My pastel pink hybrid tea-rose
Hybrid tea-rose at the Roxborough Park Rose Gardens, Baulkham Hills, north-western Sydney (Hills District). Photographed some time ago now with my Canon 60D and a Canon 100mm macro lens. Re-edited today, Wednesday 24th June 2020, adding a little glamour.
Zonal Pink Geranium
My new zonal pink geranium from the Geranium Cottage, Old Northern Road, Middle Dural (northern Sydney). Photographed with my new Canon 5D Mk IV and its Canon 100mm macro lens, on a ridiculously warm and sunny winter's day here in the Hills District of Sydney.
Historic Central railway station (1855), Sydney, Australia
Central railway station (1855) is a heritage-listed Australian railway station located at the southern end of the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales. The station is the largest and busiest railway station in New South Wales and serves as a major transport interchange for NSW TrainLink inter-city rail services, Sydney Trains commuter rail services, Sydney light rail services, State Transit bus services and private coach transport services. Often abbreviated as Central or Central station, the station is also known as Sydney Terminal (especially the older, intercity section). The property is owned by RailCorp, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. It recorded 85.4 million passenger movements in 2018. Central station occupies a large city block separating Haymarket, Surry Hills and the central business district, bounded by Railway Square and Pitt Street in the west, Eddy Avenue in the north, Elizabeth Street in the east and the Devonshire Street Tunnel in the south. Parts of the station and marshalling yards extend as far south as Cleveland Street, and are located on the site of the former Devonshire Street Cemetery. z2 576
Castle Hill metro station
Historical Arthur Whitling Park, an attractive green entrance to the Sydney Metro Northwest Castle Hill Station, features a brand new children’s playground, skylight 'lanterns' and interpretive signage that pays tribute to the original railway line and the Australia Armed Services. Castle Hill Station (opened 2019) is an underground metro station, about 25 metres below ground level, located beneath Arthur Whitling Park, and opposite the Castle Towers Shopping Centre
Observatory Hill pano || Sydney
Observatory Hill is a quiet park right in the middle of the Rocks/Miller Point in Sydney. There was a conjunction of Mars/Jupiter and Venus just after sunset. The conjunction was't visible as you can see the weather didn't cooperate. This pano looking north with the bridge to the right, then Luna Park on the water and the North Sydney business district (where I work) on the hill. The foreground is the counterpoint being the historic Rocks district. The Garrison Church (lower right), also known as Holy Trinity in Millers Point, Sydney was the first military church built in colonial Australia. It continues as an active Anglican church, now in a joint parish with St Philip's Church, part of the Diocese of Sydney. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Church_(Sydney) To the left is the Sydney Harbour Control Tower. Not a lot of information online but with the creation of the Barangaroo district, it will be pulled down. Some suggestions were to make it a restaurant or bungee jumping site but to no avail. Some call it "The Pill" as it controls all the shipping berths in Sydney Harbour. The tower has been an 87-metre high landmark at Barangaroo since 1974, when it was installed to control berths in the harbour. It was closed in 2011 when vessel control services were moved to Port Botany. The tower will be replaced with a "interpretive historical display" focusing on maritime history and Millers Point www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-harbour-control-tower-at-barang... Some history of the park at www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-...
Unexpected Opening
Seattle's skyline continues to evolve year after year...after year. This image was captured by means of sheer serendipity. I was on my way home from a photo assignment in the suburbs this same evening, and happened to drive through the Mount Baker neighborhood while en route. The violet clouds above and the silhouetted outline of the Olympic Mountains along the horizon created a pocket of open sky with a predominantly orange hue. The contrast was mesmerizing, so I had to stop Sydney (that's my car's name) and capture the moment before it was gone. Probably the most eye-catching item in the image is the brightly illuminated construction of the city's next skyscraper, The Mark, which will serve as both an office tower and luxury hotel. The Mark will be the 5th tallest building in Seattle upon completion later this year. TIA OFFICIAL WEBSITE / VUE ATYPIQUE / TIA TWITTER / TIA OFFICIAL BLOG / TIA INSTAGRAM
Gladesville Bridge (Sydney, Australia)
The Gladesville Bridge, completed in 1964, connects the suburbs of Gladesville, which is located on the northern bank of the Parramatta River, and Drummoyne, which is located on its southern and eastern sides. Europeans first settled in this part of Sydney soon after landfall at Sydney Cove, when Crown grants of thirty-acre lots were made in the vicinity of Gladesville in the 1790s to encourage agricultural pursuits to the area. Two of the first grantees were John Doody and Ann Benson. Gladesville is named for convict John Glade, who arrived to the colony in 1791. Glade prospered soon after his arrival, and by 1802 owned 60 acres in the district (encompassing earlier land grants to Doody and Benson). In 1836, Glade received an additional Crown grant of 50 acres between Glades Bay and Looking Glass Bay (including Gladesville Point). In the late 1830s, a limited number of settlers were attracted to the area by the employment opportunities associated with the establishment of the Tarban Creek Asylum in 1837. The future suburb of Gladesville remained isolated and rural until the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1856, William Whaley Billyard purchased and subdivided the early land grants to Doody, Benson and Glade into large urban building blocks; this subdivision was known as the Gladesville Estate. Billyard promoted land in the Gladesville Estate as suitable for 'gentlemen's residences' and sold blocks on which he had built villas to wealthier settlers of the colony of NSW. Billyard erected a wharf at Gladesville on the Parramatta River to provide better access to Sydney, and therefore to ensure the sale of land from his estate. This wharf was connected to the Great North Road (now Victoria Road) via Wharf Road, which was also built under instruction from Billyard. In 1881, a bridge was built across the Parramatta River between Drummoyne and Huntleys Point (Gladesville), thereby connecting Gladesville