ROLL ON THE FIFTH OF MAY!

Just when I had come to think that Mr. Apple had decamped for South America with all the I Pad2 monies paid, including those paid by my generous brother-in-law Tony Hannon, an Email arrives to assure those concerned that the glorious goodie will arrive on Thursday 5th May via TNT Couriers!! Meanwhile a further check on my little I PAD 2 shrine discloses that my smart cover is not green ( which I now realise I had seen on my son's I PAD 2) but good reliable Clerical Black - great stuff! I shall thus look like the French ideal - un homme serieux! J'attendrai encore!

Will it really be me "flicking"and "pinching"and "spreading" ?- Truly there had to be a better way, and this is supposed to be it! Don't worry mein kleine Notebuch I shall always be true to you - think of das I PAD 2 as a co-  worker!

*MY GRANDAD'S MEMOIR - DISCOVERY, REMEMBRANCE AND REFLECTION

My Maternal Grandparents, Louisa and Edward Beckmann

In early March I received from my long" lost "cousin Faye Beckmann, Email copies of an 81 page Memoir typed by my Grandfather Edward Beckmann in the early to mid 1950s. It had lain among the family papers of a deceased employer/friend of my Grandfather for over forty years after it was given to this gentleman to read. My Grandfather then died, and his former employer /friend died also and there it rested. The gentleman's son started examining the family documents some three years ago . Reading this substantial typescript , he quickly realised how greatly it would  be valued by my Grandfather's descendants. He succeeded in tracking down my cousin.She, through the much - maligned FACEBOOK found me, and through my Blogs "CONRAD BECKMANN"and "CARL DOPMEYER" ( respectively my Great Grandfather , a famous artist and my Great Great Grandfather a renowned sculptor and carver in his day) she realised my keen interest in family history.The Memoir is full of interest covering Grandad's early years in Germany, his adventurous youth in Germany, Poland, Hungary and back to Germany, his migration to Australia , the voyage, his Australian initiation in Melbourne , his settling down in Sydney , his marriage to the fair Louisa, the Bride with Orange blossom in her hair a la Queen Victoria ( who also married a German), his commercial disasters, his long but event filled service as a Railway Signalman and his reflections on his life and times.

To-day , after nearly two months of living with the Memoir and reading and re-reading it and researching leads it contained, I have completed reviewing the 81 pages, page by page in my Blog "EDWARD BECKMANN" : http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/an-innocent-abroad-my-memoir_22.html

. It has been a labor of love, but no less demanding a task for all that. It has been even more demanding , because various family members , noting the passing of the years, have urged me to "do something similar regarding my own life". . And that is how this present Blog came to be.I am loving the task of preparing and publishing it.

I had always regretted not being able to ask Grandad many things about his life, particularly in Germany. His Memoir answers many of those questions but raises many more - he does not give a thorough background or analysis of the family structure in Germany, but is content to refer to "Grandmother", "my relatives"etc as if presuming the readers' familiarity with everyone, or perhaps their disinterest. He says little about his Father's fame, nothing about his maternal Grandfather's ( my Great Grandfather's) fame. The whole is very rich in other detail nevertheless, even making it clear why he chose to come to Australia when most Germans and others were heading for the United States.

He goes into some detail about his life here, filling out detail of stories my Mother had told me about their persecution as "Germans"during the First World War, even though he had already been an Australian and "a British Subject"for ten years before the War started.There is in the whole work a great deal for anyone to reflect upon - about life itself, our treatment of each other and God's working in our lives for our greater good.

There are still research trails to be followed up from the Memoir and a Summary to be written for the Blog .

For me, the exercise has been a rich experience, and doubly so because I am now just a few years short of the age  which Grandad had reached when he was writing. So, in a lifetime sense, we have a similar point for viewing and reviewing. I only hope that my writing in my own Blog here, which may in time find its final form in a E - Book, will find as enthusiastic reader or readers in my descendants, as Grandad Beckmann has found in my Cousin Faye, her younger Brother Michael and me.

EDWARD BECKMANN is well worth a read I commend it to you. It also provides a great tribute to fidelity, love and respect in Marriage. 

.

