ENTER THE DREAMY VISUAL WORLD OF JACQUELINE ANDRONICUS
Local Lifestyle Photographer And Creative Director At Velvette Studio
Nature is a vital element in my being and one which I essentially express through my photography. I love to chase the sunlight and shoot in natural environments. I put people in the scene, to give a sense of presence. Nature is perfect, we are part of it, it’s up to us to honour it and preserve it.
I do realise I need to raise my voice a whole lot to stand out in the
competitive, oversaturated world of photography.
I want to do that through my imagery, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so
I’m finding my direction and building a body of work
I can feel really proud of.
“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it, in a word, effective.”
Irving Penn has long been my favourite photographer, I love his anthropological works, where he travels to far off locations, sets up his mobile studios and captures the people of the culture. Placing them in a neutral environment, imbues a sense of authenticity and rawness to his portraits. I’m drawn to using photography more as a narrative, than to just create beautiful images.
Newport Beach SLSC hosted their inaugural Castles in the Sand and Barefoot Ball on Saturday January 15th 2017.
The Barefoot Ball sold out within a short time of being listed as one of many fundraising events the club holds throughout the year with 300 people attending a great evening on the sand with tunes supplied by a 9 piece band – The United Notions.
The Barefoot Ball and Sandcastles competition has been the hard work of Newport Surf Club members Peter Tillett and Annie Finn who began working on the idea in July 2016, taking on the previous very successful Barefoot Balls and Sandcastle displays and competitions that once used to run annually at Palm Beach.
The Newport SLSC event is sharing the funds raised with Cystic Fibrosis NSW: www.cysticfibrosis.org.au/nsw
North Narrabeen Hosts Rip Curl GromSearch National Final
NORTH NARRABEEN, SYDNEY
Wednesday, 18 January 2017: from Surfing NSW
The Rip Curl GromSearch presented by Flight Centre National Final saw all champions crowned today in stiflingly hot weather at North Narrabeen Beach.
Jay Brown (Cronulla, NSW) put on a highlight reel worthy performance in the 16-and-Under Boys, posting a near perfect 9.33 scoring wave (out of a possible ten points) to gain the upper hand against fellow event standout Noah Stocca (Peregian Beach, Qld) who put up a valiant fight, posting a 12.67 heat total (out of a possible 20 points), but was unable to notch up the 8.84 wave required to take the top spot. As a result, Brown has earned a spot in the International Final, which will take place later in the year.
Joining Brown at the upcoming Rip Curl GromSearch International Final will be Sunshine Coast surfer Sasha Baker (Mudjimba, Qld) who took out an in-form Piper Harrison (Coolangatta, Qld) in the 16-and-Under Girls final. Baker used her deadly frontside snaps to muster up a 13.40 heat total and take the final ahead of the fellow Queenslander.
George Pittar (Manly, NSW) bagged a title for the Northern Beaches, taking out the 14-and-Under Boys ahead of local surfer Jamie Thomson (Narrabeen, NSW) who was the standout surfer all event. Pittar put on a healthy display of stylish turns to get the edge over Thomson who got within a point of taking the title.
Lennox Head duo Nyxie Ryan (Lennox Head, NSW) and Jai Glinderman (Lennox Head, NSW) both bagged titles for the north coast taking out the 14-and-Under Girls and 12-and-Under Boys respectively. Ryan posted a 15.50 heat total to claim the win ahead of Carly Shanahan (Wooli, NSW), while Glinderman got the nod over fellow Lennox Head standout Jack O’Brien (Lennox Head, NSW). As a former Narrabeen resident, Glinderman had the local crowd on their feet when he claimed the top spot on the dais.
Cedar Leigh-Jones (Whale Beach, NSW) ensured another title remained another trophy stayed on the Northern Beaches, taking out the 12-and-Under Girls. Leigh-Jones dominated the field in the windswept conditions posting a mammoth 15.33 heat total to add another title to her overflowing trophy cabinet.
Australia wins 2017 Trans-Tasman Challenge between New Zealand and Australia.Photos by Alana McIsaac (www.exceleratemedia.co.nz)
Rescue, Rehabilitate And Release
Sydney Wildlife's charter is to rescue, rehabilitate and release any injured, sick or orphaned native wildlife. The rescue part forms only 10% of the process; the rehabilitation part can be long and arduous depending on the injury sustained or the age of the orphan; the release part should be the best part of the process but it can actually present the most challenges:1. In hand-raised orphans, we can't release them until they are 'dehumanised'.
Raising orphaned joeys (such as wallabies, kangaroos, wombats and possums) means that we provide them with nourishment, protection, warmth and love - everything their mothers would offer. This is Phase 1 of their rehab. Unfortunately in Phase 1, they become humanised and reliant on us. This is why Phase 2 is important: the 'dehumanisation' process. The hand-raised joeys are taken up to our Sydney Wildlife Pre-Release Facility to become ready for the wild. They are only in contact with humans once a day and here they learn to deal with all types of weather, parasites and finding food - all in a controlled environment, without predators. Our wonderful facility manager, Joan Reid, has hand-raised countless joeys and she knows the importance of Phase 2 for the joeys to have a seamless assimilation into the wild.
Ringtail possum joey - very vulnerable and in need of feeds around the clock.
Brushtail possum joey.
Our Pre-Release Facility manager, Joan Reid, with a wombat joey.
2. Releasing baby birds that have 'fallen from the nest'
Humans often 'kidnap' fledgling birds that are learning to fly. They mistake the process of learning to fly for falling and snatch up the babies with the parent birds watching on in horror as their fledging bubs get whisked off to the nearest vet. Sydney Wildlife is then called to care for the chicks but we often bring them back to the 'scene of the crime' to reunite the babies with their parents so that their flight lessons can continue.
Fledging lorikeets being reunited with their parents.
3. Capture and release of snakes in unwanted locations
We regularly get called to relocate snakes that pop up in backyards, on construction sites, in offices or inside homes. We have no problem removing them from dangerous situations but it's often tricky to know how far to take them or where a safer place would be. Each species of snake has a different-sized home range and it's important not to take them out of it. Releasing snakes at the correct time of day is also essential. If the snake is nocturnal, it must be released at night.
Diamond Python removed from a dangerous construction site and relocated to nearby bushland.
4. Finding suitable habitat for release
Sometimes our rescuers hand-raise orphaned bats or invest countless hours rehabilitating venomous snakes - but these species and many others are deemed a 'nuisance' or 'undesirable'.
Bats often have their habitats chopped down to discourage them from roosting. Finding suitable habitat to release hand-raised pups is becoming impossible. One also needs to consider adequate food sources when releasing wildlife.
Flying fox habitat decimated in an attempt to discourage them. Photo by S. Thorpe.
Some venomous snakes, like this eastern brown snake, are treated cruelly and many people feel they should be killed instead of captured and released. Photo by N. Wedlock.
Sydney Wildlife do not discriminate. We love all our wildlife. We treat them all as priceless treasures and we adhere to our charter for all species: rescue, rehabilitate and release.
Sydney Wildlife: www.sydneywildlife.org.au Phone: 9413 4300
By Lynleigh Greig
Sydney Wildlife
Sydney Wildlife do not discriminate. We love all our wildlife. We treat them all as priceless treasures and we adhere to our charter for all species: rescue, rehabilitate and release.
Sydney Wildlife: www.sydneywildlife.org.au Phone: 9413 4300
By Lynleigh Greig
Sydney Wildlife
The PBP’s page has often been utilised to celebrate Australian poets and their adventures, especially since so many seem to have been inspired by the beautiful landscapes and seascapes of Pittwater or enjoyed the ‘cosmopolitan Brighton-like' atmosphere of ‘The Village’, or Manly when Manly was the place to be inspired by wind and saltwater songs.
This finding of all those Bards who have visited here, or there (Manly), and each place in between these two pinsula poles, has shared insights through ‘A Run to Pittwater’, the poetics of Ella McFadyen in Sands of Morning, the prose of Gertrude Mack when describing Church Point or Alison McDougall when lilting of Elvina Bay, at Palm Beach through Ethel Turner's The Rock Pool and even a wondering over whether The Bulletin’s Archibald walked north from Manly to Narrabeen to take Mark Twain (Samuel Clements) fishing when he was in Sydney. These are just a handful of all found and 'restored' in some way by collecting them here - and proof of our area's beauty in that so many have visited and been inspired by here - many of these being some of Australia's best and most legendary poets.
In 'A Run to Pittwater' by "Viator", a nom de plume for Patrick Edward Quinn, brother of Roderic Quinn, one of the early golden ages of Australian bards is introduced through The Dawn and Dusk club, named for one of Victor J. Daley's works of the same time and formed around 1898 in Sydney, by poet Daley. Foundation members of 'the Duskers' were Daley, Fred J. Broomfield, James Philp, Herbert Low (journalist), William Bede Melville (a reporter for the Sydney newspaper, The Star), Angus Sinclair (writer), Bertram Stevens and Randolph Bedford. The club met at Broomfield's home on the corner of Ice Road and Great Barcom Street, Darlinghurst, near St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney about September, 1898. Daley was elected 'Symposiarch' of the Duskers and the seven 'heptarchs' were Lawson, Stevens, Nelson Illingworth, Frank P. Mahony, George Augustine Taylor, Con Lindsay (journalist), and Philp, who drafted the rules. Artist Norman Lindsay was also a member.
When investigating whether Twain, Henry Lawson and J. F. Archibald really did have a fun fishing day, small inklings that more than just these poets and purveyors of prose visited our area began to appear among the threads. This inspired a further investigation into how many of these early songsters of all things Australian fell in love with Manly and wandered further north into the green and blues surrounding what was then a ‘village’ to some.
This research has grown, encompassing heady days from times long past when it seems Theodore Argles (nom de plume 'Harold Grey' and 'The Pilgrim' among others) and Victor Daley (Creeve Roe) and Henry Lawson along with William Melville, along with other luminaries associated with them, all stirred 'The Village'. The amount of material found will form some late Summer pages - a season well suited to poets - over the coming weeks.
We begin with one among their number, although young when they were here - Roderic Quinn, youngest brother of the aforementioned 'Viator' of ' A run to Pittwater', and preface his prose and poems of here with some heresay of a romantic kind, mixed with a few facts, and then a collection of some of Mr. R Quinn's works that need no interpretation - other than to be revelled in, enjoyed:
SURFING AND CELEBRITIES.
Manly 's Augustan Age.
(By C.R.C.)
It is an aspect of the eternal fitness of things that surfing, perhaps the most virile and most health-giving of all our sports, should have originated, as far as Australia is concerned, in a seaside village called Manly. So popular has the sport become that it is hard to realise that the right to surf was hardly won, and that it is barely thirty years since at was first admitted. Recent references to the origin of surfing, while substantiality correct, require a certain amount of amendment.
At a Sydney reunion of pioneer members of the Royal Life Saving Society, it was stated that there is still a law on the Statute Book of New South Wales which forbids bathing in view, of the public and that this law was challenged, in 1904, by ‘Mr. W H Goucher,' with the result that an agitation in favour of bathing followed and the law has never since been enforced, the village Hampden referred to was Mr. W. H. Goacher (not Goucher) who, at the time, was editor of the local paper unless my memory is sadly at fault (and I was one of the crowd of spectators who aided and abetted him). Goacher was prosecuted in 1903 for the breach of a regulation framed under the Police Offences Act. Though fined in the Water Police Court, Mr. Goacher declared that he would continue to bathe in proper costumes and it was then discovered that the Police Regulation was ultra vires. It was to this, and not to any magnanimity en the part of the authorities, that Sydney people owe their right to surf. - At that time, Manly occupied a narrow isthmus and though it was still affectionately referred to as 'The Village.' it had already commenced to sprawl across the heights to the north and south. The first six years of the present century might aptly be termed the Augustan Age of Manly. Even before the ban on surfing had been lifted, men and boys were allowed to bathe on the Ocean Beach before seven in the morning. Like Wolley’s 'little wanton boys' we youngsters would enter the water, clad only in ‘trunks'. The official who used to chase us shorewards after seven was, appropriately enough, the municipal council's inspector of nuisances, and we wanton little boys saw to it that his job was no sinecure.
Even before the dawn of the century, Manly, had been the home of giants. Cardinal Moran's Palace and the College for the training of Roman Catholic priests towered on the southern heights. On the northern height was the ibid home of W. B. Dalley, built in the form of an English' castle, and still called 'Dalley Castle,' though it' has passed out of the hands of the Dalley family many years since; Its builder, W. B. Dalley, the father of the novelist J. B. Dalley, was a distinguished lawyer and politician who was prominent in the trial of the bushrangers and who was responsible for the sending of a contingent from New South Wales to the Sudan. It was stated at the time that a little boy in Manly had donated the contents of his money box to the patriotic fund raised in connection with the contingent. At all events, following an amount in a published subscription list, were the words 'A Little Boy |from Manly.' Political opponents said that the little boy was none other than W. B. Dalley himself, and the incident provided the Sydney 'Bulletin' with one of those stock mythical figures which were the delight of our fathers and grandfathers. Sir Edmund Barton, afterwards Prime Minister of Australia and a Justice of the High Court, was another well known resident of The Village during the Nineties.
Forlorn Hopes.
It was just after ;the Boer war that W. B. Goacher commenced to edit a paper called 'The Manly News.' He was one of those lovable fire-eaters whose lifetime was spent in the fighting of forlorn hopes. He was more an artist than a journalist, and not very successful in painting or writing as, in looking after the interests of others, he neglected his own. Certainly, as the Sydney speaker said, surf clubs throughout Australia should do something to perpetuate his memory. He has yet another .claim to distinction. He was Manly's first Labour candidate. There had been a redistribution of seats in New South Wales, and Manly, formerly part of Wahringah, became part of the constituency then called Middle Harbour. In 1904, just after the redistribution, Goacher: came out as a candidate for Middle Harbour. His campaign was of the whirlwind variety. His meetings were always crowded. His oratory, and gift for repartee provided entertainment for the masses, but he; polled only thirty-three votes. The handicap of a tall hat and a frock coat was too great for a Labour candidate to carry in those days. Next week, in his paper, he returned thanks to 'the thirty-three intelligent electors of Middle Harbour. Poor Goacher's finances were never in a healthy condition and the loss of his deposit ruined him. He disposed of his paper to “Billy” Melville and went to live in Sydney.
Melville was one of the older school of Bulletin writers. He sang the praises of, Manly in season and out of season. It was probably through his personal influence that Victor Daley and Henry Lawson came to live in 'The Village'. I think Roderick Quinn lived there for a little while also. Quinn, if not an actual resident, was a frequent visitor to the others. I remember now we awe-struck youngsters used to gaze at the four poets strolling down the street arm in arm— and taking its width in their stride. One of Daley's, sons was enrolled as a pupil at the Manly Public School. When asked his father's occupation young Daley replied 'writer,' and the headmaster who was a Master of Arts and an honours man in literature cheerfully wrote 'signwriter' in the school admission register.
It was through Melville, that I came to meet both Lawson and Daley. I knew Daley the better of the two. Lawson could not remain long in any place, and while in Manly he met with a peculiar accident. While strolling along the Fairy Bower cliffs, he fell over the rim and broke a few ribs (in fact he broke his ankle - ed.). The usual people said the usual thing about the accident, but I honestly believe that in his absent-mindedness Lawson walked too near the edge and overbalanced. Daley, though a severe critic, was a kindly one. I once had the temerity to call at his house and show him a short story I had written. The place was almost unfurnished, but Daley received me as though he were conducting me into a palace. Incidentally he tore the story to shreds, which embarrassed me considerably because there was another man present, a grim silent looking man whom I thought must be some distinguished editor. I found out afterwards that he was a bailiff. Daley made me sit down there and then and rewrite the story. The next day, he took me up to Sydney and personally introduced me to the editor of the Bulletin, who also said scathing things about the story — but printed it.
Various Arts.
All the arts were represented, in Manly during those years. Hilder had lived there for many years- even at that time, and was painting his delicate water-colours and battling against ill-health and genteel poverty. Charlie Bryant was still a schoolboy but was just beginning to make a name for himself in black and white work. W.H. Whiddon, afterwards Deputy Commissioner for Taxation in New South Wales, used to gather the aspiring vocalists of the village and drill them in light opera. As a choir-master and a producer of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, he did much to raise the standards of musical taste, not only in Manly, but throughout the whole State. Another notable resident was an exponent of an older and even more individual art. This was Larry Foley, the veteran pugilist. Somewhere about 1904, he established a boxing academy at his residence on the cliffs overlooking the Manly Lagoon. He gathered round him quite a school of fighting, neophytes but none of them achieved fame. Old Larry, it was said, had become crotchetty in his old age and very Spartan in his methods of instruction. If he did not think a pupil worth bothering about any further, a knock out blow ended that pupil's course of training and inclined him towards another career. For a season or two Larry's square stocky figure and his mutton chop whiskers were frequently seen on the promenade. It was a sight for the gods to see him and his great friend and fellow-Hibernian, the genial Dan O'Conner, disporting in the breakers. They were two of the few Manly great ones who remained distinguished looking in bathers. Dan O'Connor had ended his political career by that time. He provided the Bulletin with another of that paper's stock phrases. While Postmaster-General of New South Wales he had to decide upon the appointment of a minor official in his department; There were many applicants, several of whom were strongly recommended. The P.M.G. decided the matter in a laconic and- phonetic minute-— 'Appoint Maloney.' And Maloney was appointed. He habitually wore the tall hat and frock coat of the period, and his flowing white beard would have been the envy of any Druids’ lodge. But to see him rising from the waves, in his red and blue striped bathers, with that avalanche of whiskers wet and bedraggled, was to obtain an idea of what Father Neptune must have looked like. Though a politician, he was a patron of the arts. He it was who spoke at Sydney's welcome to a famous French actress, and referred to the guest as 'La Belly Franzase.' SURFING AND CELEBRITIES. (1933, February 18). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32585829
Henry Lawson. FALLS DOWN A CLIFF.
Sydney. Sunday
Early yesterday morning a Manly resident named Sly was walking round the beach on the ocean side when he suddenly came across Mr. Henry Lawson, the well known poet, who was found to be suffering from a broken ankle, and he said that he had fallen over the cliffs, which in that spot were from 80ft. to 90ft. high. It has been ascertained that Mr. Lawson was in a low state of health lately, and was rather inclined to wander around the cliffs. Ever since his arrival from England Lawson has lived at Manly, where, as he himself says, ' the swells of the sea assuage sorrow.' After being found Mr. Lawson was brought to Sydney, .and as it was considered: that the state of his health demanded it, he was placed under the Control of responsible officials. Henry Lawson. (1902, December 8). National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157251906
SOME PEOPLE,
BY VICTOR J. DALEY.
When, your nerves are on edge, and you hunger for quiet, and the happy diabolical Children are yelling in the street, you are either sorry that the good King Herod died so early, or that you were not bred up as a professional hermit. - It is not the volume, nor even the variety, of the noise that worries you — its incalculable suddenness is what paralyses you. A pressman who has been accustomed to the experience can, so to speak, write with his ear against the machine. But if the machine is drinking —I have seen a machine in that condition, or, rather, I have seen a machinist who said his machine was in that condition it is another matter. . ? Then its inconsequential jerking exasperates you almost to the pitch of madness. This reminds me that upon one occasion, many years ago, I dropped into a little newspaper office in Hunter-street. The newspaper was called 'Society.' Its editor was Harold Grey. It lived thirteen weeks. When I went in Grey was cursing the machinist because the machine wouldn't work. The machinist was a big upstanding fellow who would have killed any outsider who said a word against Grey. But there was a limit even to his forbearance. ' How can I work the machine. without oil?' he growled. . ' ' What's become of the oil?''-said Grey. ' Well,'' said the ' machinist, 'one of your literary staff came in a while ago and demanded a drink. I hadn't a drink to give him. He said it didn't matter; and drank the machine oil!'In those days I had a cottage at Manly en garcon. It was furnished completely — apparently for honeymoon couples. There was a double breakfast set of innumerable pieces, and a dinner-set of seventy-two : pieces. Grey was staying with me at the time, and we never used the same bit of crockery twice. Grey was a very clean and fastidious man. When some actresses came down to see us once upon a time, we were drinking tea out of butter-boats, and all the other dishes were stacked up ready for washing.
They called us several hard names, and then — the feminine instinct of order getting the better of them— set to and washed the whole stack of dishes. I was sleeping with a rug around me on the beach about fifty yards away. They roused me up and made me chop wood, for the fire, and they made Grey come out of the honeymoon bedroom and cook ham and eggs and make two omelettes. He was a fine cook—, a cordon bleu in his way.
Right: Portrait of Harold Grey and Victor Daley, circa 1880-1895 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146669281 , courtesy National Library of Australia
Four girls there were, and they insisted that I should sit at the head of the table. They had previously plundered the cupbonrd, and placed all its little potted luxuries upon the board. It was the first decently set-out meal I had faced since I took the cottage. How their tongues: wagged ! How their teeth, flashed ! . White as the foam on the beach were their teeth. And how they laughed ! And how we laughed ! And how, all of us laughed together ! Never was a merrier party in the world.
Then when the banquet was over, we put up two bottles — we could spare them, they were empty — on two posts. One was labelled with the name of their employer; the other was labelled with the name of ours. We threw stones at them. Grey and I demolished our employer in five shots; but it took the girls half-an-hour to make flinders of Williamson. And where are now those laughing, careless girls? One is a care- worn married woman with seven children. The others—
Where is Lesbia?
Where is Lais?
Where Brunhilde, with brow austere?
Where are Cleopatra, Thais, Bertha,' Broadfoot, Guinevere?
Where is Echo, beheld of no man, Only heard on mead and mere,
And Lady Flora, the lovely Roman—
But where are the snows of yester-year?
They are gone over the horizon. Possibly they are dead. Grey, with all his light wit and wicked sarcasm, has lain 16 years asleep under green grass in the Waverley Cemetery.
Of course, I shall see him again, and he will be the leader of a company of friends of mine in Elysium, and he will 'say ‘Well, you have been a time ! - , What kept you?'
And I will make some feeble excuse about business. And then Morgan will come to the front and say ' He never did any business in his life. He doesn't know what business means. Ask him to have some ambrosia— I' remember !' But I remember 'Morgan' quite as well. Morgan, with his face like the face of a summer moon, was one of the most delightful men I ever met. He also was a writer, but in a different way. Many a night we passed together sending wires to the country papers. They had to be in the telegraph office at certain times up till twelve o'clock. After that time we used to eat hot potatoes and saveloys from a cart that stood outside the post office. And after that, if we could meet with one of our detective friends — we would go to, a place that was known as The Thieves' Inn. It kept open all night— a frowsy, squalid place, with crime written on its' front. I have noticed, by the way, that most kinds of crime are associated with dirt. Forgery, in its various branches, is the only exception. But the other sort of criminals, have two deadly enemies--Soap and the Police, And such faces as we saw there ! The face of the swell magsman who would take your last sovereign from you, and then leave you enough to buy yourself a clean shirt and collar ! The brutal anthropoid face of the man who would — if the coast were clear, cut your throat for the sake of, eighteen pence! The hard, harlot-face of the woman who would sell you to the police while you were asleep. The flushed young face of the woman who would die for a drink. We went there one night, and had. something to drink, and asked all of them to drink. They, drank because Sergeant-Detective Ward was with us. And they drank, slily, sullenly, furtively. All except the young woman and the gentleman in the tall hat. They brazened it out finely. There was a big scoop on at the time— a matter of £5000.
‘Not here,' said Sergeant Ward, ' in a bigger place.' 'Excuse -me,' I remarked. 'You, mademoiselle and madame, will be good enough to take these presents.' ?' It was Christmas Eve.- I had been carrying around Santa Claus cradles and horses until I was tired of them.' They took the presents, and the woman wept, and said that they reminded her of the time when she was an innocent girl-baby in a cradle— seven thousand years ago. But the rest of the crowd looked at me suspiciously in the moonlight, and would have assassinated my shadow if it owned a pocket.
Edwards stayed with me for a trifle of five months. He was a Welsh gentleman with a red beard and long pedigree, and the kindest simplest heart in the world!! He had no money, no occupation, no anything, but a soft, grey eye and an amiable smile, and a hallucination about a sum of one hundred pounds which he was going to receive from his sister in Wales by the next mail. He was the greatest optimist I ever met. 'Where are you off to this morning; Edwards,' I would say when I saw him brushing his faded clothes and fixing his collar. ' G.P.O., old fellow, G.P.O.— that draft is bound to be there to-day.' Of course it wasn't, and never would be. But Edwards would come back bright-and affable, and in no wise discouraged. 'She must have missed the mail,' he would say. She missed the mail for five month's, and for two years afterwards.
There was a cyclorama of the Spanish Armada about to be produced when Edwards was staying with me, and I was engaged to write a lecture upon the subject. A lecture to be delivered upon the stage, you know. I was not very well at the time, and I sent him to the Public Library 'to hunt up authorities and make notes'. He returned with about a pound weight of paper covered with smudged writing in lead pencil. I glanced at it. 'Good heavens,' I said, 'what is this?' It was the story of Drake's voyage around the world and his capture of Panama.' 'It's a most interesting yarn,' he observed; ' I' wonder that I never read it before.' What could you do? I went to the Library and made my own notes. A year or so afterwards' I met Edwards, and asked him where he was staying. 'Well,' he replied, 'they call the place Rats' Castle. Come and see me.' I did, nnd' discovered to my unbounded amazement that he had a wife. ' She was a nursery governess in a place where I used to visit,' he explained to me, 'and. I met her in the street last week and she told me she had been discharged because of her deafness. She hadn't any money, and had nowhere to go. Well, what would you do? I couldn't take her around to the Castle because of her good name. And I couldn't leave her standing homeless in the street. So we dropped in upon a Baptist minister, and I married her.' Talk of generosity!
I may say that Edwards was a bailiff then. Rats' Castle was an old condemned butcher's shop, and Edwards' employer gave it to him rent free. Such a bailiff, too. He used to fall violently asleep when decent, honest people with whom he had to deal were carrying out their pianos and sewing, machines. ' I might be a bailiff,' he said ' but I am also a gentleman.''
Morgan always wore a flower in his coat. Rose or geranium. Always a blossom of bright, color. Keeps 'em from looking at your boots,' he would say.
He was the merriest man I ever met, and the last I saw of him was when he was in his coffin— cold, while, and curiously strange — with lilies at his feel and lilies at his head. Died happily. Drew some money he had earned over and above his salary — and dropped unconscious on the same night that he passed out. The shock of sudden payment perhaps! If this fatality could only happen to me! SOME PEOPLE. (1902, December 20).The Worker (Wagga, NSW : 1892 - 1913), p. 5 (THE WORKER'S Xmas Budget). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145884640
TfNSW provided planning approval for the B-Line proposal at Mona Vale on February 2nd, 2017. The Determination Report, released this week, is now available for download on the B-Line Mona Vale webpage. It contains Issues Raised and Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) Responses.
Regarding services north of Mona Vale the webpage states,
'Our planning team is continuing to review services north of Mona Vale as part of the new Northern Beaches Bus Service Plan, which will complement the B-Line. More information about the new plan is expected to become available in March 2017.'
Construction is slated to commence in early 2017 and take approximately 8 months to complete.
Mona Vale map showing B-Line construction works
An overview of the Proposed Activity, per The Determination Report which is the subject of the Mona Vale Commuter Car Park and B-Line Stops REF, is provided in the Executive Summary with full details set out in Chapter 3 of the REF.
A summary, as outlined in the REF, comprises:
- conversion of 74 existing parking spaces in the Beeby Reserve car park adjacent to Barrenjoey Road to unrestricted commuter car parking spaces, including replacing / removing signage
- new northbound and southbound bus stops on Barrenjoey Road, north of Pittwater Road, including weather protection, seating and real-time information
- a northbound bus indent at Village Park on Barrenjoey Road
- a new signalised pedestrian crossing across Golf Avenue at the intersection with Barrenjoey Road
- road works on Pittwater Road, Golf Avenue, Park Street and Barrenjoey Road including kerb and pedestrian island adjustments, a new signalised pedestrian crossing across the slip lane from Pittwater Rd heading north onto Barrenjoey Rd, extension of turning lanes, pedestrian fencing, pavement works and line marking
- relocation of the northbound bus stop from the corner of Pittwater Road / Waratah Street to Pittwater Road south of Bungan Lane
- removal of two local bus stops (northbound and southbound) located on Barrenjoey Road, north of Park Street / Golf Avenue and co-location with the new B-Line stops
- removal of approximately 33 trees / shrubs
- new bicycle parking and improvements to bicycle and pedestrian links.
The key issues raised in submissions were: the loss of four parking spaces on Pittwater Road, the northbound bus indent and removal of trees in Village Park, the relocation of the local bus stop from Pittwater / Waratah to Pittwater / Bungan and the options selection. Mona Vale businesses expressed their business would be impacted and those who had previously used the Waratah bus stop pointed out the extended distance between bus stops which would disadvantage seniors and now include more roads and traffic to negotiate as pedestrians.
One of the Issues raised (2.11) was regarding the changes approved for Mona Vale Village Park, stating that the trees provide many benefits including:
- shade
- a well-defined plan for Village Park
- a wind barrier
- environmental and sustainability benefits.
The berms provide benefits including:
- noise mitigation
- visual barrier
- physical barrier for children playing the park.
The removal of the 21 trees will have environmental and aesthetic impacts, and it will remove the wind barrier. How can new landscaping compensate for the removal of trees replace such well-established, tall trees with large canopies?
Given the value of the project investment overall a realistic amount of money needs to be allocated to replanting mature, tall, established trees and not the usual saplings which take 20 years to provide shade and visual appeal.
Please ensure the design considers the benefits of the trees and berms and provides a replacement. The current plans show no replacement of the berms or trees
The response to this matter was -
regarding the removal of berms and trees in Village Park, and the proposed mitigation measures.
It is recognised that the mature trees and lower plantings around Village Park frame the open lawn areas, and landscaped berms visually and physically separate Village Park from Barrenjoey Road. The environmental and sustainability impact of tree removal has been considered in a specialist report by Biosis, as identified in Section 6.7 of the REF, and is not considered to be significant.
All cleared vegetation will be offset in accordance with TfNSW’s Vegetation Offset Guide, which requires a number of trees to be planted for every one removed (determined based on their size). Offset trees are required to be planted on or near the impacted site in consultation with Northern Beaches Council. Over time as it becomes established this offset vegetation will provide biodiversity and amenity improvements.
The plans included in the REF are a basic concept design only and do not show detailed design elements such as new plantings and landscaping. However it was identified in Section 6.2 of the REF that where landscaped berms and associated trees along Barrenjoey Road are removed, reestablishment of a continuous low-level visual barrier (of a similar height to the existing berms) between the road and Village Park should be considered in the detailed design.
The detail of landscape plantings would be resolved through the preparation of the Urban Design Plan and Public Domain Plan in consultation with Council. The use of advanced plantings would be considered.
These features will be resolved during detailed design in accordance with Conditions of Approval 32, 33 and 36
REF With design change
Number of trees to be removed 33 26
Offset planting required 140 118
Another submission raised the problem of car parking in Mona Vale, stating on one occaision, with nothing available, they parked in the timed Beeby Park car park, which would be an option lost with this transferred to being a commuter car park.
The TfNSW response was that, 'To compensate Northern Beaches Council for the transfer of Beeby Reserve Car Park to a commuter car park, Transport for NSW provided funding of $2.5 million to fund future investment in car parking in the Mona Vale area.'
Youth Development Program
The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s Youth Development Program (YDP) was pioneered in 1995 to help develop and enhance young athlete’s sailing skills, as well as providing a pathway for youth sailors between 13-24 years old in Club, National and International events. The club’s commitment to youth sail training has resulted in the creation of some of the world’s best sailors including the likes of America’s Cup winner, James Spithill and 2016 Australian Olympian Jason Waterhouse.In 2014 the RPAYC continued this commitment to youth sailing by commissioning and launching a new fleet of keelboats, the Elliot 7 one design boats.
