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Newcastle

Read more about the article Spero Davias’s Hunter Street project
The front page of Spero Davias's Hunter Street website

Spero Davias’s Hunter Street project

Businessman, electronics whiz, ham radio enthusiast, Greek culture aficionado, family man and keen historian of Newcastle's Hunter Street. With so many passions no wonder the recent passing of Spero Davias caused such a reaction in his home city of Newcastle, NSW. He'd been on my long list of people I had wanted to interview for a blog post on this website and when I heard he'd gone I kicked myself for missing the chance to talk to him about his remarkable life and, especially, the extraordinary website he created to document the history of Hunter Street,…

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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 The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944
Lawhill off the coast of Newcastle, NSW, 1944

The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944

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…

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