IDENTITY : HOW OTHERS SEE US AND HOW WE SEE OURSELVES

1993 THE TOURIST -IN FLORENCE
IN PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA

In some ways, I suppose we are most ourselves in the eyes of others when we are little children. We are just little ..........   whoever. It is that simple. But within our own being, we are then not yet fully ourselves, because we are not free to say whatever we wish, and in fact, we do not yet have ideas or opinions on many, even most subjects.

Later as teenagers, we have strongly felt opinions or prejudices, sometimes ill-informed, but not at all times freely expressed. Our identity is gradually unfolding to the world like a  flower. Our sense of our own identity is powerful at this time. Others' sense of our identity will then depend on how successfully or completely we have negotiated the shoals of puberty. Most of our peers, being in just the same stage of confusion as we are at some stages, will think we are great or a "drag". Older folk will see the forming personality more readily and begin to react accordingly.

As we reach the stage of being a young man or woman, our identity, just completed, begins to be moulded by strong external influences, our equally mature peers, our studies, our vocation and or, employment. This effect works on how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. To take exceptional cases, the young Sailor sees himself as just that and is likewise perceived as a Sailor. In the employment sphere, the young man or woman can come to identify themselves with the corporation which employs them. The Sailor is a NAVY man and affects to have no time for Soldiers/ the Army or Airmen/the Air Force. The Commonwealth Banker will affect to look down on The Westpac man. Others will come to identify the individual with that employment. ""Here comes the NAVY!" as he enters a social gathering. Or, "What has the Commonwealth Bank got to say for himself??"This phenomenon has even been publicly acknowledged in St.George Bank's TV Commercials, distinguishing its man as socially acceptable, whereas a mere "banker" was not.

With my beautiful Bride in 1970.

The Paterfamilias in 1976

More important than all of these for a man is his identity as a husband, father and grandfather, this is an enduring underpinning of the superstructure. .And it is itself ideally resting on the foundation of his relationship with God.



So, where am I going with this?


Well, in my time I have been:
the Catholic Schoolboy
the aspiring Seminarian
the Seminarian
the ex-Seminarian
the young Commonwealth Public Servant
the Solicitor for Railways young man
Mr Commonwealth Bank
the Man from United Dominions
The Man from the Banque Nationale de Paris
The Man from the Archdiocese of Brisbane
The Man from Ignatius Press
The Publisher of Foundation
The Queenslander
and always, through it all The Catholic

But all the employment identities are long since gone, and the question arises
then, what is my identity? At 71 years I am still The Catholic, The Husband, Father, Grandfather,

A few words from Grandad about Stephen Dixon's new gift Telescope.

Consoling Grandson Daniel Whiting at Christmas time 2010 after a fall off a ride-on vehicle.

the Publisher of FOUNDATION .the Queenslander,the Blogger of "VEXILLA REGIS"http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com/, of" EDWARD BECKMANN "http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/of "CONRADBECKMANNhttp://conradbeckmann.blogspot.com/
 of "CARL DOPMEYER"http://carldopmeyer.blogspot.com/ and, of course of this  Blog, "BUT NOUGHT".

But many things change as time rolls on. I shall be the Catholic, the Husband, the Father and the Grandfather until God calls me away. And I hope to be able to continue FOUNDATION for years yet and the same with the Blogging.I shall remain the Queenslander always in spirit, though in the coming months my wife and I shall be moving back to Sydney to draw "the wagons into a circle" around the majority of our relatives and our oldest friends as the "enemy" 9advancing years begins to close in.

There, little identity analysis is complete. I am reduced to the core elements now.The time for adding features may be past. But then again one of my favourite quotes is:

"Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die."

"Ulysses"  Alfred Lord Tennyson

Who knows what God has in store for any of us? His Will be done !

ANZAC DAY 25th APRIL, 2011 - THEIR SACRIFICE IS REMEMBERED

The Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane

 The annual commemoration of ANZAC DAY, the 96th commemoration of the Gallipoli landing  to-day, is growing stronger and stronger as Australians and New Zealanders honour the men of the original Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and all our soldiers, sailors and airmen who have died in the two World Wars,the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq Wars  and in Afghanistan in the defence of right.

Despite the dwindling numbers of veterans, as age takes its toll, the number of Australians and New Zealanders honouring them grows and grows even at shrines as far away as Gallipoli itself, and across France , especially at Villers Bretonneux.