to the rest of Sydney. The first Gladesville Bridge was a 'two lane swing span iron bridge' to the south west of the present Gladesville Bridge. The introduction of tram services to the area in the 1880s meant that both Gladesville, and Drummoyne were increasingly populated from this time. Drummoyne lies on the eastern side of the Parramatta River from Gladesville, and was also an agricultural district in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. By 1806, land grants to members of the NSW Corps were cancelled and 1,500 acres of land was granted to surgeon John Harris; this land grant was known as Five Dock Farm and encompassed the future suburbs of Five Dock, Drummoyne, Chiswick and Abbotsford. Harris sold Five Dock Farm in 1836, and the following year the estate was subdivided for sale into 30- and 60-acre lots. In 1853, merchant William Wright purchased land in area, and named the suburb Drummoyne after his family home in Scotland. From the 1860s onwards, local residents agitated for Drummoyne to be connected to Sydney by direct road. By 1882, the Iron Cove bridge between Drummoyne and Rozelle had been completed, which encouraged further subdivision and settlement to the area (as did the Gladesville Bridge to the north). By the 1890s, Drummoyne was being serviced by regular ferry services and a public tram system, encouraging further suburban development. Five Dock and Drummoyne were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Drummoyne in 1902 (the Municipal district of Five Dock, including Drummoyne, had been incorporated in 1871). By the 1950s, traffic along the original (1881) Gladesville Bridge was becoming congested, commuters complaining of long delays in crossing the bridge. Clearly a new bridge was needed to alleviate traffic build up. In 1959, the Department of Main Roads (DMR) let the contract to build a 'six-lane high level concrete arch bridge over the Parramatta River' to the partnership of Reed & Mallik Ltd (Engineers, Salisbury, England) and Stuart Bros (Builders, Sydney, Australia). The new Gladesville Bridge was built to a design by the engineering firm of Messrs. G Maunsell & Partners (London, England). The Gladesville Bridge, described as one of the 'most spectacular of replacement bridges built in the Sydney', was officially opened on 2 October 1964 by Her Royal Highness Princess Marina of Kent and the Hon P D Hills MLA, Deputy Premier, Minister for Local Government and Minister for Highways. The bridge was opened to traffic on 24 October 1964. At the time of its construction, the Gladesville Bridge was the longest reinforced concrete arch span in the world. The new Gladesville Bridge was constructed as part of a program of works undertaken by the DMR in the 1960s to provide a series of freeway systems out of Sydney. The new bridge was to form part of a proposed North Western Freeway leading from Newcastle to the centre of Sydney via the inner city suburbs of Glebe and Annandale. It was one of three projected freeways leading out of the city. The North Western freeway was intended to replace the Five Bridges route (which also included Pyrmont Bridge, Glebe Island Bridge, Iron Cove Bridge and Fig Tree Bridge). By the early 1970s, protests about the route of the proposed freeway through some of Sydney's inner city suburbs (such as Glebe and Annandale) meant that the DMR's plan was never realised. Gladesville Bridge was one of three bridges constructed along this proposed route; the other bridges were the Tarban Creek and Fig Tree Bridges, and as such are vestiges of the DMR's unrealised plans. The DMR regularly inspected the bridge from the time of its completion (1964), until at least the early 1970s. DMR records indicate that divers inspected parts of the bridge exposed to water (namely the submerged abutments and thrust blocks) every 6 months from December 1965, to check for spalling in the reinforced concrete and for marine growth. It is unclear whether these inspections continue to be carried out, however, oral history testimony from engineers involved with its construction suggest that the bridge has not been rigorously maintained in recent times, with complaints about condition of the concrete (discolouration and spalling). The roadway of Gladesville Bridge was widened in the 1970s, in order to allow for greater traffic flow over the bridge, and along the heavily trafficked route of Victoria Road. The roadway of the bridge was increased from six lanes to eight, taking in some of the width of pedestrian walkways on either side. At the time of inspection in August 2004, the Gladesville Bridge was in sound structural condition. Source: New South Wales Heritage Register.
Hawkesbury sandstone
Hawkesbury sandstone at Freshwater Beach. The fern is the Japanese Holly Fern (Cyrtomium falcatum), a weed which populates most of the seaside areas of Sydney. The beach is the first beach north of the more famous beach at Manly. The sandstone is a relic from the triassic. Sedimentary deposits which originated in the western districts of New South Wales, from around the Broken Hill area. The river delta was a huge area, similar to the Nile and Ganges deltas of today. At the time, this entire area was close to the south pole. So say the scientists with the theory of continental drift. The rock is mostly quartz with varying degrees of iron, giving the colours of yellow, orange and red. Wind weathering produces interesting patterns. The rock breaks down to create a most infertile soil. This sandstone is the most often seen rock type in the Sydney area.
Getting To Work
maxgor.com
Hills District
so i am really liking this camera / lens combo.
Sunset from Observatory Hill || Sydney {Explore 67, 2015/09/09}
A quiet park right in the middle of the Rocks/Miller Point in Sydney. There was a conjunction of Mars/Jupiter and Venus just after sunset. The strange tower on the right was to be a foreground counterpart to the conjunction but as you can see the weather didn't cooperate with the clouds covering it all. To the right is the Sydney Harbour Control Tower. Not a lot of information online but with the creation of the Barangaroo district, it will be pulled down. Some suggestions were to make it a restaurant or bungee jumping site but to no avail. Some call it "The Pill" as it controls all the shipping berths in Sydney Harbour. The tower has been an 87-metre high landmark at Barangaroo since 1974, when it was installed to control berths in the harbour. It was closed in 2011 when vessel control services were moved to Port Botany. The tower will be replaced with a "interpretive historical display" focusing on maritime history and Millers Point www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-harbour-control-tower-at-barang... Some history of the park at www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-...