The Intermediate Youth Development Program involves both on & off water training and regatta experience. The program focuses on building core team work dynamics and advanced sail trim techniques. Athletes will focus on refining their skillsets in the following areas:
- Understand and developing advanced keelboat boat handling skills including the dynamics of both asymmetrical and symmetrical spinnakers
- Developing a deeper understanding and knowledge base of the Racing Rules of Sailing
- Implementing changes from dinghy fleet racing tactics to keelboat racing
- Execution of better teamwork dynamics
- Brief introduction into match racing
- Gain regatta experience at the One-Design & Interclub events
The next stage is that of the Youth Development Program which includes not only improving existing sailing skills in both fleet and match racing disciplines, but also includes creating a standard knowledge base for youth sailors in boat maintenance, fitness and nutritional goals, offshore sailing and inclusion in all club activities ranging from Race Management, Volunteer Coaching and crewing on members keelboats and Centreboard racing.
This course focuses more on the advanced aspects of sailing including racing rules, tactics, physical fitness, campaign planning, sail trim and boat maintenance. Upon completion, athletes are encouraged to participate heavily in Club events to acquire valuable experience in keelboat racing, inshore, offshore and Bluewater events.
The Youth Development Program runs over an 11 month period from May through to February and is open to members and non-members with participants selected by RPAYC’s Head Coach, Tom Spithill.
All programs are on board the RPAYC's eight Elliott 7 metre sports boats which carry a crew of 4 or 5.
Sponsors play an integral role in the program by funding the cost of the Elliott’s, their maintenance and racing equipment, while parents and other community volunteers help out with functions and regattas. Additionally, the Youth Development Program has strong support from volunteers, current participants and past graduates in club events.
Graduates from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s YDP have gone on to sail on the World Match Racing Tour, Olympic Games, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, Rolex Sydney to Hobart as well as various professional sailing circuits.
For the 2016/17 season the program has continued to excel on an international level.
One key achievement from the season would be Will Dargaville and his team, Josh Dawson, Sarah Parker and James Farquharson’s victory in 2016World Sailing Youth Match Racing World Championships in New Caledonia.
Dargaville continued his good form in 2016, taking out the Men’s World University Match Racing Championships in Perth. Fellow Youth Development team member Sarah Parker followed suit taking out the Women’s University Match Racing Worlds also held in Perth.
Head Coach Tom Spithill credits the success of the season to a strong overall squad.
“The YD (Youth Development) Program has been about sending a variety of teams to each event. Mixing experienced less experienced teams to events to promote learning through experience.” Spithill said.
For a long time a dear held wish has been an opportunity to attend an Art Exhibition which features some of the early Historic Art and Artists of Pittwater and its environs. With luminaries such as William Lister Lister (actually born 'Buttrey'), Fred Williams, Lionel Lindsay, Neville Caley, the ‘more recent’ Arthur Murch, right through to Max Dupain and beyond, and so many others among these ranks, and these works now as far flung as the people and the histories associated with them, it seems this wish may have be satisfied by gathering and sharing here a few of these in Places, or Eras of half to one century or so lots, or in Mediums from sketch through paint to photography, or through some of the more defined Shifts in what was always and then became recognised as Australian Art and Australian Artists. As all of these come together to make one, the richness already given to us is inferred.
Drawings, sketches, paintings in all mediums were once the way, pre-photographs, to make a record of landscapes, sell a place for land sales or tourism (He Brees sketches and paintings of Newport readily springs to mind) record how people looked or worked and even record animals (Govett’s sketch of a ‘native bear’ – the koala). The earliest record of Pittwater in the drawings of William Bradley - Drawings from his journal `A Voyage to New South Wales from March 1788 (why are these hills so tall in comparison to the minuscule people in them?: to communicate their grandeur??) would commence these.
Although these first pictures of a place new to the eyes of those creating them may not be considered 'Australian Art' in the first instances, they were certainly art depicting Australia through many mediums of art, sketching, etching, watercolours and more, and are definitely "Australian Art" to the generations that have inherited these glimmers into what and how they artists saw.
Pittwater Church of England and Bolton's Farm from the Road; illustration from the Pittwater and Hawkesbury Lakes Album. 1880, Courtesy the Mitchell Library - Mills, Pile & Gilchrist, 1880 xxiv, 8 pages, [9] leaves of plates (3 folded) : illustrations ; 19 x 25 cm.
Decades on, when articles on Pittwater were published prior to the rise of technology to publish photography, sketches, some turned into woodcuts and etchings or lithographs for prints and printing, were not only a way to illuminate news or the places spoken of, they were an art form in themselves and were often made by professional Artists in these fields.
A little later on Pittwater attracted many an Artist – to sketch, to paint, to show not only the places and structures here but also to communicate some of the essence of Pittwater – from Narrabeen to Palm Beach every nook, every view, every season has been captured.
Every place has been touched upon – from all the reaches and moods and season of Narrabeen, to Bilgola Beach before there was more than a single holiday weekender there, to Barrenjoey when it was still ‘Barranjoey’ and the Broken Bay Customs House prior to being a place for a Lightship, to some of the earliest published views of Pittwater, which were in fact The Basin, or ‘Blind Cove’. What this points to is Artists and publications wanted to somehow communicate the extraordinary beauty that lives and renews itself here, no matter how many changes the place and places have lived through.
It may well be impossible to find and list them all, since they range from a few days after convicts being sent to this ‘foreign land’ to the most recent works shown at the most recent Summer Exhibitions. Taken into account, also, is there are so many places in Pittwater being associated with Artists and then Artists colonies from her earliest days until even now - Narrabeen, Mona Vale, Avalon, Scotland Island. The Hermans, Esme Farmer at Mona Vale, Ailsa Allans prints from wood engravings of Palm Beach, and daughter Mitty Brown, to that clique that would come to Narrabeen a generation prior to then.
Photography, whether used as a record or to capture the nature here, has also become a medium that celebrates and records the shifts in our landscape and culture or people. Some of Sydney’s best and most famous early photographers, whether professionals or ‘amateurs’, photographed Pittwater and her surrounds and even when merely capturing a scene, that beauty and some of their own way of doing this, shines through. Further on, and as the ‘Art’ inherent in photography developed, the capturing as much as epitomising of any subject gave us not only scenes from Pittwater but also the deep culture of her people and their place in Australia. These Artists were capable of immersing themselves, of meeting the place. They also recorded Pittwater as Pittwater was – the panoramas of Enemark collection of panoramic photographs taken in or before 1920, some used for selling land once again, some used simply to celebrate Pittwater, allow us to date other occurrences by the structures in their images, the Broadhurst Post Card Publishers ‘postcards’ of Narrabeen, Samuel Woods Postcards of Bilgola, Avalon and Newport, the year Kerry came out to photograph the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Frank Hurley was a resident and took numerous pictures, and that’s before we get anywhere near all the many wonderful and beautiful photographs taken by and kept in family albums, The Allen Family Albums not least among these – these are images many of us purchase in BIG scale to adorn our walls for very good reason – they give us and take us to the earlier essence of Pittwater, much like brilliant music does – all, once again, without words.
We start at the very beginning of Pittwater’s Art and its History….that’s a pretty good place to start:
Pittwater – The Estuary - March 1788
'View in Broken Bay New South Wales. March 1788' by William Bradley - Drawings from his journal `A Voyage to New South Wales',1802+ Image No.: a3461013, courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
'SW. Arm of Broken Bay New South Wales from an Island at the Entrance. Sepr 1789' by William Bradley - Drawings from his journal `A Voyage to New South Wales', 1802+ , Image No.:a3461014, courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
William Bradley (1758–13 March 1833) was a British naval officer and cartographer who was one of the officers who participated in the First Fleet to Australia. During this expedition, Bradley undertook extensive surveys and became one of the first of the settlers to establish relations with the aborigines, with whom he struck up a dialogue and whose customs and nature he studied extensively. He later however fell out with his aboriginal contacts and instead undertook a mission to gather food which ended with an eleven-month stay on Norfolk Island after a shipwreck.
Bradley was attached on the Sirius to the First Fleet destined to colonise Australia. During 1788, Bradley did not involve himself directly in colonial affairs, but instead joined John Hunter in extensive operations along the Sydney Harbour coastline. The two men were often away from the colony for extended periods, conducting surveys of the coastline and the lands around.
Hotel Wentworth, Lang Street, Church Hill, by W J Hall of Hall & Co. image no.: hall_34777, courtesy State Library of NSW
Celebrating World Radio Day: The Bilgola Connection With The Beginnings Of Radio In Australia
13 February 2017
Despite the rise of television, the internet and online streaming, radio continues to be one of the main ways we consume media. Radio offers a platform for a wide variety of voices, is a critical way we communicate in times of emergency, and continues to be a daily source of news, entertainment and current affairs for Australians.
Throughout its history, radio has been able to successfully adapt to meet the changing needs of listeners and to find new audiences.
To celebrate World Radio Day, we’re taking a quick look at the history of radio in Australia:
1922 – the first Australian radio broadcasting license is issued
1932 – the Australian Broadcasting Commission is established
1939 – Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces that Australia will be entering the Second World War on every radio station in Australia
1954 – the transistor radio is invented, making radios portable and common in cars
1972 – Australia’s first community radio station 5UV is founded
1972 – the first Indigenous produced radio program premieres on 5UV – there are now over 130 Indigenous radio stations across Australia
1974 – the first FM radio license in Australia is issued to 2MBS Sydney
1975 – 2EA Sydney and 3EA Melbourne begin broadcasting in different languages. In 1977 these stations are expanded to become the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) – today SBS broadcasts in over 60 languages
1980 – the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is created – today CAAMA has over 600,000 listeners across Australia
2012 to now – the ABC and commercial radio providers introduce streaming apps to listen to radio on your mobile phone. Podcasts bring radio content to a whole new generation.
World Radio Day is an observance day held annually on 13 February. World Radio Day is about celebrating radio, why we love it and why we need it today more than ever. A day to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe. It was proclaimed on 3 November 2011 by UNESCO's 36th General Conference after originally proposed by the Kingdom of Spain.
In 2014 a theme was introduced of 'Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Radio'. In 2015 the theme was 'Youth and Radio' with the goal of increasing the participation of young people in radio. The sub-themes of the Day were:
- Celebrating Radio - showcasing the power of radio as a medium.
- By youth, for youth - highlighting the contribution of young people as creators of radio content and improving their participation.
- Safety & Security - building awareness of the risks faced by young international freelancers and fixers, especially in humanitarian and disaster zones.
The theme for World radio day 2016 was 'Radio in times of emergency and disaster'. The sub-themes of the Day were:
1. Freedom of expression and journalists’ safety should be disaster-proof.
2. Radio empowers survivors and vulnerable people, whose right to privacy is to be respected.
3. Radio has social impact and provides access to information. People’s right to information should be protected.
4. Radio saves lives.
5. The immediate accessibility of radio frequencies is essential to saving lives. These frequencies should be protected in times of emergency.
The theme for Radio Day 2017 is 'Radio is You', with the goal of celebrating how audiences interact with Radio. The theme was designed to encourage radio stations to be the best they can, by having audience engagement policies, ethical committees, public editors, self review programmes and by ensuring their community radio networks were strong. A record number of countries, took part in World Radio Day 2017 with more than 500 events worldwide.
The theme "Radio is You” was chosen because radio is everything it is because of its listeners. The theme puts the spotlight on audiences, ensuring their views and diversity are represented on the airwaves. The theme is a chance to look at all of the different ways that radio engages audiences, not only on-air but through “listening to listeners” in the planning and policy of radio.
Our area has long had a few connections with early radio in Australia - items which have run in previous History pages, and a few extras, from those times are:
RADIO DANCE
WIRELESS MUSIC Magna Vox at Moore Park SYDNEY, Thursday.
The members of the New South Wales Military Radio Association are holding their annual dance next month. They are so enthusiastic that they will not get away from wireless for even one night. The dance will be held in the engineers' depot at Moore Park, and the music will come from Strathfield. For the first time in Australia, so the organisers say, a complete Magnavox will be used. It has just arrived from New Zealand. At the residence of Mr. C. Maclurcan, in Strathfield, there is a Pathephone. Mr. Maclurcan is also the owner of an up-to-date wireless station. Music played by the Pathephone — some of it has not been heard in Australia — will be radiated into the air by Mr. Maclurcan's wireless set. The radio men will instal a wireless plant at the engineers' depot, and the music will be received at the depot and amplified by the Magnavox. It will then be hurled into the dance room, and gentlemen will be asked to select their partners. It is likely, too, that there will be a couple of songs. Music for the Magnavox can be heard 3000 yards from where the machine is situated. RADIO DANCE (1922, June 1). The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163680550
This 'Mr C. Maclurcan' is Charles Macluran, the son of Hannah Maclurcan, the lady who once owned Bilgola House, and was a self-made business woman who later owned and ran the Wentworth Hotel in town.
Jane Arakawa, a lady who put together an article on Charles Maclurcan in 'Who was radio pioneer Charles Maclurcan?' published online in 2015, states "I learnt that Charles Maclurcan erected aerial masts on top of the first Wentworth Hotel located on Church Hill, Lang Street Sydney in 1911 and was communicating with incoming and outgoing ships. By early 1922 he was broadcasting an entertaining and engaging radio program each week with a program guide published in the weekly newspapers of the time. He was issued Licence No.1 in December 1922 and continued his broadcasts and experiments until 1927 when he was required to take over the management of the Wentworth Hotel until its sale in 1950."
Retrieved from
https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/who-was-radio-pioneer-charles-maclurcan © Radioinfo.com.au
Bilgola House courtesy State library of NSW - picture dated 1935.
WITH WIRELESS AMATEURS — Boys Who Are Learning Radio Craft
MR. MACLURCAN'S ENERGIES AT STRATHFIELD
Australia is not quite a back number in the field of wireless experiment. There are many hundreds of amateurs who are achieving excellent results — usually with apparatus manufactured by themselves—despite the official restrictions placed upon them. With their own receiving plants they frequently receive messages from as far away as America
and Europe. Probably the most successful of these experimenters is Mr. C. Maclurcan, of Strathfield, who recently achieved a record in long-distance sending with the minimum of power when he transmitted a message 400 miles with electric power equal to that used in a pocket torch. It is hoped that in the near future the authorities will grant licenses to transmit to genuine experimenters. The original objection to this was that, the messages from many private stations would interfere with official and shipping messages, but that objection is now a »*hing of the past; The' old spark transmitting set has been replaced by the valve instrument, the timing of which obviates the chance of messages clashing. The ranks of the local wireless experimenters include a number of boys who display remarkable genius and ingenuity in building their own equipment. One juvenile enthusiast receives wireless messages through the medium of an iron roof in place of the orthodox aerial of poles and wires. Another listens to radio messages transmitted thousands of miles away through an equipment of his own manufacture, in the construction of which two wooden match boxes were pressed into service. Jack Davis, a Grammar School boy of 14, made the complete one-valve receiving set shown in the accompanying picture, and with it frequently entertains the family visitors with music being sent out from the Melbourne radio station, or by Mr, Maclurcan at Strathfield. Another young Marconi is Bob Webster, aged 10, of Ariah Park, who in nine months learned wireless operating.
In the circle is Mr. C. Maclurcan, -who experiments at Strathfield. The boy at the top is Jack Davis, with his home-made receiver. The other boy is Bob 'Webster, of Ariah Park, The .lower picture to of Joseph D. ll. Freed, a 22 year-old -American in the Freed-Eiseman Radio Corporation, who is working on plans for a radio receiver to be made at the cost of a few dollars. WITH WIRELESS AMATEURS (1922, July 9). Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 1 (Sunday Times Social and Magazine Section). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128220139
Portrait of Harold Grey (left) and Victor Daley, circa 1880-1895 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146669281 , courtesy National Library of Australia
Palm Beach SLSC's Fiona Rae, Karen Begg, Annabelle Chapman and Di van Ooi - just a few medals!
Warriewood SLSC's Rustys - State gold medal Surfboat crew - photo courtesy Phill Deer
Students and the community came together on Thursday to beat the longest line of surfboards, previously 685 in Long Beach, New York in May 2016, by a whopping total of 880 boards. All the correct procedures were followed, all the boxes ticked, and forms filled out ready to be submitted post-event.
The School and students were raising both funds and awareness for the Disability Surfers Association (DSA) through the sale of raffle tickets and other activities on the day, such as a sausage sizzle and baked goods stall, while the band Crystal Cities capped of the day with a few tunes. The final count on how much the world record breaking effort raised isn’t in but it was well over 5 thousand dollars as Issue 305 comes out.
Disability Surfers Association (DSA) is a not-for-profit, total voluntary organisation which sets world’s best practice for Disabled Surfers and puts "Smiles On Dials" at events all around Australia and New Zealand. DSA was established in 1986 by Gary Blaschke after a motorcycle accident which he lost his knee cap and under went extensive rehabilitation.
Gary saw a void that needed to be filled as over the years, many surfers with disabilities have unfortunately, been loners with no one to help them get back into the water.
Many suffer from disabilities that the general public would not consider a disability.
From asthmatics to joint injuries to paraplegic, many members have found friendship, support and have renewed their interest in surfing.
Gary’s vision quickly extended to all classes of disabilities, as it is today. A total voluntary organisation, which sets world’s best practice for Disabled Surfers, DSA also advocates for people who want to get in or on a wave and works with local organisations to spread the joy surfing brings.
From early morning people could see students walking to school with their boards, not that an unusual sight in Pittwater, only some were carrying more than one. Mid morning the call went out that more boards were needed and more boards were brought – Manly Surf School not only do they teach our kids to surf but they brought a trailer of boards down, Simon Ward of Adrenalin – Redback (Warriewood) making two trips to bring 101 boards and Onboard Store (Mona Vale) also bringing more along.
Adrenalin also donated Wetsuits for the raffles - The Hyperdry Sealed Ziperless Steamer and the Adrenalin Skate - The Vert Canadian Maple ultra spec. A very big thank you to the following, who also donated prizes for the raffle:
• 5’10” Firewire brand, Kelly Slater/Webber Banana Model – value $1,100
• Urge Footwear Gift Voucher – value $200
• Rayban Sunglasses from Beckenham Optometrist
• Breathing Space or Avalon Yoga Co-op voucher for 10 classes – value $250
• Beach Without Sand Vouchers – value $25 each
• Covet Jewels, solid personalised sterling silver keyring with an initial of the winner’s choice
• AvSUP Stand Up Paddle Board Lesson for 6 people – value $280
This type of event gives the students a community minded focus while fostering pride in their school. Our aim is to germinate in the minds of students a focus away from themselves and into the greater community in a fun and interesting way that directly relates to the environment we live in.
Ian Bowsher, Principal at Barrenjoey High School stated on Friday that the event had taken 9 months of hard work and planning by a great team.
“This was an absolutely fabulous community effort by the parents, community and students.” Mr. Bowsher said, “All those who worked hard to make this happen are to be congratulated by all their support and effort.”
Photographs by and courtesy of Kylie Ferguson, Sean Mulcahy and Sally Mayman, 2017
Sydney Harbour Bridge Celebrates 85th Birthday
That bridge across the harbour turns 85 today, Sunday March 19th. The National Film and sound Archive has launched an OnlineExhibition to celebrate (links below) and a great Intro film.
Plans to build a bridge were discussed as early as 1815, when convict and noted architect Francis Greenway reputedly proposed to Governor Lachlan Macquarie that a bridge be built from the northern to the southern shore of the harbour. In April 1825, Greenway wrote a letter to an earlier named "The Australian" newspaper stating that such a bridge would "give an idea of strength and magnificence that would reflect credit and glory on the colony and the Mother Country".
Nothing happened then but the idea stayed around. In 1840, naval architect Robert Brindley proposed that a floating bridge be built. Engineer Peter Henderson produced one of the earliest known drawings of a bridge across the harbour around 1857.
Mr. P. E. Henderson, engineer, has proposed the construction of a bridge from near Dawes' Point, Sydney, to near Milsom's Point on the North Shore. The main span has been calculated at 1250 feet: the side spans about 450 each ; estimated cost £250,000. In the event, of the proposal being accepted, arrangements will be effected for the free passage of the largest ships. A high column of masonry on each side and a terrace-like bridge of iron are the chief features of the proposed structure. New South Wales Intelligence. (1857, September 26). The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW : 1856 - 1861; 1863 - 1889; 1891 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189959198
One our research in TROVE, below, shows a version drawn up in 1873. A suggestion for a truss bridge was made in 1879, and in 1880 a high-level bridge estimated at $850,000 was proposed.
In 1900, the then Lyne government committed to building a new Central railway station and organised a worldwide competition for the design and construction of a harbour bridge. Local engineer Norman Selfe submitted a design for a suspension bridge and won the second prize of £500.
DESIGNS FOR A PROPOSED NORTH SHORE BRIDGE. (1900, December 8). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 38. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71383391
In 1902, when the outcome of the first competition became mired in controversy, Selfe won a second competition outright, with a design for a steel cantilever bridge. This one didn't get built either though.
In 1914 Dr. John Bradfield, after whom the Bradfield Highway is named, was appointed "Chief Engineer of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Metropolitan Railway Construction". His idea for a cantilever bridge without piers, work which earned him the legacy as the "father" of the bridge, did gain more popular and government support but construction was suspended due to money available being poured in World War I.
After the cessation of hostilities, and a renewed demand for a bridge linking the city with the north shore, Dr. Bradfield and officers of the NSW Department of Public Works prepared a general design for a single-arch bridge based on New York City's Hell Gate Bridge. The tender was awarded to the English firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd, of Middlesbrough, known as the contractors who constructed the similar Tyne Bridge of Newcastle Upon Tyne, for an arch bridge at a quoted price of £4,217,721 11s 10d.
The building of the bridge coincided with the construction of that system of underground railways in Sydney's CBD, known today as the City Circle, and the bridge's design reflected this. The bridge was designed to carry six lanes of road traffic, flanked on each side by two railway tracks and a footpath. Both sets of rail tracks were linked into the underground Wynyard railway station on the south (city) side of the bridge by symmetrical ramps and tunnels.The eastern-side railway tracks were intended for use by a planned rail link to the Northern Beaches; in the interim they were used to carry trams from the North Shore into a terminal within Wynyard station, and when tram services were discontinued in 1958, they were converted into extra traffic lanes. The Bradfield Highway, which is the main roadway section of the bridge and its approaches, is named in honour of Bradfield's contribution to the bridge. [1.]
Stowe's 1922 Proposal - Original publication: National Archives of Australia
A unique three-span bridge was proposed in 1922 by Ernest Stowe with connections at Balls Head, Millers Point, and Balmain with a memorial tower and hub on Goat Island.
The official ceremony to mark the "turning of the first sod" occurred on 28 July 1923, on the spot at Milsons Point on the north shore where two workshops to assist in building the bridge were to be constructed.
An estimated 469 buildings on the north shore, both private homes and commercial operations, were demolished to allow construction to proceed, with little or no compensation being paid. Work on the bridge itself commenced with the construction of approaches and approach spans, and by September 1926 concrete piers to support the approach spans were in place on each side of the harbour.
Arch construction itself began on 26 October 1928. The southern end of the bridge was worked on ahead of the northern end, to detect any errors and to help with alignment. The cranes would "creep" along the arches as they were constructed, eventually meeting up in the middle. In less than two years, on Tuesday, 19 August 1930, the two halves of the arch touched for the first time. Workers riveted both top and bottom sections of the arch together, and the arch became self-supporting, allowing the support cables to be removed. On 20 August 1930 the joining of the arches was celebrated by flying the flags of Australia and the United Kingdom from the jibs of the creeper cranes.
The deck for the roadway and railway were built on top of the crossbeams, with the deck itself being completed by June 1931, and the creeper cranes were dismantled. Rails for trains and trams were laid, and road was surfaced using concrete topped with asphalt.
The last stone of the north-west pylon was set in place on 15 January 1932, and the timber towers used to support the cranes were removed.
On 19 January 1932, the first test train, a steam locomotive, safely crossed the bridge. Load testing of the bridge took place in February 1932, with the four rail tracks being loaded with as many as 96 steam locomotives positioned end-to-end. The bridge underwent testing for three weeks, after which it was declared safe and ready to be opened.
Dr. John Bradfield riding the first test train across the bridge on 19 January 1932, courtesy State Records of NSW Flickr collection.
The construction worksheds were demolished after the bridge was completed, and the land that they were on is now occupied by Luna Park.The bridge was formally opened on Saturday, 19 March 1932. The then Premier, Jack Lang, was meant to cut the ribbon, but some of you may well know that Captain Francis de Groot danced forward on his horse and cut the ribbon! de Groot was a member of the right-wing New Guard of Australia, formed in Sydney, Australia in February 1931 as a paramilitary offshoot from a conservative tradition defending loyalty to King and Empire, sound government, law and order, individual liberty and property rights. In particular, the movement was formed in response to the policies adopted by Jack Lang, the leader of the Labor Party and Premier of New South Wales.
There are Pittwater connections of course; some of those associated with this group were instrumental in that flight of George Augustine Taylor and drew a well-known author to Narrabeen. Among these pilots was Mr. Hallstrom, of Bayview Koala Sanctuary and Taronga Zoo, while an earlier visitor to Pittwater, and the gentleman who ensured the Barrenjoey lights provided safety at sea for those sailing by, Captain Francis Hixson, had his home demolished as part of the construction process!
DEMOLISHED FOR THE HARBOUR BRIDGE.
The Fort, the residence of the late Captain Hixson, at Dawes Point. At the right-hand end will be seen the top of the old military quarters.
DEMOLISHED FOR THE HARBOUR BRIDGE. (1932, May 5).The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16860710
DEMOLITION OF HISTORIC BUILDING.
Formerly the home of the late Captain Francis Hixson, one-time officer in charge of the port, this old building, near the Dawes Point bridge pylons, is being pulled down. DEMOLITION OF HISTORIC BUILDING. (1932, February 4).The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16838759
On the eve of the Bridge's official opening the lady who owned the former Bilgola House walked on the bridge with Dr. Bradfield, a friend of hers.
Yet more proof that every community is connected to every other community through threads that weave time's events. Such people, and threads, have enriched and continue to enrich us all, merely by making an acquaintance with these little parts of the whole picture.
Hannah Macluran and Dr. Bradfield on Sydney Harbour bridge prior to opening - courtesy Avalon Beach Historical Society
On Wednesday March 22nd and again on Saturday March 25th residents gathered in the Village Park at Mona Vale to demonstrate against the encroachment of the B-Line bus service and new bus bay on what many consider the village green of Mona Vale, along with the removal of trees, at Mona Vale's Village Park.
.JPG?timestamp=1490454064247)
Mona Vale Village Park Berms - Tuesday afternoon, March 222nd - photo by Mark Horton
As run in Issue 300, B-Line Proposal For Mona Vale Approved - 26 trees are to be lost and it is a requirement that the Offset for these will be 118 trees planted 'on or near the impacted site'. As part of the approval given in February the documents state that "The use of advanced plantings would be considered. " - In the film below, 'To B-Line Or Not To B-Line? PART 2 Of 3' one consultant meeting with members of the Save Mona Vale community group states mature trees will be replanted.
This small inconsistency could be ascribed to details that are missing, as North Sydney Council, the other end of the B-Line vision, points out in their report of February 16th, 2017 ( Response to B-Line Referral of Environmental Factors page 7), and available on their website;
' The B-line REF notes that a strategic justification for the project has been outlined in the B-Line Program’s Strategic and Final Business Cases, completed May 2015 and February 2016 respectively. Neither of these documents are available for public/Council consideration. As such, Council has not had the opportunity to consider the project in terms of an overarching vision for travel demand management: improved B-line passenger travel times, mode shift (motorist to B-line passenger) and traffic reduction along the project corridor. Contrary to the objectives of the project and community expectations, the REF traffic modelling suggests that the proposed B-line project will actually result in increased bus passenger travel times, no mode shift and increased traffic on Military Road.
In addition, the relative priority of this project in terms of its potential benefits vs cost (BCR) is not detailed in the REF. In June 2015, TfNSW’s Northern Beaches Bus Rapid Transit Strategic Business Case Assurance Review Report, prepared by an independent engineering and cost expert review panel, stated that it was, “not confident that value for money has been demonstrated for the proposed capital expenditure”. Given that the cost of the project has increased from $222 million to over half a billion since this time, it is suggested that an up to date BCR for the project should be provided and include cost increases associated with the construction of 900 multi-story car parking spaces in northern beaches centres as well as consideration of how induced traffic demand (see 3.1.1) will effect the benefits associated with these proposals.'
Mona Vale Village Park Berms - Saturday afternoon, March 25th
The ABS Census of Population and Housing journey to work data, 2011, states 60% of people still preferred to use their car to travel to work and 3% used buses - clearly many in Manly would utilise the ferry service too. Those travelling to the city centre or North Sydney from our area then were Pittwater: 3, 797, Warringah: 14, 766, Manly: 7, 702, Mosman: 6, 509 and North Sydney: 13,907 into town and 9, 657 to North Sydney itself.
Strokes That Matter - Bass Strait Paddle April 2017
Immediately following the 2017 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships “Aussies” at Kirra Beach – a group of 12 Newport Surf Club members, friends and supporters will paddle on surf skis across Bass Strait with the objective of raising money and awareness for the prevention of drowning.Inspired by fellow club member - Brad Gaul’s world first paddleboard crossing in 2014 – the team planned the trip as a unique opportunity to end a successful season, and to raise community awareness to prevent the annual tragic and unnecessary loss of life through drownings in Australia every year.
As members of Newport Surf Club, and with a hugely successful competitive background the group is passionate about water safety and drowning prevention – and have a unique experience and involvement as surf lifesaving volunteers in preventing drownings, and educating the public on life saving techniques and skills.
The team of KNG Ironman Max Brooks and multiple Australian Title Gold Medallist fellow club members Tom Atkinson, Mitch Trim, Chad Alston, Luke Jones, Jayke Rees, Cody Marr and Jonah Beard – with North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club Members Luke Moses and Jake Moses and supporters Paul Moses, Sandy Beard and John Farrell will leave from Port Albert Victoria on Wednesday April 5th and travel via the east coast island route of Hogan Island, Deal Island and Flinders Island arriving at Little Musselroe Bay on Tasmania’s isolated North East Coast on April 11– a total distance in excess of 300 kms.
The team will likely encounter huge seas, gale force winds, strong tides and currents and unpredictable and rapidly changing weather conditions – whilst witnessing a spectacular part of Australia’s coastline and some magnificent isolated islands. They have spent considerable time planning the crossing and ensuring it is conducted safely – which will further their knowledge as to the dangers presented by waterways. Knowledge gained from the experience and their education and training as lifesavers, and media profile of a number of the group – is an opportunity which the team believe deserves to be shared with a wider audience and has the potential to help prevent fatalities.
Through a fund specifically established with the Newport Surf Club called “Strokes That Matter” – they are looking to raise $30 K to establish and implement a number of programs to specifically target drowning prevention and surf awareness – which they hope will become an enduring program.
100% of all funds raised will go directly to executing programs established within the existing and proven framework of Surf Life Saving Australia;
The fund has the following key goals for 2017 /2018:
- Implement an educational syllabus / program for delivery in schools throughout NSW
- Deliver programs via Nutri Grain athletes at NSW schools
- Utilise media coverage of Bass Strait Crossing and other media opportunities to enable wider access to NSW School Students
- Conduct surf and water safety awareness clinics at beaches across NSW in conjunction with other surf clubs
- Conduct surf and water safety awareness clinics at waterways and public meeting places
- Participate with other specialist organisations in initiatives that directly target drowning prevention
The fund website is give.everydayhero.com/au/StrokesThatMatter
NEWPORT SURF CLUB
Providing beach patrol and rescue services to Newport Beach for over 100 years, the Newport Surf Club is community focused and a hub of community activity.
As a custodian of the beach, the club has a proud history of actively teaching nippers through to adults, vital surf skills and provides a vibrant surf sports program that is ranked No 3 in Australia. In addition, its leadership, development and community service programs and activities play a vital part in developing future generations of Australian's.
New Free Street Library In Avalon
There is a new, free street library in Patrick St, Avalon (between Joseph and William streets) - a street library is a free community resource installed by volunteers to foster both literacy and neighbourhood.Gail Broady built this one from an old cabinet reclaimed from Kimbriki, the base of an old chair, perspex from an uncle's shed, and timber from her Dad's garage.
“We call this one the Tardis because every book is a time machine and there's a world of worlds inside every library. We have stocked it with books for little kids and big people.” Gail said this week.
Gail would like to build and place another Street Library where residents may not readily have access to books. The Tardis Street Library is number 201 of these great ways to share and access the wonderful world inside books.
