mayor Mr. Rob Valentine who welcomed the VIP’s & Max Walker & officially opened the Heritage Day & then introduced Max Walker who spoke about his childhood

Growing up in West Hobart & his father owning the Hill St. Store. The walk to friends school with Miriam was as previously mentioned a great success. There were only 2 for the Pedlars Parade a little girl dressed in pink & a little boy looked cute dressed as a bee. Julie Cowley judged this & presented a $50 voucher from Toyworld donated by Julie & also books & DVD’s donated Video Ezy. Video Ezy donated books DVD’s & other prizes also for Lansdowne Crescent games.

The raffle was won by Kathryn Durval, 1st Prize donated by Video Ezy was DVD hire every night for 12 months valued at $2100, 2nd Prize was won by Colleen Graham a canteen of cutlery donated by Habitat & 3rd Prize won by Pat Leitch was $100 travel voucher donated by the Travel Centre Salamanca.

The Art Competition judged by Tim Squires was won by Mary Reynolds 1 st Prize which was a $100 voucher donated by Habitat, 2nd Prize was won by Kate Lee who won a $100 voucher donated by Dick Smith & 3rd prize was awarded to Jenny Eaton who won a hamper donated by Jerry Hampton Pharmacy.

The Quilt Competition was won by Rosary Gardens, 2nd Prize was awarded to Mary Harris, with vouchers from SC Care, 3rd Prize was awarded to Heather Fung who won a $50 voucher from the Souvlaki Hut with 4th Prize going to Easy Craft Class at Lawrenny with another money voucher from S.C.Care, this quilt  depicted A.A.Lord Homes & was presented to our CEO Mr. Richard Sadek. The quilts were judged by Helen Ducker.

The Sponge Baking Competition was won 1st & 3rd Prizes by Shirley Bellis who received a lovely Raspberry Hamper from a Raspberry Farm at Broadmarsh owned by Mark & Leanne Tomlinson & 2nd Prize was won by Lillian Dean who won a voucher from Spotlight. The Bush Bakery’s son was the judge.

Also in the hall we had displays by the spinners & weavers who were very creative. The West Hobart Environment Group & the Friends of Knocklofty also created great interest along with Colin Dennison’s wonderful photos of West Hobart’s history. Ian Cooper author who came from Canberra with his books on the tramways & trolley buses. Also the Devonshire Teas did a roaring trade.

The outside stalls & food venues went very well, the stall holders were Venus Confectionery, Bush Bakery, Romelda who raises money for cancer research, Goulburn Street School produce & Coleen Graham with preserves ,jam etc. All went very well.

The cappuccino van was very popular & the food van with fairy floss, ice-cream & hot chips also did well. The BBQ by the Rotary Club was unreal selling 350 gourmet sausages kindly donated by Hill Street Gourmet Meats. Howard Richardson wore a track between the Butchers & the BBQ & wore out a pair of shoes. This Rotary Club have donated $400 to the Ronald McDonald house, a great contribution along with donation if $100 by Bush Bakery & another donation to come from Goulburn Street School. So the amount in total from the BBQ. Raffle, bus trip donations, stall  holders & apple & pear donations will be over $1500. wonderful effort from everyone.

The street displays were wonderful with the No. 39 Tram & steam engine creating huge interest. The transporting of the tram & setting up & road closure all being paid for by the Hobart City Council which amounted to over $3000 plus their grant of $2000 we have been blessed by their wonderful support for this day. Many thanks to the Lord Mayor, Darlene Haigh, Brendan Lennard & Greg Fannon. Without the Council’s incredible support the day wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

The mural in our hall by the grade 5 & 6 students of Lansdowne Crescent School was beautiful with homes of Lansdowne Crescent painted & drawn. Thanks also to the Goulburn Street School for their display of artwork which was fabulous.

A big big thankyou to Mr. Bruce Haley from St. Helens, a past resident of 110 Hill Street, who was our roving mike man at 82 years old who was terrific. Bruce was also past Mayor of the St.Helens/East Coast Council & was the organiser of the St. Helens Jazz Festival thank you Bruce a great effort.

Lastly we musn’t forget all our sponsors who without them we couldn’t run such an event a list of sponsors is included.

Well that about finishes this report, a great big thank you to all concerned in making this day the best it could have been.

Sincerely

Cynthia archer

Convenor

Sponsors include

Hobart City Council, Tasmanian State Government, Southern Cross Care (Tas) Inc., Doug Parkinson MLC, Matthew Groom MHA,, Mr Daryl McCarthy, West Hobart Neighbourhood Watch, Lansdowne Physiotherapy, Friends School, Artery, The Gas Company, Petterd’s Plumbing, Dick Smith Electronics, Jerry Hampton Amcal Pharmacies, Hill Street Gourmet Meats, Souvlaki Hut – Kingston, Video Ezy, Spotlight, State Cinema, Ambulance Private.

