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Read more about the article A shopping coupon prize took him to the Titanic
Left to right: Andrew Rogers, Genya Chernaev (pilot) and Roman Sugden. Photo from Andrew Rogers.

A shopping coupon prize took him to the Titanic

When the story of the Titanic submersible disaster broke, my mind instantly went back 20 years to an interview with the first and - up until then at least - only Australian to have visited the wreck of the sunken liner. I had always remembered that interview because of the strange way Andrew Rogers wound up on the trip and because of the story he told about the submersible almost becoming trapped on part of the wreckage. Andrew's Titanic tale began in 1997 when he and his wife Winnie were planning a trip to India. They…

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Dalkeith Hilder, Aeropelican founder

Dalkeith Llewellyn Hilder became famous in the Newcastle area for creating the Belmont airstrip at Lake Macquarie and for founding the Aeropelican commuter airline that operated there. But aside from those signature achievements he was a driven man with many business achievements to his name. Speaking of his name, he was seldom referred to as Dalkeith. His family knew him as "Dal", while most other people - including work and business associates - called him "Keith". (Confusingly, his son was named Keith, but people outside his family called him "Bill".) According to a short biography supplied…

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Read more about the article Pillar of the community quietly disappeared
Parnell Park in 1940, with the old courthouse pillar prominent

Pillar of the community quietly disappeared

I didn't know it had gone until I went for a walk in Parnell Place and realised something was missing. It took a while to figure out what it was, and when I did I still hunted around for a while, thinking I'd simply remembered its location wrongly. But no, the old pillar monument - one of the pillars that once supported the portico of Newcastle's earlier courthouse. The old courthouse once stood on the corner of Hunter and Bolton Streets, where the grand sandstone former post office building now stands awaiting restoration. That corner was,…

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