Koala Park
West Pennant Hills - a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is sad to hear bad news about the park. When we visited in 2013 it was well kept. We did not see any neglect of animals. "The Koala Park Sanctuary was built in the 1920s and opened in October 1930 by the owner Noel Burnet. He established the sanctuary because he was concerned at the large number of koalas being killed for the fur trade, and hunting of the animal would ultimately lead to its extinction. He spent the remainder of his life dedicated to researching and preserving the animals habitat." The park has 10 acres and 24 animal species. In 2010 the park owners were accused of for neglect and abuse of animal's. A court hearing due on February 2, 2016 will determine the fate of the business and the animals it keeps. (Wikipedia)
Green entrance to Castle Hill metro station
Historical Arthur Whitling Park, an attractive green entrance to the Sydney Metro Northwest Castle Hill Station, features a brand new children’s playground, skylight 'lanterns' and interpretive signage that pays tribute to the original railway line and the Australia Armed Services. Castle Hill Station (opened 2019) is an underground metro station, about 25 metres below ground level, located beneath Arthur Whitling Park, and opposite the Castle Towers Shopping Centre
Adelaide. Autumn afternoon in Belair National Park.
Belair Hawthorn Maze. Once the government built the Governor’s summer residence at Belair (1859) they were responsible for most of the area that the National Park covers today. Part of it was later controlled by the Woods and Forests Department at the suggestion of the SA Surveyor General George Goyder. Experiments were made from the 1870s onwards with small plantations of pine, European trees and Australian hardwoods in a 500 acre section. Whilst under that department’s control a European style hawthorn maze was planted near Belair station in 1886 just three years after the train service was open. So the maze was planted years before the park was declared. The maze has six concentric circles of hawthorn with an open centre. It is just visible on a rise near the station. With shallow soils and no supplementary water the maze almost died out before a local Blackwood medical doctor wrote about it, organised a rescue project and obtained a government grant to do so. Dr Barry Long then wrote an article on the maze for the Australian Garden History Society of which he is a member. It was put on the Register of the National Estate in 1975 as the only surviving colonial maze in Australia. The maze was re-opened in 1991. It now has a water system and is reviving well. 3. Belair National Park Entrance. When the park was declared the entrance from Belair Station and Sheoak Road was the main entrance to the park as almost all visitors came by train. But the origins of the park go back to the early days. A summer house for the governor was erected in 1859 and occupied from 1860 onwards until Marble Hill was completed in 1878. Government officials used the house after that time. Around 1880 the government tried to subdivide and sell the farm. This aroused public condemnation and a local Belair resident, Walter Gooch led a crusade to preserve the area, its fauna and flora. The railway brought visitors to the old government farm and from 1883 the Field Naturalists began to urge the creation of a national park. Gooch persisted and in 1891 the Belair National Park Act was passed. It was the second national park in Australia, after the Royal Park near Sydney and it was the fourth national Park in the world. The Belair Lodge House near Belair station, which is still occupied, was completed in 1893. Walter Gooch was made one of the first Commissioners of the National Park. Commissioners ran the park until 1972 when it was put under the control of the department of National Parks and Wildlife Service. Belair. The first white people to visit the area were absconders from the ship named Coromandel in 1837 and then Nicholas Foot started “squatting” on land here in 1839. Also in 1839 Governor Gawler selected 850 acres for a government farm at Belair and the squatter Foot was paid £300 compensation for the cottage he had built on the land. Other settlers eschewed the top of the ridge at Belair as the soils were thin, there was no permanent water on the crests and only the valley bottoms appealed to settlers. Governor Robe extended the government farm to 2,100 acres in 1848 for the production of hay and agistment for police horses. About this time some settlers took up land in the valleys and the Travellers Rest Inn at Belair opened to provide drinks for the teams going up to Coromandel Valley and beyond. The Inn closed in 1862. In fact the first titled land was granted to James Coutts in 1844 for the area that is now Glenalta. More settlers purchased land from 1849 when land was surveyed and put up for sale. There were enough settlers in the district for the opening of the first private school in 1861 by Maria Ludewigs. She had sixteen students. It is believed that the name of Belair was given to the district by Maria’s husband Gustav. He subdivided some of his land in 1861 and named it after his wife’s birthplace in the Martinique Islands.
When The Sun Drops Down || NEPEAN RIVER
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rhyspopephotography Twitter: twitter.com/#!/rhyspope So many photos of this place, but at different times of day and at different times of the year, this place blooms new opportunity... Yarramundi is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Yarramundi is located 69 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. The suburb is named after Yarramundi, an Indigenous Australian of the Boorooberongal clan of the Darug people. He was a garadyi or 'doctor' and was called by Europeans 'the chief of the Richmond Tribe'. This area was previously known as Kearns Retreat.
A Changed Landscape || HAT HILL || BLACKHEATH
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rhyspopephotography Twitter: twitter.com/#!/rhyspope This shot taken a few days after the fires had moved through the area in Blackheath in October. Blackheath is an Australian suburb located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between Katoomba and Mount Victoria in New South Wales. The town has an approximate altitude of 1,065 metres (3,494 ft) AHD and is located approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) west north-west of the Sydney central business district, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north-west of Katoomba and approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of Lithgow. At the 2011 Census, Blackheath had a population of 4,353 people. The area around Blackheath contains some of the most spectacular views in the Blue Mountains, including those over the Grose Valley from Evans Lookout and Govetts Leap in the east, and the lesser-known vista of the Megalong Valley from Hargraves Lookout in the west, past the tiny hamlet of Shipley.