Nic Lowe is the founder of Street Library. Lowe’s vision stemmed from wanting to build an Australian-based free library movement that encouraged literacy and community. Nic discovered street libraries in Portland, U.S. and then found out it was a global movement led by the great folks at Little Free Libraries.
Street Library officially began in Sydney, New South Wales in November 2015 and has been rapidly growing and expanding ever since. Street Library is a registered incorporated non for profit charity regulated by the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission and NSW Fair Trading.
As of March 2017, there are over 200 Street Libraries in Australia. The goal is to increase that number to 500 in the next few years. Residents, schools and other community groups interested in obtaining a Street Library can build their own at one of the workshops, download DIY instructions or purchase a ready-made box built by a local men’s shed from Street Library Australia’s website.
You can find out how to build or install your own street library, find other libraries, join or contribute to the growing community of volunteer street librarians at http://streetlibrary.org.au
Street Libraries are a beautiful home for books, planted in your front yard. They are accessible from the street, and are an invitation to share the joys of reading with your neighbours.
Street Libraries are a window into the mind of a community; books come and go; no-one needs to check them in or out. People can simply reach in and take what interests them; when they are done, they can return them to the Street Library network, or pass them on to friends. You don't need a library card and there will be no fines - just a sharing of stories, through books.
If anyone has a book or two that they think others would enjoy, they can just pop it into any Street Library they happen to be walking past.
They are a symbol of trust and hope – a tiny vestibule of literary happiness.
Street Library officially began in Sydney, New South Wales in November 2015 and has been rapidly growing and expanding ever since. Street Library is a registered incorporated non for profit charity regulated by the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission and NSW Fair Trading.
Street Library’s motto is “Borrow a Book, Lend a Book.”
Street Library aims to be a self-sufficient revenue source by selling libraries to those who do not want to build them and hosting workshops for those who want to learn how to build them. We also welcome support from other corporate partners who share a passion for Street Library’s mission.
As of March 2017, there are over 200 Street Libraries in Australia. The goal is to increase that number to 500 in the next few years. Residents, schools and other community groups interested in obtaining a Street Library can build their own at one of the workshops, download DIY instructions or purchase a ready-made box built by a local men’s shed from Street Library Australia’s website.
This one being painted by Pim Sarti, a Street Library Artist, will soon be installed at Pearl Beach. Pretty wonderful - and a great way to exercise your creative skills to bring the community together:
You can find out how to build or install your own street library, find other libraries, join or contribute to the growing community of volunteer street librarians at http://streetlibrary.org.au
So... on your morning walk, on your way to the bus or the beach, stop by, browse, borrow, swap or simply take a book... or drop one off. There's no paper work, no cost, you can bring a book back... or not... And encourage your kids to do the same. If there's nothing that interests you today, check it out again tomorrow or the next day... the offering will change regularly as people swap, share, donate.
It should come as no surprise to those who watch the ocean, and see its lines roll in with the form of waves, that many an Australian poet has long been attracted to, inspired by, and at home amongst the Australian coastal landscape. This way of seeing 'vision' everywhere would also be applicable to green to blue hills to the western horizon, in Pittwater's case, aligned with the constantly changing colours of the estuary when not on the coast.
Those with enough intellect to string a few lines together that evoke and take us to places tangibly intangible are also those who frequently like to be within reach of a metropolitan area where people abound, where books in libraries are accessible, where paper and ink may be procured with which to write those bursts of feelings and thoughts down. Manly was within a steamer trip of Sydney 'town' before the advent of decent roads, and Pittwater a steamer, coach or sailing trip away.
Research has made it apparent Manly and Pittwater, and the long stretches of coastal bliss in between, have long been a haven and inspiration for these wordsmiths of song. It is in the petroglyphs that were made by the original custodians and the songs, of annual returnings, these are Markers for.
It is in the earliest records of those sent to or escaping to this beautiful land through the songs they brought with them and in the way they sought to communicate with those still in that northern 'green and pleasant land' what they were seeing, and filled to the pores and beyond with, here. For those living here these poets were popular when alive, as opposed to when dead, and through the wider range of newspapers and weeklies and monthlies available then than what is available as a 'newspaper' today, their stories and poems could be read and shared by a resident population that may not have access to books and libraries in rural areas outside the metropolis, or read aloud for those who had not had access to an education. For those to whom articles, poems and songs were read aloud is the inference of the first meaning of 'Bard'.
The pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories; however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorisation of such materials by the use of metre, rhyme and other formulaic poetic devices. In medieval Gaelic and British culture, a bard was a professional story teller, verse-maker and music composer, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or noble), to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.
These writer, poets and 'bards' were, in fact, establishing an Australian voice, perhaps with an Irish brogue, in the case of Mr. Daley, or with French twinges, in the case of Mr. Argles, or any of several other accents, but they were speaking of a place they clearly revelled in and did not leave, despite opportunity to.
Victor James William Patrick Daley (August 5 1858 (?), christened September 5th (he later writes in a birthday book of Fred Bloomfields that his birthdate is September 5th; see in timeline below) – 29 December 1905) was an Australian poet. Born at the Navan, County Armagh, Ireland, and educated at the Christian Brothers at Devonport in England, he arrived in Australia in 1878, and became a freelance journalist and writer in both Melbourne and Sydney. Whilst in Melbourne, he met and became a friend of Marcus Clarke; later, in Sydney, he became acquainted with Henry Kendall. He is notable for becoming the first author in Australia who tried to earn a living from writing alone. In Sydney in 1898, the same year he published Dawn and Dusk, he was among the founders of the bohemian Dawn and Dusk Club, which had many notable members such as writer Henry Lawson. This was a further development of articles titled 'The Bohemians' Victor began penning and having published in 1882.
He died of tuberculosis in 1905, as had his good friend Emile Theodore Argles in 1886 and Kendall in 1882.
Victor used the pseudonym 'Creeve Roe' (Irish =Red Branch - the area next to the Navan where Cu Chulainn trained as a Red Branch Knight), as well as a few other pseudonyms and his own name in various versions when he did place his name next to his written works.
He was among those called 'Manly Bards' by Henry Lawson in a tribute poem published in 1906, months after his passing away.
Regarding these early generations of what is acknowledged as Australia's early poets there are at least three incidences of a poet's commune of sorts occurring within Manly. Their being enticed to venture into the Pittwater area runs from Manly occurs too. In examining those of 135 (1882) and 115 years ago (1902 to 1905), those that met Kendall, Farrell and Deniehy and inherited and carried forward the torch, are named as that overlap generation of Australian wordsmiths in:
Melville was one of the older school of Bulletin writers. He sang the praises of, Manly in season and out of season. It was probably through his personal influence that Victor Daley and Henry Lawson came to live in 'The Village'. I think Roderick Quinn lived there for a little while also. Quinn, if not an actual resident, was a frequent visitor to the others. I remember now we awe-struck youngsters used to gaze at the four poets strolling down the street arm in arm— and taking its width in their stride. One of Daley's, sons was enrolled as a pupil at the Manly Public School. ....
SURFING AND CELEBRITIES. (1933, February 18). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32585829
This refers to poets living beside the seaside in the years 1902 to 1904. Roderick Quinn, whose brother Patrick lived in Manly, certainly wrote many articles and poems inspired by the area, as seen in some of those collected for Roderic Quinns Poems And Prose For Manly, Beacon Hill, Dee Why And Narrabeen. His brother also wrote about the area and at least one sojourn on the Pittwater estuary itself as 'Viator' in 'A Run to Pittwater'.
There are at least two outstanding incidents prior to this which established Manly, a gateway north to greener Pittwater, as a place frequented by these now legendary poets and wordsmiths. There are links that fan out to Middle Harbour, and there mingled with a rising group of Artists, through Mosman and Mosman Bay, Little Sirius Cove, where Curlew Camp was located, and Balmoral, that extended and changed, or even began in the estimation of some, an Australian School of Art.
The first of these 'visitations' occurs in mid 1882:
Early ' Bulletin ' Memoirs.
No XI.
The Pilgrim ! More.— This strange genius lived an extraordinary life, and was really Puck incarnate. His scheme in Maitland Gaol, devised to make the place a pandemonium of suspicion, in which he succeeded in involving gaoler and warders and female prisoners and warders' wives in a series of scandals, was a fair example of his delight for mischief. When on the early Bulletin the Pilgrim was let loose to satirise the ignorant 'In Memoriam' verses in the daily press columns, he simply revelled with delight in poetic shafts of ridicule. It was his four-line mimicry of a South Sydney man who had lost his aunt that brought that individual down to the office with a stick in his hand and fire in his eye for satisfaction. There was no end to the turmoil.
Then the Pilgrim turned his hand at pleasant verse on marriages notified in the daily papers— and we stood on the brink of numerous dangers; and it was beginning to be very risky for any body with funny names to get married at all, when Grey decided to desist, as the salary was not high enough to cover war risks. Various bridegrooms interviewed him, and at least three times he demanded a new set of teeth from the office— as compensation for losses at the 'front.'
He was the master theatrical critic at the time. Very often, out of sheer devilment, he'd write up a chorus girl's charms, and send a prima donna right off her head. At times he'd employ all his wits to invest a fourth-rate part with the importance rightly attachable to the principal —and then trouble before and behind the curtain would begin. In some of the criticisms, for instance, he'd never describe Holloway, an early barnstormer, as anything else but 'Bill,' and Verdi, the pompous baritone, was only 'Bill Green' when he was writing opera. He developed squabbles on every stage and around them all, and though long since gone to his rest, he doubtless still gives a turn to laugh again over his scarifying or satirical thrusts at Williamson, Garner and Musgrove, Fanny Liddiard, Maggie Moore, Nellie Stewart— and not forgetting the amateur Hamlet, gasfitter Defries, and the amateur Othello, Isaac Reginald Isaacs, of Woollahra, who lent money on more liberal terms than ever known before — but who never would play Shylock on the stage, whatever he might do off it.
In the office, the Pilgrim was always ahead of his salary, and Traill, who joined Archibald and myself in the proprietary after the Clontarf libel case, felt himself called on to put the break on Grey. Sparks resulted. One day Traill refused Grey an advance— not until he had written something good. The Pilgrim hurried away, and returned with a tip-top literary essay entitled 'The Ogre— A Study.' Traill said it was good— very good indeed, and advanced two guineas. When it was published, Traill received a letter from Grey with the article pinned to it — and the raff words ' Behold your own photo!' And such it was.
Though of Jewish descent, the Pilgrim somehow relished the joke of circumventing any Hebrew who came in his way. A Pitt-street jeweller named Bronway, pushing trade one day, put a watch in the Pilgrim's pocket with a gold chain attached, and, standing back to admire, told him he looked 'sphlen- did ' — in fact, he ' would cause a shen-shation in de sthreet ven you gonoudt,' which the Pilgrim did, by walking away with the watch on the time payment r system, the terms of which are not yet up. It cost old Bronway about £100 in time to see the Pilgrim — 'and at last he concluded that ' that Pilgrim wash no tarn goot.'
However, they were destined to meet again. Bronway had a furnished cottage at Manly, which he advertised, and the Pilgrim, Daley (I think), and Caddy decided that they all wanted fresh air — and by the sea side. Caddy, as Bishop Barker's relative, hired the cottage, and never haggled a bit about the rent. Bronway could have it whenever he liked. The Bohemians immediately went into possession, but though the tide flowed in and flowed out for days and weeks at Manly, it was all slack tide as far as the rent was concerned.
The trio did fine. Broad-minded, they gave everybody 'a turn' at the village, and sent us some beautiful copy. They opened accounts with the Manly shopkeepers to pay on the second Wednesday in the month, but forgot to specify the month. Bronway, tired of waiting for the Bishop's relative to come to town, decided to run down to Manly to interview him. He reached his cottage through a broken sea of dead marines and sardine, salmon, and herring tins, which, having a large nose for general purposes, alarmed him much. He knocked gently, but with authority. He knocked once, he knocked twice, he knocked thrice. The enemy within got word from Caddy, who was the range-finder for such occasions, that Bronway was the obtruder. A council of war immediately held decided that the Pilgrim should act as negotiator, the Demon agreeing — believing that on Bronway seeing him the Hebrew might go right off from shock. Opening the door, the Pilgrim extended a warm welcome to the jeweller. ' Ah .' mein Gott. fife It's you who's got mein cottadge. Out of de plais, out of de plais ! Och, och,' and Bronway turned round to look at the empty picnic tins and dead marines lying thickly slain everywhere. The Pilgrim, however (with more devil), assumed the legal attitude, and finally it was a fortnight before the Bohemians shifted camp. Before leaving, however, they ' honourably ' settled all accounts. They notified the Manly business people to call round for their accounts on ' next Monday ' afternoon, by which time the new tenants were in Bronway's cottage, while with the new tenants they left word to tell the shopkeepers to send on their accounts to Mr. Grey, care of Mr. Bronway, jeweller, Pitt-street, Sydney.
Parish of Manly 1885 (?) to 1894 (?)
The trio returned to the city from the sea coast in good health and much refreshed. The week after their return, while people were writing from Manly for their money or calling personally on Bronway, the Pilgrim wrote a note ostensibly from the jeweller, asking Traill to call on him to arrange a page advertisement in the Bulletin. 'Don't you talk to me about de Bulletin,' said he on learning who Traill was, ' You're all tam skoundhrels down dair. I shop de lot of yer before I done. You all in it. Get out of my shop. Get out of my shop.'
No explanations would suffice, and Traill arrived back at the office with the news that 'the Pilgrim was no doubt a scoundrel.' 'He's been up to more games.' However, as an Imp was still wanted at the office (now more than ever), Gray was kept on. Not only on the paper, but always and in every act the Pilgrim played the Imp with perfection. ....
Much of Australia's competitive success on the world stage of surfing can easily be attributed to the boardrider club phenomenon. Our country's coastline is littered with clubs that host grassroots competitions for surfers across age groups and disciplines one weekend per month. At spots like Long Reef, North Narrabeen, Palm Beach and North Avalon, everyone who loves to surf can be found sharing their knowledge and experience with the next generation of surfers. For many Aussie surfing success stories, Boardriders contests were their first tastes of competition.
The Boardriding club is not just about learning how to compete though - these are places where everyone in the community can meet, from the young to mature, and share the wave, share the stoke, and look out for each other in the water.
These grassroots community groups care about their beach, they care about its environment, and mostly they care about the surfing and keeping that accessible to all who love the waves whether it's their first time in the water or their ten thousandth.
This week we share an insight into that wonderful and slightly hidden beach - Bungan, which Tom Carroll names as one of his all-time favourite beaches, and the Bungan Boardriders - our thanks to Luca Elder and Joel Shanahan for help in putting this page together.
When was the Bungan Boardriders formed?
Bungan Boardriders was originally conceptualised by best mates Luca Elder and Joel Shanahan in 2015. At the time we saw huge potential out of such a young group of boys and girls (younger than us - in there teens or younger). Our aim was and is to keep the Grommies stoked with a monthly competition to head towards. Moreover we aimed to create a tighter, positive community around surfing rather than an aggressive line up that is sometimes the bitter sweet reality of our sport. We took our concept and energy to an elder local, Steve Hansen who has had a lot of involvement with sporting clubs in the past. His expertise allowed us to push our original vision above and beyond. We had our debut year in 2016 with around 100 members and our second year kicked off this weekend with more than 100 members across 7 divisions. Our current team consists of Luca Elder and Joel Shanahan who are President and Vice President respectively, Steve Hansen, who looks after logistics, Adam Ginsburg, marketing and communications and Melissa Reeves, our secretary and book keeper.
Were there any earlier Boardriders groups at Bungan Beach?
We remember growing up and seeing a bunch of the older local boys hosting a monthly comp down at Bungan near the surf club - much like we do now. This was probably in the mid 2000s. It is remembered to be a relaxed monthly comp run by a group of mates which is awesome - most likely an early inspiration for Luca and myself. In our debut season, (2016) we had one of our eldest veterans come to Rego day in an original Bungan Boardriders shirt from over a decade ago. It was cool to see the stoke was still present amongst the elder locals at Bungan and hence with a bit of hustle we've managed to not only get an over 40s division but a over 55s division too.
Who is this for ?
Boardriders is for the Bungan community. In the last 12 or so months we've seen a huge change in the dynamics in the water. Luca and I see our 10 year olds sharing a yarn with our competitors in their 60s. Everyone knows everyone now and the overall energy in and out of the water is positive.
What age groups are there in Bungan Boardriders?
In 2017 we have;
Grommies: 10 & under
Juniors: 14 & under
Under 18s
Open girls
Opens
Over 40s
Over 55s
How do people join?
Registration this year has been primarily done online through our communication platform called Buzzy. We hosted a Rego day in the middle of February for those who wanted to come share the stoke with Luca and I physically and lock their yearly Rego in hard copy. Our Rego fees are $100 for under 18s and $150 for adults (18 and over). This is for 9 events - free food and beverages at each event, insurance, stickers and a T-shirt.
Do you have regular competitions?
We have 9 competitions in our calendar Feb-November with a one month break in the middle of winter. Primarily they are on the 3rd Saturday of each month.
Are you part of the Boardriders Clubs that meet and compete on the Northern Beaches?
In 2016 we competed in a surf tag event but it was early days for us and we didn't get much of a result. We're happy where we are at the moment - we're having fun and we believe our standard is significantly high for such a young club. This year we will have more time devoted to creating a competitive club team that can compete at regional level with the intention to excel interstate in the future. The demographic of our club is so young that the future is looking bright. Offering guidance in competitive surfing at a young age is crucial in the modern competitive surfing era. That being said, right now our priority sits with creating and keeping smiles and that's going pretty well.
How can the community support this great club?
The support we've had over the last 24 months has been enormous. Firstly it's the competitors themselves showing up on a monthly basis, helping with set up, daily processes of BBQ duty, judging and more right through to pack up. Big ups to all the parents who stick it out through the rain hail or shine we are prepared to put the kids through. All the corporate support we've been given has been amazing too. Last year we had over 10k worth of prizes to share and this year it's looking like a fair bit more.
What we offer is the classic Aussie family beach culture rather than competitive surfing which has been taken on board by local businesses. It's been awesome to see support offered for boys and girls of all the ages - it's what keeps the kids coming back which is good!
What is Bungan Boardriders favourite place in Pittwater and why?
Bungan! Obviously, it's home!
Does Bungan Boardriders have a ‘motto’ or phrase it surfs by?
No official motto and as clichéd as it gets, we're in it for the smiles and at the end of the day, having fun is uppermost.
Check us out - share the love:
Instagram: bunganboardriders
Website: www.bunganboardriders.com
Founding Coordinator of the Award in Australia
In 1958, Sir Adrian was appointed by HRH Prince Philip as the first National Coordinator of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Australia with the first award participants commencing in 1959. He was subsequently appointed National Chairman from 1962 to 1973. During this time, Australia was amongst the first countries to introduce the Award outside of the United Kingdom where it was established in 1956.
During this time, he made a most substantial contribution to ensure that the Award had the strong foundations and the resources to sustain strong growth. He was also very supportive and encouraging of our neighbouring countries in the South Pacific to also introduce the Award.
The photo is of HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh with Sir Adrian Curlewis on board the HMY Britannia in 1962 where the first Gold Award was presented to Michael Dillon of Sydney Grammar School.
The remarkable life of Sir Adrian Curlewis
Sir Adrian Curlewis was born in 1901 in Mosman Sydney, born to Herbert Raine Curlewis and Ethel Turner – author of “Seven Little Australians”. His family were always very community minded, including supporting charities and organizing ambulance and first aid courses during World War 1. Adrian had a great love for water sports spending his summers at Palm Beach learning to surf. After the drowning of two people at Palm Beach in 1923, Adrian founded the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) with some other local residents. Adrian was Club Captain from 1923-28 and Club President from 1929-33, going on to become President of the International Council of Lifesaving from 1956-73. In 1928, he married Betty Car who shared his love for the ocean and community; she often helped organise fundraisers for the Palm Beach SLSC.
After attending SHORE he studied law at Sydney University Sir Adrian and became a barrister. Sir Adrian become a highly regarded District Court Judge from 1948 -71.
Committed to serving the Community
In addition to his great service to the Award, Sir Adrian was also Chairman (1949-71) of the New South Wales National Fitness Council, founder (1956) of the Outward Bound movement in New South Wales, President (1934-41, 1945-75) of the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia, and President (1968-84) of the Royal Humane Society of New South Wales. He was also appointed CBE in 1962, CVO in 1974, and was knighted in 1967.
The Sir Adrian Curlewis Scholarship
His name continues to be recognised for his contribution in highlighting the potential in young Australians with the “Sir Adrian Curlewis Scholarship” being dedicated to the late Sir Adrian. The scholarship was designed to build skills in leadership and knowledge in selected young people in roles across Surf Life Saving clubs – at regional, state and national levels.
The scholarship aims to continue Sir Adrian’s good work with the youth of Australia, investing in their personal growth and achievement much like work of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
You can find out more information Sir Adrian Curlewis Scholarship at: https://sls.com.au/meet-2010-sir-adrian-curlewis-scholars/
On Friday March 31st the Pittwater RSL dedicated their new Cenotpah.
Deborah Carter, President of the Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch, welcomed The Hon. Rob Stokes, NSW Minister for Education and Member for Pittwater, Kylie Ferguson, representing the Council, The Reverend Jason Ramsay (Newport), Father George Kolodziej (Pittwater - Diocese of Broken Bay) Jason Manning, CEO Pittwater RSL Club, Aldo Sirotic, President, Pittwater RSL Club, Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch Members, Pittwater RSL Club Board of Directors and guests.
Jason Falinski, Member for Mackellar, had sent his apologies, having been detained in Canberra.
Extracts from President Carter’s Address:
We are here today to dedicate our relocated Cenotaph and this is a combined effort between the Pittwater RSL Club Limited and the Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch.
This wonderful Cenotaph was put in place three years ago. We always had our official ceremonies at the top Cenotaph but this was rapidly growing too small for those who would gather to honour those who had served. This original place of dedication will be turned into a Garden of Remembrance as this site is still very important to us.
This new Cenotaph will be far more suitable for the growing number of people who attend our Services, such as the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and Remembrance Day Commemorative Services.
Today we gather to dedicate this new Cenotaph formally in the correct manner.
Before we begin the prayers and Dedication Ceremony I would like to share a small insight into the History of the Pittwater RSL.
Records from ANZAC House show that on the 6th of December 1934 an Executive Committee for Pittwater Sub-Branch and authorizing a charter in the name of Pittwater Sub-Branch. The early records of the sub-Branch show that meetings were held in a building situated in Mona Vale Village park. This building was situated in front of the tennis courts and in front of the bandstand, approximately where the Mona Vale Memorial Hall, the community hall, now stands. The building was of weatherboard construction with a kitchen attached and was also part of the old Newport Surf Club which had been relocated to the site in the late 1920’s. These premises were also used as change rooms by the cricketers and football players.
It has been confirmed that members who had returned from the Middle East, in approximately 1942, stayed in the club premises prior to being sent to serve in New Guinea. It also known that meetings were held in the Bayview Golf Club during the 1950’s, including 1951.
Bayview Gold Club proposed that the Sub-Branch lease a portion of their land with a view to building a clubhouse there. However, this proposal never came to fruition. Records indicate there was a problem with fundraising.
In 1958, following repeated requests for assistance to the then Warringah Shire Council, a site was dedicated and a piece of land on Huxley Street, Lots 25 and 26, was given to the RSL Sub-Branch. The Sub-Branch purchased an old army hut from the Dame Eadith Walker Association and this was our first clubhouse.
Decorated with army boots filled with geraniums, this early clubhouse played host to a number of social dances and ANZC commemorations. There was a dance floor, a small kitchen, a single poker machine and a billiards table which had been donated by a member.
In 1960 the land was reclaimed and redeveloped by the council as it was thought to be suitable for recreation – the site that is now where Winnermerrery Bay is. council purchased the land back from the Sub-Branch for £2, 000.00 and this was the beginning of our kitty.
Our then-president, Bill MacKenzie, negotiated the purchase of a block of land on Mona Vale Road. It was a controversial decision being further out of the centre of Mona Vale, but the purchase went ahead with the help of a generous loan from Harbord Diggers Club who loaned us £13, 000.00. The land was purchased for £15, 000.00 and cleared by volunteers. We then began to raise the funds for the building of a clubhouse.
Thanks to a clever deal with Miller's Brewery, further funds were raised through the sale of debentures, fundraising events through the Women’s Auxiliary and including a couple of Sub-Branch Members actually mortgaging their homes, the club was finally built.
Memberships grew quickly and extensions to the club were frequent - by 1968 we had a new auditorium, dining room and gaming area and repaid the loan to Harbord Diggers Club.
Following a meeting on the 16th of August 1972 it was decided that the Sub-Branch hand over the club to Pittwater RSL Limited. The records state the club was transferred on the 23rd of October 1972.
Over the last 40 years we've welcomed people from all corners of our community and our premises have continued to expand along with our membership. We now have extensive sports, dining and recreational facilities, a wide range of sub-clubs, and an exciting calendar full of entertainment and events. In December 2016 we completed a massive refurbishment of the club, resulting in the beautiful and contemporary interiors you see today.
I would now like to call upon the Honourable Rob Stokes to give the Dedication Address.
Hon. Rob Stokes – MP for Pittwater:
Thank you Madam President.
Distinguished Guests, Returned Servicemen and Women, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to speak on behalf of myself and Jason Falinski and to be here at the Dedication of this crucial centerpiece of our community. As Deborah has indicated in her history of the Sub-Branch, the wisdom of our forbearers was inherent in ensuring a space and a place that is centrally located in our community in which we can now dedicate a cenotaph.
Now what is a Cenotpah and why is it important?
The word itself derives from the Greek: kenos, meaning "empty", and taphos, "tomb". The word literally means ‘empty tomb’. In those two words put together is the power and the symbolism of a Cenotaph.
It is empty; it is a place of loss – it is a tomb; it is a place of sacrifice.
It is a place of grief.
It is a place of Remembrance.
But also, by putting those two rather sombre words together, there is actually enormous power in the concept of the empty tomb.
In remembering that Anzac Day each year, in the Christian tradition, falls around the same time as Easter, the importance and symbolism of the empty tomb is also one of loss, also one of sacrifice, but putting those two words together points to the building of and renewal of the community – it points to new life, to new hope, and in doing so is a connection between past communities, between people who have passed, and the generation that is here and that yet to come.
That is why this is a powerful symbol of the legacy that has been bought for all of us at a very great price by those who have served in the name of Australia over the past decades in past conflicts and those who continue to serve today.
Yes, a Cenotaph is a place of emptiness and of loss. Yes, a Cenotaph is a tomb and a place of remembrance of loss and remembering sacrifice. But as a wholistic concept a cenotaph is a place of hope – it is a place that points to a community with a great future that has been built upon the sacrifice of many brave men, Australians all, who have served us with great dignity and strength of purpose and whom we, as a community, choose to remember, in their sacrifice and the legacy we are so privileged and proud to have today.
I say this with particular recognition to those Returned Servicemen and Women who are among us today. We thank you so much for your sacrifices on our behalf.
It is our duty to remember those sacrifices, to remember the great cost that the freedoms we enjoy today levied upon you. We choose to recognise with the dedication of this Cenotaph, here in the heart of Pittwater, that that empty tomb is a place of sacrifice, a place of loss, a place of Remembrance – but also a place of hope.
________________________________________
The unveiling of the plaque following the Dedication Address followed.
The Reverend Jason Ramsay and Father George Kolodziej read the prayers for the Commemoration of the Fallen.
President Deborah Carter read the Ode of Remembrance prior to the Last Post and Rouse.
The Reverend Jason Ramsay and Father George Kolodziej read the Final Blessing together:
"To the honour and glory of God the Father, in whom is our humble hope of a joyful resurrection and reunion; in the Name of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; and in memory of those departed this life in His faith and fear; we dedicate and set apart this Memorial.
God grant that all who look upon this Cenotaph may enter the peace of sins forgiven, the joy of faithful service and the power of endless life, to which He may vouchsafe to bring us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Sub-Branch Veterans then marched off the Cenotaph grounds prior to those present being invited to share afternoon tea with the Members.
The Dedication Ceremony was a moving tribute to those present and those who have served, installing a marker of respect and love from a community at what has become a Pittwater landmark, not based solely on the clubhouse size in our landscape but on its dedication plaques and their place in our hearts.
The ANZAC Day Commemoration Service at Pittwater RSL will commence with the 5.45am memorial service.
Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch traditionally have their March to Mona Vale Cenotaph in the Village Park for the Commemoration Service on the Sunday prior to ANZAC Day. This year that will take place on Sunday April 23rd: Muster at Vineyard Street 12.30 p.m. 1.00 p.m. March to Mona Vale Cenotaph.
The Hon. Rob Stokes, who has recently returned from his annual leave, also took the opportunity to personally present Deborah Carter with her Pittwater Woman of the Year Award, recently awarded in recognition of Deborah's outstanding and long serving support of Veterans in our community.
Below run some images from the Dedication Ceremony.
The B-Line works proceeded at full steam this week, pausing only on Wednesday when two Avalon residents took action to oppose the cutting down of Mona Vale Village Park trees by occupying the space the trees were being removed from.
Police officers were called and attended, including a commander. The decision was that the police would take no action to keep people out of the enclosed area, on the basis that it is Crown Land, but that they entered at their own risk.
Their protest meant the end of the tree loppers works for that day.
By Friday afternoon, 2.30 p.m., 14 trees were left. Also present were six men, three men at either end of the then blocked off easterly path through the park, two of these stationed three ‘traffic controllers’ clearly security guards.
Residents have expressed opposition to what has occurred this week as well as stating they’re not happy that people employed to do a job have been harassed.
Others have put forward an opposite view, stating,
‘This is a great day for Mona Vale. This is the beginning of a wonderful integrated public transport solution for the people of the northern beaches. Don't be sad for the environment. Think of the thousands of car trips this B-Line service will replace and the reduction of tonnes of CO2 being spewed into the atmosphere every day on Pittwater and Mona Vale Roads.’
Others are more than sad for the environment though, they are dismayed, finding the concept that cutting down masses of trees to reduce cars ‘spewing toxins’ by getting them off roads ignores the basic precept of these largest of plants; trees.
An answered email inquiry on the Mona Vale works brought this response:
‘The B-Line program at Mona Vale includes a slight realignment of Village Park to create a new bus indent, which will allow traffic and buses not stopping at Mona Vale to continue uninterrupted by stopping buses, particularly B-Line services.
To create space for this indent, the existing mounds at Village Park will be shifted slightly to the west, with a 50cm retaining wall on the Barrenjoey Road side minimising impact to the amenity within the park. 21 existing trees within and around the existing mounds will also be removed to allow for the new indent.
Following consultation with local stakeholders and community groups, it was decided that replacement trees will include Norfolk Island Pine and Swamp Mahogany.
Replanted trees will be semi-mature and replanted as soon as possible after the mound has been adjusted.’
In total 26 trees were to be lost and it is a requirement that the Offset for these will be 118 trees planted 'on or near the impacted site', as per the documents available on the Mona Vale page of the B-Line website.
Swamp Mahogany trees, Eucalyptus robusta, average 20-30 m. when fully grown, with a trunk up to 1 metre in diameter – those who plant them are advised to allow 2.5 to 3m around them or between them. Once grown their canopies can create 25 square metres of shade, closely planted trees joining canopies. Trees growing in the open have crowns with long, spreading, irregular and brittle branches, forming a dense canopy, whilst when growing in closely spaced plantations the branches are almost erect so that little crown spread occurs. In humid climates some of the trees form aerial roots on the main bole as far as 6 metres above the ground.
Swamp mahogany in Warriewood wetlands
In 1877, Manly's civic patriarchs consulted Botanic Gardens director Charles Moore on what to beautify their suburb with. He recommended three species not native to Sydney, the Norfolk pine among these.
Manly was the way a beach should look according to many. In 1902 the Norfolk pine was the officially recommended timber tree for NSW coastal areas. In Forest Flora of New South Wales Joseph Maiden wrote: "Norfolk Island Pine is recommended as the main timber tree for the New South Wales coast for the following reasons: it revels in the sea air; its narrow leaves and conical shape present comparatively little resistance to strong winds; it is ornamental in appearance; and it furnishes a useful, soft wood." [1.]
