Newcastle Archives - Photo Time Tunnel

Shelley Beach, Mayfield: a casualty of industry

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:November 18, 2023
Post category:History Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
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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…

Lawhill off the coast of Newcastle, NSW, 1944

The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:September 28, 2023
Post category:History Maritime and shipping Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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On September 9, 1944, when the veteran four-masted barque Lawhill arrived at Newcastle, NSW, on a trading visit, the city must have responded with excitement. With the world still at war - although by now it was clear the Allies were on the front foot in both Europe against Germany and the Pacific against Japan - the appearance of a big sailing ship would have taken the minds of old-timers back to their youth, when such vessels were regular visitors in the busy harbour. Younger people would have realised too, that this was likely to be…

The Herald article from 1993 included an imaginative artist's impression.

Rob the Ranter in 1861 Newcastle, NSW

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 31, 2023
Post category:History Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Rob the Ranter first crossed my path 30 years ago. That was when my attention was drawn by the then archivist at the University of Newcastle, Denis Rowe, to the existence of an interesting three-part serial article that had been published in The Newcastle Chronicle in 1862. The article was titled Reminiscences of a Three-month sojourn in Newcastle, and was written by an anonymous figure who used the pen-name “Rob the Ranter”. Impressed by the content of the piece, I persuaded the editor ofThe Newcastle Herald to re-publish an edited version – again in three parts…