COMMUNITY STORIES TALES SUBMITTED FOR THE SOUTHPORT ... · Working for our future – today...

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Working for our future – today COMMUNITY TALES SUBMITTED FOR THE SOUTHPORT HERITAGE WALK 2009 Southport STORIES Opening day for the Southport railway, 1889 Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Transcript of COMMUNITY STORIES TALES SUBMITTED FOR THE SOUTHPORT ... · Working for our future – today...

Page 1: COMMUNITY STORIES TALES SUBMITTED FOR THE SOUTHPORT ... · Working for our future – today COMMUNITY TALES SUBMITTED FOR THE SOUTHPORT HERITAGE WALK 2009 Southport STORIES Opening

Working for our future – today

COMMUNITY

TALES SUBMITTED

FOR THE

SOUTHPORT

HERITAGE WALK

2009

SouthportSTORIES

Opening day for the Southport railway, 1889Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

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The following stories were submitted to the Gold Coast City Council by March 2009 in response to a postcard calling for people

to, “Help us to remember Southport through your stories”. Postcards were placed in libraries and other public places and sent to

schools. Many of the stories submitted helped provide information to enliven the Southport Heritage Walk. You can read some of

these stories on the walk’s totem poles if you take this discovery trail. The walk was a joint project with the Community Renewal

program which is coordinated through the State Government Department of Communities (Housing & Homelessness Services).

The response to the call for stories has resulted in the rich collection of material which has been compiled for this book. We received

a range of stories in different forms – some by email, some written by hand, with most written on the tear off section of the

postcards. A number of pieces were quite long, particularly from those people with many stories to tell. A few of the pieces were

accompanied by photos.

The material has been sorted not edited. This means the stories retain the freshness and style of each author, along with their

spelling and grammar. We have treated each story like the primary source historical material it is, so that future researchers

and general readers can apply their own interpretations to the material they read. In two cases a line has been added to clarify

information. This is marked and remains obvious to the reader.

We would like to thank each person for sharing their stories and contributing to the many voices of Southport.

Foreword

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Contents

Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 1 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

The Southport Call for Stories Postcard 4

Gold Coast Hospital by Joanne Adair 6

Southport Surf Club by Robert Akes 7

Southport CBD by Polly Anderson 9

Growing up in Southport by Erica Bates 11

Southcoast Dairy Coy. by Peter J Bracken 16

Regent Picture Theatre by AJ Burrows 17

Council Bathing Pavilion, Southport by AJ Burrows 18

Huntington Lodge, Marine Parade by AJ Burrows 19

Town Water Supply, Southport by AJ Burrows 20

Gas Street Lights, Southport by AJ Burrows 20

Maddock Hughes House, Southport by AJ Burrows 21

The Pacific Hotel, Southport by AJ Burrows 21

"Martin's Corner", Southport by AJ Burrows 22

The Pier Theatre, Southport by AJ Burrows 22

The Pier, Southport by AJ Burrows 23

Nuns dressing/change hut, Southport by AJ Burrows 23

Stories of Southport by Bill Chandler 25

Pier Theatre, Heritge Places by Penny Clementson 27

Southport by Grace Cornwall 28

The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport by Gloria Cronk 31

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Contents (continued)

Sandown Hospital, The Southport School by Joan Davidson 32

Theatres, schools, drive-in by Sybil Davis 36

The Pier Theatre, Southport by Don Deutscher 38

My Southport by Don Deutscher 39

Stories of Southport by Joan Fabian 40

Johnston & Freeman Sawmill by KB Freeman 41

Playing in the railway carriages in Railway Street by Kathy Gaven 43

A Southport Story by former Southport resident 44

Southport stories1935-1945 by Robert Hart 45

Southport Hotel by Peg Hillier 49

Benowa Post Office by Nola Hollindale 50

Southport Stories by Nola Hollindale 51

The Broadwater, Southport by Joan Lethlean 53

Southport Story by Anne Littlejohn 54

Businesses by Bev Lloyd 55

Memories of the late 1950's in Southport by Shirley McLean 60

Main Beach by Mrs V Menge 61

Southport Surf Club by George Mills 63

My Southport Memories by Neville D Milne 64

Various places by Herbert Morris 66

The Pier Theatre, Southport by Mrs V Navie 67

Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 2 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

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Contents (continued)

Southport Croquet Club Inc. by Jim Northcott (President) 68

Southport Indigenous by Rory O'Connor 70

Southport Stories by Sue O'Leary-Biddle 71

Southport Stories by Dawn Pointon 72

The Milk Factory and Southport Pier by Bryan Smith 75

Stories of Southport by Paula Stafford 76

Southport Stories-New Years Eve Celebrations by Kiri Stinson 77

Southport Stories by Mavis Veivers 78

Southport Early 70's by Gabrielle Vining 80

Southport Memories by Brian Whelan 81

Southport Stories by Karen Wright 84

Southport Stories by Jennifer Zerna 85

Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 3 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

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Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 4 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

The Southport Call for Stories Postcard

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Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 6 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

My husband and I arrived at Surfers Paradise in 1963 and bought a block

of 4 flats, he working at the Co. extracting minerals from the beach sand.

At Surfers one could dress in almost nothing, but Southport still acted

like a country town and a dress with no straps caused looks of horror

and stares. Shopping required formal dress of gloves and stockings! In

August, 1964 our daughter, Tiana, was born at the Gold Coast Hospital

(we knew of no other on the coast), which was a small hut-like structure

with one doctor in charge of everything. Dr. Taylor was efficient and

formal with no fraternising with staff outside of the hospital. A year or

two later he got a young inexperienced assistant. What a change in 44

years!