With no flowers and no nectar for birds, but pine seeds cockatoos will feast on, and the ability to turn the earth for up to 20 metres around it to scorched dust, these trees may suit sandy locations but can denigrate their surrounds in other soils.
That is the most poignant image many are left with at week’s end, after the chainsaws ceased a razor like din, the sight of birds who frequent the park returning, landing then taking off again, possibly wondering where their trees have gone. That sight alone rips at the heart.
Their calls in leaving is replaced by silence that renders you speechless. Into this strange void step some of those voices who don’t always speak up but are still there, watching, hearing:
‘I read and listen with interest to the disappointment and disapproval by many people of those charged with all aspects of running our Country. Now more than ever we must ensure that anybody who has been involved the past decision making processes does not have a job in the upcoming elections. We must find some new blood.
For too long we have been complacent and happy to go with the flow and the results thus far have been appalling to say the least.
Keep doing the same thing and the results will be the same. It's time for our biggest change. But let's have a goal to remove all the old and stale "yes" people at the next elections. Our next task is to find the new people to lead us by listening to and acting for us. The time for change is NOW....’
We received the below video from the Friends of Mona vale Group at 3.40 a.m. April 2nd, and this flyer on Friday.
Sydney’s largest NO KILL animal welfare organisation Doggie Rescue, have now reached a new milestone and have saved 12,000 dogs from death row, re-homing each of them with loving families.
That is 12,000 healthy, loving creatures who would otherwise have faced certain death and become a statistic.
These dogs have been rescued from pounds around NSW and represent what happens when they are given a second chance at life thanks to founder and CEO Monika Biernacki.
“The number of dogs facing death row every day in Australia is truly shocking. These beautiful animals all deserve the opportunity to find their forever home and I am so proud that 12,000 of them are now happily part of their new families”, explains Monika.
Ms. Biernacki, a former scientist, gave up her work twenty years ago to begin Doggie Rescue when she saw a desperate need to prevent the unnecessary euthanasia of dogs that were perfectly healthy yet had been abandoned because their owners didn’t want them anymore.
There are literally thousands of heartbreaking stories behind these animals, but it is the heartwarming result of every new adoption that provides the drive that keeps Monika and her loyal, dedicated volunteers going.
“Doggie Rescue was created to provide a viable NO KILL alternative in Sydney and to educate the public on their lifelong responsibilities when owning a dog. Dogs should never be an impulse purchase and people need to become educated about where their new addition has come from. Rescue dogs are very special, most adoptees tell us that in actual fact, the rescue dog has saved them! There is nothing like the love and dedication of a rescued animal.” Monika adds.
The lucky 12,000th saved life is a beautiful 4 year old Jack Russell cross named Tess (pictured below with her new mum).
While Tess has now found a forever home, there are so many more dogs at Doggie Rescue looking for homes - of almost every age, size, personality and breed. If you would like to help Doggie Rescue continue its life saving work please adopt don’t shop! If you can’t adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, volunteer, If you can’t volunteer, donate and help us keep saving these innocent lives indefinitely.
The Sydney Northern Beaches Veterans Centre, Dee Why RSL, Inaugural Resilience Luncheon
The first ever Resilience Luncheon was held on Friday April 7th to raise funds to support the Veterans Centre Sydney Northern Beaches. The event realised its goal of meeting the seventy thousand dollars required to meet current support services needed by ADF Service people and their families. The target was reached through raffles held on the day, a live auction which included a 10 day Kokoda Trek for the 75th anniversary with flights donated by Air New Guinea, a holiday in Hawaii staying on Waikiki beach and a special Government House Christmas ornament donated by Mrs. Linda Hurley, wife of His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), the Governor of New South Wales among the items.
The Veterans Centre was launched out of a need for change; a need for improving quality and accessibility to a complete range of services and to help the Veteran community reconnect with society and their loved ones.
MC Ita Buttrose, AO OBE welcomed attendees His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), the Governor of New South Wales and Mrs. Linda Hurley, Tamara Sloper Harding OAM RAN, and wife of the late Commodore Graham Sloper (Rtd. RAN), Dannie Sloper, Jason Falinski, MP for Mackellar, and other distinguished attendees, as well as acknowledging and paying her Respects to Traditional Owners.
All of our local Returned Service Sub-Branch Presidents, Vice Presidents as well as representatives from associated clubs such as Castle Hill RSL, Directors of RSL’s and CEO's of many local businesses were present.
MP for Pittwater, the Hon. Rob Stokes was unable to attend but ensured a seat for a veteran was funded so he/she could enjoy a wonderful 3-course luncheon with premium beverages and entertainment by world-renowned speed painter, Brad Blaze.
Addresses by His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), the Governor of New South Wales, Tamara Sloper Harding OAM RAN, Ben Webb Veterans Centre Manager and former Army Serviceman, and Dee Why RSL CEO Grant Easterby preceded the keynote speaker Major Matina Jewell (retired).
We run their words below – please read and gain an insight on how we may better serve those who have served us.
Tamara Sloper Harding OAM RAN:
Thank you Ita, and good afternoon Your Excellency and Mrs. Hurley, the Honourable Jason Falinski, distinguished guests, veterans, ladies and gentlemen.
Ever since Ben first told me about this fantastic event I have been thinking about what to say. The truth is, it shouldn't be me standing here, it should be Graham Sloper, my Dad. This was his dream — his vision - and I thank you for being part of bringing it to fruition. Serving and supporting others was inherent in Graham's character.
Following a highly distinguished career in the Royal Australian Navy, Graham continued working tirelessly to assist those in need, particularly the Veterans in our local community. He was a people person, a man who cared about everyone — always putting the needs of his troops before his own, he had time for all regardless of rank or position.
He had the ability to draw others in and form a cohesive group to work for the benefit of all.
When I was a junior officer I looked up to Graham and it was his strong moral courage that I found most inspiring. He shaped many of our careers and influenced so many of our lives. The overwhelming message coming through from his former shipmates is that "they would follow him anywhere". He was a leader like no other.
He was described as the last of the colourful characters that made up his generation of Naval officers. He was larger than life.
Graham was an instrumental part of the team that founded the Veteran's Centre Sydney Northern Beaches to ensure former and current defence personnel get the financial and emotional support they are entitled to.
When we think of Veterans in our community we think of those who served in the Second World War, the Korean War, provided National Service or our Vietnam Veterans. But Graham's focus was also on our younger Veterans, people who have recently returned from places like East Timor, the Solomons, Iraq and Afghanistan and the needs of this younger generation of Veterans.
The plight of younger veterans and their families was really brought home to Dad in a personal way when my husband Adrian and I moved back to Sydney with our four young children. We are both veterans — back then we were "younger veterans".
Dad spent most of my childhood at sea so the day to day trials of family life were reasonably foreign to him. His admiration of Mum certainly grew enormously as he realised what it must have been like for her all those years. A couple of nights a week Dad would assist me with the children's bedtime routine, homework, bath dinner and story. He became aware of the huge impact our military service and resulting ptsd had on our children and our daily lives. How many other young veterans and how many families all over the country must be affected like this?
An inspiration to many, his ceaseless efforts to look after all who had served were reflected in the way he considered them to be part of our extended family.
In those last days in the hospital Dad had a list of instructions for me to follow — but one he repeated again and again was - Encourage people to please look after new Vets coming through.
But as he said when awarded the 2015 Pittwater Community Service award, "I'm not in it for the kudos." — he was about the results, about giving something worth receiving, something needed.
He devoted his ceaseless energy to develop ideas to solve problems and create events to bring together people so they could understand each other.
The Avalon Tattoo was one such event.
This has now evolved into the Northern Beaches Veterans and Community Day, to be held in Avalon on 12 November. A day to bring our veterans and our local communities together, it will involve many schools and community groups and veterans support services and will raise funds for this very veterans centre. So please keep that date in your diaries.
Graham is still with us, his legacy lives on in all of us his spirit remains here within us - as does his thirst for justice, his community spirit and desire to make a difference in the world. What a fantastic team there is here to make Graham's dream for veterans a reality.
We must continue his work for the benefit of others. We are his team - it is this team here at the Veterans Centre — supported by all of you — that continue his work here today will allow his legacy to lives on.
Thank you.
His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), the Governor of New South Wales:
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting Linda and I to participate in what is a very special occasion for the Veterans Centre.
We’ve recognised all our Distinguished guests so I won’t reiterate that but I also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today.
I think my job is to lay out the challenge of why we are gathering today.
You may be aware that last year Andrew Condon, a former Colonel in the Australian Army, was asked to conduct a survey of the ex-Service Organisations which was called the Ex-Service Organisation Mapping project, to find out what was happening in the Ex-service personnel base in terms of supporting our Veterans.
When Andrew produced his report last year he found that across Australia there are over 3000 organisations’ that include in their List of Objectives support for Veterans and their families. When you look into that 3000 there are over 560 who state their entire reason for being was to support Veterans and their families.
Yet, I would say, for every one of the 41 young men who suicided last year, the constant call from the families and loved ones left behind was that there was no support.
These two stories don’t reconcile.
We have the support, many pathways are blocked, many pathways are difficult, but many pathways were open.
What we’re trying to do, and what Ben and his team are trying to do in this particular centre, is open those pathways for Veterans and their families to make it easier to access the services they need.
We can’t tolerate the situation where 560 organisations say they are there for Veterans, yet Veterans suicide.
It is not a good story.
So what do we need to do?
A number of things;
1. How do we improve our in extremis support to organisations such as V360 that are there at the moment someone goes off the radar screen and we know they’re in trouble – how do we respond rapidly to that?
2. How do we get better coordination between our Ex-Service organisations – there is a myriad of these here but we are not well coordinated. We need to have a greater ability to centralize support and make pathways clearer and more accessible to our Members, Veterans and their families. Angus Houston is currently working with DSO’s to achieve that.
3. We have to do better in transition as Members leave the Service. Those with Operational Service, those without Operational Service, those in immediate need of help, and those who can move outside quite efficiently without help. But what does that transition process look like, and who should be responsible for it.
In the space that the Veterans Centre here is trying to address; how do we provide the advocacy services for those who are particularly involved in Military compensation requests or for assistance. How is that voice developed, who should be doing it, which is an important aspect, indeed the initiative to now certify advocates, to make sure they are appropriately trained and qualified to do the job is critical. I applaud that.
And more importantly, for the Veterans Centre initiative here, bringing the community closer to the Veteran community, ensuing the community is aware of the roles they can play in helping our Veterans and their families adjust to civilian life and post-Service, and indeed, if they need assistance in any way, how can that be provided.
These things are not a list from which we can pick and choose. This is a complete list, a conclusive list, and we need to address it.
There are many things underway. Public Service jobs are being created by the NSW Government with over 200 of these specifically designated for ex-Servicemen and women.
J P Morgan with the business community in Sydney, is facilitating a major project which mirrors what they have achieved in the United States to find employment for our Veterans, as is Soldier On and other organisations. In the United States J P Morgan, within two years, created 300 thousand positions for United States Veterans, an enormous achievement, and I think we can do, on scale, as relatively well in Australia.
So these things are out there, but we only have to turn to the latest National Mental Health Commission’s report to see that we still have problems in the community. None of what I have read in that Report surprises me, which is unfortunate.
Yes, inroads have been made, progress has been made, but the journey will continue.
We’re not going to resolve those problems here today but this Veteran’s Centre is a critical part in helping us solve those problems.
We need your support, both moral, today financial. We need your encouragement, Ben and his team need your encouragement in thinking why we are here – for those who have Served.
So thank you for coming and thank you for being so supportive of the Veteran’s Centre here on the Northern Beaches.
The Lifeline Classic Living Ocean team from L to R: Arch Whiteman - surf team, Jack Barrip- team media & photographer, Sam Partington - surf team, Blaze Roberts - team leader, Hunter Roberts - surf team, Van Whiteman - surf team, Claudia Newman - Living Ocean - group captain.
When David Thomas, the CEO of Lifeline Northern Beaches launched the Lifeline Classic at The Newport on January 17th he stated, "We have more than a problem on our hands,"
"When you look at the statistics, the biggest killer of 25 - 44 year olds is suicide. It’s a crisis and the Peninsula is no different - our community has felt the devastating effects of this far too often.
"The Lifeline Classic is a way of connecting with the community through one of our favourite pastimes with which the Northern Beaches are renowned for - surfing. Hopefully this is a way we can come together and help spread awareness that there ARE help options and opportunities available for those who are in difficulty, are in crisis, and/or feel overwhelmed.
"We know that many just need someone to talk to; by talking about this, and disembowelling the stigma of talking and seeking help, we not only bring acceptance to the problem of communication but at the same time help to raise the urgency of our peers who may be in trouble.
"All funds raised from the Lifeline Classic will be used to provide crisis support services, which in turn help to aid in our quest of a Northern Beaches (and Australia ) free of suicide."
The Lifeline Northern Beaches Classic will be a Tag Team event where teams will comprise 4 surfers. Each team commits to running their own fundraising campaign working towards a fundraising goal of $5,000 per team.
Living Ocean, which is known for engaging with and supporting the ideas of our local young adults, doing talks in schools, getting plastic bottles out of the playgrounds, empowering the next generation with information on how to turn the tide of plastic pollution, on how to organise beach-cleans on the stretches of sand they love, were quick to support local students and surfers who wanted to do something about and for their peers and those in crisis in our community.
Becoming involved in the Lifeline Classic is an extension of what Living Ocean does in many ways and keeps to a Living Ocean premise.
Within days the LO Team had raised the 5k goal and decided to aim higher - to reach 10k.
The rapid support points to, in many ways, the esteem the kids hold LO in - kids need to be spoken with, not to. Living Ocean does this - that's why we're getting a younger crew who want to 'get aboard' shaping the future and their place in it.
Claudia Newman, a local student and daughter of one of Living Ocean’s founders, Robbi Luscombe Newman, spoke to her dad and found instant support – as always.
“Talking with the younger members in our community about what they want to focus on has always been a part of what we wanted to do through Living Ocean.” Mr. Newman said this week.
“Even though our primary focus is on looking after the sea, we live in what could best be described as one community, one family, and Living Ocean will always support positive and constructive talk about how we can help those in crisis, which is what younger members of our community have raised with us.”
Supporting this team to be part of the Lifeline Classic was a no-brainer for us.”
Recently the North Avalon Surfriders Association held their monthly Saturday's event where all proceeds of the surf off went to Northern Beaches Lifeline via the Living Ocean Team. Special thanks to Scott and the BBQ team for all your support.
Surf family affair with yummy cakes from the team and and famous Salted Caramel slices by Pronto Catering Palm Beach. Jack Barripp as team photographer (background) — with Robbi Luscombe-Newman, Carol Newman, Claudia Newman, and Mill Haus.
"The surf was going off and so were the surfers. Lots of positive and constructive talk about our community family. We share the same lifestyle and family values. No one is an island. We are all embraced by the same sea." the LO Lifeline Classic Team stated.
Local legend surf family the Roberts with other local Lifeline support staff. Peter and Fiona Roberts, Liz Whyte and Jo Lynas.
This week we talked to the team - unfortunately brothers Arch and Van Whiteman are away at present, so we'll catch up with them at the Lifeline Classic on Sunday April 30th, at Dee Why Beach.
Why did you want to be part of the Lifeline Classic?
Jack Barripp: I chose to be apart of the lifeline event as I was offered to do it by Living ocean and It was a no brainer as One of my good mates committed suicide a month or 2 ago and this money goes towards awareness and prevention of suicide so i didn't think twice about signing up.
Claudia Newman: Depression, suicide and everything else that goes along with mental health is a very close matter to my heart and something that has been intertwined with my life since I was quite young, with both friends and family. Up until now I haven't known how I could help, so being given the opportunity to raise both funds and awareness for such an incredible organisation and daunting issue was something I wouldn't want to pass up.
Blaze Roberts: I think everyone in Avalon including myself, have been recently effected in some way by suicide. When I heard there was a fundraiser for Lifeline and I had the chance to contribute, of course I wanted to! I knew if any community could raise such a large amount of money for Lifeline it was Avalon. I feel honoured to be part of such a wonderful team of people doing such great things for the world!
Hunter Roberts: I wanted to be a part of the Lifeline Classic because my brother recently lost one of his best mates to suicide and I want to do all I can to help raise awareness and money for this great cause.
Sam Partington: I wanted to be a part of this event because suicide is a problem which is growing out of control and we are all seeing it effect so many people's lives around us. Any chance that I can get to help this cause is a good one so that’s why I'm in.
Av. Green Team Creating Waves Of A Sustainable Future
The Av Green Team hosted their second ever sustainability day on Sunday April 2nd at Narrabeen’s Coastal Environment Centre – a very fitting venue for such a focused on the environment event.
Open to all, the day ran from 10 am until mid afternoon and featured Speakers and Workshops covering soil and composting, permaculture, off-grid living, recycling and more were presented.
As one example, Mark Collis who has had an incredible 30-year career in advertising as a creative director, explained his proudest achievement remains his role as the co-founder of Earth Hour was an inspirational Address giver.
"What started out as a flicker of an idea in 2007 has blossomed and into the biggest environmental campaign of all time, engaging more than 7,000 cities and towns worldwide."
Peter Rutherford, the Senior Eco Gardner at Kimbriki's Eco House and Garden was another Speaker. Peter has been with Kimbriki for more than 17 years and has extensive knowledge of soils, composting and worm farming.
Other Speakers and Workshops were Michael Mobbs- the ‘Off-Grid guy', Permaculture Northern Beaches, the Living Ocean Whale Research Team, Tim Seaton - Coastal Environment Centre educator and the great group at Avalon Community Garden.
Stalls included Friday Hut Road, Norwex, Careel Bay Honey Co. , Avalon Community Garden, Living Ocean and Avalon Boomerang Bags.
In preparation their sustainability day on April 2nd, Av Green Team invited everyone to share on Instagram a photo and caption explaining why you care about our environment. The winner received a book 'Sustainable Food' by Michael Mobbs and a painting by local artist Lisa Heath.
Balanced Studio legend Nic Laidlaw and artist Madi Luschwitz led a creativity flow activity. Nic explores self-sustaining, movement and health. As a couple they have really inspired a lot of our community (of all ages) and their constant uplifting energy and push for good is contagious.
“Nic spoke at our last event and it was a really special way to end the day, we are stoked to have them again,” the Av. Green Team explained.
It is rare to see this many inspiring people in one room, let alone for free. Their generous sharing of information and experience is empowering all those who attended and the members of the Av. Green Team.
“We had an absolutely amazing day today! Thank you to everyone involved and Wil Coxon for taking photos.” The team stated.
The Av. Green Team would like to thank the following for their support and participation in their 2nd Ever Sustainability Day
Narrabeen Environment Centre and the Northern Beaches Council, Balanced Studio, Madi Luschwitz Artist, Living Ocean, Avalon Boomerang Bags, Kimbriki Resource Recovery & Eco Education Centre, Prodjuice, Michael Mobbs, Avalon Community Garden, Permaculture Northern Beaches, Sustainable House, Thomas Oliver, Friday Hut Road, and Mark Collis Art.
But that’s not all this next-generation group have done recently.
On Saturday morning, April 8th, local daycare centre, Only About Children teamed up with Av Green Team, Living Ocean and Boomerang Bags to clean Mona Vale Beach. The cleaning began at 8am and held a picnic from 9am.
“It's a great opportunity to spread the message about plastic pollution and look after our beautiful area!” Av. Green Team explained.
The Av. Green Team did a Newport Beach clean on March 25th - spot called the day before!
.JPG?timestamp=1491511540531)
Mosman Readers Request - ' Could You Do A History Page On Clifton Gardens Please - People Would Find This Interesting';
Just two days after the First Fleet anchored in Sydney Cove, Captain Hunter, in a longboat, commenced a survey of the harbour, going first at what was to become known as Mosman (Mossman's) Bay.
At the landing place known by the name of Koree by the original inhabitants, later Chowder Bay, Lieutenant William Bradley recorded:
"...We observed some women at the place the men came down from, they would not come near us, but peep'd from behind the rocks and trees. when the Boats put off, the Men began dancing and laughing and when we were far enough off to bring the place the Women were in sight, they held their arms extended over their heads, got on their legs and danced until we were some distance, then followed us upon the rocks as far as the boats went along that shore."
The name 'Chowder' for the bay is attributed both to American whalers using the place in the early 1800's and to Captain Edmund Cliffe who brought the name with him from India:
CHATEAU TANUNDA HARBOUR BAY SERIES
No. 12. Chowder Bay
A few years ago the name of Chowder Bay brought to one's mind a vision of bell-bottomed trousers and ladies who were called "donahs," The "Chowder Dip", could only be seen at its best when these ladies and gentlemen disported themselves there on holidays, and the fact that the day inevitably ended in a free fight added only a spice to the holiday. But these glories have all departed, and under its new name of Clifton Gardens the district is the home of respectability. Various reasons have been assigned for the name ma of the bay, the most popular being that it is derived from that American delicacy called "chowder," but this is not correct. In 1832 an estate on the foreshores was bought by E. H. Cliffe, who had made six voyages between Port Jackson and the East Indies as chief officer of a Vessel. Writing from the estate, he gave his address as "Chouder Bay ". “Chouder " has a breath of the Indies in it and probably it was associated with some place or incident in Mr. Cliffe's East Indian career. Advertising (1925, August 7). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 8 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223733287
The salubrious qualities of the valley were recognised by Thomas Graham in 1928. Graham, a Scottish free settler employed by Government Botanist Charles Fraser as an assistant, was granted land where he set up a fishery and orchard:
A vineyard is likely to be established at Sirius Cove, we understand, on the Cape of Good Hope plan.
Mr. Graham, who holds land at Chouder Bay, has established a small fishery there, which at present meets his most sanguine expectations.
We are informed that the harmless Cricket Club, recently got up in Sydney, have been civilly ejected from the Govt. paddock on t'other side of the turnpike, by a letter missive from a certain subject "dressed in a little brief authority," requesting the cricketters would not make that field the arena of their amusements, Pitiful - pitiful. No title (1829, October 21). The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848), p. 2. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36866472
Sydney News.
Mr. Graham's fishery, at Chowder Bay, appears to justify the most sanguine expectations of the proprietor. A lad may be observed every morning with a basket full of fine fresh fish, hooked at Chowder, which brings in the ready penny. Sydney News. (1830, March 5). Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8644947
Chowder Bay has been very tastefully fitted up by the proprietor, Mr. Graham, and is well worth a trip to inspect it. Domestic Intelligence. (1831, June 20).The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12843174
DIED.—Suddenly at Parramatta, on the 22nd Inst. Mr. Charles Frazer, for many years Superintendent of the Government Garden, Sydney.Family Notices (1831, December 26). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12843880
DEATH. The friends of Mr. Frazer have transmitted us the following notice of his death :—
On the 22nd instant departed this life Charles Frazer, Esq. Colonial Botanist. This gentleman arrived in these Colonies many years since, a private in His Majesty's 73rd Regiment, and rose rapidly through his scientific acquirements, self-attained, the urbanity of his manners, and his universal and unremitting benevolence not only to the respectable post which he held at the time of his decease, but to a possession of the full esteem and regard of every individual of his extensive connection of friends and acquaintance.
He advanced the cause of science by numerous discoveries in his profession, and his extensive scientific correspondence has left behind him a lasting monument of his talents and taste in the beautiful gardens, for which, from their extensive utility, the whole Australian Public are indebted, but the Public of Sydney in a particular manner: not to mention the roads and walks of the Domain, the last work of his planning, and which might vie in every respect, with almost any other work of a similar description. Family Notices (1831, December 31). The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838), p. 3 (AFTERNOON). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32076587
Within weeks of Thomas Graham succeeding to Mr. Frazer's position the property was offered for sale, seemingly to satisfy a creditor. The sale notice grants us an insight into what had been established on the acreage and perhaps why it was:
We understand that Mr. Graham, of Chowder Bay, who was formerly attached for some years to the Government Garden, has been appointed Botanist, in the room of the deceased Charles Frazier, Esq. DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. (1832, January 9). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12843922
CHOUDER BAY. Fifteen Acres of Land, within three quarters of an hour's drive of Sydney ; or four miles by Water Carriage. Choice Garden. House and Cellars. Huts &c. now let to a respectable tenant at £42 per annum. BY MR.. BODENHAM, ON THURSDAY the 16th Instant, at One o'clock precisely, opposite POLACKS London Tavern. MR. BODENHAM respectfully begs leave to notify, that he is instructed to sell without reserve, all that beautifully situated property called, CHOUDER BAY, which for the beauties of Marine scenery, health, and the purpose of sea air and bathing, cannot be surpassed.
The selection of this particular Estate was made by Mr. GRAHAM, Assistant Botanical Gardener with the late Mr. FRASER, for the purpose of forming an Establishment as an Hotel, for the reception of persons as Invalids, or others desirous of pursuing the pleasures of sporting or fishing, and to prosecute his own particular study in Botanical pursuits ; for which purpose, from four to five Acres have been brought into a high state of cultivation, and an immense variety of the undermentioned choice fruit trees have been carefully selected, pruned, and cultivated ; to say ; the green gage, citron, nectarine, apple, pear, cherry, mulberry, plum, olive, apricot, and peach, with a variety of others ; also a young Nursery has been begun.
The buildings at present erected, consist of a sitting room and bed room, with under-ground cellars, huts, and detached out-offices. Persons who are acquainted with the delights of a party at "Chouder, " will not require any recommendation to purchase this Property, provided they have a spare Capital. There is also a never failing supply of the purest water. The views of Point Piper, Vaucluse, and other objects of interest, render this abode at all times cheerful and agreeable. The Purchaser to pay his own conveyance. TERMS OF PAYMENT - -£250 may remain upon mortgage for such a period as may be agreed upon. The residue of the purchase money, except a deposit of 10 per Cent upon the whole purchase-money, to be paid in Cash; at 6, and 9 months without interest, upon approved endorsed bills. Capitalists and others would find this an agreeable trip of inspection. Advertising (1832, February 1). The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838), p. 3 (AFTERNOON). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32076821
In the Supreme Court.
Sheriff's Office, May 30, 1832.
Jenkins v. Graham.
ON Thursday, the 7th June, (this day), at One o'Clock, in George-street, the Sheriff will cause to be sold, all the right, title, interest, and estate of Defendant, in and to all that piece of parcel of land situated at Chouder Bay, on the North Shore, about 7 miles from Sydney. This property has been divided into seven allotments to suit purchasers ; and a plan it to be seen at the Sheriff's Office; unless this execution be previously satisfied in the Supreme Court. Advertising (1832, June 7). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12844658
The Chowder Bay Estate will be brought to the hammer in seven allotments. DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. (1832, May 28). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12844574
The property sold for £326 to Captain Edmund Harrison Cliffe and in this gentleman's exploits, as the owner of the whaler Lady Wellington, and having convicts assigned to him, we touch upon the toughness of life for those who were transported in the first fifty years to the colony surrounding Port Jackson and also the wholesale slaughter of whales that was taking place. He had been coming and going to the port for a while. NB: Spelling of 'Cliffe' as 'Cliff' on some occasions. It would also be good to take into account this gentleman was born in 1797 when looking at what he was doing at his age. It is also good to note that he arrived days prior to this property being sold, with his first wife Jane Cliffe aboard the Lady Wellington in April 1832:
MR. EDMUND CLIFFE, First Officer of the Brig Haldane, leaving the Colony in said Vessel, desires Claims to be immediately presented.Classified Advertising (1820, April 8). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 3. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2179376
MR. EDMUND CLIFF, Chief Officer of the Brig Haldane, leaving the Colony in said Vessel, requests that all Claims may be presented. Classified Advertising (1821, January 20). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 4. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2180018
CAPTAIN ORMAN, of the Ship John Bull, leaving the Colony, requests all Claims to be presented. Mr. E. H. CLIFFE, First Officer of the Ship John Bull, leaving the Colony, requests all Claims to be presented. Classified Advertising (1822, January 25). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2180772
CAPTAIN CLIFFE, of the Brig Phoenix, leaving the Colony in said Vessel, Claims to be presented at Mr. A. B. Spark's, No. 11,George-street.Classified Advertising (1824, May 13). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 3. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2182879
Captain Cliffe, described when he passed away as an upstanding Christian gentleman, was also a large and rapid acquirer of lands and land grants - including extensive runs in Molonglo. Coming to Australia bringing goods to sell on speculation and soon afterwards becoming quite well off land-wise, shows how quickly those who were brave enough to put to sea could benefit from making the perilous journeys required.
The early history of Chowder Bay by these sea-faring men also shows a run of captains and relationships between these that overlap in ownership and custodianship as well as some links, through these Masters of Vessels, with Pittwater.
Wal Williams is a legend in Pittwater, a World War II Veteran, Mr. Williams has worked tirelessly for decades when Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch President to look after members and was present, along with fellow WWI Veteran Brian Sargeson at the May 16, 1999 dedication and Official opening of the original Cenotaph at Pittwater RSL.
Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore, Wal worked on the Burma Railway prior to being sent to Japan to work, and experienced being sunk en-route. He survived Changi, he survived Burma, he survived being in the open ocean prior to being picked up again and sent to Japan for a year of hard work and being the focus of anger when the bombing of Japan began. He survived the firebombing of Tokyo and Yokohama by Allied bombers and finally returned home on October 10th, 1945 - his 23rd birthday.
When we asked him how he kept his spirits up he referred us back to the jokes by a 'voice that would sing out' with something at times when he and those he fought or survived beside were in direst straits - small witticisms he still laughs at in recalling.
Where and when were you were born?
I was born on 10th October 1922. My parents were Frank Gordon Williams and my mother, Letita Maie Williams.
I was brought up at 45 Cliff Avenue, Northbridge.
As a young fella I was a good swimmer, it was the thing of the day then. My father was a good swimmer too, before I came along. I joined the Northbridge swimming club when I was a kid; probably before I was ten, but I competed in competitive swimming from ten years of age up until the war. I won numerous championships there, point scores, and I represented at about 12 years of age in the New South Wales State Championships. I swam in the Old Domain Baths which no longer exist. They were tidal baths in those days, in the Domain in the Harbour.
General view of the Baths (Domain Baths, Woolloomooloo, c.1930s, by Sam Hood, courtesy State Library of NSW
What was Northbridge like when you were a child?
Northbridge was like a village in those days. Most people knew all the families that were there. There were vast amounts of bush. My recollection of Northbridge at the Point, which overlooks the Spit now, is that there was only one residence there which was owned by Hallstrom who was the patron of the Taronga Park Zoo. He had a factory in Willoughby which produced the Silent Night refrigerators. Prior to that we didn't have refrigerators, we just had ice chests. He was about the first fella that produced them. He produced electric, gas and kerosene fridges from that factory in Willoughby.
I’ll tell you a funny story about my Billycart at Northbridge. See this photo here, that’s the old suspension bridge at Northbridge in nineteen hundred and twelve (1912). I have a photo here of the old suspension bridge in my album.
We lived right opposite the bridge. This shows the road going over the bridge to Cammeray. I lived on the first street on the right, my father went out there after the First World war and had one of the first homes that was built there. You can see that tram, that later went over the bridge up to Northbridge.
We used to have to go from the end of that bridge, where we lived, up to the shops. Mother used to give us a list and sister and I used to go up and buy all the stuff. I used to come down Strathallen avenue, which is the main street down towards the bridge in the billycart. I’d be driving and my sister would have her back up against me. We used to come off the bitumen road into Marana road, which was a dirt road in those days. I swung the billycart round, into the dirt, and all of a sudden I started getting wet on my backside. I thought, ‘oh no, don’t tell me Wanda’s wet herself’.
I had a brake on the billycart so I pulled that and said, ‘are you alright?’ – ‘yeah’ – it was the bloody eggs, they’d broken. So I pull up, and of course everybody knew everybody, so I ran into Mrs. So and so’s place and got a basin. There were three or four that weren’t broken but the rest, ‘there you are mum, there’s the eggs, we’ve still got a dozen.’
The trams used to run then and would run down to Northbridge school, that’s where they terminated. So of course as kids we used to scale the trams to get home, it was a great place for a kid then.
The Refurbishment of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch Façade, the instalment of a new Memorabilia Displays and establishment of a Veterans Retreat and Military Heritage Library was opened Monday April 3rd, 2017.