It is at Villers Bretonneux that the remains of my Grandma Beckmann's brother Billy Wilson were re-buried after he was in fact blown to pieces at Armentieres by a German shell. I believe hardly any Australian or New Zealand family escaped being touched by the terrible slaughter of World War I. Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord.

The Flame of Remembrance at the Shrine

I WAIT WITH THIRSTING EAR, FOR THE SOUND OF THE TNT COURIER

THE APPLE iPAD 2 and my Green smart cover on the left.

My 71st Birthday still lives on in patient endurance! Did I tell you that my astoundingly generous Brother - in Law Tony Hannon has given me an IPad2 as a gift along with a green smart cover and many other goodies to accompany it. But Mr APPLE who has TNT Couriered all the rest is not yet able to deliver the i PAD2 itself . J 'attends ! with the electronic equivalent of lust , for its arrival.
The spectacular coincidence of Easter Monday and ANZAC DAY this year has given Australians a 5 Day long,long weekend (Good Friday through to Tuesday which has for Statutory purposes become Easter Monday - only in Australia!).In the meantime the TNT Couriers are all gathering cobwebs!

 This has thrown the spotlight on the fact that in Pagan Countries and the United States (strange bedfellows) Good Friday is not a holiday.America ! Wake up - look at the company you are keeping in this matter.

Játtendrai...........learning patience.

GIVING IT ALL SOME STRUCTURE - THE MAN FORMS A PLAN

This morning, I was considering posting on a particular subject when I realised that one needed to know a fair amount about what went before to appreciate what was evolving. One thought led to another, and after just on two months of this Blog and 36 posts, I decided it is time to adopt some structure. I have always regarded "elegant simplicity"as an ideal - one which I rarely achieve personally. In this case, I believe it would best be achieved by following a simple chronological path. However to help avoid downright tedium - for me and the reader - this will be embellished with other pieces on interests, opinion and whatever at regular intervals.

An outline might look something like this :

Pre-School  : the family on Second Avenue

Primary School : St. Peter Chanel's Convent School

Lower Secondary: Marist Brothers Lidcombe

Upper Secondary : Marist Brothers Darlinghurst

St.Columba's Seminary Springwood

Commonwealth Public Service

Solicitor for Railways- the Right Introduction

Commonwealth Bank- the Accidental Banker

United Dominions Corporation - High Fliers Crashing

Banque Nationale de Paris - Vive la Difference

Archdiocese of Brisbane - Garden of Robust Weeds

Ignatius Years - Total Effort,Achievement and Financial Failure

Surviving - the Vans

"FOUNDATION"

The Blogs

The Last Redoubt

A Prayer

That ought to "keep me out of trouble" for a while - unless I get too frank!

What do you reckon?

ITS NO GOOD HINTING ADOLPH!

20th APRIL - MEIN GEBURTSTAG ! HINT! HINT!

So its your 122nd  Birthday - you just don't get it! (and you won't get it!) . We would not give you any gift - even if you could use it in those temperatures!.

HAPPY 9TH ANNIVERSARY - MATT AND CATHRYN DIXON !

"Years have gone by, My, My, How they fly!"
A very Happy Anniversary to you both! As the years have gone by, you have brought the real presents :
STEPHEN , JOSEPHINE, GABRIELLE and ANASTASIA!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Ever since my boyhood, I have enjoyed the thought of ships and the sea! I am a a romantic at heart- and that is part of it,But I have always considered ships one of man's most noble and worthwhile achievements.Just as the sea is one of God's most wonderful ( yes, literally wonder full) and often majestic or peaceful creations. Man's construction of a ship - be it the wooden wonders of history ,all wood and rope and tar and oakum and canvas , or the steel giants of later years - is a pledge to use his God-given intelligence and free-will to seek mastery over the elements  to use the whole of Creation more fully and achieve his greater flourishing

Being at sea is to enter onto a constantly changing scene producing bliss, exhilaration,fun, awe, terror and delight- each in their turn. It is hard to beat the feeling of coming onto an almost deserted deck and walking onto the foc'sle on a bright sunny morning to collect a steady 18knot breeze accompanied by a gentle rise and pitch of the bow in a mild sea - the salt air - better than "King of the World"- rather a joyful part of it! Then again, the fine morning after a stormy, rough night when the ship has been "pile driving", that is, her bow rising clear of the wave passing under her and then crashing down into the next ,sending a shudder down the length of her hull: out you come to find a clearing sky, brilliant sunshine and a sea still running strong but clearly becoming more civilised by the hour.

