© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Monthly Archives: August 2019

Read more about the article Dick Jones, the travelling camel man
Dick Jones selling penny camel rides in Newcastle in 1937.

Dick Jones, the travelling camel man

When the above photo appeared in our first book, Newcastle, The Missing Years, we were delighted to hear from the family of the camel-wrangler. Marilyn Bycroft got in touch to tell us that it was her father, Dick Jones, in the photo. Dick apparently seldom discussed his early life, but his family was from Tasmania. He had left home at the age of 12, was sent back to his parents, then ran away for good at age 14 to get a job on an outback cattle station. He never saw his parents again. Dick had many…

Continue ReadingDick Jones, the travelling camel man
Read more about the article Brave miners re-opened a crippled pit
Miners with breathing apparatus working on the re-opening of Aberdare Central colliery on July 1, 1944.

Brave miners re-opened a crippled pit

When Aberdare Central colliery caught fire in July 1942, in the darkest days of Australia’s wartime struggle, 550 miners instantly lost their jobs and the nation was deprived of about 1800 tonnes a day of vital coal. Experts were sure the mine, near Kitchener in the Hunter Valley of NSW, was finished, but mine manager Fred Hemmingway disagreed, asserting that he could beat the fire and get the mine re-opened. A highly experienced miner in his own right, Mr Hemmingway rejected repeated negative reports and eventually got permission to make his attempt. It was a bold…

Continue ReadingBrave miners re-opened a crippled pit
Read more about the article Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle
Copy of a Goya nude in a Cessnock Hotel, February 1962. Photo by Ron Morrison

Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle

In the 1960s a nude picture on the wall of your pub or restaurant might have caused strife with the authorities: unless of course it was a copy of a nude by an old master, which is a different thing altogether. In a Cessnock pub, for example, a local artist daubed a copy of Goya's Nude Maja for the edification and titillation of Coalfields drinkers. I don't know which pub was so gorgeously adorned, nor the name of the copyist, nor the fate of the copy. Here's a link to the original, so you can judge…

Continue ReadingNudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle
×
×

Cart