MC for the Official opening was Vietnam Veteran and President of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch, Mr. Mark Ferguson.
Below runs transcripts of the Addresses given.
Mark Ferguson, President of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch
Thank you all for coming to the long awaited refurbishment of the Club’s military faced, military displays and the establishment of the Veterans Retreat and Military Heritage Library.
I’d like to welcome our official guests, State President of the RSL, Mr. John Haines AM, State Minister of Education, Mr. Rob Stokes, MP for Pittwater, MP for Mackellar, Mr. Jason Falinski, President of the Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch and Pittwater Woman of the Year, Mrs. Deborah Carter, President of the Narrabeen RSL Sub-Branch, Mr. Barrie Epps, President of the Collaroy RSL Sub-Branch, Mr. Geoff Luck, President of the Dee Why RSL Sub-Branch, Mr. Alan Wright, Vic-President of the Avalon Beach RSL Sub-Branch, Lt. Commander Tamara Sloper Harding (RANR) OAM, President of Palm Beach Club Limited, Mr. Bryan Webster, NSW Police Dee Why L.O.C. Area Commander, Mr. Dave Darcy, 77th Squadron R.A.A.F. Assoc. Vice-President, Mr. Ray Seaver and Mr. John Seaton MBE, Chair of the Northern Beaches Veterans Centre, Mr. John McInerney OAM, Sub-Branch Patron and Former Speaker of the House, the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop and the Reverend Llloyd Bennett, Sub-Branch Padre.
I now call upon the State President of the RSL, Mr. John Haines, for a short address.
State President of the RSL, Mr. John Haines:
Thank you very much,
Honoured guests and my fellow Sub-Branch Members and guests, thank you very much for the kind invitation to be here today and say a few words.
Memorabilia - some years ago I was tasked with checking on some of the Memorabilia that we do have in our Sub-Branch clubs. It’s very interesting what Members have collected over the years and have donated to the various RSL Sub-Branches. It reminded me over a number of occasions when I had to deal with that of my Army career and after.
I recall visiting the Thai Railway after my Army career finished and talking to the Curator of a Museum there. He was telling me that he used to go around where those who had suffered severe disease were housed and would find a lot of the equipment. On one occasion he found with his metal detector a pair of glasses. On the glasses rims were the owners name, rank and service number. He leaned them up and thought these would be a very good addition to their Memorabilia cabinet on the Thai Railway.
He decide he would also make enquiries to the British Legion as to their owner’s whereabouts. This is a part of the Second World war conflict where around 99% of those people sent to this place died.
On contacting the British legion and informing them he had these British glasses, and that he was going to keep them for their Memorabilia Cabinet, the Legion wrote back to him stating the fellow was still alive and he would like his glasses back. He had just retired and needed them. So he packaged the glasses up and sent them off, happy to do so, but in that case, they lost a very valuable item for their display of that aspect of the Thai Railway.
I also recall during the latter part of my Service I used to have to check on some of the guys coming back from Vietnam. They told me first of all that when the Sydney came back on one occasion there was that much equipment coming back that they couldn’t check.
On this occasion they decided to hold the ship off the coast and the Customs Officers would go onto the ship and check. Now the Customs Officers stated they would check every second person; and you possibly know what happens when this method is employed – every second man had nothing and the blokes in between had all the gear. They found they had to try something different and so warned everyone that there would be a thorough check. Subsequently, they reckoned the night before they got off the ship the Sydney rose out of the water as everyone was throwing the gear they bought over the side of the ship.
I pointed out to my boss during my time that it was impossible to track down some of the Diggers gear – they were smarter than policemen, they knew where to hide it, so you can imagine what was brought home. Some of the Cabinets I go around to I’m just mesmerised by how these people got this information, inherent in these items, back for everyone to see, and how important this is to our tradition, how important this is to Australia and our young people, because they do visit these places; they come in to have a look and see at what these great soldiers, and their uniforms, looked like. These displays are very valuable to the communities where they are and very valuable to the Services.
I’d like to thank the President of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch and the Sub-Branch for what they have done and are doing here. It’s great that they are holding onto the value of these items and the tradition they embody and very important that they install such displays so other people can come in and be informed of their heritage and what has happened through what is in these displays. Through these the Members and Visitors can appreciate the Service and Sacrifice their fellow Australians have made.
On behalf of the RSL I congratulate you all on this great achievement of allowing others to see what has taken place.
Thank you very much.
Mark Ferguson, President of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch:
It will not be possible today to fully acknowledge all the contributors who have made this event possible, however, some special mention of individuals would be appropriate during the course of these proceedings. It would also be remiss to not give an acknowledgement of the unstinting support given to this project by Club Palm Beach during what is also a busy year when the club will celebrate its 60th Anniversary.
This refurbishment is best explained as being at four locations within the club, the first being the Entrance Foyer; as you enter the club you are introduced to a display of Service Badges and Plaques which is intended to set the which is intended to set the club’s desired subdued military ambiance. Some time ago, when this project was in its infancy, Mr. John Seaton, on behalf of the 77 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force Association presented the Sub-Branch with an S.M.L.E. 303 Service Rifle for inclusion in the proposed Memorabilia Cabinet. This iconic rifle, serial number 35233, together with a 15 inch bayonet and scabbard resented by Mr. Bob Week have become somewhat a talisman for Members and are now permanently mounted in the foyer. The date for this opening was chosen in recognition of the 77th as it is the 66th Anniversary of when the Squadron began training on Gloster Meteors prior to being moved to Iwakuni Japan.
The second location is under the club’s Honour Board and is the Naval Working Drawing of the Naval Destroyer HMAS Melbourne showing the 1968 refit. This was presented to the Sub-Branch by Commodore Graham Sloper AM RAN, who sadly passed away late last year.
We are honoured to have Mrs. Dannie Sloper and daughter Tamara Sloper Harding OAM with us here today.
Apart from the obvious interest this will create for Members of the Seaman’s Service, it is of particular interest as this refit was carried out only a few years after what was arguably Australia’s worst peacetime naval disaster, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) and the destroyer HMAS Voyager (D04) collision off Jervis Bay on the New South Wales coast on the evening of 10 February 1964.
The third location is the Auditorium Display Cabinet. This collection and display of Memorabilia and Militaria will be in turn stored and rotated as content dictates, with exhibits dating back over a hundred years. From random grain samples actually obtained from the hallowed ground of Anzac Cove by Mr. John Simpson and son, who is with us today, to various headwear, ordnance, citations, uniforms and military collectibles, exhibited by Members and their families.
The present centrepiece is that of the uniform, squadron, medals and, citation of Lieutenant William Chevily Woodward. This citation reads as follows:
‘Companion of the Distinguished Service Order
Lieutenant William Chevily Woodward VX14949
Boungainville 16/10/1945
Lieutenant Woodward was bomb disposal officer during the company advance along Buin Road. Moving ahead of the forward trips in full view of the enemy and under constant fire, he located and deloused four mines and twenty-three booby traps. Later, further booby traps were encountered in front of the enemy position, causing heavy casualties. Displaying complete disregard for his own life he cleared the road. Again, when further traps were encountered he deloused a further thirteen. Lieutenant Woodward’s amazing personal bravery and extreme courage saved his unit heavy casualties.’
We are honoured to have Bill’s son and a Director of Club Palm Beach, Mr. Tim Woodward, with us here today.
Mr. Tim Woodward and cousin Jillian Cobby
The fourth and last location of refurbishment is where the new Sub-Branch office, Badge 333, and Military Heritage Library is. This has been designed to facilitate and enhance the contribution of the Sub-Branch to Veterans and their families, students and other interested members of the community through providing for many a safe and relaxed space. This may be used for educational research and special interest projects relating to Australia’s Military history. Our Mission Statement aligns and confirms our supervisory and administrative protocols that will be observed with responsibility and care in respect of all facets of this operation.
By the 30th of June we intend to catalogue some 1000 exclusive tomes, books and gazettes and provide a recreational reading service as well as supervisory accredited access to accredited online sites for the sole purpose of research. Availability and opening times will vary to meet demand.
Apart from publications obtained through the Department of Defence and Members contributions, we obviously rely heavily upon the public and service sectors. Whilst there have been many such contributions none have underpinned and contributed so much quantitatively as Mrs. Jan Bolt and the ladies of the Avalon Red Cross Shop who we have the privilege of having with us here today.
I now call on Mr. Rob Stokes to open this facility.
Hon. Rob Stokes, MP for Pittwater, NSW Minister for Education:
Distinguished guests, Returned Servicemen and women, ladies and gentlemen;
It is a great honour to be here with you all this morning at this auspicious occasion where we are celebrating the renovations to the façade and Memorabilia and the establishment of the Veterans Retreat and importantly, the Community Resource Library.
In relation to remembering Australia’s Service in times of conflict, in this room we have many fitting reminders of incredible reminders of Service both at home and abroad, during conflicts and also in peacekeeping operations.
Mark has already referred to one gentleman, Mr. John Seaton MBE, I make especial mention of John as he is celebrating a special birthday this month. John and the men who stand next to him are living links with Australia’s Service and International Service as Forces in the Korean Peninsula who safeguarded the future of South Korea as just one example of Australia’s contribution, and also a huge contribution at the dawn of the jet age. In john we have an incredible piece of the story of Australia’s links with international events and also with Service and sacrifice that has helped to shape this nation.
But of course with earlier conflicts many of those living links are now no longer with us. It is now increasingly important that we maintain those links through the medium of Memorabilia as well as the written word. Because, as we repeat the words every Anzac Day, Lest We Forget, hat we are really committing to is an act of Remembrance, with our lives, with our thoughts and in the way we conduct ourselves.
We are remembering with those words as Lest is a Latin word literally meaning ‘for fear we forget’ because if we forget the lessons of the past we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
What we learn from the time and times of the Australian Service men and women who have served our nation in war is that this nation was built on self-sacrifice and honour and an outward example of service. It was not built on self-promotion, materialism or acquisition.
It is those values that we need to incubate and propagate in the younger generation.
John Haines and I had the honour and great opportunity to be at a School’s remembrance Service at the Cenotaph in Hyde Park just last week where the Catholic Independent and public schools all came together in a joint Remembrance Service. This was such a powerful reminder that we have an obligation to ensure that younger people have access to a deep understanding of the stories that helped shape our nation, many of whom are present here in this room.
As Education Minister I am particularly excited about the opportunity that the Library and resource centre provide to local schoolchildren as well as for Researchers more broadly to access the incredible information held here at Club Palm Beach.
I also wanted to acknowledge everyone who has contributed particularly to the store of Memorabilia here as well as to the resources in the Resources Centre, as well as the Members of the Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch who in many ways, we all owe a debt of service to and yet they are still serving us in the way in which they have worked to ensure that this Memorabilia and these Resources are available and accessible to the wider community.
In that respect I’d like to acknowledge Bob Head as well as Mark Ferguson as I know that these gentlemen, particularly Mark, have driven this project and ensured that today has come to fruition.
With those words I’d like to congratulate Mark and Bob and all the Members of the Sub-Branch who have worked so hard to make today a reality – thank you.
Pittwater RSL
On Sunday 23 April, the annual Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch March took place from Vineyard Street, along Pittwater Road, to Village Park, Mona Vale, where a Service was conducted.
Deborah Carter, President of the Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch, welcomed The Hon. Rob Stokes, MP, Member for Pittwater and NSW Minister for Education, Jason Falinksi, MP, Member for Mackellar, Kylie Ferguson, Northern Beaches Council, Father George Kolodziej, the Pittwater RSL Club Executive, Sub-Branch Members, and members of the Public.
Deborah Carter said: “On this day, above all days, we recall those who, in the great tragedy of war, gave their lives for Australia and for the freedom of mankind; who still sleep amid the ridges of Gallipoli and the terraced hills of Palestine; in the lovely cemeteries of France or the shimmering haze of the Libyan Desert; amid the mountains and olive groves of Greece and the Middle East; the jungles of Malaya, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, in rugged Korea and the battlefields of Vietnam; in the mountains and barren fields of Afghanistan and Iraq; amid loving friends in our Mother Country and our own land, and in unknown resting places in every continent and every sea.
We remember all those who have since fallen by our side in the wars in which we have been engaged – in the air and on the sea and land, and all our loyal friends among the people of New Guinea and elsewhere. We think of every man, woman and child who, in those crucial years, died so that the lights of freedom and humanity might continue to shine.
May we and our successors prove worthy of their sacrifice.”
On Tuesday 25 April, the Pittwater RSL Sub-Branch conducted the annual Dawn Service at the Club’s Cenotaph. This was attended by several of the above mentioned dignitaries, and many members of the Public. Mr Joe Crumlin OAM, our Military Historian, delivered a very moving ANZAC address. The Service was followed by breakfast and Two-Up at the Club.
Lest We Forget.
John Seaton MBE, Avalon Beach RSL Sub-Branch member, served in Korea in the Royal Australian Air Force. He set up air strips and routes in the Solomon Islands, establishing an airline, and had the honour of finding the biggest glacier in the world in Antarctica, prior to that, in 1955, subsequently named the Lambert Glacier after the director of national mapping in Canberra. There is also a Seaton Glacier named for the gentleman himself.
Born in Launceston, Tasmania on April 21st 1927, John's wife Barbara, when we asked her why he had done so many amazing things, reasoned he was one of those amazing adventurers born at a time and on the cusp of when finding unknown things, like glaciers, or doing things that needed to be done, like starting airlines for isolated places, could still be achieved by those with the right spirit.
Where and when were you born – where did you grow up?
I was born in Launceston, Tasmania on the 21st of April 1927.
My father was one of three brothers. Alec, aged twenty one died very early in the piece – he was the eldest brother. Col and Dad went to the First World War – Colin was in the 12th Battalion and landed on Gallipoli and then went to France and ultimately he lost his leg through battle there.
Col died around sixty-five I suppose. Dad was in the Light Horse, the 1st Light Horse, and he saw action all the way up through Palestine, it was called in those days, and into Syria, through Beersheba – you’ve heard of Beersheba no doubt – the big charge and everything up there. He ended up in Damascus and came home at the end of the war from that area.
Did your Dad ever talk to you about his war experiences?Only a little bit, and only the funny things – he liked to talk about the funny things.
I remember he was with his mate one day, and they were both on horseback. He drank all the water that he had in his canteen before about eight or nine in the morning, but he was able to get half a bag of oranges, and he ate oranges all day. He said he was in such a state that night that it was very laughable.
Or he spoke about his times in Cairo. I remember he was a great photographer, had one of the first of the bellows type Kodak cameras, and he took that with him everywhere he went.
He had a little business running at one stage, he told me, where he’d take all the pictures out in the field – incidents that you’d see from day to day in the horse lines, or wherever they might be. He’d get them down to Cairo as soon as he could, get them developed and processed, and then he’d make a big sale in the next week or two when they came back.
He started a carrying business in Launceston when he came home, had four or five trucks at one stage, and he was in transport so I got to know vehicles pretty well, of course and learnt to drive pretty early in my life. Dad was in a position where he was able to send my two sisters and myself, to private schools.
He continued on in the carrying business, in the transport business until he was about sixty five. He sold the business and he retired to West Launceston, and he was a great gardener, and he gardened on for the rest of his life, and he died at the age of eighty seven I think it was.
He was a firm character, heavily involved in RSL [Returned and Services League] matters in Launceston, and did quite a lot. He was the secretary of the branch in Launceston, and involved in many other organisations too; Red Cross, was the president of the Launceston Football Club at one stage.
He almost became a councillor on the Launceston City Council at one stage but missed out by a few votes there.
What was your mum like?
Mum was one of those grand old ladies, very Victorian, very prim and proper, a very stately, good looking woman.. She was one of two, Esther Boyd, and her brother Jack was in the First World War. He was in France and he got right through, although wounded quite a few times. But he was one of the lucky ones, and he came back.
Mum married Dad in 1925. She brought us up pretty well I think. I had two sisters and she thought the world of them, and me. I was the middle one. She was involved heavily in the Red Cross in the Second World War, in fact she was almost eight hours a day at that from time to time. Everyone loved Mum.
Surf Lifesaver Treats Rock Fall Victim At Palm Beach
Tuesday 2 May 2017 - from Surf Life Saving NSWA man in his 70s who was injured on rocks at Palm Beach pool this morning was lucky to have a highly trained surf lifesaver on the scene to administer first aid.
Nick Sampson, a 23-year old patrol captain at Avalon Beach SLSC is an electrician and was working on a construction site nearby when members of the public alerted him that a man had fallen off the path and onto rocks and was bleeding profusely from the head.
Nick and others from the construction site grabbed a first aid kit and along with bystanders, did what they could to stem the blood flow from the man’s head.
When paramedics arrived, Nick assisted them to administer oxygen, apply a neck brace and a defibrillator before the patient was loaded into the Ambulance. He was moved to North Palm Beach to a waiting helicopter for transport to hospital.
“He had a deep cut to the head, there was a lot of blood. Apparently he felt faint and stumbled across the path and fell off the edge onto the rocks,” said Nick.
This morning’s drama at Palm Beach shows just how valuable it is to have surf lifesavers, trained in first aid and CPR, out in the community and ready to use their skills and experience to help others.
__________________________
Nick is humble by nature and dislikes talking about himself but reiterated that anyone can help others through learning First Aid, reminding everyone that Surf Life Saving does offer courses the public may do even if they're not a member of a Surf Life saving Club.
Details on upcoming First Aid courses available to the public through SLS NSW run below.
Nick also explained that one of his co-workers on the site also assisted him during their response - 'Dan was also helping' Nick explained when we spoke to him earlier this week.
When we asked why he does so much so often, as you may read in Avalon Beach SLSC President, Richard Cole's Profile below, he explained he has received a lot from the club through training, through a positive mindset being engendered in everything the club does, and being supported to pursue his love of surf sports.
"To me it's about giving back to the community and the club which has given so much to me." Nick said.
Richard Cole
President Avalon Beach SLSC
NB: since Richard wrote the above the Pinkies have won the Under 23 Surf Boat World Championships.
2016 Profile on Nick Sampson
When people grumble about Gen Y being self centred, unwilling to take on responsibility and being the "I" generation, I like to point out some of the younger members of our surf club such as Nick Sampson.
When people grumble about Gen Y being self centred, unwilling to take on responsibility and being the "I" generation, I like to point out some of the younger members of our surf club such as Nick Sampson.
At only 22 years of age he is our Director of Surf Sports, responsible for running all of our competition teams, as well as our Club Championships. He was one of the main organizers of the Branch Carnival this year. He is also a Patrol Captain and jet ski operator. He manages the Club bar, which is virtually a full time job in itself. He also finds time to be a member of the "Pinkies" surf boat team who won state gold last year and recently represented Australia and NSW. Nick also liaises as club representative at Branch for our surf boat division.
You will find him in the gym at 5:00am at least 3 times a week, and training in the boat most other mornings. He is also a talented member of the IRB racing team. He has 63 SLS awards. When he finds time to do his work as an electrician, I don't know, yet he will always be there if there is a job to be done. Nick is an exemplary club member who deservedly won the President's award last year. Nick is a role model to not only the junior Club, but to all of our members. Thank you Nick for all your hard work and dedication.
Richard Cole
President Avalon Beach SLSC
NB: since Richard wrote the above the Pinkies have won the Under 23 Surf Boat World Championships.
Nick Sampson - photo by Richard Cole
Transforming Everyday Australian's Into Lifesavers
By Surf Life Saving NSWWe offer public first aid certification and CPR courses all over NSW that will empower you with vital lifesaving skills. You could help save the life of someone close to you one day. Whether you’re looking for individual training, for a family member, a community group or your entire office, we can provide the right training solution for you. You can book online a course near you or if you would rather speak directly with someone, give us a call through our public training hotline on 1300 766 257.
All training provided is Nationally recognised (RTO ID: 90394) and WorkCover Approved.
*Discounted rates available for active Surf Club members - please contact the Academy Business Officer - Public Courses directly on 02 9471 8099.
News From The Nesting Box May 2017: THEY’RE BACK!
Right on cue the Feathertail Gliders have been sighted on Rocky Point. For the third year in a row the Gliders have appeared in Autumn to check out suitable nesting boxes for the winter.
This time they’ve come slightly earlier - April instead of the May. In past years they have hung around until September or October so it will be interesting to see if the same rough seasonal pattern holds true this year.
That means it’s definitely time to clean out the boxes, get rid of the ants, dislodge those spiders and put some inviting fresh bark scrapings, or scrunched up leaf material, or the soft inner bristles of the banksia flower, to provide a suitable bed for our smaller marsupials for these cold winter months.
Hazel Sullivan’s Box 26 gets our first recorded Autumn visitor
In fact local polymath, Alan Yuille, tells us that it is likely to be the lower over-night temperature that drives them down from the escarpment at this time despite the plentiful nectar up there throughout winter.
And it’s not just the Feathertail Gliders in search of a warm bed by the coast. Mel Broughton reports her first sighting this year of a Pygmy Possum nest. This nesting box has been a favourite wintering hole over the last 2 years. Part of the attraction may be that the box is attached to a NSW Christmas Bush, which is also the nest material. Obviously the Pygmy Possums are time and motion students.
Mel Broughton’s Nesting Box - Photographer Mel Broughton
CAMERA SCHEDULE
Jude James reports that the schedule seems to be purring along and that the new box numbers have already proved their worth. However be warned. Now that boxes are becoming active we may need to reschedule your camera time so that we can keep a camera on an active box.
SUGAR GLIDER SQUAD
As Project members will recall, we do have 3 nesting boxes up on the escarpment under the eagle eyes of our Sugar Glider Squad. One of the reasons for putting the boxes up there was to try to confirm that our small marsupials were choosing to live up there over summer and not just in another Bay.
In December Sugar Glider Squad member Ruby Cummings spotted something in one of the boxes and managed to take the photo below. A positive I.D. has proved illusive, but our best guess is a Pygmy Possum. (When I say ‘our best guess’ I mean of course Ecologist and Project Mentor Alf Britton)
December visitor in the Sugar Glider Squad Nesting Box - Photographer Ruby Cummings
The Squad subsequently trained a camera on the box in use. Sadly, this camera was stolen 2 weeks ago. It’s a short sharp lesson to us all that despite our best efforts at camouflage, nowhere is free from small opportunistic crimes, not even on these isolated shores.
NOCTURNAL HOUSE VISIT
On a brighter note the Sugar Glider Squad visited Taronga Zoo’s Nocturnal House last week. Despite the low light Photographer Monique Stidwill recorded the visit.
Top L to R: Ruby Hamish Ethan. Bottom L to R: Mali & Luke
Pandy, the Black Footed Tree Rat from Queensland was up to his old tricks
Ruby, Ethan, Pandy & Luke
His peanut obsession, if anything, has got worse.
Hamish, Pandy & Ethan Pandy & Ruby
Luke and Hamish got up close and personal with a Feathertailed Glider
The visit was under the auspices of Taronga Zoo Senior Keeper the wonderful Wendy Gleen. Her knowledge and affection for all the mammals in the Nocturnal House felt like world’s best practice as did her rapport with the Squad. Our Sugar Glider Squad activities regularly feature in Wendy’s talks to school groups as she spells out some of the possibilities for those kids who wish to learn more about their natural surroundings.
It made us all feel very proud of our team.
Avalon Surfing Mums and Leanne Austin
Avalon Beach SLSC And Avalon Surfing Mums Biggest Morning Tea
Avalon Surfing Mums & Avalon Beach SLSC combined Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser for the Cancer Council was held last Sunday at the ABSLSC’s Club Lounge raising over $1600 for the cancer council.The theme “bring a teacup with a story” designed to minimise waste and washing up was a big hit with many attendees bringing treasured teacups from their childhood and sharing their stories with the organisers and each other. Carmen Meehan, a volunteer at ABSLSC was delighted to see the Surf Club using her mother’s tea cups donated many years ago as a backup for those who forgot to bring their own.
Carmen Meehan
Gabrielle Griffiths teacup story
Local residents, Jen Beck and daughter Ally as well as the Ma Family bought treasured teacups from their own childhood for their daughters to enjoy. Gabrielle Griffiths teacup was part of a set won in a 1970’s Irish dancing competition which had been posted by its owner to her four friends located all over Australia.
Jen, Ally Beck & Friend
Ally Beck
The Ma Family
The weather was superb and visitors were treated to a beautifully styled event space courtesy of Copper Beech and the Faux Flower Company and enjoyed treats generously provided by Woolworths Avalon, The Boathouse Group, The Avalon on the Beach and DiLicious Cupcakes as well as an array of home baked goodies from the Avalon Surfing Mums.
The raffle was a big hit and contributed greatly to the fundraising with wonderful prizes being donated by local Avalon businesses such as Annie Kurtz - The Body Shop at Home, Beach General, Blatchfords Kitchen, Classic Coffee, ecodownunder Avalon Beach, Health Space, Mark Collis Art, Maweda Jewellery, Rust and Surfing World Magazine.
ABSLSC and Avalon Surfing Mums would like to thank the local community for all of your support and hope to see you again next year.
Donations still welcomed. If you would like to make a donation to the Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea please follow the link: https://secure.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?EventID=48847&RegistrationID=1079342
First Day Of Warm Winter Series Act One To Dark Star
6 May 2017
Event: MC38 Winter Series Act 1, 6-7 May, 2017 on Pittwater hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Two wins apiece in light and fluky winds on Pittwater has the host club’s Dark Star leading Neville Crichton’s Maserati by a point on overall scores after day one of the MC38 Winter Series.
A harsh autumn sun and 24 degree day juxtaposed the series’ name for the opening event of a four-part winter pointscore running from May to September between yacht clubs on Sydney Harbour and Pittwater.
Dark Star’s owner John Bacon and his long-time tactician Cameron Miles know Pittwater as well as is possible, given the topography of the narrow waterway with hills both sides and Scotland Island acting as a sizable wind barrier. This knowledge plus finding high gear meant Pittwater treated them well.
“It was nice to be back on our home waters though it was fully tricky and you had to be really patient,” Bacon said. “We got really aggressive with changing gears and upped the work rate, and it really paid off. I thought we’d be rusty after missing last regatta but the teamwork came together, we picked the right sails and the boat was going fast. It was one of those days everything lined up.”
Sydney Harbour blow-ins Maserati (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia/Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) and Ginger (CYCA) have had their successes on Pittwater and Maserati came to this regatta as the most recent class victor, at the MHYC Autumn Regatta three weekends ago when Chris Way drove.
This time Crichton, who had another engagement, handed the helm to Farr 40 owner/skipper Martin Hill.
Maserati (foreground) & Vino upwind - photo by Bob Fowler
Maserati’s tactician Joe Turner said with some sarcasm, “Lovely Pittwater in winter... actually it wasn’t too bad and a couple of things went our way. Changing helms is ok; us six guys have been together for a year and we are starting to gel. Martin is an excellent helm and slots in perfectly with the team.
“Neville has a lot going on outside sailing but he’s planning a full tilt starting with the August series; he’s excited to come racing again,” Turner assured.
Debriefing on today’s efforts Turner said his crewmates gave him plenty of stick for a couple of their starts. “I have a suntan inside and out after being burnt by the crew for some bad tactical decisions. I’m all emotional,” he joked.
Four points off second is Leslie Green’s Ginger followed by Steve Barlow’s Lightspeed and Chris Hancock’s Vino.
Set up between the eastern side of the island and Newport, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s team of race officials managed four races on a “tough old day” described race officer Steve Merrington. The breeze started out in the NW then went to due north and back to NW, 5-10kts with the odd 12 knot puff.
Racing recommences for the one design fleet at 1000hrs on Sunday May 7.
For the June 17-18 regatta the fleet will welcome new owner Chris Way and Easy Tiger, formerly Menace.
By Lisa Ratcliff
Newport Surf Life Saving Club
Well done to our IRB racing team this weekend making 6 finals including the 35+ tube, U23 tube, U23 teams, Rookie mass rescue, U23 rescue and Rookie rescue. Thank you to all of their supporters who helped with set up and moving boats in and out of the alleys.
Looking forward to the next round in Mollymook on the 20th May.
More local IRB Teams Results:
35+ Mixed Teams IRB Final
4th Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Peter Carter, Richard Cole, Zachary Dale, Jason Dale, Melissa Hall, Alan Mahn
45 + Mixed Rescue IRB
5th Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Richard Cole, Melissa Hall, Alan Mahn
35+ Mixed Mass IRB
6th Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Peter Carter, Zachary Dale, Jason Dale, Melissa Hall
45 + Mixed Mass IRB
8th Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Richard Cole, Zachary Dale, Melissa Hall, Alan Mahn
Rookie Mixed Mass IRB
2nd Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Todd Barber, Zachary Dale, Alan Mahn, Alan Moran, Alan (M)
3rd Newport SLSC Tall and Lanky
Lauren Budd, Nickolas Singh, Guyren Smith, Liam Taurins
Rookie Mixed Rescue IRB
2nd Bungan Beach SLSC Inc Bait Boy
Joshua Bryden, Amber Clark, Aidan Clark
3rd Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Todd Barber, Zachary Dale, Melissa Hall
Also in Grand Final Newport SLSC Tall and Lanky
Lauren Budd, Nickolas Singh, Guyren Smith, Liam Taurins
Under 23 Mixed Teams IRB
2nd Avalon Beach SLSC Team A
Peter Ashcroft, Todd Barber, Amelia Barber, Matthew Mayall, Scott Poole, Nicholas Sampson
3rd Bungan Beach SLSC Inc Flying Bunghole
Isabella Ball, Joshua Bryden, Amber Clark, Aidan Clark, Matthew Crago, Callum Montgomerie
5th Newport SLSC Team A
Naomi Bronier, Melissa Cooper, Tara Doyle, Nathan Doyle, Keelan Smith, Liam Taurins
Under 23 Mixed Tube IRB
3rd Bungan Beach SLSC Inc Mad Huey
Amber Clark, Aidan Clark, Matthew Crago
5th Newport SLSC Mail Naleek
Nickolas Singh, Keelan Smith, Liam Taurins
Avalon Beach SLSC Roudn 1 IRB 2017 - photo courtesy Richard Cole
NSW Lifesavers Announced In Australian Squad
Wednesday 3 May 2017 – by Surf Life Saving NSWA total of 16 NSW athletes including an Olympian and five Nutri-Grain Final Series stars have been selected in the Australian Life Saving Team Squad and will have the chance to compete at the 2018 Lifesaving World Championships in Adelaide.
With 562 days till the 2018 Lifesaving World Championships commence, the selected 47 athletes from around the country will be taking no time off over the winter months to make sure they have the best possible chance to be chosen to race in the green and gold.
Coming off outstanding performances at last year’s Lifesaving World Championships in The Netherlands, nine of the 12 NSW athletes have been chosen in the squad including veteran Tim Schofield (Terrigal), Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Georgia Miller (Newport), Bradley Woodward (Shelly Beach) and Jake Lynch (Newport).
The 2016 Youth Captain Jemma Smith (Umina) as well as Lizzie Welborn (North Bondi), Rachel Wood (Umina) and Ethan Garland (North Cronulla) will be fighting for a spot in the Opens this time around.
NSW Open Champions Newport SLSC have the strongest contingent with five athletes named, including NSW Interstate Captain and ski specialist Hannah Minogue and Australian and NSW Open Flags titleholder Blake Drysdale.
Jake Lynch - Newport
Manly’s Kendrick Louis will be hopeful of representing his country after a stellar season for his new club, thanks to wins in the NSW Open Iron and impressive performances in the Summer of Surf Series.
Rio Olympian Riley Fitzsimmons (Avoca Beach) will be out to cement his position as the best male ski paddler in the country against close rival Mitchell Trim (Newport).
While Ngaire Hadfield (Cronulla) who has form behind her after claiming gold in the Australian U19 Flags will be racing against Queensland’s finest sprinters for the chance to represent her country.
The team will be led by Head Coach Kurt Wilson (Currumbin) with KNG Ironman Champion Shannon Eckstein (BMD Northcliffe), Andrew Bowden (Bronte) and Martin Lynch (Newport) as Assistant Coaches, while Umina’s Garry Mensforth will be Team Manager.
Glenelg Beach will be hosting the surf and beach events while the pool rescue competition will be held at the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre.
Australian Youth Life Saving Team squad (ocean & beach) will be announced next week with youth pool athletes announced after the Australian Pool Rescue Championships in August.
