© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Read more about the article Newcastle in the 1960s
Ron and Liz Morrison at Woodville, NSW, in 2017

Newcastle in the 1960s

BETWEEN the two of them, Ron and Elizabeth Morrison took more photographs of Newcastle and surrounds than they could possibly have counted. Working at times as photographers on the staff of Hunter newspapers including The Newcastle Herald and the Maitland Mercury, and then running their own press agency in the city, the duo shot portraits by the score, covered news and sports events and worked for commercial clients. Later, they both worked in academia and dabbled in artistic pursuits, as well as publishing a string of successful books. Among their highly regarded volumes of photographs are Newcastle Seen (1989)…

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Read more about the article The turret ship Mokatam’s long goodbye

The turret ship Mokatam’s long goodbye

For some years after the end of World War II an ungainly hulk of a ship lay moored at Stockton, Newcastle, NSW. It was a battered old rustbucket that ended up in Newcastle as part of the postwar flotsam that drifted around the Pacific in the conflict's confusing aftermath. I'd seen photos of the ship lying there, and was often curious about its extremely odd shape. It's hull was unlike other ships, with a huge bulging section down low, and I wondered what the reason was this peculiar form. In time I learned the ship's name…

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Read more about the article I owe my life to the Palais Royale
The Palais, as I remember it, in the 1980s. Norm Barney collection.

I owe my life to the Palais Royale

I owe my life to the Palais Royale. That's because my parents, like those of a substantial number of people of my vintage in Newcastle, NSW, met at that famous former music and dance venue. In my own youth in the 1980s the Palais was, as far as I was concerned, just another venue for loud music, expensive drinks and tense nights of standing in dark, crowded corners forlornly hoping to meet the girl of my dreams while also trying to stay out of the way of aggro drunks. It was different for my parents. In…

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