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Lord Mayor’s Opening Speech

West Hobart Heritage Day- Speech Notes-Lord Mayor

Thank you Ray Groom.

I would also like to acknowledge my fellow Aldermen, Alderman Darlene Haigh, Deputy Lord Mayor Alderman Helen Burnet- Members of the Tasmanian Parliament, Mr Scott Bacon, Mr Mathew Groom and the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council Mr Doug Parkinson.

I would also like to recognise two authors who are present today, Mr David Kirby author of the Tram Trilogy and Ian G Cooper author of Hobart Trams. We also have two historians Mr Tony Rayner and Mr Colin Denison.

Where we’re standing was once called Crescent Fields and later the site of the Kennerly Boys’ Home to house and train orphans and boys from broken homes. Last year marked the bicentenary of the birth of wealthy businessman, premier and philanthropist Alfred Kennerley. He purchased three acres of land in Hamilton Street in 1869 and founded the home to provide boys with a trade and life skills while under care for almost a hundred years.

The area was first settled as a farming district, hosting poultry, dairy, hops, orchards and Chinese market gardens. Various industries have also served in the area, including a brickworks at the top of Arthur Street and coal mines below Summerhill Road. The side of Knocklofty Hill served as a sandstone quarry. The area around Goulburn and Harrington Streets was once a notorious red-light district….Probably not up to Ma Dwyer’s reputation in Salamanca, but none-the-less quite well known!

According to Historian Colin Dennison’s book ‘Here’s Cheers’ commissioned by the Hobart City Council, in the 1850’s one house in every 16 was a pub. Many were more than a place to drink in…..They doubled as a political meeting house, community centre and a social club.
The Council has been working with a number of Environmental groups and bushcare groups in Knocklofty and surrounding  areas together with Simon Clarkson on the Leonard Wall Valley Street Reserve off Mellifont Street.

I have to say that I’m impressed with the quality of the fruit from the Valley Street Community Orchard Group. The heritage apple and pear varieties go back a long way. The Reserve together with large parts of Mt Stuart and Lenah Valley were the site of the earliest orchards in Hobart Town, providing fruit for the early settlers.  The West Hobart community now has a living link with our colonial heritage.

West Hobart also has a strong link with an artist who is widely recognised as the most important 19^th century landscape painter to work in Australia and known as the father of Australian landscape painting-John Glover.

The Council is proud to have been a part of the project to develop Glover Walk in the Knocklofty Reserve where one can stand on the very spot where this famous artist painted ‘Hobart and the River Derwent’ exactly 180 years ago     (1831.) His home, a 3 storey Georgian house built in 1824 is presently up for sale!

There is no doubt that West Hobart’s most famous visitor was a 27 year old who celebrated his birthday with a party in Hobart and climbed Mt Wellington. Notes from Charles Darwin’s diary show he was not impressed!  Dare I suggest that Darwin could be wrong! Mt Wellington is the third most popular visitor attraction in Tasmania.

Considered a ‘working class’ suburb until the 1960s, West Hobart has become increasingly a popular inner-city suburb.

In recent years the Council has been at the forefront in making a number of significant improvements, particularly off Mellifont Street in the Leonard Wall Valley Street Reserve.

I would like to commend Cynthia Archer and her team at Southern Cross Care’s AA Lord Homes for their decision to take on this project to highlight the wonderful attributes of West Hobart as part of Heritage Week in Tasmania.

It gives me great pleasure to officially open the Back to West Hobart Heritage Day and introduce a very well known personality, Patron of the West Hobart Heritage Day… Max Walker.

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From Hobart City Council Web site

The history and heritage of West Hobart were celebrated on Sunday 15 May 2011 with the display of the Hobart City Council’s historic Tram Number 39 and its Marshall Steam Roller in Hill Street, a feature of the event.

Tram Number 39 has a long association with the West Hobart area, where it once regularly serviced the line that ran from Liverpool St in the City to Mellifont St via Lansdowne and Hill Streets, as part of the extensive and popular tram system that at a time reached the majority of Hobart suburbs.

The Council purchased the tram in 1998 from a family in Mt Seymour who used it as a house for accommodation, prior to that it was owned by a tram enthusiast who was intending to restore it.

The tram was removed from Mt Seymour and moved to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery workshop in Moonah where the process of restoring the tram body commenced.   Once restoration was complete, the Council engaged Bendigo Tramways to fabricate and fit the tram truck, wheels and refurbished traction motors to complete the restoration in 2002.

The public’s interest in the tram was evident with many hundreds of people climbing aboard for a closer look and a chat about the restoration process.