History

The date is 5th July, 1938. The place is Rose Bay, Sydney. An Empire Class flying boat rumbles and bobs towards its departure point and then turns slowly into the wind. As the engines roar, the plane gradually gathers speed before skimming across the sparkling, blue waters and starting its lazy climb into the sky….

Barrenjoey Lighthouse sits majestically on Sydney’s most northern point – Barrenjoey Head at Palm Beach. Positioned 91m above sea level, the lighthouse can be reached by a couple of walks and offers breathtaking views. It’s an easy day trip from Sydney and a great place to bring overseas visitors – they may recognise the lighthouse…

Before the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Harbour was filled with ferries and punts plowing their way across the blue waters to join the north to the south of the city. There were private and public punts with them all providing a simple, small and spectacular journey. With the opening of the bridge…

In a suburb known for its high concentration of Groodles, Cavoodles, Labradoodles and Schnoodles, there once lived an old, ugly, battle-scarred mongrel dog with arthritis in all four legs who was almost totally deaf. His name was Billy. For 17 of his 19 years, the fox-terrier walked the streets of Mosman behind his loving master…

For decades, Sydney locals would plunge the depths into Wynyard Station by using the wooden escalators in York Street. Terribly nostalgic with a rhymical rattling sound, over time these would become more of a problem than they were worth. With great sadness they would be replaced. So, what to do with the four tracks of…

Located in the Parramatta River off Henley Point is a broken marble column. Many locals have no idea that this was not the result of an accident, but the column was designed this way for a very good reason. This point is the finish line of the course on which Australian sculling champion Henry Searle…

Possibly the only one of Australia’s “big things” to actually be smaller than the original, Sydney’s second harbour bridge is like a sapling growing far from the tree it sprung from. The bridge marks the entrance to the Peter Warren automotive empire. Sydney’s longest running auto “mall”, the Peter Warren compound occupies a lot the…

Throughout the later part of the 19th century and into the 20th century the Hordern Family dominated the Sydney retail trade. Beginning with ‘Mrs Hordern’s’ drapery shop in 1823, Anthony Hordern and Sons soon became the largest department store in Sydney, with businesses in Europe, America and China. By the end of the 19th century…

The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine (Great Hunger) is located on the southern wall of the Hyde Park Barracks, on the site of the former convict-era kitchen and mess halls The monument was inspired by the 1995 call of Irish President Mary Robinson to remember the famine of 1845–52 and those who died…

This major artwork located in Hyde Park South honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who served in our nation’s military and their families. Sydney-based artist Tony Albert created the work, inspired by the story of his grandfather Eddie Albert’s narrow wartime escape. The work is also based on research by family historian Trisha Albert. The artwork YININMADYEMI Thou didst let fall depicts four standing bullets…