John MacDonald Stand (Exhibition Showgrounds, Brisbane's Bowen Hills)
The history of exhibition on the site of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds dates to August 1876, with the staging of the first Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition. None of the buildings extant in 1876 have survived, but the grounds have increased substantially from an original 12 acres, and contain a variety of structures and facilities associated with the annual August Exhibition, which date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the present. The site has been the venue for Queensland's principal agricultural, pastoral and industrial exhibitions for over 125 years. It remains the home of the annual Royal Queensland Show and is Queensland's premier showground. Since 1876 only two annual exhibitions on this site have been cancelled: the 1919 Exhibition due to the influenza epidemic, and in 1942 when the grounds were occupied by military personnel. Prior to the establishment of the Exhibition Grounds in 1876, the site was part of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society's grounds. In July 1863 this Society, established in 1862 to promote the introduction, acclimatization, propagation and distribution in Queensland of economically useful plants and animals, was granted 33 acres of land bounded by Bowen Bridge Road, O'Connell Terrace, Brookes Street and Gregory Terrace. At the northwestern corner of the site, fronting Bowen Bridge Road and O'Connell Terrace, the Society established a public exhibition garden [Bowen Park]. The remainder of the site was used for experimentation purposes, growing and propagating plants and seeds sent from other parts of Queensland, other colonies, and around the world, and raising various introduced animals. The Society played an important role in the beginnings of commercial agriculture in Queensland, introducing or trialling crops and plants such as mango trees, ginger plants, sugar cane, olive trees and choko vines. Queensland's 1876 Intercolonial Exhibition was not the first competitive demonstration of agricultural and industrial progress in the colony. In 1854 squatters from the Darling Downs and Moreton Bay districts of New South Wales established the Northern Districts' Agricultural and Pastoral Association, modelled on the Scottish Highland Agricultural Societies. They planned to hold exhibitions [mainly of pastoral produce] at Brisbane, Ipswich, Warwick, Drayton and Gayndah, in rotation, and some shows were held before the Association became immersed in more political activities. Nurseryman AJ Hockings was instrumental in holding horticultural shows in Brisbane from 1855. In the 1860s other regional agricultural and pastoral associations were formed, among the earliest being the Darling Downs Agricultural Society [based at Toowoomba] in 1860, the Drayton and Toowoomba Agricultural and Horticultural Society in 1864, the East Moreton Farmers Association [based at Ipswich] in 1866 and the Eastern Downs Horticultural and Agricultural Association [based at Warwick] in 1867. These Associations conducted annual exhibitions of agricultural, horticultural, and pastoral produce and farm machinery. Prizes were awarded for best exhibits. The object was to encourage the exchange of knowledge and to foster better farm practice. Associations such as these proliferated in Queensland during the second half of the 19th century, and each held an annual 'show'. In 1874 moves were initiated by Queensland's Chief Inspector of Stock, Patrick Robertson Gordon, to form a national agricultural society, to plan Brisbane's first intercolonial exhibition. He was supported by Gresley Lukin, editor of the Brisbane Courier and the Queenslander, and agricultural agent John Fenwick. In May 1875 an inaugural meeting, presided over by the Governor, Sir William Wellington Cairns, was held to form the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland. A constitution drafted by the headmaster of the Brisbane Grammar School, Thomas Harlin, was adopted in July, and the first meeting of the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland was held at the Brisbane Town Hall on 13 August 1875. Arthur Hunter Palmer, later premier of Queensland, was elected to the chair and other founding members included Joshua Peter Bell, George Harris, George Gromes, Thomas Harlin, Charles Stewart Mein and William Hemmant. At this meeting use of part of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society's grounds was discussed, and subsequently a lease of about 12 acres from the Society was arranged. The alliance with the Acclimatisation Society was considered to be a sensible arrangement. There were common interests, the site was well supplied with water and convenient to the city, and it was thought at the time that many women and townspeople, who might have hesitated in visiting a purely utilitarian exhibition of produce, animals and farm machinery, may have been induced by the additional attraction of the Acclimatisation Society Gardens. The Intercolonial Exhibition was intended to promote and showcase the agricultural, pastoral and industrial resources of the whole of Queensland. Whether it could be sustained beyond a single exhibition remained to be seen. The National Association did not wish to supplant regional agricultural societies and associations, but wished to encourage their organisation, and foster a spirit of friendly rivalry amongst them by holding a grand central exhibition for the competition of winners at minor shows [BC 25 October 1875]. To avoid clashing with local shows, and in order to hold the exhibition during fine weather, before the shearing season, and when good feed would be found along the roads, it was decided to stage the Exhibition in August 1876. The first exhibition building was a large timber hall with side aisles and a central clerestory. It was erected in 1876 along Gregory Terrace near the corner of Bowen Bridge Road, at a cost of £1254, and was a modification of a design prepared by Queensland Colonial Architect FDG Stanley. Sydney exhibitor Jules Joubert added a rectangular wing to the northern side to increase the extent of his exhibition. Cattle, sheep and horse stalls of hardwood framing with corrugated iron roofing were erected in the grounds, and a small showring was established north of the Exhibition Building. The first Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition was declared open by Governor Cairns on Tuesday 22 August 1876, and ran until 28 August. It proved immensely popular, with a total of £1045 taken at the gate. Thereafter, the Exhibition became an annual event. In the period 1876-1888, the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland expended an