© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Author: Greg Ray

This author has written 481 articles
Read more about the article The phantom of the Victoria Theatre and other cinema tales
The old Victoria Theatre, now undergoing restoration.

The phantom of the Victoria Theatre and other cinema tales

THE entertainment Max Donnan enjoyed during his long career in Newcastle cinemas wasn’t always on the big screen. Some of it came from the clientele, some came from the quirks and challenges of the various theatres and a little bit came from the ghost. That was the ghost at the old Victoria Theatre in Perkin Street, which rejoiced in Max’s time in the full name “British Victoria Theatre”. The Vic has a treasured place in Max’s memory, but he admits the ghost rattled him more than a little on the two occasions he encountered it. He…

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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…

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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…

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