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History

Read more about the article Bill put ships in bottles

Bill put ships in bottles

BILL Weaver’s great-grandfather owned and operated four coastal trading ships, back in Great Britain’s days of sail. Bill’s grandfather – a skipper on his father’s little fleet – won a British Empire Medal in World War I for spotting a German submarine prowling around in Solway Firth. His sharp eyes saved a troopship from destruction. He was also coxswain in the local lifeboat. He drowned in a regatta accident in 1933. Ran away to sea Bill’s father (also named Bill) ran away to sea at 16, signing on as a deck boy with the Blue Funnel…

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Read more about the article How many hopes lie buried here? Plague in Newcastle 1905

How many hopes lie buried here? Plague in Newcastle 1905

There is (or was?) an unofficial car park at the eastern boundary of the Stockton Centre where fishermen would leave their cars before walking to the beach. Beside the wooden barriers that marked the car park's edge stood a lonely tombstone. The inscription told of a teenager's untimely death on April 2, 1905, just one day before his 17th birthday. At the foot of the white marble monument is a century-old question that asks passers-by to reflect on the long-forgotten heartbreak of a Newcastle family: "How many hopes lie buried here?" The name on the tombstone…

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Read more about the article Chequers, a swinging hotspot in sixties Sydney
Outside Chequers nightclub, Sydney, September 14, 1963

Chequers, a swinging hotspot in sixties Sydney

A few years ago, while rummaging in a Newcastle antique shop, I found a box of photographic negatives that seemed to contain interesting images. I bought them, took them home and scanned them. I was surprised and interested to discover that they were mostly photographs of Sydney's famous Chequers nightclub, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1960s. I read a little about Chequers and found that it was owned by Keith and Denis Wong, members of a well-known Sydney family active in the entertainment scene over a number of years. The Wongs also are reported…

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