estimated £7000 on the grounds. The main exhibition building was doubled in size for the 1877 exhibition, and another annexe was provided for horticultural exhibits. In 1879, the National Association was awarded a lease of 23 acres of the 32 acre Acclimatisation Society grounds for a period of 50 years, for use as an exhibition ground. In 1881 the railway to Sandgate was constructed through the National Association and Acclimatisation Society grounds. [The line was later re-routed via Central Station, Brunswick Street and Bowen Hills, but the Exhibition Line still opens each year during the August show.] By 1882, the Exhibition Grounds comprised all the land south, southeast and east of the railway line and bounded by Bowen Bridge Road, Gregory Terrace, Brookes Street and O'Connell Terrace. A 1000 seat capacity grandstand, designed by Stanley, was erected in 1885 [not the first grandstand on the site]. In 1887 a timber residence designed by GHM Addison was constructed at the corner of O'Connell Terrace and Brookes Street for the Secretary of the National Association. In 1887 the first exhibition building was destroyed by fire. The public called for it to be replaced with a masonry building, but the National Association was reluctant to commit to the necessary expenditure without more secure land tenure, against which they could borrow money for permanent exhibition buildings. In 1888 a temporary timber exhibition building was constructed for approximately £500, while the National Association called for competitive designs for a permanent exhibition building. Under the provisions of the National Association and Acclimatisation Society Act 1890, the land leased from the Queensland Acclimatisation Society for an exhibition ground was resumed and granted to the National Association as Trustees, who were also empowered under this act to borrow money from the Queensland Government to erect the new exhibition building. The design competition was won by GHM Addison, the Brisbane partner of the Melbourne-based firm Oakden Addison and Kemp. In 1890 Addison amended his original design to a T-shape, incorporating a southern wing with a concert hall which could be rented out to offset repayments on the government loan. The new building was erected closer to the corner of Bowen Bridge Road and Gregory Terrace than the original building. The foundation stone was laid on 25 April 1891 and the builder, John Quinn, was required to have a section of the building completed for the August 1891 exhibition, with the whole of the building to be completed within 12 months. A plan of the Exhibition Grounds published in The Queenslander on 15 August 1891 shows the new exhibition building, several smaller pavilions, a show ring in the position of the present main show ring, the 1885 grandstand [where the Ernest Baynes Stand is now located], animal shelters along the boundaries, and the secretary's residence near Brookes Street. The new exhibition building was completed in 1892 and a public holiday was declared for 10 August 1982 to mark the official opening of the Exhibition. Despite the economic depression, 32,000 people attended on the holiday and more than 66,000 over the four-day course of the Exhibition. However, the National Association did not escape the effects of the 1890s depression, struggling to repay the government loan on the exhibition building. In 1897 the colonial government resumed the building and liquidated the Association's debts. The Exhibition Concert Hall continued to serve as a concert venue but the remainder of the Exhibition Building was refurbished for the Queensland Museum, which moved to the building from William Street in 1899. At this time the museum grounds were resumed from the National Association's land as a separate reserve. The National Association struggled to maintain the viability of the remaining Exhibition Grounds until 1902-03, when the Queensland government took control of the Association's assets, leasing the Exhibition Grounds back to the Association at an annual rental. In the early 1900s the Queensland economy revived, and the National Association's financial position firmed. Substantial improvements and re-arrangements of the Exhibition Grounds were made in 1906 in time for the August show. A fine new grandstand, designed by Brisbane architect Claude William Chambers, was erected at a cost of £6248. [In 1923, this stand was re-named the John MacDonald Stand in honour of a long-serving National Association councillor]. The side show booths which had been located on the hill to the north of the main ring, were moved to the valley on the northwest side of the railway, their place being taken by machinery exhibits. The hill has since been known as Machinery Hill, and the valley as Sideshow Alley. In 1909, the year of the Jubilee Exhibition [celebrating 50 years since the separation of Queensland from New South Wales], the Exhibition Grounds were extended with the acquisition of Petty's Paddock, an adjacent 6 acres bounded by Gregory Terrace and Alexandria, Science and Water streets, purchased for £4500. About 1910 a two-storeyed timber building with pressed metal ceilings and a prominent roof flêche, was erected along the northern side of Gregory Terrace near the main entrance. A section of this building was utilized as a Post Office by August 1933. During the First World War [1914-18], a military recruiting and training camp, completed with rifle range, was established at the Exhibition Grounds, but this did not prevent the annual Exhibition from proceeding. In the 1910s Brisbane architects Richard Gailey snr and Richard Gailey jnr established a relationship with the National Association which was to last through the 1920s and 1930s. In May 1914 they called tenders for the construction of a sheep, pig and poultry pavilion, and fencing along Gregory Terrace, and in 1917 for timber dog and horse pavilions. In 1917, Toowoomba's Austral Hall [designed by architect William Hodgen and erected in 1904] was purchased for £1500 and re-erected at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds. It was the largest building of its type in Queensland. Reflecting the growing popularity of the motor car, the pavilion was occupied by representatives of the local automobile trade. It was the first Brisbane Exhibition pavilion to be dedicated solely to motor vehicle displays, automobile exhibits previously being located on Machinery Hill. In 1919 Austral Hall was renamed the John Reid Pavilion following the death that year of Brisbane merchant John Reid, a long-time supporter of the National Association. Affleck House was completed by August 1918 for the showtime use of Stock Breeders' Association delegates. It was named after National Association councillor WL Affleck, who