The 2018 Lifesaving World Championships are being held in Adelaide, South Australia from 17 November to 2 December with the final team of 12 to be announced in early 2018.
Australian Life Saving Team Squad (NSW Athletes):
• Riley Fitzsimmons - Avoca Beach
• Keelan Bridge - Bronte
• Ngaire Hadfield - Cronulla
• Kendrick Louis - Manly
• Blake Drysdale - Newport
• Jake Lynch - Newport
• Georgia Miller - Newport
• Hannah Minogue - Newport
• Mitchell Trim - Newport
• Lizzie Welborn - North Bondi
• Ethan Garland - North Cronulla
• Daniel Collins - Redhead
• Brad Woodward - Shelly Beach
• Tim Schofield - Terrigal
• Jemma Smith - Umina
• Rachel Wood - Umina
Team Management:
Coach – Kurt Wilson (Currumbin)
Assistant Coach – Shannon Eckstein (BMD Northcliffe)
Assistant Coach – Martin Lynch (Newport)
Assistant Coach – Andrew Bowden (Bronte)
Team Manager – Garry Mensforth (Umina)
The inaugural Lifeline Classic held last weekend is a clear indication our community wants to turn the tide on losing loved ones to suicide and ensure services are in place to assist those afflicted with depression. Supporting those who can provide what is needed anytime it is needed is one step in the right direction.
As it costs Lifeline $27.96 for every call responded to, every dollar raised at the first ever Lifeline Classic will help save lives.
Lifeline Northern Beaches CEO David Thomas said the organisation was more than happy to raise over $50,000 in the inaugural Lifeline Classic at Dee Why Beach on Sunday. $51,855.19 has been donated so far.
“It was a bit out of the box for Lifeline to do a surfing event, but we got the surf and the weather,” he said.
Mr Thomas said suicide is our national emergency. “When you look at the statistics, the biggest killer of 15 - 44 year olds is suicide. It’s a crisis and the peninsula is no different - our community has felt the devastating effects of this far too often.”
“So that’s close to 2,000 calls to crisis counsellors we will be able to fund from this event. That’s 2,000 cries for help, potentially 2,000 lives that can be saved with those calls,” he said.
Mr. Thomas said that Lifeline as an organisation has struggled to get to a younger demographic. “A lot of people in my middle-age group know about the 13 11 14 crisis hotline but they don’t know about our counselling services or the other services we offer.
“Huge thanks to all the pros, all the fundraising teams and everyone who supported this event, plus Steve Harrison from Global Surftag and Jo Lynas from Lynas Events who put it all together. Hopefully it will build that trust and confidence, and also that brand identity, with the younger demographic. If they do have a crisis somewhere along the line, they’ll know that Lifeline is there and that there are services available to help them,” he said.
The Living Ocean team (Hunter Roberts, Sam Partington, Van and Arch Whiteman and pro surfer Fraser Dovell) won the fundraising with more than $7,000. They were inspired to get involved by Claudia Newman.
“Depression and mental health issues have been a big part of my life personally, and a few of my friends have passed away, so I’ve been looking for something to do about it for a very long time,” Claudia said. “With the Lifeline Classic, we got an opportunity to make a difference and include all the youth in it. So I involved my family and Living Ocean, which was co-founded by my parents, Carol and Robbi and their friends, and the response was absolutely incredible.
“We need the youth to understand that there are people to call if you don’t want to talk to your family or friends. If you’re not ready for that kind of communication yet, you can call up Lifeline on 13 11 14 and there will be someone there 24 hours a day who can help you with any problem you are having, just so you know that in no way, shape or form are you alone.”
Living Ocean won the fundraising and will give more than $7,000 to Lifeline
Photo courtesy Bernadette Johnson McAlinden
Fourteen teams fundraised, with 13 competing on the day.
Although the focus is clearly on winning something else here, the Manly Surf School team (Cooper Chapman, Shane Conwell, Harley Ross, Darcy Crump and Tas Grainger) won the final from Salty Roosters, White Horses and North Steyne. Sharing fifth place were Living Ocean and Swellnet, while equal seventh were Surfing Mums and Adrenalin Wetsuits. The other fundraising teams, Saltwater Hope, Avalon Beach SLSC, The Rebels, Redback Surfware, Hot Grommet and The Surfing Lawyers, all added to what can be done through Lifeline Northern Beaches.
Narrabeen resident Bill Fitzgerald is one of those legends among us you may not hear much about nor have seen too much of, simply because he has worked in one of the Royal Australian Navy's vital branches, that of Navy Clearance Divers that in itself can often be far from sight - or underwater, literally, as that's what they do - get things done, underwater.
In December 2016 Bill and members of his former teams attended the service for the late Commodore Graham Sloper RAN (Rtd.) and spoke, not only of their respect and admiration for the gentleman who steered the Avalon Tattoo for 10 years but also mentioned their long association with Pittwater;
"Bill started the Diving Training at Clareville, at the RAN's Pittwater Annex." one gentleman explained.
As further tribute, and as a testament to the esteem Bill is held in, The Clearance Divers Association attended and Marched in this year's Anzac Day Service by Avalon Beach RSL and Sub-Branch, led by Russell Baker AM, President of the NSW Branch of the RAN Clearance Diving Association, and Vice President of the national association. Mr. Baker retired in 2007 as a Commodore in the Navy, and originally qualified as a Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer in 1978.
Clearance Divers (CDs) are the Australian Defence Forces' specialist divers. Their tasks include specialist diving missions to depths of 54 metres, surface and underwater demolitions, and the rendering safe and disposal of conventional explosive ordnance and improvised explosive devices.
Although diving in the RAN dates back to the 1920s when personnel were trained in the use of 'standard' diving equipment, the concept of a separate and dedicated diving branch of the Navy evolved slowly. The Clearance Diving Branch of the Royal Australian Navy was formed in 1951 with the primary role of "location. identification and disposal of Mines underwater". It's secondary role included "underwater maintenance, training of the Fleet in ship defence against saboteurs, beach reconnaissance and minor salvage". [1.]
CPOCD William (Bill) Fitzgerald, OAM (Rtd) completed the first of the RAN's intensive Clearance Diving training programmes in 1955.
The CD's are also called in for getting the job done in civilian arenas - the Lake Eucambene dam is one excellent example; in 1961, the Snowy Mountains Authority had a major problem in the Lake Eucumbene Dam. A leak had developed in a temporary sealing device at the entrance to the Lake diversion tunnel and the only practical method of checking the trouble was by diver inspection.
This job was in 260 feet and although the RAN CDs had only worked regularly to depths around 100 feet, these were the only divers capable of the attempt to solve the problem. A team from HMAS Rushcutter, under the direction of Leut Titcombe, and only after the procurement of special equipment and a short deep diving workup, went to work. That work was protracted and done in freezing conditions. To remove twenty 3½ ton racks from the side of the 230 foot intake tower and twenty eight 5 ton ‘stop logs’ sealing the tunnel inside the tower was a major evolution for men working in a completely new depth environment with new equipment.
Their perseverance, even when faced with nitrogen narcosis and decompression stoppages (which lasted up to 1½ hours for a 15 minute task time) was nothing short of heroic.
Bill is allowing us to share an insight into his long and brilliant career of Service as his record belongs among our own - he is one of our own.
William Terence Fitzgerald entered the RAN the 30th of May, 1946, and was posted to HMAS Cerberus before he volunteered for the three week long, RMS (Render Mines Safe) Course, held at HMAS Penguin, in Sydney. In September 1947 he was posted to the HMAS Tarangau, headquarters of the Papua-Nlew Guinea Division of the Royal Australian Navy.
Bill spent 12 months in New Guinea extending his knowledge from WWII Bomb Disposal experts while working on the demolition of American bombs, and Japanese and British mines and other ordnance left behind in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In September 1948 he returned to Australia.
When were you first stationed at Clareville (The Pittwater Annex)?
My first month in Clareville was in October 1948. I was testing and maintaining torpedoes and trialling them in Pittwater to the 3000 yard target.
Commonwealth Navy Order 287 (1947)
R.A.N. TORPEDO RANGE, PITTWATER, N.S.W.
The R.A.N. Torpedo Range is situated in Broken Bay, N.S.W., the firing point being on Taylor's Point, Pittwater, and the range extending from there in a northerly direction.
2. Transport of torpedoes is normally carried out by road from the R.A.N. Torpedo Factory, a distance of 22 miles, as no vessel with a draught greater than 12 ft. 6 in. can enter Pittwater. 3. The following firing guns are fitted:—
1—No. 21-in. above water firing tube.
2—No. 18-in. tubes.
1—No. 21-in. submerged firing tube.
There is also a launching cradle for use in running torpedoes not otherwise catered for.
Left: Recovered Torpedo at RAN Torpedo Range, Pittwater, 1949, courtesy Robert Curran.
4. The Torpedo Range workshop is capable of carrying out complete overhauls on all torpedoes.
5. Applications for torpedoes to be ranged should be made by signal to Admiral Superintendent, Sydney, repeated for information to Superintendent, R.A.N. Torpedo Factory.
6. Transport of torpedoes from the ship's side to the range and return will be arranged by the Superintendent, R.A.N. Torpedo Factory.
The Torpedo wharf soon became part of the local landscape, a landmark:
Pittwater: Good catches of mulloway have been made at the torpedo wharf and bream on the flats at Careel Bay. FISHING AND WHERE. (1949, December 4). The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), p. 14 Section: Sporting Section. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28667213
Taylor's Point and Torpedo Testing- Divers Training Annex in 1960's - photo courtesy Gary Cook.
You then moved over to Clearance Diving, how did that occur?
During our training the Torpedo Branch was responsible for Mining, Rendering Mines safe, Demolitions, as well as bomb and Mine disposal. So this was part of my trade to begin with.
In 1955 there was a requirement for the first Clearance Divers to be called up into the Navy. Of 90 volunteers 21 were accepted and 13 of these passed the Course. I was on that Course and subsequently one of the first Clearance Divers for the R.A.N.
Now, I was already an Instructor at the Torpedo School, in Mining, Demolition, and Rendering Mines Safe. After my experiences up in New Guinea for a year, pre 1948, with the disposal of enemy ordnance as well as American and British ordnance, post WWII, I was considered worthy to be accepted for the Course, even though I was overage – I was over 25 years of age at that time. They wanted people under 25 years of age, of high intelligence, fit and healthy, with a ‘can do’ attitude, can do the impossible in other words, even if that does take a little bit longer.
Palm Beach Whale Beach Association AGM President’s Report 2017
President Richard West's report to the AGM. It is a pleasure to deliver my second annual report.
On 12 May 2016 a few days after our last AGM the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole, announced the newly formed 'Northern Beaches' Council. This is the result of the compulsory amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils.
Mr Dick Persson AM was appointed the Administrator to administer the council until new elections take place on the 9th September 2017.
The Pittwater Councillors were sacked. A number of the Councillors were appointed in an advisory role to the administrator.
Soon after his appointment Dick Persson and the member for Pittwater, the Hon. Rob Stokes, met with members of your committee at Pittwater Park Palm Beach. At the meeting it was recognised that various facilities at Palm Beach and Whale Beach needed to be upgraded as they had been neglected over many years
The major issues to be addressed were identified as:
1.Traffic congestion and parking, in Pittwater Park especially at weekends and holiday periods.
2. Lack of access and footpaths along Barrenjoey Rd, particularly from Pittwater Park to Governor Phillip Park.
3. Landscaping, repairs and maintenance at Palm Beach
We have also worked closely with the Northern Beaches Council on the following projects.
1.The Walk Way from The Ferry Wharf to Governor Phillip Park.
The good news is that this much needed project is to go out to tender in this month. It is hoped that it will be finished before the next summer season.
2. Council Demand Parking Study Pittwater Park Palm Beach.
Pittwater Park is crown land. The park is managed by the council. The challenge has been to manage the needs of the local residents, the offshore residents, the visitors and tourists who use the offshore facilities and the commuters from the Gosford area.
The parking area has become a long term parking space during holiday periods and weekends.
The council, following a number of consultation sessions, has produced a Draft Policy Document. "Parking Demand Strategies."
The number one strategy is to prioritise the parking needs of local businesses with an increased provision of high turnover parking spaces.
The association submitted a very detailed document which is available on our website. I wish to thank our committee member, Virgina Christensen, for all the hard work involved in the preparation of this excellent document. We have met with the council officials regarding the draft document. The policy also incorporates upgrades to signage and facilities in the park.
The Council has incorporated the majority of suggestions we made in our submission. The council's draft document will soon be released for further consultation with the community.
I urge you all to study the document and have your say.
This is only the beginning of solving the parking problems. I think a review of the parking and congestion north of the Avalon Bends needs to be commissioned.
3. The 40 Kilometre Zone on Barrenjoey Rd opposite Pittwater Park.
This zone is now in force with general upgrades to the road. There are approx five speed changes from Club Palm Beach to Palm Beach. We have asked for this 40 k to be uniform from Club Palm Beach to Palm Beach. The Main Roads has been approached regarding reviewing these speed limits.
4.The Walk Way from Pittwater Park to Governor Philip Park.
Your association is delighted that at long last the walkway has been approved and financed by the Coastal Walk Project.
The project is due to go to tender this month and it is hoped that it will be completed before the next summer.
5. Barrenjoey Lighthouse
Our local member, Rob Stokes, has stopped the move to have short-term accommodation in the caretaker’s cottages at the Lighthouse following protests from the local community.
The project to install water supply and sewage to the light house is expected to be completed by midyear.
6.Landscaping Palm Beach
The committee has met on a number of occasions with Jenny Cronan and her landscaping team from the council. The approach is minimal and sympathetic so far.. the plans are progressing well. There will be another public consultation display shortly.
7.Whale Beach.
There have recently been some road upgrades in Whale Beach.
The beach itself needs routine maintenance and we are in discussion with council in regard to this.
The sand has been removed from Whale Beach ocean pool and a new pump has been ordered.
The much delayed Bicentenary walkway from Whale Beach to Palm Beach needs to be completed.
8.The Heritage Bus Shed.
The heritage bus shed on Barrenjoey Road opposite Surf Road was demolished by the council many years ago. We have had several meetings with the council about restoring and rebuilding the Bus Shed.
Our architect Bruce James in conjunction with the council has completed some heritage style plans.
We are waiting further developments.
Access to this bus stop especially from the north is difficult and dangerous.
It is not possible to walk safely from Avalon to Palm Beach along Barrenjoey Road. We will be addressing this issue in the future.
9. Pittwater Forever
Pittwater Forever is an umbrella group of 18 community organisations including PBWBA. Ian Kennedy and I are members of the executive.
The Northern Beaches Council will include the following 5 wards of 3 councillors
• Manly Ward
• Frenchs Forest Ward
• Curl Curl Ward
• Narrabeen Ward
• Pittwater Ward
Pittwater will be in the minority.
On the last weekend of April Shark nets that have helped to protect beaches in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong were pulled up to coincide with the start of the whale migration season and ensuring these magnificent gentle giants will not be entangled in them. There have been calls this week to an early end for the North Coast Shark Net Trial but as yet the NSW DPI's Minister, The Hon. Niall Blair, in a media release earlier this week, has stated the six month trial will continue until June 13th.
Download the Wild About Whales App
As in past years some of these whales will come closer to our shores and may even visit the bays of our beaches. Approach zone rules are in place to look after the whales as much as yourself. These are:
If you’re in the water – swimming, diving or just enjoying the water on your own or with friends and you spot a whale, then you must stay at least 30m from the whale in any direction. You must also not wait in front of the whale/s, or approach from behind.
If you’re on the water – if you’re on a powered or non-powered water vessel such as a boat, surfboard, surf ski or kayak, then you need to maintain a distance of at least 100m from the whale/s, and 300m if a calf is present.
For all water vessels, a distance of between 100m and 300m is established as the ‘caution zone’. In this zone, vessels must travel at a constant slow speed and leave a negligible wake. It’s also important to assess the direction that the whales are traveling in, and then plan the best course of action.
If using a ‘prohibited vessel’ (that is, a vessel that can make fast and erratic movements and not much noise under water such as a jet ski or parasail boat) then the distance increases to at least 300m from the whale/s.
There is also to be no waiting in front of the whale/s, or approaching from behind.
The NSW Government's Wild About Whales have issued their first blog post for the Whale Watchers season on Friday, May 12th which is all about
"The Baleen Routine: A beginner's guide to whale watching", and includes tips about:
When to go - Depending on the time of year, whale populations fluctuate within the different regions of NSW. Whales meet their need for food and suitable calving areas by traveling long distances from cold feeding areas, to warm, shallower waters further north for calving and mating. Between the months of May and July whales are easier to spot north of Illawarra, when they undertake their migration northward from Antarctica. Likewise, September to November sees the whales return with calves in tow closer to the shore on their southern migration to the Antarctic.
The Best time of day to see whales - Late mornings and early afternoons present themselves as the best time to spot the whales as to avoid glare off the waters surface. Early morning can also be good as the blow is often backlit by the morning sun’s glow. However, the migrating whales are travelling past constantly, so you just might see them at any time.
Where to go - There are a number of great places along the NSW coastline to visit to spot whales stretching from the south to north coasts of New South Wales. The national parks in each of these regions are a great place to start planning your next coastal adventure.
Where to stay if you're going away - There are a variety of accommodation options right up and down the New South Wales coast. With over 860 national parks and reserves in NSW, many of which provide excellent viewing opportunities. From Byron Bay's Lighthouse Keeper's Cottages to the secluded campsites of Eden and it’s surrounds, your options are fairly limitless - NPWS also offer regular off-holiday season packages for some of these places as well - so well worth making something memorable even more memorable by selecting one of these beautiful locations.
What to take with you - Warm clothes and a blanket, Chairs to sit on, Hat and sunscreen, Thermos with a hot drink or soup, Drinking water and food,Binoculars and sunglasses, Camera, (with a telephoto lens if you have one), Wild About Whales app on your phone - Patience!
How to spot a whale - Look for the telltale ‘blow’ – the water sprayed into the air as the whale exhales when it comes to the surface.
Head out on a clear day as the blow is best spotted in calm seas.
what a whale 'blow' looks like
You can sometimes identify the whales species due to its blow. For example sperm whales spray the water forward and to the left, while southern right whales blow in a distinctive V shape.
Look for the whale’s body as it surfaces. Humpbacks and southern right whales often put on spectacular displays as they arch, roll and crash around the water. This is called breaching and is your best chance to identify the species.
Visit Wild About Whales full list of tips and guidelines for more.
Download the Wild About Whales AppThis is great - so many people utilise this service now so that even if you're stuck in an office you can see where people are spotting whales along our coast.
What you can do with the WAW App:
- Publish your sightings in real-time
- Plan and book your coastal adventure
- See where the whales are right now, in map and list views
- Receive notifications when whale sightings are logged along the coast
- Filter sightings by timeframe and region so you can focus on the sightings you are interested in
- See how the season progresses with the whale sightings counter
- Share your own whale shots on the gallery
- Learn about different whale species
- See tips for spotting them and the best vantage points.
You can download the free Wild About Whales app at the Apple Store or Google Marketplace or search "Whales NSW" in your preferred mobile app store.
Report distressed whales
If you see a stranded, entangled or sick whale in distress, please report it immediately to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Duty Officer on (02) 9895 7128 or ORRCA Whale and Dolphin Rescue on (02) 9415 3333 (24 hours hotline).
About Wild About Whales
Wild About Whales aims to inform and educate about whales, as well as provide you with opportunities to engage with these amazing animals. You can also become a volunteer, donate to whale-related conservation projects or go on a Discovery tour to learn more about whales.
Wild About Whales is a campaign website run by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which is part of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).
NPWS was established in 1967 to administer a fledgling system of national parks and has since expanded to manage and conserve almost 800 parks and reserves – more than 6.6 million hectares – including rainforests, beaches, alpine areas, vast wilderness areas, marine parks and places of cultural and historic significance.
ORRCA Humpback Whale Migration Census Day 2017
Hosted by ORRCA
Sunday, June 25 at 5 AM - 6 PM
Members and Friends, this is your Invitation to;
The 2017 ORRCA Humpback Whale Migration Census
It’s a great day out. Simply pick your favourite headland and call or email the hotline to register your location so we know where you will be. Make sure you print off some marine mammal sighting log sheets from our website.
Then on the day, pack a picnic and your supplies; Binoculars, camera, a pen/pencil for recording details, a chair/rug to sit on, warm waterproof clothes and off you go and enjoy the sights that unfold in this great whale migration. Remember to record your sightings!
Finally, at the end of the day, please report your findings back into the ORRCA hotline (02 9415 3333) and post/email your log sheets intoorrca@orrca.org.au
Fantasea Palm Beach Ferry offers a Whale Watching adventure from Palm Beach Ferry wharf during the northern migration and again when the whales are heading back south.
Calling their 3 hour cruise "Pittwater’s best wildlife adventure" this short run of dates are all on a Sunday, so great for a whole family experience and with the family in mind they offer a Family package price for 2 adults and 3 children.
Humpback whales are considered to be the best species for whale watching, and known to be the most acrobatic of all the whale species. Each whale has unique markings on the underside of the tail (the fluke). You might even be lucky enough to observe 45 tonnes of whale leaping right out of the water!
Their cruise includes an experienced marine biologist on board, giving expert explanations about the whales and their behaviour, crew who are knowledgeable about our area and can explain the history and wildlife of our area. Plenty of room for viewing – we limit our capacity so everyone gets front row views to the whale show.
Cruise Schedule
Cruise Dates
Northern Migration 25th June / 2nd July / 9th July / 16th July
Southern Migration 1st October / 8th October / 15th October
Departure Location Palm Beach Wharf (08:45 a.m.) Ettalong Wharf (09:15 a.m.)
Find out more at: https://www.fantasea.com.au/palmbeachferries-whale-watching/
Australian native wildlfowers (bushflowers) bloom all year round, meaning you will always spot something brilliantly coloured in strolls along the many bushtracks and in the reserves of Pittwater, and hear and see the birds and native animals that feast on these.Those shown on this page were taken by Marita Macrae of the Pittwater Natural Heritage Association in early May 2017 while enjoying a few hours on the Chiltern Track in Ku-ring-gai National Park, Ingleside.
The Pittwater Natural Heritage Association was formed to act to protect and preserve the Pittwater areas major and most valuable asset – its natural heritage.
The Association holds regular bushcare sessions along Careel Creek, to restore the creekline, and at Careel Bay to restore the wetlands.
PNHA has been among the volunteers working for and advocating for Saving Grevillea Caleyi at Ingleside.
PNHA is an incorporated association seeking broad based community membership and support to enable it to have an effective and authoritative voice speaking out for the preservation of Pittwater’s natural heritage. Please contact us for further information.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to benefit Pittwater’s natural environment go to the Pittwater Environmental Foundation:www.pittwaterenvironmentalfoundation.org.au
To join o find out more about PNHA, please visit:pnha.org.au
Right: Yellow-faced honeyeater - photo © Neil Fifer
PNHA conducts regular Birdwatching mornings along the tracks of Ingleside and through the Warriewood Wetlands - the next is coming u on Sunday, May 28th:
PNHA Birdwatching
Sunday 28 May, 8am Warriewood Wetlands
Our next bird walk takes us back to Warriewood Wetlands, one of Sydney’s birding hotspots with over 160 species recorded.
Come along and see how many we can find.
Meet: 8am, Katoa Close, North Narrabeen
Bring: Binoculars, water, insect repellent and morning tea for after, if you have time.
Bookings: Not essential, but we will look out for you if you email pnhabirdwatching@gmail.com
This Issue a great way to celebrate all mothers is to offer a whole posy of resident plants from the original mother - our Earth.
Banksia ericifolia x B. spinulosa 'Giant Candles'
Pimelia linifolia, known as queen-of-the-bush and the slender or flax-leafed riceflower
Sunshine Wattle, Acacia terminalis, but past its best. This wattle flowers twice a year.
Hakea propinqua, hundreds of flowers, nobbly woody seed capsules
Darwinia fascicularis changes colour pink - white as flowers age.
Narrabeen Art From 1876/1877 Engraving Used To Illustrate An Article - Note Spelling: 'Narrabean'
SCENE ON NARRABEAN LAGOON.
Narrabean And Mona Vale.
THERE are few spots about Sydney more picturesque and interesting than Narrabean and Mona Vale, Pitt Water, and the wonder is that more visitors from the noisy and dusty metropolis do not find their way to these peaceful sylvan scenes, to rusticate and recruit their flagging energies. Fish abound in the lagoon, and at the present season there is no lack of game in the underbrush near the shore, and the ridges that extend towards the higher country at the back. In addition to this, the character of the whole place is different from anything that is met with in any other part of the metropolitan districts ; and as the eye takes in the prospect afforded, particularly at Narrabeen, one who knows the history of the locality can hardly help being impressed with the idea that it is a picture full of sad memories and mournful recollections. Right before the visitor, as he stands upon the piece of elevated land overlooking the lagoon, extends a fine stretch of grassy country, almost as level as a race-course Though within a few yards of the ocean, not a rock or sign of such proximity is visible, and the whole reach is protected from the violence of storms by a belt of thick forest which margins the ocean throughout. At the back rugged ridges rise precipitously, and these being clad with foliage to their very crown, add much to the sense of beauty and security, as it were, of the whole place. Hereabout are evidences of a once busy time; but desolation now presents itself on every hand. The houses are in ruins, and the fences dilapidated, and one sees nothing now but what indicates a marvellous chance from the past; remnants of once comfortable homesteads show themselves, and time indeed seems here to have destroyed all that the energy and industry of man once sought to produce or rear up. Turning round, and looking in a north-easterly direction, an enchanting view meets the eye.
Our artist has endeavoured, in the accompanying engraving, to depict some of its beauty. Almost at one's foot the placid waters lie like a mirror, over an area of several miles, till the ridges push in their rugged outlines on either side, and thus intercept the view ; but then, farther on, the eye catches a glimpse of a piece of cultivated country, where, one would think, a man might dwell in peace and quiet all his days. To the right the lagoon extends towards the ocean, from which it is separated by a sandy bar, which, however, allows of overflow one way and the other according to the circumstances of the hour. Cranes and aquatic birds abound, but there is very little sign of human life during the greater part of the year. At certain seasons, however, a few fishermen come to the place for a few weeks' stay, and with the aid of their boat and net are able to make the visit profitable. Our view shows their boat upon the lake, moving silently along as a thing of life.
No more enchanting sight presents itself than this when observed at an early hour- as day breaks, and the gloom disappears, and each headland and bay is lit up, and the whole scene which lies before the eye presents a magnificent panorama of undisturbed nature. Turning again to the ruins, one wonders why such a spot should be I deserted, and the mind is by degrees induced to picture the past, and ask where are those busy hands that first broke in upon this silent scene-that in old times toiled and toiled from day to day beneath the burning sun, to gather about them the comforts of civilisation - all scattered or fallen into disrepair and ruin. Each stone has its history, and the decayed and tottering posts erected by industrious hands tell of the men who have long since passed over to the majority.
But all must be left to the imagination ; there is no one about to reveal the past; nothing seems to live or flourish, save a gigantic cabbage-tree, which rears its head fifty or sixty feet, and, defiant of both time and tempest, looks complacently down on the surrounding scene of desolation. Of late years the place has been in the possession of the Jenkins family, whose members have won for themselves the esteem of all the residents of the district, and whose generous hospitality is spoken of by every one who visits Narrabean. Their homestead is situated a short distance in from the coast, at Long Reef, and its unobtrusive yet comfortable appearance reminds one of an English country home.
The land at Narrabean is not now cultivated; the soil has been worked out long ago, but a few sheep and cattle are frequently depastured there. Wherever one looks in this district, the scenery presents an aspect totally different from what is usually met with on the coast, as here is found a long stretch of land within a stone throw of the ever-rolling ocean, originally of great fertility, but exhausted by long cropping and careless cultivation. It is much the same with the Mona Vale estate, which is situated about three miles on the opposite side of Narrabean, and usually reached by crossing the lagoon in its shallowest part, which is about the centre. As one wends his way along through the bush, and Mona Vale opens out before him, he stands to behold and enjoy the novel view that presents itself ; it is so secluded and quiet, and yet so grand, with the rugged ridges on the one hand, and the turbulent ocean on the other, that it singularly impresses the visitor, who becomes eager to learn its history, and feels sure there must be many pleasant reminiscences to tell of past occupants. What a sad mistake ! What fearful trials and losses and disappointments have been experienced here. Its history should be written in blood, for if ever red-handed crime flourished in any country, it flourished and triumphed here, till it brought ruin and death to honest people ; and justice, outraged beyond bearing, rushed in and brought the delinquents to punishment. The description of these places has already taken up all the space that can be afforded, so we must defer till a future opportunity a brief outline of the leading incidents in their history. Narrabean and Mona Vale. (1877, January 6). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 20. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70598057
in our first page in this series, A Historic Catalogue and Record of Pittwater Art I - The Estuary, the appearance of wild coastal landscapes and then the appearance in these of vessels and structures, of people, marks the shift from sketches and paintings made to be used to recognise places, as charts of kinds, towards recording the inherent beauty of a place for its and art's sake. This shift also marks the changes within our society from times when we strolled, fully clothed, beside the sea, to when frolicking in a wave in broad daylight became legal and the trade of fishermen or shipwrights was properly viewed in its practical and romantic calling to any artist.
This shift also allows us to see what was and what has become of these places - it reaffirms Pittwater's beginnings as a rural idyll of farms and its shift towards being a resort on the perimeter of Sydney and then becoming a place not only affordable for those who pursued the Artist's trek but also provided them with many inspirations.
When people think of Coastal Landscapes they may restrict their definition to grand paintings and etching and photographs of the coast itself, of the cliffs and beaches that meet the sea. Pittwater has many other sides to its coastal landscape nature though - trees embedded in rolling hills not far from the salty air, masted schooners nestled amid placed bays.
As the Australian Artist developed, so did their means of expression, producing not only works that step away from traditional representations of landscape into mediums that included sculpture, wearable art or enamelling, but also the quality of that expression itself, producing trees in different seasons and shades of light so you may dive deep into the blue haze sun on ecucalypt may produce during high Summer or that cold dawn mist that mid-Winter can bring. These all were, and are, part of our Coastal Landscapes.
Some Artists, through the prolific amount of local features they produced in their works, will feature larger in this page. Others may have only onepainting we could find but were influential in what they did and how they did it during these early generations of Pittwater, and Australian, Art. Some of earliest what were then termed 'colonial painters' run in some of the articles that featured them under 'Extras'.
A focus on the many people and their mediums of Pittwater Art will follow this Seacapes and Landscapes insight, including what were deemed 'Artists Colonies' by such people as Sydney Ure Smith, himself an artist, at Narrabeen, Mona Vale, Newport and Avalon, which must of course include such Sculpture Artisans as Harry Squire, whose work still features at Bayview Golf Course:
STATUARY STOLEN. MONA VALE CEMETERY DESECRATED.
A flagrant act of desecration occurred at Mona Vale Cemetery within the past few days, a symbolic statue, the creation of Mr. H. Tristram Squire, having been stolen from the grave of the late Mr. Henry Moncur Atkinson. About four months ago Mr. Atkinson, a resident of Mona Vale, died at the age of 92, and, as he was an ardent bird-lover, his niece, Mrs. O'Reilly, of Pymble, thought it would be appropriate to perpetuate his memory by a drinking vessel for the native birds with which the Mona Vale district abounds. Mr. Squire, who during recent years has specialised in statuary representing birds, animals, and aborigines, was commissioned, and a fort-night ago he placed on the grave a handsome statue of a stork, five feet high, standing over
a large bowl. The latter, which was inscribed with grape leaves, was filled with water for birds to drink from.
Apparently the statuary was only in position a week when the stork disappeared. The bowl was carried a few yards, turned upside down, and smeared with mud, the thieves apparently intending to disguise its beauty pending an opportunity to return for it. One evening at dusk a man was seen from a distance in the cemetery staggering under a heavy load, with which he drove off in a car. This was evidently the stork, which, being constructed of concrete and reinforced with iron; weighed about a hundredweight. The police, who are investigating the robbery, are puzzled as to the motive of the thieves, since the stork is signed with the sculptor's name.