But of all the glories of man and the sea, what can excel the sailing ship?To combine the effort to achieve mastery over the elements with the achievement of beauty and grace is a wonder in itself . I have gathered together here some examples of what I mean, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do: 

"PICTON CASTLE"

T.S. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR

"SAGRES"

U.S.S. CONSTITUTION -"OLD IRONSIDES"

H.M.S. VICTORY CROSSES THE ATLANTIC

"ENDEAVOUR"

T.S. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR HEADS T.S. LEEUWIN

"Flying Cloud"Note Stuns'sls  (Studding Sails) aloft and alow.

An English sixth rate firing a salute as a barge leaves a Royal yacht nearby

Barque "LOCH LONG"

T.S. YOUNG ENDEAVOUR

*EARLY 1960s SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE - UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

                    S.S. SOUTH STEYNE

In happier times the largest of the Manly Ferries- S.S.South Steyne used to join the fleet of small craft following the Sydney - Hobart Yacht Race fleet each Boxing Day , 26th December annually, as the great yachts raced out of Sydney Harbour, through the Heads and out to sea heading South.

On one of those occasions in the early 1960s, with my best friend and now my brother-in -law Tony Hannon, I paid for my ticket and off we went on a brilliant Summer day.It is hard to describe the sheer spectacle and excitement of those occasions, the most amazing harbour in the world, many hundreds of small craft, and at the centre of it all the great yachts . They vary in size and achievement,but handicapping ensures a wide area of interest across the field.

Our trusty South Steyne had no trouble making her way through the hundreds of small craft and, a little way to the South outside the Heads she hove to, allowing us to watch the passing parade. I had with me my PENTAX SLR Camera - very modern and moderately expensive, slung around my neck on its leather strap.I was wearing my Aviator style dark glasses- I preferred to think of them as General MacArthur glasses - but to take a photo, I whipped them off and stuck them in my shirt pocket. To get a better look to the South -following the leaders I leant out and, as I did- following the laws of nature- the straps of the camera moved outward. Unhappily , in the process, they pulled my sunglasses out of my pocket and flicked them into the sea !! Instinctively, I reached out in a futile effort to retrieve them, only to see them zig-zag downwards through the first few feet of relatively clear water. As I did so, the opened leather camera case lid caught on the buckle of my belt causing it to ride up. This caused the figure of eight shaped hole that held the case's metal retaining stud to move up to the larger hole , detached the cover and it too fell into the water and, because of its lighter , hollowed construction it floated mockingly in front of me, slowly filling with slurps of sea water.! Further instinctive moves toward retrieving it, were checked when I became conscious of a quaking of suppressed laughter all about me - quickly strangled for a time whenever I eye-balled any of the guilty parties. When I turned to Tony Hannon and saw he was having the greatest struggle of all, I at last began to appreciate the humour of the situation.

BEGAN to appreciate........I'm still working on the problem!

*1949 A LUCKY ESCAPE = GUARDIAN ANGEL ON OVERTIME!

1927 DODGE TOURING CAR

Bear with me a little longer while I'm on this automotive theme.

My best schoolmate in Primary School was Brien Dryden who lived directly opposite our house on the other (Eastern) side of  Second Avenue. Our families knew one another very well, but never did things together as many neighbours do these days. Each of  our parents would speak to us about the other's parents using "Mr." and "Mrs" so , when we operated our little scam to get parental approval of something we wanted to do the dialogue went like this :

Me :  "Mum, if Mrs Dryden says its O.K., can we go to the Pictures to-day?  "

Mum : "Well, if Mrs. Dryden says its O.K. - Yes".

Dash across the street...

Brien: "Mum, can we go to the Pictures to-day? Mrs. Dixon says its O.K."

Mrs Dryden : "Well, as long as Mrs.Dixon says its O.K.. "

DONE DEAL! It could start on either side of the street, and worked very smoothly! should add that none of the projects proposed ever had any inherent risk, until one day... but even then it could not be known.