raised the finance for the construction. During the influenza epidemic which swept Australia in 1919, following the return of service personnel from overseas at the end of the First World War, army huts were erected at the exhibition grounds as isolation wards for the nearby Brisbane General Hospital, and dining rooms were set up to feed and house the expected influx of seriously ill patients. Due to the threat of crowd contagion, and to save disturbing patients in the isolation wards, the Exhibition was cancelled that year. In 1920 the Prince of Wales [later Edward VIII] visited the Exhibition, following which the Association moved to incorporate the word 'Royal' into its name as the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, which over the years has been reduced, unofficially, to the Royal National Association [RNA]. In recent years the RNA has registered as its trademark the word 'Ekka' [a long-standing colloquial shortening of the work 'Exhibition']. During the interwar years many improvements were made to the exhibition grounds, with various buildings erected or extended during this period. A timber show hall was erected c1921 between Gregory Terrace and Water Street, and a brick exhibition building, designed by architects Atkinson & Conrad, was constructed in 1923 for Lever Bros of Sydney. In 1922-23 the Ernest Baynes Stand was erected on the site of the 1885 grandstand. Designed by architect Richard Gailey Jnr and constructed by John Hutchinson, the building had two tiers with a seating capacity of 5000 and a total capacity of 7000. It was constructed with a steel frame faced with brick, the larger steel sections being imported from Britain and the smaller sections made in Australia. The foundation stone of the new grandstand was laid by Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan, in November 1922, and the stand was completed in time for the August 1923 Exhibition, at a cost of £26,884. The sub-floor contained a dining room which could accommodate 600 persons at a sitting, and a row of ten shops facing the lane at the rear of the structure. A second show ring, intended principally for exhibiting dairy cattle, was established to the north of the railway line which transects the Exhibition Grounds, and was ready for the show of 1924. Its construction reflected the growing importance of the dairy industry to Queensland where, with Government encouragement, it became the State's second largest primary industry and sustained rural Queensland during the depression of the 1930s. By 1925 the RNA Council Stand, located adjacent to the Ernest Baynes Stand overlooking the show ring, had been constructed. The Stand was originally two storeys. At some early period the northern end of the building was extended to incorporate an entrance to the seating in front of the stand. By 1938 a third storey had been added to the building, and later a two-storeyed extension facing Executive Street was constructed. In 1927 legislation was enacted to grant the National Association perpetual lease of the grounds, at that time comprising just under 20 acres. There followed a burst of ground improvements, mostly designed by architect Richard Gailey jnr, including a dog pavilion, meat exhibition pavilion, more turnstiles, and a new lavatory block in 1927; and new horse and cattle stalls, and turnstiles at the corner of Costin Street and Gregory Terrace, in 1928. Also erected in 1928 were show pavilions for General Motors Pty Ltd, Brisbane Cars & Tractors Ltd, the Vacuum Oil Co. [concrete structure], and the Kodak Company Ltd, and a demonstration fibrous cement cottage designed by architect EP Trewern for James Hardie & Co. At this period the RNA sought to make the grounds a first-class venue for cricket, football and other sports, but had limited success in attracting the big matches. The year 1928 was a high point for the Association's sporting ambitions, with the showground the venue for the first England versus Australia cricket test in Queensland, and the first in the 1928-29 series. Legendary Australian cricketer Donald Bradman made his Test debut at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds in 1928. More successful than cricket or football was Exhibition Speedway, established in 1926. A new Lady Forster Creche was opened in Costin Street, near the main entrance to the Exhibition Grounds, in time for the 1928 show. [Previously the creche was located on the main showgrounds north of Gregory Terrace.] The centre was operated by the Creche and Kindergarten Association and provided baby care while parents were enjoying the rounds of the show. In 1939 the Creche was removed to a new location near the Anglican dining hall, north of Gregory Terrace. In 1929 the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which since 1923 had been conducting a bank at the Exhibition Grounds during the annual show, constructed a purpose-designed bank building in the grounds, just to the south of the Council Stand. Although it was not uncommon for banks to establish agencies at showgrounds around Australia, this building is believed to be the only 'exhibition' bank building specifically constructed for the Commonwealth Bank. The northeast end of the building was extended in 1947. Despite the severe economic depression of the early 1930s, the Exhibition continued to attract its strong annual August attendance. More land was acquired, including a further 2 acres 23 perches excised from Bowen Park in 1932, bringing the total Exhibition Grounds to about 40 acres. Improvements to the grounds at this period included more cattle stalls along O'Connell Terrace [architect Richard Gailey jnr] and a new show pavilion for Foggitt Jones Pty Ltd [architects Addison & MacDonald] in 1932; and a new dairy produce hall [architect Richard Gailey jnr] for the RNA in 1933. As the economy recovered during the second half of the 1930s a number of substantial improvements were made to the RNA's exhibition facilities. In 1936 Gailey called tenders for a Wool Hall, additions to the pig and horse pavilions, new Stock & Station Agents' Offices and Dining Hall, and a new yearling sale ring. New concrete roads and additional seating accommodation were provided. The old Industrial Pavilion was demolished in 1938 and its replacement, designed by Richard Gailey jnr and covering an area of 3.5 acres, was completed along Gregory Terrace in June 1939 at a cost of £40,000. A new electricity hall at the corner of Gregory Terrace and Costin Street was also completed for the 1939 show - reputedly the first show pavilion in Australia dedicated entirely to electricity exhibits. [The Hall of Science, as it was later known, was demolished in 1986 to make way for a new Exhibition Building]. During the Second World