© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

BHP

Read more about the article Shelley Beach, Mayfield: a casualty of industry

Shelley Beach, Mayfield: a casualty of industry

The rare photograph above, taken by Newcastle girl Doris Schuck in about 1919, shows Shelley Beach, on the Hunter River at Mayfield. Shelley Beach and its adjoining park were treasured by Newcastle people until overwhelming pressure from the BHP steelworks led to the public reserve being handed over to the corporate giant for reclamation and industrial expansion. These days the former park and beach are buried under tonnes of industrial fill in the approaches to the Tourle Street bridge, leading to what is now Kooragang Island.Shelley Beach fronted “Platt’s Channel”, once a broad arm of the…

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Read more about the article In-house journals and corporate magazines

In-house journals and corporate magazines

In years gone by many workplaces published their own in-house magazines and newsletters. From the biggest corporations to quite small regional businesses, organisations produced these staff journals and company magazines to foster morale among employees and to help promote an image of good corporate citizenship. These days such material - where it exists at all - is generally published online, saving the cost of paper, printing and distribution. As for the vast array of publications generated in the past, it's fair to say that only a relatively small proportion remains in existence, often stuffed in drawers,…

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Read more about the article A BHP mail-room boy and shipping clerk remembers

A BHP mail-room boy and shipping clerk remembers

When Neville Chant started work as a clerk at the BHP Company's Newcastle steelworks in 1936, he was allocated to the correspondence department as a mail-room boy. He'd just finished his school leaving certificate and he started at the BHP just before Christmas. It was a different world from that of 2021, but although communications technology might seem primitive compared to today's, it was capable of great efficiency. While BHP's headquarters were in Melbourne, it had important interests in many parts of Australia. The BHP steelworks and its satellite industries were a huge presence in Newcastle,…

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