The following article was contributed following a reminiscences session held at Watsonia library June 2008, on the topic “Holidays”. In earlier days my parents purchased a block of land in Apollo Bay (quite a time before Apollo Bay became a well known tourist destination) and my father decided to have a tiny place built on […]
Category: Banyule
Ivanhoe Ghost Story
There are no ghost horses in Ivanhoe but a story told to members of the Ivanhoe Returned Services League members could explain a strange sighting at their offices. On a Friday night 20 years ago, as Ivanhoe RSL president Fred Cullen walked towards the offices to finish some club reports, he was greeted by two […]
Briar Hill in the 1950″s
What makes your Nillumbik home town/area unique? Who are the characters who have made it so? What sites have significance and why? During 2005 Nillumbik Shire Council and the Literary Reference Group invited members of the community to respond to these questions, to show us the history and flavour of your place – then and […]
Bill’s West Heidelberg Childhood
By Bill Lemin I loved growing up in West Heidelberg. In the early 1930’s and 1940’s it still had a vast amount of open land and was sparsely populated. Despite this, there was still plenty for me to do. Our sizeable block (69’ x 185′) allowed plenty of room for activities and a variety of […]
Elizabeth Austin
Elizabeth Austin was a Victorian pioneer and philanthropist during the late nineteenth century, driven to improve the lives of older and poorer women. Elizabeth, along with twenty exceptional women was inducted in 2012 on to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, as a part of International Women’s Day activities. Elizabeth and her husband Thomas built Winchelsea’s […]
Sauro Antonelli
The following has been reproduced with permission from “Banyule Banner” July 2007 City of Banyule Council’s Director of Community Programs, Sauro Antonelli, has been named a Member of the Order of Australia in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Mr Antonelli, 59, who lives in Hurstbridge, is in charge of Council’s human services, a budget […]
Bomb Shelter
I first became aware that there had been an air raid shelter in my Grandparents backyard at Waiora Rd Heidelberg Heights, when I developed a negative of a photo I hadn’t seen before. It shows my Father’s parents Ilma and Herbert Douglas with their Pomeranian dog Rex, standing on the steps of the shelter my […]
Greensborough War Memorial
Fifteen men from Greensborough who were killed in the First World War are memorialized on the cenotaph in War Memorial Park. The memorial drinking fountain was first located in Main Street. On 26 July 1927 “The Argus” reported that the “The Heidelberg Council has decided to grant a request made by the Greensborough Park improvement […]
Melbourne Olympic Games
The Olympic Games were held in Melbourne November 22 – December 8 1956. The athletes village was established in Heidelberg West. The following are personal reminiscences: I was a dishwasher at the 1956 Olympic Games During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, I was a volunteer at the Olympic Village (in West Heidleberg). The position was advertised […]
Watsonia Pine trees
The following article was contributed following the first reminiscences session held at Watsonia library April 2008.The pine trees at the Watsonia Railway Station were planted by the Railway Station masters husband, Mr Phillips around 1940. The Station masters house was demolished with the Greensborough Highway in the mid 1970’s. By Helen Tamme (2008) Comment received […]