Mr. Squire's work is familiar to tourists who pass along the road to Bay View and Church Point. His group of elephants is conspicuous at the Bay View golf links, and a family group of aborigines encamped about a natural pond in his grounds causes many a motoring party to stop. STATUARY STOLEN. (1935, April 10). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 13. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17157874
Children standing by elephant fountain at Bayview Golf Course. Courtesy Phil Lipscombe and Mona Vale Library Local History Unit
OBITUARY.
MR. H. TRISTRAM SQUIRE.
Mr. H. Tristram Squire, of Mona Vale, died this week, aged 69 years. Mr. Squire was a native of Victoria, and as a youth studied art with Sir John Longstaff and Sir Arthur Streeton. He developed especially as a portrait painter and sculptor, and in recent years devoted much time to modelling of life-sized figures and groups of animals in the garden of his home at Mona Vale are several groups of aborigines one of which depicts black-fellows spearing fish in a natural pool. Mr Squire was a lover of animals. His garden is the home of opossums, wallabies kookaburras and aviary birds many of which would perch fearlessly upon him. He is survived by Mrs Squire, who is also an artist. OBITUARY. MR. H. TRISTRAM SQUIRE. (1938, May 28). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17469079
The first 'coastal landscapes' were of course the petroglyphs made by the original custodians of this land, and ascribed to chart the seasonal changes in the landscapes, and the sea our lands adjoin, according to those who hold this knowledge still. It is pleasing to see that, when encountered, for the most part these were set aside as areas and works to be preserved:
ABORIGINAL CARVINGS AT PALM BEACH.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.
Sir,-I enclose a copy of some aboriginal carvings at Palm Beach, which should be of Interest to the public The outline drawings represent two kinds of fish and a man, cut on a flat rock; on the hill between Sand Point, Pittwater, and Cabbage Tree. Boat Harbour, Palm Beach, Barranjoey. The fish measures 22ft, the man 6ft 6in, and the smaller fish 6ftLong. They have exceptionally good outlines, and are better shaped than any others yet recovered The Hawkesbury sandstones, by reason of their comparative softness, offered exceptional facilities to the coastal tribes of our aborigines to display their art In pictorial drawings, as there are many in the -Port Jackson and Hawkesbury districts It is not known what age these carvings can be, but many hundreds of years must have elapsed since they were made The drawings have only Just been discovered by Architect H A.Wilshire and Stonemason J Booth, who were looking for building stone on the company's property at Palm Beach The company has decided to preserve the carvings for all time.
I am, etc.,
E. E. G. de GYULAY, Secretary,
The Barrenjoey Company.
ABORIGINAL CARVTNGS AT PALM BEACH. (1918, January 1). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15781235
ABORIGINAL ART. VALLEY OF THE OXFORD FALLS.
DOUBT ABOUT CARVINGS.
In the course at a lecture delivered last evening at the monthly meeting at the Manly, Warringah, and Pittwater Historical Society, Mr. J. W. Boyer referred to the art tracings by aborigines in French's Forest.
The subject of tho lecture was "The Valley of the Oxford Falls," which the lecturer described as a secluded and romantic spot in French's Forest, about three miles due west from the coast and Deewhy. The falls are the centre of a picturesque locality, to which there is only one road of ingress by way of Brookvale and Beacon Hill. Like the whole of the country between Manly and Pittwater, the valley of tho Oxford Falls was formerly the haunt of aborigines, and there are two outstanding examples of their art tracings. One is situated at the rear of the metal quarry, and another due west from the rear of Mr. Hain's residence. "There has been much controversy," Mr. Boyer told, "as to the origin or cause of some really wonderful lines or tracings on tho summit of a hill in the district. The lines exist in the form of deeply scored lines, of a geometrical pattern, such as the markings on the shell of a tortoise or a crocodile. Some people claim that they were drawn by aborigines, but the great extent covered-about three acres discounts that theory. It is more likely that the markings were formed by the action of the sun when the rock was in a muddy state. The markings should, however, be further Investigated, and suggest that expert geologists should examine them." ABORIGINAL ART. (1925, August 20). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16236504
My grandfather is Benjamin Martin Athol Pearce (b 1891), the 4th child of Mary Ann 'Annie' (nee Costello) Pearce and Benjamin Pearce. I am the daughter of he and his wife’s Jean’s daughter, Helene (my mother who was born at 4 Adelaide St, Petone, New Zealand, in 1921).
Annie is the lady you can see with her husband Tom, in the image at the top of this page. This photo is from soon after they took the lease of the Bayview Post Office, General Store and Tea Gardens. Thomas (Tom) is still wearing his WWI uniform jacket – they took over running the business soon after he returned serving with the A.I.F.
National Archives of Australia records show T E Newey was approved to take over the Post Master position from June 1st 1920:
My grandfather also came to Australia from New Zealand, living in Brookvale. Although he arrived just in time for the worst years of the Depression, his own indomitable spirit ensured he made the best of every and any opportunity.
Mary Ann 'Annie' Costello was born 10th of March 1865 the eldest of six daughters of Martin and Ellen Costello (nee Kehely) at New Plymouth, N.Z. Her mother was widowed ten years later so life must have been very hard for her and her five little sisters.
Within another year her mother remarried, a Sydney Madgwick, and produced another seven children in fifteen years. A family story states that Annie visited her mother one day only to find Sydney Madgwick hitting Ellen - Annie took to him with her riding crop!
Nothing else is known of Annie until she married Benjamin Pearce on 19th September 1884 at the Auckland Registry Office. Witnesses were Elizabeth Pearce, sister of the bride and J Hedlund, Seaman of Onehunga. Registrar was J Owen Lord. She had probably met her husband in New Plymouth because he was a Seaman on boats trading with New Plymouth.
Surf Life Saving is a movement that sprang from community and remains firmly embedded in community. It crosses borders and reaches out to include and encompass all who want to get involved – inclusiveness may not be part of the motto “Vigilance and Service.” but it is there by inference.
In 2015 a lady who had once been an Australian Nipper at Coolum Beach Surf Life Saving Club, Skye Wellington, wanted to share what she had experienced as a youngster and began what is called Singapore Nippers.
“During the week there might have been family or school issues going on in each others lives, but on Sunday mornings we stood together and stared down waves, competed to grab flags and had aching legs from running in sand.” Skye says in an April 2017 article in HoneyKids magazine – where she was once Editor.
To complete the online component of their Bronze 10 soon to be qualified Age Managers for Singapore Nippers enlisted as members of Avalon Beach SLSC. Leanne Austin did the legwork here on the Admin. side, working with branch to make it happen.
Avalon went further with that gentleman who seems front and centre at so many Youth and Nippers developments, Mike Stanley Jones, paying for he and his son to travel to Singapore in February this year to put the potential ‘Bronzies’ through their paces in two consecutive weekend training sessions.
“We then went on a bit of an Asian jaunt – it was a great opportunity for a dad-son trip.” Mike explained on Saturday.
MSJ at Tanjong Beach - photo courtesy Singapore Nippers.
In March Jeff Nesbitt, a SLSA Assessor, Avalon Beach SLSC Age Manager and recipient in 2016 of the Norman Cook Most Outstanding Member of the Year, went to assess the first group - all passing with flying colours.
In September Belle Schmidt (Bilgola SLSC), and Louise Lindop (Avalon Beah SLSC) will travel north to train the next group of Bronzies.
This is not the first time members of Avalon Beach SLSC have travelled overseas to share their knowledge and support the growth of surf life saving, and probably won’t be the last. The Singapore-Avalon Beach connection is a great reminder that from little things great things grow, or that sharing the passion for developing a great future for those growing tall now through surf life saving can happen everywhere there’s a beach.
As this is essentially a story that should be told by Skye, we run her recent post in the ANZA magazine (available online) HERE.
This week we are beyond stoked to bring you a small insight into a lady who is a legend to many of us and a dear and loved friend to others.
We thank Ron Turton, older brother of Pearl, for all his tireless efforts in helping with this page and his recognition that some kind of bigger record is way overdue for someone who did so much for women's surfing, not just when she was a champion, but for decades afterwards - in fact Pearl is still right up to date with what's happening in the surfing world and still cheering on and applauding those who are pushing themselves to excel.
Pearl Turton, was born in Surrey, England on the 5th of February 1947.
In October 1949 Ronald Charles Turton and Pearl Elizabeth Turton arrived in Australia along with their children, eldest son Ron (four), Pearl (two), and Ross on the way. They settled in Sydney and by 1950 had moved to Careel Bay.
"Our place was called ‘Goodawada’ and was on the high side of the road just before you climb up the hill to Surf road, we overlooked Stokes Point. The base of the house was sandstone and the rest fibro and wood, tin roof, a water tank, a bit of everything really." Ron recalls
"Pearl was and is still the kind of girl who would go in and tackle the boys playing footy but then turn up looking beautiful, and was always a lady, a girl.
I think she got a lot of it from mum – mum was on the stage on England when dad first met her with a group called ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) who used to entertain the troops. I think a lot of mum’s athleticism and ability went through to Pearl and I.
Every kid climbs a tree but Pearl was always the quickest, and excelled at everything. To me she seemed like those good footballers that can anticipate the play.
My early visions of Pearl were at Goodawada when we had this tricycle, a really solid one. We’d go up this steep hill behind Goodawada and I’d be riding it and she would be on the back. We’d come down this track and Pearl would be saying, ‘faster, go faster’. This tricycle didn’t have very good brakes so the way we’d stop would be to run into a lantana bush.
Mum would recall hearing us screaming as we went past the house – but it was that screaming of having fun.
I dug out a book Pearly had got me last night, ‘The Sea Eagle has Landed: The Story of Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club ’ a limited edition work about the Manly Sea Eagles. In the front of this Pearl has written – “Dear Ronnie, the love of footy was installed in me at age 6 when you convinced the lads that I could make up the numbers on the greenbelt at Palmy. So my thanks go to you, along with this book.”
The greenbelt was where all those houses along Barrenjoey road back onto Pittwater at Careel Bay. There’s a path there that’s grassed. In those days people used to mow this land behind their properties and we kids could play footy and cricket, I remember someone put some swings up. There was big Tom Gilbert, Ken Mackey, Penny Hall – we all knew each other… I remember she would crash tackle big Tommy Gilbert, then the next minute she’d be walking off like a model.
As time went on, and as we were only 18 months apart, we were both at Avalon Public School. I’d see her in the playground and you always kept an eye on your little sister just in case anyone tried to do the wrong thing, that was what dad brought me up to do, to look out for my little brother and sister. I’d see these really tall girls playing what we now call Netball and there was this little terrier in the middle, intercepting balls between these two tall girls and then off she would go – that was Pearl, she could read the play.
Anything that required balancing she excelled at – if there was a fence she’d jump on it and walk along it – that was always there.
In running she would be up there with them too, this tiny little girl. If determination meant anything, she’d get marks for that.
Avalon Primary (Public) School 6th class in 1958!
Pearl is in the second row (from the front) 4th from the left! That’s Geoff Searl 2nd from the left in the back row (suffering from a dash of photophobia - never did like it into the sun!). The late Midget’s wife - Beverlie (Carter), is 6th from the left in the 3rd row. Pearl and Beverlie have been lifelong friends.
Photo courtesy Geoff Searl, Avalon Beach Historical Society. Teacher is Mr. Archbold.
The funny thing was though, with all that fierce determination, if she didn’t win something she never spat the dummy, just moved on to the next thing – so it was about having all this energy to expel too, this great appetite for life and enjoying those moments and then moving on.
To me she was like this throughout all those decades, she had a passion for joining in and having fun but always had that restraint too, knew how to conduct herself, ‘grace under pressure’ in some ways but also as though this was inbuilt, her nature.
Towards the end of 1957 we moved to Palm Beach, to the golf course. Dad had moved us to Liechhardt for half of 1956 and half of 1957. Then the manager of the Palm Beach Golf Club, whose name was Ron Gassman, who was a friend of dads’, contacted him; ‘I can offer you a job at the Palm Beach Golf Club and it comes with a cottage out the back. You will be back to where you really belong mate’. This was towards the end of 1957.
So back we went. What a place to live, overlooking Lion Island, so close to the beach.
Turton family 1957 at Palm Beach Pool; Pearl snr., Pearl, Ross and Ron Jnr. holding dog 'Shane'.
Avalon Soccer Club's 16 Women’s Vanuatu 2017 Visit
Avalon Soccer Club's under 16 womens team will travel to Vanuatu on Thursday 29th June to:• Promote women's soccer in Vanuatu and Avalon Soccer Club
• Give young women an international sporting opportunity
• Provide an opportunity for young women to help local communities by running coaching clinics and donating equipment
The 18 Avalon girls will have a challenging game against the Vanuatu National Under 16 Womens team. While they haven't competed on an international level before, they are expecting to be competitive. The Avalon girls are currently leading their MWFA Division 1 competition and last weekend they beat Mount Colah 4:0 to progress to Round 3 of the Football NSW State Cup. In previous years they have been crowned MWFA age champions and competed in the Football NSW Champion of Champions tournament.As well as playing the national team, the girls will play friendly games against Epule Village School, Manua College and select girls from the Luganville team on Santo Island. Most of the girls in these teams will play without boots or shin pads.
The girls will also visit Millennium Primary School to deliver donations and have a casual kick around with the schoolchildren. At each stage they will be delivering donations of jerseys, shorts and bags, as well as gifts specifically targeted at the girls such as nail polish and hair accessories.
Many of the girls have been playing soccer since they were 5 years old. Over the years soccer has allowed them to build and maintain friendships across suburbs and schools. The trip to Vanuatu will help cement lifelong friendships and broaden their horizons, of the opportunities that playing sport can bring.
This will be the 7th team that Avalon Soccer Club has sent over, continuing a community relationship that has grown strong between these two places through their love of sport and in particular, football.
The annual tour is endorsed by the MWFA, Football NSW, FFA and the Vanuatu Football Association. The aim of the tour is to introduce our girls to a different culture while building relationships with island neighbours and growing women's football in the region.
Whatever the results may be during their matches it’s clear this initiative makes everyone a winner and fosters great life experiences for our young local players.
STATE CUP
Avalon came home with some great results from the State Cup last week, including a massive win by the WPL over the Camden Tigers. Results included:
• W16/1 def. Mount Colah 4-0
• W18/1 def. Maroubra 6-0
• U18/1 lost to Wollongong 6-3
• WPL def. Camden Tigers 12-2
• AL1 lost to Ryde 4-2
The DEPLOY State, Robertson and Bill Cullinan Cups knockout tournaments are conducted by Football NSW for Association based male and female club teams and Country Association representative or club teams. This tournament attracts over 500 entries each season and is an opportunity for club teams from all areas of Football NSW to compete against teams from outside their own Association.
Age Groups
Boys/Men: 12,13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 0/35, AA Men
Girls/Women: 12, 14, 16, 18, AA Women
You can keep an eye on the Avaon Soccer teams progress at: www.footballnsw.com.au/the-state-cups
Avalon Soccer Club is an amateur club situated at the northern end of Sydney's Northern Beaches. As a club we pride ourselves on our friendly, family club environment. The club is comprised of around a thousand players aged from 5 to 70, who enjoy playing the beautiful game at a variety of levels and is entirely run by a group of highly dedicated volunteers. In 2012 we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the amalgamation of the Avalon Junior and Senior Clubs.
We strive to provide the best possible playing and coaching environment that we can with the resources to our disposal. We put a great emphasis on player development and coach education at all skill levels in our club and employ two professional coaches as our Directors of Coaching.
Our home ground is situated at Careel Bay in North Avalon. The site of a former rubbish tip was converted to provide us with two full size fields and a large dedicated mini-field area to cater for the variety of small sided versions of the game played by our younger players. We are also lucky to have our own clubhouse with a great canteen that serves the "best coffee to be found at a football ground anywhere"!!!
We are one of 17 clubs playing in games and competitions organised by the Manly Warringah Football Association.
Find out more at: www.avalonsoccerclub.com.au
America’s Cup 2017: Australians Part Of Every Team
The America’s Cup 2017 commenced qualifying rounds on Saturday May 27th (Sunday 3 a.m. in Australia). The 35th AC has sailors from Pittwater among the Teams in James Spithill as Skipper-Helmsman for the Oracle USA Team, and Jason Waterhouse as a Wing Trimmer / Grinder on SoftBank Team Japan. Pittwater is also there when you take into account Iain Murray AM is Regatta Director.If you want to play spot the Australian it won’t be too hard as New South Welshmen, Victorians and West Australians outnumber all other nationalities among sailors and support crews. Lake Macquarie’s Nathan Outteridge is Skipper-Helmsman for Team Artemis (Sweden) while Glenn Ashby is Skipper/Wing Trimmer for the Emirates Team (New Zealand). In Nathan there’s another Pittwater connection as his sister Haylee sails with Pittwater’s Nina Curtis, this pair already in training and working towards a possible place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
With Australian Ken McAlpine as Chief Measurer, and Australians part of every Team whether on or off the water, you begin to understand just how many Australians are involved in the 35th America’s Cup and how strong Australian sailors, technicians and dockside support crews are and how many of these have a connection with Pittwater in this foremost of elite sports.
Iain Murray AM began sailing on Middle Harbor, Sydney, as a 9-year-old in the Flying Ant class. His greatest success came in Sydney’s iconic 18ft skiff class, in which he designed, built and sailed Color 7 to win a record six consecutive championships from 1977 to 1982.
The success in the 18’ skiffs led Syd Fischer, Australia’s most regular and least successful challenger for the America’s Cup to select him as helmsman of his 1983 challenger Advance. Mr. Murray joined with Kevin Parry’s Kookaburra syndicate for Australia’s defense of the Cup in 1987. He has also enjoyed a tremendous career as an offshore sailor, winning many of the world’s classic events including three overall victories and eight line honors wins in the Sydney-Hobart race. He also was on the winning Australian team at the last Champagne Mumm Admiral’s Cup. As a one-design sailor, Murray ranks his Etchells World Championship in 1984 as one of his most satisfying victories. He also placed third at the 2005 Etchells Worlds.
In 2008 he competed in the Olympic Regatta when he represented Australia in the Star Class.
“If they don’t comply with the rules they don’t get a certificate and don’t go racing so they have to comply,” Mr. McAlpine, who started sailing at the age of 11 in Sydney, explained this week. “We’ll help them as much as we can to make sure they are within the guidelines.”
Ken’s role as Chief Measurer for the 35th America’s Cup is a privileged position. A trained Naval Architect, McAlpine is somewhat of a veteran of the America’s Cup, having been involved in no less than eight stagings of the event, starting back in 1970 with a limited role before being asked by the The Australian Yachting Federation to measure Australia II in 1982. Following that experience he was appointed the Technical Director for the International Twelve Metre Association, as well as being involved in the development of the International America’s Cup Class. Subsequently, Ken was appointed Chief Measurer and Technical Director for the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007 America’s Cup Regattas.
Crews representing Britain, France, Japan, New Zealand and Sweden will seek to win the right to challenge Team USA for the title in the America’s Cup match starting Saturday June 17 over the next two-and-a-half weeks.
The opening match-ups, which began 3 a.m. this morning (May 28, AEST) see Team USA against Team France, Artemis Racing against Team Japan, France versus the Glenn Ashby-skippered Team New Zealand, and Artemis against Britain’s Land Rover BAR.
Ever since its inception in 1851, when a schooner named ‘America’ raced around the Isle of Wight in the UK and conquered the best that Britain could offer, the world’s oldest sporting international competition has continued to push back the boundaries of what is possible with revolutionary innovations on and off the water.
Those advancements will be at their spectacular best in this year’s 35th staging of the event in the beautiful waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound. In days past, America’s Cup boats had to sail to the venue where they would compete. Now the sophisticated catamarans will ‘fly’ across the water in Bermuda, courtesy of revolutionary hydrofoil systems that lift the boats out of the water and create exhilarating racing at nearly 50 knots (93kph) with the boats capable of racing at three times the speed of the wind.
As it’s early days a list of Australians currently in Bermuda, who are in fact part of every Team (just had to say that once more), runs below. This clearly illustrates why our sailors are held in such high esteem on the world stage of sailing and why, for Australia, it’s a case of ‘Go Everybody!” for the 35th running of the great America’s Cup, with a touch of "Go Pittwater!" amongst that too.
Which is also very Australian.
You can watch the races live on Fox Sports channel 505 – program listings, with replays for those not enamoured of 3a.m. start times are on the Fox Sports Australia website www.foxsports.com - just look to your left and click on 'America's Cup'.
Keep up to date with everything happening at the official America's Cup website by visiting: www.americascup.com or on facebook at:www.facebook.com/americascup - including this from Day 1:
Big collision between Land Rover BAR and SoftBank Team Japan on Day 1
Guringai Festival 2017
Welcome to another year of celebrating First Australian culture and heritage in the Northern Sydney region. Welcome to the Guringai Festival 2017, we are still going strong!“Connections” is this year’s festival theme, inviting people of all ages to connect and participate in events across the region. We are promoting intergenerational conversations, activities and perspectives and when viewed by different people of different age groups, gender and races we have the ability to connect and shape our future, being inclusive of all.
“Connections” invites youth in the region to contribute to our story of place so we can be better informed about what is needed now and for the next generations. As adults we need to listen and grow up our young ones strong!
Once again we have a long list of activities that commemorate, celebrate and create spaces and places for those important conversations to be had.
We invite you to come along; attend a concert; film night, forum, art exhibition or bush walk, which has all been created for you and your families enjoyment.
Welcome to this years Guringai Festival
Susan Moylan-Coombs, Caroline Glass-Pattison and Sue Pinckham
Co-Chairs, Guringai Festival Committee
For the 2017 Guringai Festival, primary students were invited to create an artwork that responded to the theme of ‘Connection’. Hundreds of entries were submitted, exploring connection of people and place, connection of communities, connection of families. The winning entry by Liam James Parker of the Northern Beaches Christian School is featured on the front and back covers of the 2017 program. Other highly commended entries feature throughout the program.
Artist: Winning painting by Liam James Parker of Northern Beaches Christian School
Full Program for all areas available to download at: www.guringaifestival.com.au/GuringaiFestival2017Brochure(5.18MB- PDF)
Pittwater And Surrounds Activities
Commemorate National Sorry Day 2017Sunday 28 May, 2.00pm - 6.00pm
Scout Hall, 53 Wakehurst Parkway North Narrabeen
$ Free
A time to reflect on the profound grief and trauma experienced by the Stolen Generation.
An opportunity of shared commitment to healing and reconciliation. Together we can make a difference!
2pm - Free BBQ and afternoon tea.
2.45pm - Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country and a One minute’s silence to remember and reflect.
Dancing by Jannawi Dancers, didgeridoo playing by Scott Romain, dancing Gerard McMinn and fun activities for the children.
Scout Hall, 53 Wakehurst Parkway North Narrabeen
$ Free
A time to reflect on the profound grief and trauma experienced by the Stolen Generation.
An opportunity of shared commitment to healing and reconciliation. Together we can make a difference!
2pm - Free BBQ and afternoon tea.
2.45pm - Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country and a One minute’s silence to remember and reflect.
Dancing by Jannawi Dancers, didgeridoo playing by Scott Romain, dancing Gerard McMinn and fun activities for the children.
Sharingstories Foundation Exhibition & Liz Thompson Photography
Friday 26 May - Sunday 9 July
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
West Esplanade Reserve, Manly
$ Free
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
West Esplanade Reserve, Manly
$ Free
In partnership with Manly Art Gallery & Museum, SharingStories Foundation has developed a unique exhibition designed to share its work on the maintenance of culture and language across indigenous communities in Australia and to portray indigenous knowledge, stories and culture in a highly engaging and culturally sensitive way.
The exhibition includes digital storytelling, photography by Liz Thompson from her A Song for Country series and interactive media platforms developed by SharingStories with communities, including the West Kimberley, Flinders Ranges and Northeast Arnhem Land, as well as from communities in Victoria and New South Wales. This material will include community multi-touch books, films, language resources, and material showing the mapping of Songlines developed by communities.
Image detail: Liz Thompson, Jeremy Cameron painting his brother Miko with the Gandjalala (Sugarbag Hunter) design at Weemol, NT.
The material SharingStories develops will support a more profound dialogue among Aboriginal, culturally diverse and mainstream communities leading to a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture and the rich cultural heritage of Aboriginal communities living remotely and in regional areas. It will lead to further educational opportunities with young people visiting our Gallery with their families and schools, and a deeper exploration of Aboriginal culture and connection to country.
This exhibition is part of the Head On Photo Festival and the Guringai Festival celebrating First Australian culture and heritage in the Northern Sydney region.
Liz Thompson
Liz has published over thirty books, many produced in collaboration with indigenous communities. Fourteen part series Sharing Our Stories, which included Liz’s photographic essays won the Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing.
Liz’s photographic essays featured in four part book series Living with the Land and explored bush food and medicine. The Promised Land, based on collaborative photographic essays with photographer Ben Bohane looked at the impact of Indonesian rule in West Papua. In 2017 her new photographic book A Song for Country will be published by Magabala Books.
Liz’s photography has been published in Australian Geographic, GEO, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Good Weekend Magazine, The Independent, Art Review and numerous other national/ international publications. She’s held solo exhibitions at at Stills Gallery, The Performance Space and the State Theatre in Sydney, The Media and Design Space in Melbourne and Kettles Yard, Cambridge, UK.
Liz wrote, directed and co-produced The Last Magician, shot in the Trobriand Islands of PNG and nominated for four AFI Awards including Best Documentary and Best Direction. She directed and wrote Breaking Bows and Arrows, for SBS, exploring reconciliation in Bougainville after civil war. The film won The United Nations Media Peace Award for Best Television, The AIBD World Award for promotion of conflict resolution and the Grand Jury Prize at the 3rd International Festival of Oceania Documentary Film. Liz produces radio for ABC Audio Arts and multi media photographic and audio visual content for ABC Online.
Liz is CEO of SharingStories Foundation www.sharingstoriesfoundation.org.
Enquiries: Manly Art Gallery & Museum
Email: artgallery@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au
Ph: 9976 1421
Northern Beaches Singing Up Country 2017 Presents Johnny Nicol & Friends: Dinner & show celebrating his 60 year musical journey
Friday 2 June, 6.30pm - 9.30pm
St Anthony in the Fields Church
46 Myoora Rd, Terrey Hills
$60
Johnny Nicol, great jazz guitarist and singer, is a Birri-gubba man from North Queensland. For many years he hid his Aboriginal background except from his closest friends. This year he celebrates his 60 years in show business at a Dinner and Show, telling stories and performing pieces from his long musical journey. Hosted by the Frenchs Forest Catholic Parish Social Justice Group in partnership with the Northern Beaches Aboriginal Community, as part of the continuing journey of Sharing the Story, Sharing the Land.
St Anthony in the Fields Church
46 Myoora Rd, Terrey Hills
$60
Johnny Nicol, great jazz guitarist and singer, is a Birri-gubba man from North Queensland. For many years he hid his Aboriginal background except from his closest friends. This year he celebrates his 60 years in show business at a Dinner and Show, telling stories and performing pieces from his long musical journey. Hosted by the Frenchs Forest Catholic Parish Social Justice Group in partnership with the Northern Beaches Aboriginal Community, as part of the continuing journey of Sharing the Story, Sharing the Land.
Enquiries: Anne Lanyon
Frenchs Forest Catholic Parish Social Justice Group
Email: annelanyon.cmi@gmail.com
Ph: 0408 279 871
Narrabeen Lagoon Walk
Saturday 3 June, 10.00am - 2.30pm
27 Morgan Rd, Oxford Falls
$ Free
A great explore especially for children’s eyes. Aboriginal heritage, extraordinary biodiversity set within the surprisingly changing landscape of the Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment. Allow 4 -5 hrs. BYO lunch and water. Start next to 27 Morgan Rd, Oxford Falls, end at Deep Creek and carpool back.
Enquiries: Conny Harris
Email: conny.harris@gmail.com
Ph: 0432 643 295
Bushwalk in the Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment
27 Morgan Rd, Oxford Falls
$ Free
A great explore especially for children’s eyes. Aboriginal heritage, extraordinary biodiversity set within the surprisingly changing landscape of the Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment. Allow 4 -5 hrs. BYO lunch and water. Start next to 27 Morgan Rd, Oxford Falls, end at Deep Creek and carpool back.
Enquiries: Conny Harris
Email: conny.harris@gmail.com
Ph: 0432 643 295
Bushwalk in the Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Sunday 11 June, 10.00am - 2.30pm
2-10 Cromer Road, Cromer
$ Free
We will walk down to Oxford Falls and carpool back. Allow 4 hrs. BYO lunch and water. Start at 2-10 Cromer Rd, 300 meters after entrance to Cromer Golf Club. Enquiries: Conny Harris
Email: conny.harris@gmail.com
Ph: 0432 643 295
Film Screening: Jasper Jones
2-10 Cromer Road, Cromer
$ Free
We will walk down to Oxford Falls and carpool back. Allow 4 hrs. BYO lunch and water. Start at 2-10 Cromer Rd, 300 meters after entrance to Cromer Golf Club. Enquiries: Conny Harris
Email: conny.harris@gmail.com
Ph: 0432 643 295
Film Screening: Jasper Jones
Wednesday 14 June, 9.30am - 12.00pm
Collaroy Cinema
1097 Pittwater Road, Collaroy
$ Free
Join us at Collaroy Cinema to see ‘Jasper Jones’ - Growing up in a small country town in 1965, Charlie’s uneventful life is turned on its head when the town outcast, an Indigenous boy named Jasper Jones, appears at his window begging him for help. Directed by Rachel Perkins.
Collaroy Cinema
1097 Pittwater Road, Collaroy
$ Free
Join us at Collaroy Cinema to see ‘Jasper Jones’ - Growing up in a small country town in 1965, Charlie’s uneventful life is turned on its head when the town outcast, an Indigenous boy named Jasper Jones, appears at his window begging him for help. Directed by Rachel Perkins.
Enquiries: Neil Evers
Aboriginal Support Group
Email: info@asgmwp.net
Ph: 9999 3045
Peninsula Community of Schools “Connection - Community and Beyond”
Thursday 15 June, 5.00pm - 7.30pm
Warriewood Square Jacksons Road, Warriewood
$ Free
PCS Art Exhibition Opening Night - Artworks created by the students from K to Y12 attending the 13 State Primary and Secondary Schools on the Northern Beaches, from Cromer PS down to Barrenjoey HS and Avalon PS. The collection reflects the 2017 Guringai Festival theme depicting the strength of connection to our community and beyond. The art exhibition will run at Warriewood Square for 8 days finishing on Friday 23rd June.
Warriewood Square Jacksons Road, Warriewood
$ Free
PCS Art Exhibition Opening Night - Artworks created by the students from K to Y12 attending the 13 State Primary and Secondary Schools on the Northern Beaches, from Cromer PS down to Barrenjoey HS and Avalon PS. The collection reflects the 2017 Guringai Festival theme depicting the strength of connection to our community and beyond. The art exhibition will run at Warriewood Square for 8 days finishing on Friday 23rd June.
Enquiries: Michelle Flaskas and Germaine Oris
Email: michelle.flaskas@det.nsw.edu.au
Ph: 9918 8811 and 9913 4444
Paper Bark Bowl Workshop
Saturday 17 June, 10.00am - 2.00pm
One Door Mental Health Art Space Building
40, North Head Sanctuary Scenic Drive,
Manly
$ Free
Join Karleen Green, One Door Mental Health and Manly Environment Centre at North Head for a short bush walk followed by a hands-on paper - bark bowl making workshop. You will need to bring along your own bowl (small – medium size) for this workshop. Refreshments will be provided.
One Door Mental Health Art Space Building
40, North Head Sanctuary Scenic Drive,
Manly
$ Free
Join Karleen Green, One Door Mental Health and Manly Environment Centre at North Head for a short bush walk followed by a hands-on paper - bark bowl making workshop. You will need to bring along your own bowl (small – medium size) for this workshop. Refreshments will be provided.
Bookings essential. Numbers are limited. BYO bowl.
Enquiries: Katherine Owen Katherine.