Mrs. Dryden had a sister named Isobel who had been married, but was divorced  - an extraordinary thing in my experience. But now she had a "boyfriend" - they were both in their late thirties/ forties and his name was "Brian". He was a big fellow tall solid in build, very pleasant without being "outgoing" AND he drove a 1927 Dodge Tourer. That was a big car, especially in comparison with the English cars that had come to dominate our roads in more recent years,when U.S. currency imports were strictly controlled. Brian offered to take Brien, me and I think Isobel's little son, for a drive to the City where he had some business to do. Parental approvals were secured by the usual means and all was ready.

Brian got out the crank handle,gave it a couple of turns and the engine started easily. I was seated on the back seat RH side. It was a magnificent position high and with firm leather seats, I felt great looking down on the world passing by. All went along well once we got used to the rather heavy noise from the gear box common in cars of that vintage, and the driver's busy footwork "" double de-clutching" whenever he changed gears - no synchro-mesh when this old lady was built. However, as we went down the back way towards Pyrmont and crossed Glebe Point Road we entered on the sharp downward slope and curve to the left. Brian was energetically hauling on the HANDBRAKE! "What's up??" We asked.

"Oh! the footbrake doesn't work -  so I have to change down gears and use the Handbrake !"( The brakes on a car of this Vintage were mechanical and not hydraulically assisted in any case) I may have been only  9  years old, but I knew that  was alarming. My feeling of mastery of the Universe in my high seated position vanished. As it happened,the journey, including the return leg was completely incident free.

We pulled up outside Brien's home and big Brian got out of the car and immediately crashed to the ground in an epileptic convulsion. In  a few seconds we got adult help from the house , and in due course the seizure passed and he recovered and rested. We went our separate ways rather badly shaken...what if....only 30 seconds earlier? Mum was horrified at what might have been , and that someone knowing he was epileptic would drive, let alone take a group of children along when he did! The story of the brakes only compounded  the problems. It was obvious I owed my Guardian Angel a huge debt!

But it was a grand car!

*1948/49 MY BROTHER TRIES AGAIN - CHROMED FLUTES

1936 14 h.p. VAUXHALL TOURER--HIDEOUS COLOUR AND  SOME BARBARIAN HAS PAINTED OVER THE GREATER PART OF THE CHROMED FLUTES ON THE BONNET!

Have you noticed how difficult it is to get a decent picture of a pre-War Vauxhall Tourer on GOOGLE IMAGES?  No??Not exactly the sort of thing one attempts daily or even weekly! 

But, I wanted to show you the second car to make its way into our family. Having failed to manage the mighty 1928 Buick Business Coupe, my elder brother Pat now bought a 1938 VAUXHALL TOURER. Like the Buick it was pale blue in colour and unlike the desecrated 1936 Model in the above picture , it had its grand chromed flutes extending from the radiator , tapering along the top outer edges of the bonnet as Vauxhalls had done since the King was in nappies!

                                                  Here is the actual car .Sadly only a Black and White picture -
                                                        but that is how we lived in those ancient times

The car worked well and its most memorable characteristic was the sound its carburettor made when the starter was pressed. Wrestling the folding canvas roof up and down was a regular torture - yes , I got to help! The absurdity of the cellophane side "curtains "as I think they were called , had to be seen to be believed. They each had two metal posts at the bottom which fitted into holes in the top of the front doors and the side panels behind those doors, then when the roof was up they tucked into a double set of canvas flaps on the edge of the roof  itself! The driver's "curtain"came complete with a flap at the bottom ( accommodated by the downward slope in the door top you can see in the photo above) so that he could, with some difficulty, contrive to get his arm out to give traffic signals: e.g. Forearm at 90 degrees erect and palm open for "STOP"and arm horizontal with palm extended for a right turn!! 

My enthusiasm for driving with the top down was dampened one day, when my brother was taking us all for a drive and as we passed down Parramatta Road heading East in bright sunshine past the JANTZEN factory where my brother worked, a great fat black beetle smacked me in the face at about 30 mph! Yes folks my enthusiasm for Sedans surged and has remained high!!

The canvas roof and celluloid windows somehow never kept all the rain out - it always managed to find its way in, here and there and there and....you get the picture! The VAUXHALL TOURER still manages to hold a fond place in my memory, which I find impossible to justify other than by recalling that peculiarly pleasant starting noise from the carburettor, the great chromed flutes on the bonnet oh! and I forgot - a pair of substantial and streamlined headlights!. It held its place for a few years, but then...... 