War, the Exhibition Grounds were occupied from late 1939 to 1944 by military authorities as a venue for training, accommodation and embarkation of troops. [Showgrounds and racecourses with their ovals and existing toilet facilities were favoured places to temporarily accommodate service personnel.] Troops at the exhibition grounds slept in pig and cattle pens; the bars beneath the John MacDonald Stand became wet canteens; and troop trains departed from the railway platforms normally used by show patrons. In 1940 and again in 1941, the military vacated the grounds temporarily for the August Exhibition. Following the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, American troops were stationed at the showgrounds and the Exhibition of 1942 was cancelled, but was renewed in a limited fashion in 1943 and 1944. Following the war the RNA purchased a number of buildings from the military, for use on the site. The 1950s saw further improvements and works to the grounds with the construction of a Beef Cattle Pavilion in 1950, the work being carried out by MR Hornibrook Builders at a cost of £206,000, and the addition of seating around the main oval near Machinery Hill. Also constructed in the 1950s was a new Dairy Industry Hall, adjacent to the John Reid Pavilion, on the site of the 1933 dairy hall. By the late 1950s, the grounds comprised approximately 50 acres. A number of new buildings were erected in the 1960s. In 1962 the RNA moved its offices from the Queensland Primary Producers Association building in Adelaide Street to the Exhibition Grounds, and in 1970 a purpose-built RNA Administration Building costing $111,584 was opened. In 1963, on land acquired along Constance Street, a double pavilion known as the Agricultural Hall and Douglas Wadley Pavilion was constructed. The Agricultural Hall housed district and junior farmer exhibits. The Douglas Wadley Pavilion, extended in 1968 and again in 1977, housed dogs, and is used regularly for exhibitions in addition to the annual August show. In 1968 the Ring Control and Broadcast building was enlarged. By 1970, the grounds comprised approximately 55 acres. The first animal nursery was established by RNA councillor Frank Robertson at the 1964 show. It has proved one of the must popular and enduring of the show traditions, and has been copied by show societies throughout Australia. At the 1972 Exhibition a purpose-built facility for the animal nursery was opened, named in honour of Mr Robertson. In the late 1960s the face of Sideshow Alley, traditionally home to the weird and wonderful, began to change. The tents and booths largely disappeared, to be replaced with high technology rides, tests of skill, and popular music entertainment. Controversy was generated in 1971 when the Queensland Government declared a state of emergency from 13 July to 2 August, during the South African Springbok Rubgy team tour, when demonstrations against apartheid were held in Brisbane and throughout Australia. The main show ring at the Exhibition Ground was commandeered to host the matches, as a safe distance could be maintained between spectators and would-be protesters. A two metre high chain wire fence was erected to separate spectators from players. A new two-storeyed brick building for use by the police during the annual show was completed for the 1971 Exhibition. It was located inside the main entrance from Gregory Terrace, and replaced an earlier timber building. A new Members Stand was constructed in the 1970s. Improvements and new buildings in the 1980s included: the refurbishment of the John MacDonald Stand in 1985; the construction of a new Exhibition Building in 1986 on the site of the Hall of Science building, at a cost of $2.5 million [with State Government assistance]; removal of the top seating tier of the Ernest Baynes Stand in 1986, following the Bradford Stadium collapse in London that year; and the opening on 28 November 1988 of the Walter Burnett Building, designed by architects Hulme and Webster, adjacent to the Frank Nicklin Pavilion which accommodates fine arts exhibitions. The auditorium of the Walter Burnett Building seats 1000 people and is equipped with a stage and dance floor. Besides its importance to the annual Exhibition, the building is in constant use for all sorts of activities, including expositions, balls and conferences. It was also the venue for the first public airing of the Fitzgerald Inquiry Report on corruption in Queensland, on 3 July 1989. In 2008, Bowen Hills – including the area of the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds – was declared an Urban Development Area under the Urban Land Development Act 2007 (replaced by the Economic Development Act 2012, with the term Priority Development Area superseding the term Urban Development Area). The RNA launched a project to redevelop the showgrounds and in 2009, property and infrastructure company, Lend Lease, was selected as the RNA’s redevelopment partner. In 2010 the RNA and Lend Lease unveiled plans for the ‘Brisbane Showgrounds Regeneration Project’, a redevelopment of 5.5ha of the 22ha site; comprising an upgrade to the showgrounds’ facilities and the inclusion of new office, retail and residential spaces. This involved the demolition and clearing of various buildings and areas – mostly concentrated in the southeastern portion of the site (bounded by Alexandria Street, St Pauls Terrace, Costin Street, Constance Street and Gregory Terrace). Buildings and areas demolished or removed by 2015 included: the Frank Nicklin Pavilion, Walter Burnett Building and Auditorium, Agricultural Hall and Douglas Wadley Pavilion, Frank Roberston Pavilion, Building No.4, Main Parade Food Stall and Show Time Snack Bar, Agricultural Street Bar, Machinery Street Fish Place, Agricultural Open Area, Industrial Open Area, Police Exhibit, and chairlift. The plans for the project were approved in 2010 and construction began in April 2011. The project is expected to take 15 years to complete, at a projected cost of $2.9 billion. The association with regional Queensland and the rural tradition has been and will remain central to the character of the Brisbane Exhibition and the grounds in which it is held, but the RNA has incorporated new ideas and technology to meet the expectations of today's show patrons. In recent years new attractions at the Exhibition Grounds have included communications technology displays. Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Crimson sunset over Epping
Wonderful sunset over Epping, with light reflecting off apartment tower windows. View toward Pennant Hills. Epping, a suburb of Sydney, is located 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and harbour
Belair. Australian magpie on the edge of the lake in Belair National Park.