Place : Gold Coast HospitalTheme : Heritage PlacesAuthor : Joanne Adair

Southport 1966Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

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Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 7 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

In the 1940’s the Southport Surf Club housed its surf boat at McKenzie’s Shed

on the Nerang River, Brighton Parade, Southport (situated where Rivage Royal

now stands). One morning the boar crew were left without a vehicle to transfer

between the club and McKenzie’s. The only transport any of us owned was my

army BSA side valve motorbike.

In later years I was able to relate the story of a mystery to Police Inspector Jack

Kerr at his retirement testimonial dinner. I asked Jack if he remembered one early

morning when a melee of men passed him on the Jubilee Bridge. He laughingly

said he often wondered who those people were. That day the Jubilee Bridge saved

our skins.

One of the peculiarities of the Jubilee Bridge was that it was made of cross planks,

with four lineal planks spaced to support the car tyres – one set east and one set

west. No overtaking or u-turns were possible. The bridge also was made with a

high point so that boats could navigate underneath. These together proved to be

the salvation of the Southport Surf Boat crew of 1948 consisting of Syd Rogers,

Stan Cronk, Bob Akes, Don Wight and cox Neil Middleton.

Early that morning “The Grey Ghost” – the name given by all to the only Police

car in Southport, driven by Jack, was heading to Main Beach and on the crest of

the bridge encountered an apparition somewhat like the Hindu God “Kali” – 10

arms and 10 legs, because he was unable to see us coming before the top, or turn

Southport Life Savers, circa 1930sImage courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Jubilee Bridge, 1933Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Place : Southport Surf Club, Jubilee BridgeTheme : Heritage PlacesAuthor : Robert Akes

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around once we were spotted. The five of us continued to Brighton Parade,

jumped in the surf boat and did our training.

Thank goodness Jack was retired – I had to admit to being the driver of the

motorcycle on which were perched the whole 5 member boat crew. One on

the tank, one in front of the seat, one on the seat, one on the pillion and

Missile Middleton on the luggage stand at the back. Jack shook his head and

laughed!

Jubilee Bridge, 1933Image courtesy of John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 8 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

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Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 9 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

We arrived in Southport on a steamy hot Sunday afternoon in early January 1938 after a long train journey from Kingaroy – my Mother and Father (who was to start a new job as a linesman with the P.M.G (Postmaster General’s Department), my sister Mary (14), brother John (6) and six months old baby sister Lenore. I was eight years old.

Our first home was in the centre of Southport in Lawson Street – one allotment back from the corner of Lawson & Garden Street – a high set timber house with a glassed-in front verandah and an outside timber “dunny” which stood obtrusively in the middle of an otherwise bare backyard. In wet weather it stood like an island at the bottom of the back stairs.

No missing school on wet days – all we had to do was to slush happily bare foot across the spare allotment and across the road to the Southport State School (opened in 1880). In 1938, with about six hundred pupils from grade 1 to Junior High School level, it was the largest State School on the 20 mile Coastal Strip.

All are now gone – our first home and spare allotment – in turn the Smekel family home and their Bus company terminal – then a car park and now since July 2002 the new Southport Library and car park.

The Southport State School was rebuilt and resited to Owen Park in Queen Street in the early 1990’s. The old school with its memories of school days in war and peace, dusty games of marbles on bended knees – the horse drawn pie cart under

the camphor-laurel tree across from Headmaster Mr Hibbard’s office – ALL GONE.

Southport Post Office, circa 1930Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Theos Pies, circa 1920Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Place : Southport CBDTheme : Pioneers, Identities and Family StoriesAuthor : Polly Anderson

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As is the milk factory down the block a bit from the Scarborough Street front

entrance – where for a penny (1 cent) we could buy a bottle of milk and eat

our “sangers” on the tine quadrangle of grass outside – and Spiers’ fruit

shop (just past the Salvation Army) where for another penny we could buy an

apple or a frozen orange.

2009 – on these sites today stand the three forty-storied towers and shopping

complex of Southport Central and nearby shops of Australia Fair.

History replaced!

Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 10 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

Southport State Primary Infants School, circa 1950Image courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

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Gold Coast City Council Southport stories 11 Community tales submitted for the Southport Heritage Walk 2009

The EsplanadeGracious homes and gardens, sunlight glinting and playing on the waters of the

Broadwater, oysters hugging the concrete between high and low tide marks on

the sea wall.

The humpty back Jubilee Bridge stretching from the end of Queen Street across

crystal clear water to Main Beach and the ocean.

The bathing boxes in front of the Pacific Hotel where the nuns used to get

changed to go for a swim. We never seemed to see them do it, but everyone

knew that’s what the little buildings were there for and that the nuns supposedly

used them.

The palm trees in the park along the sea wall, and the steps down through the

wall where we could reach the water. Sitting on the bottom step and watching

for crabs on the racks and sand below.

Huntington Country Club. Weddings and celebrations. It was very posh.

WalkingFrom my home at the Broadwater end of Queen Street, to Southport Primary

School. Shortcuts through the Tennis Courts and along the edge of the Bowling

Club. Stopping to watch the bowlers all in white with woollen cardigans. Hearing

the gentle “clack” of the bowling balls as they found their mark. The little

blackboards and chalk hung at both ends of each green were a sore temptation

Esplanade 1930sImage courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Bathing sheds at Southport, circa 1900sImage courtesy of Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library

Place : Growing up in SouthportTheme : Businesses – Pioneers, Identities and Family storiesAuthor : Erica Bates (nee Shepherd)