© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

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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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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Newcastle’s Leonora Glassworks

Newcastle’s sadly missed Leonora glassworks was founded by three Czech immigrants - Joe and Henry Vecera and Joe Tvrdik - who came to Australia before World War II as highly qualified glass-workers. When war broke out they were employed at the ELMA lampworks making light globes, radio valves and parts for bomb-sights. After the war they sensed an opportunity and opened their own factory in a two-storey brick former machinery shop on the grounds of the Old Lambton Colliery.The small factory opened on August 15, 1947 and at first it made mostly tableware, although its first…

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