Brief History of the Foundation of Belair. The first white people to visit the area were absconders from the ship named Coromandel in 1837 and then Nicholas Foot started “squatting” on land here in 1839. Also in 1839 Governor Gawler selected 850 acres for a government farm at Belair and the squatter Foot was paid £300 compensation for the cottage he had built on the land. Other settlers eschewed the top of the ridge at Belair as the soils were thin, there was no permanent water on the crests and only the valley bottoms appealed to settlers. Governor Robe extended the government farm to 2,100 acres in 1848 for the production of hay and agistment for police horses. About this time some settlers took up land in the valleys and the Travellers Rest Inn at Belair opened to provide drinks for the teams going up to Coromandel Valley and beyond. The Inn closed in 1862. In fact the first titled land was granted to James Coutts in 1844 for the area that is now Glenalta. More settlers purchased land from 1849 when land was surveyed and put up for sale. There were enough settlers in the district for the opening of the first private school in 1861 by Maria Ludewigs. She had sixteen students. It is believed that the name of Belair was given to the district by Maria’s husband Gustav who subdivided some of his land in 1861 and named it after his wife’s birthplace in the Martinique Islands. Another theory suggests Belair was named earlier in 1849 after Eugene Bellairs who was a government surveyor who lived in the area. Until the arrival of the railway line from Adelaide via four tunnels in 1883 Belair was a sleepy area of apple orchards and small dairy farms. With the convenience of the train service to Belair large houses for commuters and summer residences for the wealthy appeared along the ridge tops overlooking the city below. Adjacent areas like Glenalta were subdivided for suburban blocks in the early 1960s. . Belair Hawthorn Maze. Once the government built the Governor’s summer residence at Belair (1859) they were responsible for most of the area that the National Park covers today. Part of it was later controlled by the Woods and Forests Department at the suggestion of the SA Surveyor General George Goyder. Experiments were made from the 1870s onwards with small plantations of pine, European trees and Australian hardwoods in a 500 acre section. Whilst under that department’s control a European style hawthorn maze was planted near Belair station in 1886 just three years after the train service was open. So the maze was planted years before the park was declared. The maze has six concentric circles of hawthorn with an open centre. It is just visible on a rise near the station. With shallow soils and no supplementary water the maze almost died out before a local Blackwood medical doctor wrote about it, organised a rescue project and obtained a government grant to do so. Dr Barry Long then wrote an article on the maze for the Australian Garden History Society of which he is a member. It was put on the Register of the National Estate in 1975 as the only surviving colonial maze in Australia. The maze was re-opened in 1991. It now has a water system and is reviving well. Belair National Park Entrance. When the park was declared the entrance from Belair Station and Sheoak Road was the main entrance to the park as almost all visitors came by train. But the origins of the park go back to the early days. A summer house for the governor was erected in 1859 and occupied from 1860 onwards until Marble Hill was completed in 1878. Government officials used the house after that time. Around 1880 the government tried to subdivide and sell the farm. This aroused public condemnation and a local Belair resident, Walter Gooch led a crusade to preserve the area, its fauna and flora. The railway brought visitors to the old government farm and from 1883 the Field Naturalists began to urge the creation of a national park. Gooch persisted and in 1891 the Belair National Park Act was passed. It was the second national park in Australia, after the Royal Park near Sydney and it was the fourth national Park in the world. The Belair Lodge House near Belair station, which is still occupied, was completed in 1893. Walter Gooch was made one of the first Commissioners of the National Park. Commissioners ran the park until 1972 when it was put under the control of the department of National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Heavenly Gold
'Heavenly Gold' hybrid tea rose at Swanes Garden Nursery, in the rose garden, Galston Road, Dural, northwestern Sydney. Photographed as light rain fell across the Hills District of Sydney on Wednesday 10th June, 2020. Samsung Galaxy S20+ mobile phone camera.
Crimson Princess
'Crimson Princess' hybrid tea-rose at the Swanes Garden Nursery, in their rose garden, today - Wednesday 10th June, 2020. Light rain was falling over the Hills District of Sydney but nevertheless I ventured out to Swanes on Galston Road, Dural, to purchase a new standard rose, but also to view the rose gardens at the front of the nursery.
Voodoo
'Voodoo' hybrid tea rose at Swanes Garden Nursery, Galston Road, Dural (Hills District of Sydney), in the rose garden at the front of the nursery. Photographed in the rain yesterday, Wednesday 10th June 2020, with my Samsung Galaxy S20+ mobile phone camera. Voodoo is a peachy-orange hybrid tea-rose. It will cast a spell over you. Listen to "Voodoo" by the Neville Brothers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-qFlwBTYUU
View from Observatory Hill
Observatory Hill is a quiet park right in the middle of the Rocks/Miller Point in Sydney. f/22 to help have stars from the light point sources. With the bridge to the right, then Luna Park on the water and the North Sydney business district (where I work) on the hill. The foreground is the counterpoint being the historic Rocks district. The Garrison Church (lower right), also known as Holy Trinity in Millers Point, Sydney was the first military church built in colonial Australia. It continues as an active Anglican church, now in a joint parish with St Philip's Church, part of the Diocese of Sydney. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Church_(Sydney) Some history of the park at www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-...
Hills District Sunrise.
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Hunts Creek Falls
Nikon D800 | Nikon 16-35mm f/4 | B+W CPL | ND4 After a torrential rain overnight, I thought of driving to this falls which is 10 minutes from where I live at the Hills districts in North West Sydney.
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