Hello all of you wonderful Wednesday walkers around the world I hope that you’re doing well and out there having fun keeping fit and having a wonderful Wednesday walk today!
So for my Wednesday walk I would like to take you through a beautiful part of Melbourne and a suburb that I used to live in called Port Melbourne and if it weren't for @tattoodjay who had the foresight and vision to create such a great community where we can all share our #WednesdayWalks around the world, then I wouldn't be here to also make @elizacheng #makemesmile and if you too want to share you Wedensday Walks and take us all on a virtual tour, then please click on this link to find out how. /trending/wednesdaywalk
So, Port Melbourne is only just a few kilometres from the Melbourne CBD and in fact it’s about 45 minutes to stagger so probably much quicker to walk in a straight line.....🤣
I was lucky enough to live in a couple of different houses over there between 2008 and 2017 but due to the rise of property prices, there is absolutely no way I could even afford a shoebox let alone an actual proper house or apartment there anymore.
So on today’s walk I’m going to take you from the East end of Bay Street- which is the main street of Port Melbourne with a few snaps of some of the main street along the way to the beach, where you will see and the docks in the distance and show you a few other interesting bits and pieces too. [//]:# (!pinmapple -37.843210 lat 144.938103 long Picture Perfect Port Melbourne d3scr)
So I hope you enjoy today’s tour and I look forward to your comments.
So as you can see the start of the CBD there in the distance
And now we're facing west heading to the beach with our backs to the CBD.
So I said Port Melbourne is quite a historical place and you'll notice the bust behind the bus stop in the little park there?
Well that's this guy- George Samuel Walter and This small forgotten corner housed graffitied benches, a neglected horse trough, a bus shelter and a bust of George Samuel Walter 1872 – 1937. It is the entrance (or exit) to Port Melbourne.
he had been a Councillor and Commissioner for the MMBW and believe he was responsible, amongst other things, for the sewerage being connected in Port Melbourne https://www.pmhps.org.au/2016/07/george-samuel-walter-memorial-garden-2016/
So George sits and watches over all who sit to enjoy the gardens, eat lunch, sip on a latte or wait for the bus. I wonder what George would think if he saw Port Melbourne now. I'm sure he'd be very pleased with the beautiful area that it has become.
And then just a few meter ups from that is the Port Melbourne Town Hall with it's own illustrious and intriguing history, ofwhich I went into detail about here in this post in the #architectureanddesign community a few days ago....@chocolatescorpi/port-melbourne-town-hall-an-important-place-from-then-and-right-up-until-today
So as you can see, Port Melbourne has a wide range of historical Victorian and contemporary modern architecture and maintains its beautiful wide tree lined street and almost every corner you turn, there is a big park for the residents and their dogs (most important of all the dogs and even my cat Chad who LOVED his nightly walks around the park and down the beach, rain, hail or shine...)
Port Melbourne's residential character is largely derived from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, although Garden City (where I used to live, just not in the 1930's ...lol..) was built in the 1930s as a housing estate for workers.
(but not these once grand houses...)
And as you can see, we LOVE our palms and other trees here and why not.
An industrial and increasingly residential suburb, Port Melbourne's European history formally began in 1839 with the arrival of Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, who built the first jetty and established postal and ferry services to Melbourne.
Port Melbourne was home to countless hotels, 48 built before 1876.
Such as the Cornerstone, where Over 150 years ago in 1860 a historic cornerstone was laid
And the Prince Alfred is just one of the many that remain today.
Prince Alfred was the first British royal to visit Australia when he came to these shores in 1867. He landed at Railway Pier where he was welcomed by large crowds and proceeded by carriage along Beach Street to Bay Street and on to the City.
And the Exchange a couple of blocks west toward to the beach.
Built in the mid 1850's The Exchange Hotel is one of Melbourne's oldest hotels situated 100mtrs from Port Melbourne beach on the corner of Bay and Rouse streets.
The Town Hall was built on Bay Street and opened in December 1869, with the first mayor, William Morley, a coal merchant, previously elected in 1860.
Port Melbourne has provided labour for less-skilled and often lower-paid occupations in the manufacturing, shipping and transport industries.
And the Pier Hotel here which is right opposite the Port Melbourne Yatch club on the beach side and opposite Morleys Coal Depot on the Southern Side of the street.
The first Pier Hotel on the subject site was established in September 1840 by Wilbraham Liardet, an early and prominent settler of Port Melbourne.
Liardet had arrived at Port Melbourne in 1839.
He soon established a mail service from arriving ships to the township of Melbourne, and opened his timber hotel (the second at Sandridge), in September 1840, at a cost of £1300.
The hotel was originally known as the Brighton Pier Hotel, apparently reflecting Liardet’s view that Sandridge be known as Brighton.
And this is a great read here to for more info on the Pier Hotel which is where this photo came from https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/media/2aulbr2k/pphr-v31-volume-2-a-b-part-2.pdf
And this is the 21st century view from the beach looking back down Bay St to the CBD in the east with The Pier and Morley's on each side of the street.
And this is Morley's Coal Depot on the corner over there- From a coal depot to a gym...
And now we're looking North West with the cranes of the cargo docks in the background and the Station Pier Cruise Ship terminal, which is the home of the Spirit of Tasmania https://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/ and which originally known as Railway Pier, was officially opened on 12 September 1854 and to see those massive cruiseships is such an awesome sight when they dock in the cruising season and I do have many MANY photos of them, but unfortunately not on hand to show you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_Pier
Port Melbourne took its original name of Sandridge from the ridge of sand dunes along the foreshore.