Email: Owen@onedoor.org.au
Ph: 9977 0099
Walk & Talk Series: Little Manly/Nth Head
Email: Owen@onedoor.org.au
Ph: 9977 0099
Walk & Talk Series: Little Manly/Nth Head
Sunday 18 June, 8.45am - 1.00pm
Little Manly Beach,
Beside Cafe
Stuart Street,
Little Manly Beach
$ Free
Learn about your local Aboriginal heritage on a guided bush walk with Karen Smith, Aboriginal Heritage Officer. Walk starts at Little Manly Beach, through the bush and up to North Head Sanctuary Foundation Nursery. Following morning tea at Bandicoot Heaven, join the conversation with Aunty Frances Bodkin, Dharawal knowledge-holder and botanical author. Bring water and hat.
Little Manly Beach,
Beside Cafe
Stuart Street,
Little Manly Beach
$ Free
Learn about your local Aboriginal heritage on a guided bush walk with Karen Smith, Aboriginal Heritage Officer. Walk starts at Little Manly Beach, through the bush and up to North Head Sanctuary Foundation Nursery. Following morning tea at Bandicoot Heaven, join the conversation with Aunty Frances Bodkin, Dharawal knowledge-holder and botanical author. Bring water and hat.
Enquiries: Robynne Millward
Northern Beaches Council
Email: robynne.millward@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au
Ph: 9976 1426
Walk the Basin Track Sunday 25 June, 10:00am - 1:00pm
West Head Road, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park,
West Head
$20
See it through the eyes of the children. At the site you will be told stories of times long gone by. There will be explanations as to how the sites were used as school rooms for Aboriginal Children. Bring your camera for the view from West Head. Amazing!
West Head Road, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park,
West Head
$20
See it through the eyes of the children. At the site you will be told stories of times long gone by. There will be explanations as to how the sites were used as school rooms for Aboriginal Children. Bring your camera for the view from West Head. Amazing!
Laurie Bimson - A J Guesdon Photo
LAUNCH of Weaving Bridges Project: A NAIDOC Week Event
Tuesday 4 July, 10:30am - 12:30pm
Queenscliff Surf Living Saving Club
Ocean Beach Road, Queenscliff
$ Free
Manly Environment Centre, Manly Community Centre, Northern Beaches Aboriginal Community members, Northside Community Forum In, Sanctuary Respite Centre, One Door Mental Health, community groups, individuals as well as school children, join together to weave, knit and crochet artworks around the theme of – ‘Connect’.
Queenscliff Surf Living Saving Club
Ocean Beach Road, Queenscliff
$ Free
Manly Environment Centre, Manly Community Centre, Northern Beaches Aboriginal Community members, Northside Community Forum In, Sanctuary Respite Centre, One Door Mental Health, community groups, individuals as well as school children, join together to weave, knit and crochet artworks around the theme of – ‘Connect’.
These artworks create a large textile landscape for this year’s Weaving Bridges Project, which is to be installed on the Stuart Somerville Bridge, Queenscliff.
A NAIDOC Week event, the Launch Ceremony includes guest speakers, a smoking ceremony, didgeridoo performance, entertainment and the unveiling of the installation. Morning tea will be served.
Enquiries: Robynne Millward
Northern Beaches Council
Email: robynne.millward@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au
Ph: 9976 1426
NAIDOC Information Night - Our Languages Matter
Monday 10 July, 7.30pm - 9.30pm
Mona Vale Memorial Hall
1606 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale
$ Free
Our Languages Matter
The importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages will be celebrated and the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, in history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.
All welcome - This is a free night including light supper.
Enquiries: Neil Evers
Aboriginal Support Group
Email: info@asgmwp.net
Ph: 9999 3045
Mona Vale Memorial Hall
1606 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale
$ Free
Our Languages Matter
The importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages will be celebrated and the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, in history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.
All welcome - This is a free night including light supper.
Enquiries: Neil Evers
Aboriginal Support Group
Email: info@asgmwp.net
Ph: 9999 3045
Les McLeod and Neil Evers - A J Guesdon photo
Palm Beach Sailing Club 2016/2017 Season
A very successful sailing season for Palm Beach Sailing Club has just finished.
PBSC is predominantly family orientated with great opportunities for young sailors to get the feel of fast “off the beach” multihulls. PBSC sails from Snappermans beach at Palm Beach on most Saturdays from September to May each year.
There are a number of its sailors though that compete at elite levels who have won or placed in State, National and World events over the last season.
- Upu Kila won the National Hobie 16 Grandmasters and podiumed in the Open event at the NSW and Victorian State titles.
- Peter (Doogie) McDougall won the Hobie 14 NSW State titles for both cat rigged at sloop rigged categories. Sophie Renouf and Lucy Copland won the Hobie 16 Womens at the same event.
- At the Hobie 16 World Titles in China, Rod and Kerrie Waterhouse doubled up and won the Hobie 16 World Masters and Grandmasters with club mates Anthony Duchatel and Evelyn Curtis taking silver in the Grandmasters and Nina Curtis and Hayley Outeridge also taking silver in the Women’s.
- Haylee Outteridge and Nina Curtis
- At the World Masters Games held in New Zealand, in the Weta Trimaran class, Martin Cross and Rod Waterhouse took gold and silver respectively in the Grandmasters, Peter Martin took gold in the Apprentis Masters and John McCormick took bronze in the Great Grandmasters.
Martin Cross, Rod Waterhouse, John McCormick and Peter Martin at Waiake Beach.
The main game closer to home, on Pittwater between Careel Bay and Barrenjoey headland, brought some great sailing which was celebrated at the clubs presentation day last Saturday.
To kick things off the club was privileged to have Nina Curtis as its guest speaker. Nina is a silver medallist from the London Olympics, current runner up in the Hobie 16 Womens Worlds and is campaigning for Tokyo 2020 with Haylee Outteridge on the Women’s 49erFX skiff. Nina talked about her “pathway” in sailing that started at BYRA, then Avalon and RPAYC and recently PBSC that took her from dinghies to an Olympic match racing silver medal and on to Olympic class catamarans and skiffs. Her enthusiasm and love for sailing was infectious and she confirmed how the exhilaration of sailing, especially on a “cat”, can be found at any age. She loved the inclusive family/youth focus that PBSC has in place and the “pathway” that it provides for younger sailors.
The full list of awards can be found on the clubs website www.pbsc.org.au or its Facebook page but some of the key awards included:
- Martin Cross who won the Steve Kiely Memorial Trophy for the annual marathon held in demanding conditions this year, a trophy that recognises great seamanship epitomised by Steve who was considered a master sailor.
- Phil Malcom and Anna Hill our most improved team and Caitlyn Bell our most improved crew.
- Jake and Tess Sweeney for the youth team award.
- Peter Duross for the hotly contested Weta Cup.
- Andrew Nelson for the Poinstcore series sailing 1up on a Hobie 16
- Anthony Duchatel and Evelyn Curtis for their 6th Club Championship win.
photo by Regina Renfree
The season once more saw the club host the very successful Beware the Bullets Regatta (November 19-20, 2016) which attracts sailors from around the state to compete in the F18, Hobie 14, Hobie 16, Hobie 17 Sport, Hobie 18, Nacra 17 and Viper and Weta classes. Our thanks to the organisers, volunteers and sponsors for helping make this regatta such a success again this Season.
Fun social events such as the annual Princess Race and the Patonga Fish and Chip Run ensure club members can enjoy the beauty of the location we sail in and on as well as each other's company.
On behalf of all PBSC members, thank you to the outgoing committee of Richard Lacey, Andrew Nelson, Anthony Duchatel, Michael Henman, Regina Renfree and Darren Schmidt. All those hours you put in throughout the year paved the way for a very successful season.
Congratulations and welcome to the incoming committee for season:
Commodore - Andrew Nelson
Vice Commodore - Richard Lacey
Treasurer - Anthony Duchatel
Secretary - Michael Henman and Regina Renfree
Next season looks like it will be a cracker with more youth sailors likely to join in advance of the youth and women’s State titles to be held in February 2018 along with increased class sizes in some classes such as the A Class, F18/16, Weta and Hobie multihulls.
Jo Brigden- Jones Wins Silver At Canoe Sprint Cup In Belgrade
June 4, 2017Jo Brigden Jones - SNBKC athlete just finished 2nd in the women's K1 1000 at World Cup in Belgrade Serbia. Congratulations Jo - what an awesome return to the international stage.
Australia has won a silver medal and recorded three fourth placings on day two of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.
Jo Brigden-Jones, in one of her rare forays into the K1 1000, finished second and teammate Cat Macarthur fourth in a tough race.
“It’s quite painful, but I still like it,” Brigden-Jones said.
“I can barely stand-up my legs are hurting so much. But it was good, a good challenge for me, good to put myself out there in a new environment.
“So I really enjoyed it, but I’m hurting now. My leg pain blew up pretty early, and I rely on my legs a lot.”
Jo took out the K1 200 at the Australian Canoeing Sprint Nationals held at Penrith in March this year and became National Champion in the K1200m.
“I’ve learned a lot from doing these 1000’s over the last few weeks,” she said.
“I really pushed myself quite hard, but I’m dead now. I’ve always struggled with 1000’s not knowing how hard to push and when.
“I’m really happy with finishing fourth. It’s hard, but I can’t be unhappy with fourth after finishing seventh last weekend.”
Alyce Burnett finished fourth in her first ever senior K1 500 international final, missing the podium by only a fraction of a second. Her K2 500 teammate, Alyssa Bull, won the B final.
Bull and Burnett teamed up later in the day to win their K2 semi-final to progress to Sunday’s final.
Three-time Olympian Ken Wallace and Rio debutant, Jordan Wood, finished fourth in the final of the K2 500.
“It’s not so much fun getting fourth, but it’s a massive improvement on last week,” Wallace said.
“We’re learning how to race a bit better as a crew. Last weekend was the first race we’d done together, we’re just progressively getting there, but fourth is still hard.”
Australia will also have men’s and women’s K4 boats in action on Sunday, Billy Bain will once again contest the final of the K1 500, and Brigden-Jones and Jaime Roberts are in the final of the K2 200.
From Australian Canoeing: http://canoe.org.au/
GOLD AND SILVER FOR AUSTRALIA ON FINAL DAY OF SPRINT WORLD CUP
June 5, 2017: Australian Canoeing
Australia has picked up a gold and a silver medal on the final day of competition at the International Canoe Federation Sprint Canoe World Cup in Belgrade.
Alyssa Bull, who won silver in the K1 1000 in Szeged one week ago, cemented her reputation as the iron woman of canoe racing with a solid win in the K1 5000 final on Sunday afternoon.
Jo Brigden-Jones joined WA’s Jaime Roberts to win silver in the K2 200, adding to the silver medal she won in the K1 1000 on Saturday.Earlier Bull teamed up with Olympic teammate, Alyce Burnett, to finish fourth in the K2 500, agonisingly close to a breakthrough podium at an international meet.
“Yesterday I got fourth in the K1, and today we got fourth in the K2, and both times we were super close to the medals,” Burnett said.
“It sucks to be so close, but we’ve made a lot of improvements in the past year or two and we can’t be disappointed with where we are at.
“It just puts more fire in your belly for Worlds coming up.”
“Our aim for these World Cups was to make top half of A-finals, and I suppose just to come so close, it makes us more hungry,” Bull said.
Brigden-Jones said it was a shock for her and Roberts to win a K2 medal in their first international race together.
“It’s pretty crazy, I really didn’t expect it so it’s a bit of a bonus,” Brigden-Jones said.
“It was fun to do the K2 200. We’ve never done K2 together, so we’ve just been learning a bit each day.”
Roberts said the silver medal was a highlight of her career.
“We nailed our start, and it just set up the race perfectly,” she said.
“It’s caught me a bit by surprise. It’s pretty awesome to be up there on the podium, and I definitely want to be up there again.”
In other results, Ken Wallace finished fourth in the men’s K1 5000, the women’s K4 500 crew finished seventh, and Billy Bain was seventh in the final of the men’s K1 500.
The Australian team heads home on Monday and will return to Europe for the Sprint Canoe World Championships in the Czech Republic in August.
The Australian Canoe Sprint team arrived in Europe in May ahead of the first ICF World Cup of the year in Szeged, Hungary, as they begin their new Olympic cycle.
For 2008 Olympic gold medallist Ken Wallace it’s the start of a campaign to get to a fourth Olympics, and for 2012 gold medallist Murray Stewart a third, as the team looks to build on it’s impressive Olympic record.
The team also includes two of Wallace’s K4 teammates from Rio, Riley Fitzsimmons and Jordan Wood, who are also the reigning K2 1000 U23 World Champions.
Paralympic gold medallist Curtis McGrath, silver medallist Amanda Reynolds and bronze medallist Susan Seipel will lead a five-strong Para Canoe team.
The women’s team includes 2016 K2 500 finalists, Alyce Burnett and Alyssa Bull, and our own 2012 Olympian Jo Brigden-Jones.
"Nice to be back racing in the green and gold and to be reunited with friends from around the world" Jo posted on her facebook page on May 28th - which is an understatement for all cheering her on from here who think it's GREAT to see her back and doing something she excels at.
Go Jo!
World Environment Day - June 5th
World Oceans Day - June 8th
‘Connecting People to Nature’, the theme for World Environment Day 2017, implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share.
World Environment Day is the biggest annual event for positive environmental action and takes place every 5 June. This year’s host country Canada got to choose the theme and will be at the centre of celebrations around the planet. Every World Environment Day has a different global host country, where the official celebrations take place. The focus on the host country helps highlight the environmental challenges it faces, and supports the effort to address them. This year’s host is Canada.
World Oceans Day is a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future. The overall theme for World Oceans Day 2017: Our Oceans, Our Future
Conservation action focus: Encouraging solutions to plastic pollution and preventing marine litter for a healthier ocean and a better future
The Av. Green Team has started their World Environment and World Oceans Days early, in fact everyday is about caring for the environment and ocean and connecting with nature for this local group comprised of the upcoming generation.
On Saturday, June 3rd, they had a Beach Clean at Newport and removed from the beach:
From our clean at Newport!
We found:
Cigarette butts 400
Straws lollipops 21
Plastic food wrappings 69
Bottle caps 39
Plastic bags 11
Sushi 19
Bottles 13
Lighters 2
Phone 1
At Bilgola, Saturday May 27th: Great clean of Bilgola Beach this morning! Thanks to everyone who came along. We found 70 cigarette butts, 13 straws and a lot of microplastics.
You can keep up to date with their next Beach Clean, and other activities to keep this place Green and Clean via their facebook page:
Come join us for a beach clean!
It has been estimated that we will have more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050...These beach cleans are aimed at reducing the vast amounts of plastic from entering our oceans before they harm marine life.
Anyone and everyone is welcome! If you would like to come along, please bring a bucket, gloves and hat. Kids of all ages are also welcome! The meeting location will be confimed closer to the date.
Hope to see you there!
Av. Green Team sorting what was gathered at Newport Beach, June 3rd, 2017
World Environment Day is a day for everyone, everywhere. Since it began in 1972, global citizens have organized many thousands of events, from neighbourhood clean-ups, to action against wildlife crime, to replanting forests. This year’s theme invites you to think about how we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. It challenges us to find fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship.
Above all, World Environment Day is the ‘people’s day’ for doing something to take care of the Earth or become an agent of change. That ‘something’ can be focused locally, nationally or globally; it can be a solo action or involve a crowd – everyone is free to choose.
World Environment Day
Picture all the places that matter
Share a photo or video of your favourite place in nature using #WorldEnvironmentDay or #WithNature and tell us why it's special to you.
Take a photo or video
Capture your favourite spot in nature. Find your happy place–it could be a national park or a hidden gem. Even better if it includes you.
Tag your submission
Share the story of your favourite place in nature and why it matters to you using #WorldEnvironmentDay or #WithNature.
Stay tuned for more
The UN WOD 2017 website will feature new amazing entries from around the world. Have your photos seen by political leaders in exhibitions held at United Nations headquarters. Visit: http://worldenvironmentday.global/.
The value of natureIn recent decades, scientific advances as well as growing environmental problems such as global warming are helping us to understand the countless ways in which natural systems support our own prosperity and well-being.
For example, the world’s oceans, forests and soils act as vast stores for greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane; farmers and fisher-folk harness nature on land and under water to provide us with food; scientists develop medicines using genetic material drawn from the millions of species that make up Earth’s astounding biological diversity.
Billions of rural people around the world spend every working day ‘connected to nature’ and appreciate full well their dependence on natural water supplies and how nature provides their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. They are among the first to suffer when ecosystems are threatened, whether by pollution, climate change or over-exploitation.
Nature’s gifts are often hard to value in monetary terms. Like clean air, they are often taken for granted, at least until they become scarce. However, economists are developing ways to measure the multi-trillion-dollar worth of many so-called ‘ecosystem services’, from insects pollinating fruit trees in the orchards of California to the leisure, health and spiritual benefits of a hike up a Himalayan valley.
Hit the parkThis year’s World Environment Day is an ideal occasion to go out and enjoy your country’s national parks and other wilderness areas. Park authorities in some countries may follow Canada’s example and waive or reduce park entry fees on June 5 or for a longer period.
Once you are there, why not set yourself a challenge (seek out a rare mammal, identify five butterflies, reach the remotest corner of the park). Record what you see, and send us a photo of yourself and/or your discoveries so we can post it on our digital channels and encourage others to go exploring too.
You could join the growing number of citizen scientists. More and more smartphone apps help you log your sightings and connect with others who can identify the species. The records feed into conservation strategies and map the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
Connect With Nature
Beyond the many events staged by governments and UN Environment, people and businesses worldwide are gearing up for World Environment Day. They have already found many creative ways to connect with nature. Here is a selection of activities already registered. Click here to find an event near you or register your own!
Get active!Students in Ibadan, Nigeria are urging people to take a stand against environmental pollution and join their ‘March for Nature’. Serious hikers will be heading for Mount Makeling, 70 kilometres south of the Philippine capital, Manila. Everyone is welcome for a walk and picnic in Hamoon Park, in the Iranian city of Karaj. Divers will be restoring the coral reefs around the Mexican island of Cozumel. And there will be a ‘slow cycling’ competition in Palghar, India.
After sundown in the Italian city of Spoleto, bat experts armed with ultrasonic detectors will lead walkers around its imposing medieval fortress to connect them with these mysterious flying mammals.
Locally we have a great amount of volunteer Bushcarers working to rid our reserves of weeds and restore wetlands and bushlands. You can get involved with any of these for a few hours each month and literally see the efforts of your investment through the growing up of native plants where once was tangled lantana etc.
Our Environment page lists a lot of these these groups and their activities - everything from Pittwater Natural Heritage Association's restoration of Careel Creek and wetlands, the Pittwater Environment Foundations restoration works in Warriewood, or the Community Gardens at Newport and Avalon, Sydney Wildlife who are saving the other residents when and where they can, or get involved with a bushcare group - they're listed too.
At present the America's Cup qualifying races are being conducted for the 35th running of this wonderful sailing event which remains the cup everyone would like to win in sailing, apart from a Sydney to Hobart of course!
Among the brilliant sailors a number of Australians, including members of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, are vying to be part of the records in this historical event. Most people are aware that Australia II was the first successful challenger to win the America's Cup. How many are aware who was the first Australian to be involved with this great old race though?
As a maritime nation, and an aquatic community, there were probably a few involved in early America's Cup challenges and races that remain slightly hidden at present as so much of these great events focuses on the beautiful vessels and their skippers/captains/owners/designers/shipwrights, not those sailing on them. An 1870 report in The Australasian from someone aboard the Vectis steamer, which followed the races, signed "O.K." obviously had some connection here - but whom is 'O.K.'? Other reports are not signed at all, nor do they contain much or any information about those contesting the races as crew until later contests.
We can confirm one Australian as being involved in the year it didn't happen - 1914 - due to the outbreak of World War I while the yacht that was to sail as challenger was mid-ocean. The Shamrock IV, a Sir Thomas Lipton beauty, took refuge in Bermuda for a few days prior to sailing north to New York, so another connection echoes this year's 35th Auld Mug races in this. Among those aboard her accompanying vessel, the Erin, was Walter Moffit Marks, then Commodore of the RPAYC and a gentleman who had taken part in her sailing trails prior to departing England for America but was excluded from sailing in the races that didn't happen anyway.
The article below illustrates our current Australian sailing champions are not the first to be involved in America's Cup campaigns from the club where 'Excellence in Sailing' has always been a focus, particularly the advancement of sailing in the community and the equipment it may be achieved in.
The RPAYC has a history of introducing new classes of vessels and remains, in its Youth Development and Adult Sailing ventures committed to giving opportunities to those who wish to do their best in the sport either as competitors or simply as recreational sailors.
The article is written by John Roche, born 1884 to James and Katherine Roche (nee Collins) of Bayview, known during his years of guiding Pittwater Regattas as 'the Father of the Pittwater Regatta' as well as 'The Prince of Pittwater'.
One of the predecessors of the current generation of champions on the water may possibly be smiling over this year's sailors - he would certainly be immensely happy with the 2017 context and development of the Pittwater club:-
The Yachting Authority, JOHN ROCHE, Writes of
THE AMERICA'S CUP TO-MORROW'S GREAT INTERNATIONAL RACE
YACHT racing history was made eighty years ago, when an English merchant suggested to some American business men that one of the famous New York pilot schooners, which held a great reputation for speed among British sailormen, should be sent to England to compete In the regattas which were to be an auxiliary feature of a world's fair, planned to be an exposition of the world's progress in arts, manufacturers, and sporting activities to be held In London in the year 1851. A syndicate of six members of the New York Yacht Club accepted the suggestion, and built a schooner yacht of 170 tons, which was designed to be faster than any of the pilot boats. Launched In June, 1851, and christened America, the new yacht proved to be exceptionally fast in trial races. Hearing of the project, the members of the Royal Yacht Squadron. England, extended to the owners of the America a cordial Invitation in visit the Squadron Club House at Cowes, and participate in their racing programme. This was accepted, and. on June 20, 1851, the America cleared New York Harbor bound for Havre, France, making the voyage in 17 ½ days.
The American defender, Enterprise.
She was the first yacht to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Three weeks were spent refitting at Havre. The America then crossed the Channel, and came to an anchorage off Cowes. Her unorthodox hull design and sails created great interest among British yachtsmen.
With the object of testing the relative merits of the different models of yachts the members of the Royal Yacht Squadron of England subscribed a Cup, valued at £100, for a race open to yachts of all nations, to be sailed over a 53 miles course round the Isle of Wight. A special Invitation to compete was extended to the owners of the America and accepted by them.
On Friday, August 22, 1851 thirteen British yachts opposed the America in the race for the Royal Yacht Squadron Cup. The America outclassed the British yachts, winning the race by 24 minutes. The Cup was presented to Commodore Stevens of the New York Yacht Club, one of the syndicate of owners of the America.
In historic importance this first race for the Royal Yacht Squadron Cup now known as the America’s Cup, surpasses all other events of yachting. Its influence on the sport at large, on the progress of design, construction, rigging and sail-making can hardly be estimated. It revolutionized the design of British yachts and marked the beginning of real yacht racing, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, the systematic racing of yachts built for that purpose as well as for cruising.
The victory of the America over the champion yachts of England was also the beginning of that spirit of connection between the yachtsmen of England and of America which has been attended by so much benefit to the sport of yacht racing. The America Cup is regarded as the emblem of the supremacy of the seas in a yachting sense –its possession being frequently contested.
The owners conveyed the Cup in 1857, by deed of gift, to the keeping of the New York Yacht Club as a perpetual Challenge Cup, to be known as the America’s Cup, for friendly competition between sailing yachts belonging to yacht clubs of foreign countries.
In the year 1870-71 British yachts made unsuccessful attempts to bring back the Cup to England. Canadian yachts challenged unsuccessfully in 1870 and 1881.
Photograph of Andrew Jackson Comstock at the wheel of the racing schooner, Columbia, circa 1880 (Detail)
Andrew Jackson Comstock was one of several Comstock brothers from New London who were accomplished racing yacht masters. Comstock was skipper of the racing schooner Columbia, which defended during the 1871 America’s Cup challenge. (He was also skipper of the Magic, the successful defender of the 1870 Cup.) Columbia won the first two races against the challenger, the Livonia. Columbia, damaged during the second race, was beaten by the Livonia in the third race. However that race was won by another American yacht, the Sappho. Thus, together, the Columbia and Sappho successfully defended the Cup. A newspaper article of the time noted: "The crew (of the Columbia), numbering thirteen, is under the command of Captain Andrew Comstock, one of the most experienced and best sailing masters in the country.... (T)hey evidently understand their business thoroughly. In fact, if they didn't, they would not be long on a craft with Captain Comstock in command."
This unique photograph was found in the scrapbook of Mrs. Mary Chapman Comstock, wife of Andrew Jackson Comstock. The scrapbook was among the items left to the New London Custom House Maritime Museum by Mrs. Margaret Thoms, great granddaughter of Andrew Jackson Comstock.
British yachtsmen again failed in 1885, 1886, and 1887. In 1893-95 Lord Dunraven was unsuccessful with Valkyrie II. and III. Sir Thomas Lipton challenged in 1899 with Shamrock and was beaten by the American defender Columbia in three consecutive races.
In 1901 Sir Thomas Lipton challenged with Shamrock II., Columbia repeating her previous successes. With Shamrock III. Sir Thomas Lipton was decisively beaten by the American defender, Reliance in 1903.
Columbia and Shamrock II - 1901 America's Cup
Undaunted, Sir Thomas Lipton challenged again in 1914 with another new yacht, Shamrock IV. Although the challenge was accepted and the date for the contests arranged, grave circumstances of world-wide importance caused a postponement. An unalterable clause of the deed of gift relating to the America's Cup states that yachts selected to compete for the Cup must proceed on their own bottoms to the port where the contest is to take place.
Between 1870 and 1903 the eleven British challengers experienced uneventful voyages across the Atlantic to New York. Shamrock IV., the twelfth British challenger, left Portsmouth on July 21, 1914, bound for New York to compete in the Cup contests arranged to be held in September. 1914. Convoying Shamrock IV. was Sir Thomas Lipton's steam yacht Erin.
Among her passengers was Mr. Walter M. Marks, a well-known Australian yachtsman, the then title-holder of the Sayonara Cup, which is recognised as the America's Cup of Australian yachting. Mr. Marks’ presence was due to a special invitation extended by Sir Thomas Lipton to sail as a representative of Australia on board the Shamrock IV. in the Cup races.
Making a good passage, Shamrock IV. and Erin arrived at the Azores on July 28. The voyage was continued the following day. Good progress was being made when, on August 4, the wireless operator on the Erin picked up a momentous message which read: 'England has declared war.' Shamrock IV. was, on that memorable date, fighting her way through a heavy gale in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Consternation reigned for the safety of the two yachts when a few minutes later, Erin's wireless operator picked up a message that a German Atlantic fleet were about 500 miles away between the course of the two yachts, and New York.
Later on in the night a coded message was picked up from New York, which read as follows: 'Shamrock and Erin to seek shelter at nearest British port immediately.'
The Bermudas were 400 miles to the sou'-west of the position of the yachts. It was decided to make for Bermuda. A tow line was passed from the Erin to the Shamrock, a difficult job in the heavy sea. With a following wind the Erin made fast time with her charge. In the meantime the wireless from the German fleet was becoming less distinct, thus indicating that the yachts were moving towards safe quarters. After a 72-hours' tow the yachts reached, on August 9, a haven of safety behind a section of the British Fleet moored in Bermuda Harbor.
Guests on Erin, Bermuda. Lord Hardincke, Walter Marks, Colonel Neill, Commander Hamilton, Commander Gooling RBYC and Mayor of Bermuda. August 1914. Image courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
Chuck Bradley: Instrumental Opening This Week
Iconic Australian rock musicians from the 60s, 70s and 80s and ‘now’ have inspired the latest exhibition at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, officially opened on the first icy day of Winter 201, June 1st.Instrumental features vivid photographic studies of the instruments of some of Australia’s most influential and celebrated rock musicians, as well as stories which illuminate the connection between the musicians and their ‘tools of the trade’.
Exhibition curator Ross Heathcote said the exhibition has been an energetic collaboration involving the work of acclaimed American-born and Scotland Island-based still life photographer Chuck Bradley.
“This promises to be a real treat not just for music fans, but also people who just love compelling photography, and a unique angle on a slice of our popular culture.
“Chuck and I made a ‘hit list’ of prominent rock musicians and we have worked with them to identify instruments that have significant meaning to them. The requisite, we feel, is ‘musician + instrument + time’. And it seems that these relationships produce worn ‘patinas’ and fascinating stories.
Right: Chuck Bradley - Jimmy Little's Guitar
Musicians include Iva Davies, Jimmy Barnes, Col Joye, Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, Archie Roach, Reg Mombassa, Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly from INXS and Amanda Brown from the 80s sensation the Go-Betweens.” Chuck has developed a signature photographic style, and his exquisitely lit and detailed images bring the instruments ‘to life’- they generate an irrepressible visual narrative of their own. For most of us, music is such a significant part of our cultural life; for Instrumental we have interviewed each musician, and our discussions about their instruments open up into ‘glimpses’ into musical careers, passion for sound and the ‘feel’ of instruments, people and places, and even some rich social history.
Chuck said “People know and recognise these iconic instruments, and associate them with the musicians, and with memorable sounds and events…but they never get to see the instruments up close. These are like revealing portraits of the instruments themselves.
At times I combine the instruments in the image with ephemera from the careers of their owners. The process has involved taking a portable photographic studio to homes and rehearsal rooms and recording studios. We have met some great people who have been so generous and enthusiastic on this project."
The official opening of 'Instrumental' turned out to be an extra special event for guests with an impromptu performance by some Australian rock legends.
An Aussie supergroup featuring Reg Mombassa (Mental As Anything) g/v, Buzz Graham Bidstrup (The Angels, GangGajang) d, Dom Turner (Backsliders) g/v, Rick Grossman (Matt Finish, Divinyls, Hoodoo Gurus) b, Damien Lovelock (Celibate Rifles) v, Joe Glover (Backsliders) harmonica, and Chuck Bradley himself.
Attendees included Phil Small (Cold Chisel), Iva Davies (Icehouse) and Lindy Morrison (Go Betweens).
Chuck Bradley and Lindy Morrison at the opening of Chuck's exhibition Instrumental, drummer with Go Betweens in front of her Instrumental photo - well worth the look! photo courtesy of photographer Hugh Hamilton
The exhibition will run until 9 July. And if you want to hear how it all came together, there is an Art Walk + Talk at 2pm on Sunday 4 June with Photographer Chuck Bradley, and Curator Ross Heathcote.
Our thanks to Simon Chan, director and founder of Art Atrium, for sharing his images from the opening of Instrumental, and to MAG&M, for adding some of theirs.
Art Talk + Walk, Sun 4 Jun, 2pm
A special treat with photographer Chuck Bradley in conversation with Ross Heathcote on Sunday 4 June at 2pm.
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
1 West Esplanade & Commonwealth Parade, Manly
Phone: (02) 9976 1420
Newport Breakers Rugby Club Ladies Day 2017
Saturday the 3rd of June 2017 saw the Newport Breakers Rugby Club take on the Old Ignatians Old Boys in a top of the Cub Championships Table clash.
It was also the annual Newport Breakers Rugby Club Ladies Day. This is a fantastic day where the club recognises the ladies that help make this club happen. The event was hosted by the wonderful Bec Hunt up on the clubhouse deck overlooking the ground... or as some supporters like to call it - the best seats in the house.
The festivities were kicked off with a wonderful lunch and some bubbles. Great raffles with excellent prizes from local businesses were called throughout the afternoon supporting one of our favourite local charities, Mums for Mums.
A highlight was seeing some of the younger rugby girls out on the field between the men's matches - just wonderful!
Results - Ladies Day 100/100 - a great day courtesy of all the hard work by Rebecca Hunt and her great team.
Rugby: - report courtesy of the Breakers:
The Breakers were coming off the previous round that saw the club decimated by injuries across all 4 grades. All the players across the whole club stepped up today as we took on the current Club Championship points leaders.
Final scores:
1st Grade: Newport 29 - Iggies 29
2nd Grade: Newport 20 - Iggies 7
3rd Grade: Newport 13 - Iggies 7
Colts: Newport 12 - Iggies 31
Highlight of the day was 1st Grade coach Adrian Langford turning out in 3rd Grade at prop and scoring a runaway kick and chase try outpacing and outsmarting the winger and fullback.
That's a run at home so far this season of 16 matches for 14 wins, 1 draw and a solitary loss. The Portress is living up to its name as a tough place for visiting teams to come and play.
