© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Read more about the article The brick collector
Some of Ian Sherman's collection of refractory bricks from Newcastle industries.

The brick collector

It all started in 1971 when Ian Sherman bought a house that had a lot of concrete all around it. Ian hated concrete. So he hit on the idea of gradually replacing the despised concrete with bricks, and as he rode around on his motorbike he'd pick them up in ones and twos from demolition sites. Already a bottle collector, Ian was predisposed to find something collectible about bricks and sure enough, when he noticed that many of them sported imprinted designs of various kinds his marvellous obsession began. Ian now has 6000 bricks in his…

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Read more about the article Doug Lithgow: an activ(ist) life
Doug in National Service uniform

Doug Lithgow: an activ(ist) life

There was a time when it seemed as though no contentious conservation or heritage issue could arise in Newcastle, NSW, without the opinions of Doug Lithgow being sought and quoted. Never self-interested or egotistical, Doug was (and still is) the epitome of a generation of modest, hard-working community-minded idealists. Born in Gladesville, Sydney, in 1933, Doug loved the area around Gladesville; sailing on the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers with the Warrego Naval Training Group. He spent some of his early years with family at Gilgandra, under the shadow of the Warrumbungle Mountains. His police officer…

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Read more about the article Gravestones to be returned to the Cathedral cemetery

Gravestones to be returned to the Cathedral cemetery

About 40 gravestones now in storage at Newcastle City Council's works depot are expected to be restored and replaced in their original positions at the city's Christ Church Anglican Cathedral. Council project manager Tony Ayling told me the work was scheduled for the 2021-2022 financial year, provided funding was available. The historic cemetery, originally proclaimed in 1817, received more than 3300 burials by the time it closed in 1884. Sadly, despite its great historical significance, the burial ground suffered badly after it was transferred to the ownership of the council in 1972. Many stones were shifted…

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