A large and noxious saltwater lagoon dominated Sandridge. After the first land sales in 1850, Sandridge grew in importance as a port and was the terminus for Australia's first passenger railway, which opened on 12 September 1854.
Despite acting as the landing spot for prospective miners and settlers, Sandridge was relatively neglected during the gold-rush years. After some agitation, it broke away from the Melbourne City Council to become a municipal district in 1860.
It became a borough in 1863, changed its name to Port Melbourne in 1884, and became a town in 1893 and a city on 14 May 1919. In 1994 it was somewhat controversially amalgamated with the neighbouring cities of South Melbourne and St Kilda to form the City of Port Phillip.
From 1860 to 1890 the city took on its distinctive working-class character. Its football and cricket clubs (both originally known as Sandridge and affectionately known as 'the borough') shared the North Port Oval.
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was opened in 1853, and its school a year later. The Holy Trinity Anglican Church began in 1854.
Catholic education dates from 1857, and St Joseph's Catholic Church opened in 1881. Nott Street School was the first state primary school, opening in July 1874, but there was no local secondary school until 1968.
The gold-rush immigration years in the 1850s caused acute congestion of the port. The unloading of goods and passengers was helped, though, by the building of the Melbourne to Hobsons Bay railway and the construction of the Railway Pier (now Station Pier), Port Melbourne.
In 1851 the Colonial Architect and Melbourne city's surveyor proposed the cutting of canal across the swamp lands to relieve the congested river. Eight years later the first of four reports recommended the formation of a separate body or harbour trust to manage all the port facilities.
https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/port-of-melbourne-history
Port Melbourne has provided labour for less-skilled and often lower-paid occupations in the manufacturing, shipping and transport industries. As such it has been heavily affected by successive depressions. During World War I a significant proportion of Port's young male population enlisted, despite overwhelming support for the Australian Labor Party and the large Catholic community's rejection of conscription.
ANSWERING THE CALL is located opposite the intersection of Beach Street and Dow Street, Port Melbourne. It is near the site of HMAS Lonsdale, the Naval Reserve Base which was commissioned on 1 August 1940 and decommissioned in 1992.
The memorial sculpture was the vision of Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie Gregory, whose energy and enthusiasm was the driving force behind the project. http://www.lochm.com.au/news/672/naval-tribute-unveiled-in-port-melbourne/
“Mac” started at the RAN College as a Cadet Midshipman in 1936. He survived the sinking of HMAS Canberra and was aboard HMAS Shropshire in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was signed in 1945.
He devoted many years to keeping naval history and heritage alive. The first Council meeting at which Mac proposed the memorial was in October 2008.
It was Mac’s sustained perseverance, and that of his team and all those who shared his vision, which has given us this memorial.
In 2011 Mac was awarded a Pride of Australia Medal for his work in preserving the memory of those who gave naval service. He donated the prize to the work of the Foundation.
He was ably assisted in his work by his friend and the first Vice President of the Foundation the late Don Boyle and by others here today.
The later depression afflicted Port Melbourne severely, with high rates of unemployment and widespread poverty, particularly among the wharf labourers. During the 1920s and 1930s unemployment was estimated at between 75% and 90%. Yet the depression served to create a lingering sense of solidarity and community, captured in Criena Rohan's 1963 novel Down by the dockside.
Now Port Melbourne is a sprawling, contemporary and dynamic area, where Nearly half the growth of the City of Port Phillip between 1996 and 2001 took place in Port Melbourne, which has been transformed by gentrification and demographic change.
Its beaches, lifestyle and proximity to the city have attracted couples without children, with the proportion of the population aged 25-34 years growing by 76.5% during the period 1996-2000, while its previously large Greek population has declined.
Historically working class, Port Melbourne is in the process of becoming one of Melbourne's most 'fashionable' middle-class neighbourhoods. https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01161b.htm
And so I leave you with these lovely red flowers and pink blossoms to signify, not only the end of my walk, but to show you that beautiful things keep growing out of Port Melbourne.
If you want to check out some more info, especially on the Port OF Melbourne, which is another great read, then check out these links here https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/port-of-melbourne-history which is where I got a lot of this info from https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/port-of-melbourne cause it's all far more accurate than my knowledge https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01161b.htm and I have even had a great history lesson https://www.pmhps.org.au/ and continue to do so because of these great websites https://www.vicports.vic.gov.au/about-us/port-history/Pages/timeline.aspx which I am so glad that I have found to share this info with you https://www.pmhps.org.au/2019/09/albert-and-alfred-streets/ otherwise I'd be full of crap and telling you halfbaked truths instead of historical fact https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/media/2aulbr2k/pphr-v31-volume-2-a-b-part-2.pdf like these websites do https://www.navy.gov.au/media-room/publications/chief-navy-speeches-answering-call-statue-unveiling-port-melbourne so please don't hesitate to check them out http://www.lochm.com.au/news/672/naval-tribute-unveiled-in-port-melbourne/. I know I will be reading them again.
Thank you so much for reading my post , I really hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to your comments and thoughts.
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And unless otherwise stated- ALL photographs, all media, material and writings, are all my originals taken by me sometime in the past few decades or so somewhere in my travels and as such, ofcourse they are subject to all international IP and copyright laws and I may have already used them for my own commercial purposes here https://www.redbubble.com/people/CHOCOLATESCORPI/shop And here https://fineartamerica.com/art/chocolatescorpi, So please ask first if you want to use any of them as we wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Thank you 😊
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