*A NO CAR FAMILY - THEN MY BROTHER GOT HIS LICENSE

1928 Buick Business Coupe

Until 1947/48 my family was a no car family. Our neighbours on either side two houses either way were similarly bereft of mechanised wheels, as were the two houses across the street. We did not feel deprived or underprivileged .Mum certainly would never have considered learning to drive, and my Dad died aged 84 never having driven a car.

However, young and restless, my elder brother Pat who had been forbidden to enlist in the Navy in 1944, acquired his license to drive sometime in 1946/47 and after a heavy fall from a Harley Davidson Motor Bike he had bought , he decided he must have four wheels instead of two.He thus occasioned great parental relief. However there was great surprise and not a little consternation when he opened the double driveway gates ( rarely ever opened) and drove up the side level with the back verandah an IMMENSE Buick Business coupe of 1928.It was colossal and Mum was immediately convinced it was vulgar and ostentatious, my Dad had less to say and simply walked away . As for me , my opinion did not count and was not sought.......but that doesn't mean I didn't have one!! YES, YES, YES!!! I loved it  - it was a pale sky blue with dark blue mudguards - big broad mudguards and a looong bonnet ( strangely the "hood"to our American cousins) ending in a majestic radiator topped in that distinctive architectural Buick form with the characteristic ornate white "Buick "script on a blue enamel Badge. And topped off with a solid looking chrome radiator cap. The entire front end composition was set off by a pair of headlights each one worthy of a locomotive, and a pair of somewhat smaller parking lights , one at each bottom corner of the windscreen - a nice touch.. The cabin featured an upright windscreen and gave way to a curved boot ( American "trunk"- that at least made sense) lid which opened back to provide a "Dickie"Seat and the whole was concluded by another set of broad mudgaurds connected to those at the front by a set of serious running boards, This was a car to be reckoned with!

That proved to be too true. For my brother quickly started to complain about its reluctance to go around corners - weighing in at about 50% more than a large sedan to-day, and built about 25 years before power steering became common, it was apparently rather like steering a large ship . But Oh! how I would love to have the chance to drive that wonderful monster of a car!

Sadly, my young and restless brother tired of the steering battle and soon sold it , only to acquire..... but that is another story.

*1954 FIRST VISIT TO MELBOURNE - PROPRIETY IN JOLIMONT

1937 THE SPIRIT OF PROGRESS is introduced in a blaze of publicity - no immediate effect on me.

However from the earliest days after my 1940 birth, there began to build up in my little boy's mind glamorous images of the Spirit of Progress- all blue and gold and sleek. The brilliant new large window carriages made of Corten Steel got plenty of publicity as did the round ended observation lounge car that brought up the rear. It wasn't until many years later that I got to discover that the locomotive was actually 1928 Mutton dressed up as Spring Lamb!  But you will understand I just HAD to visit Melbourne.

"And so it came to pass" that in 1954 at the end of my Lower Secondary Schooling with a schoolmateWallace Simpson, whose parents owned the Milk Bar on the Southern Side of the Lidcombe Arcadia Theatre (Picture Show) where I worked at weekends with Wallace, we spent our built up savings from our pay on a trip to Melbourne with my Mum coming along to see we did not get into any trouble at 14 years of age!

The First Division of the MELBOURNE EXPRESS is hustled South by the great C 38 Class locomotive.

The first part of our journey was on the MELBOURNE EXPRESS to Albury on the border, where the gauge changed from N.S.W. standard gauge (4 feet 8 1/2 inches)to Victoria's broad gauge ( 5 feet 3 inches) a legacy of the persuasive powers of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the previous century and the relatively easy country in Victoria compared to the frequently hilly and tightly curved territory very frequently encountered in N.S.W.  The MELBOURNE EXPRESS was made up of very large and heavy teakwood clad carriages each running on two six wheel bogies.The carriages had side corridors half on one side , half on the other side of the carriage with compartments coming off the corridors in the British/European fashion. There was no airconditioning. Leaving Central Station in the early evening she ran through the night arriving in Albury in the early morning, when everyone transhipped down the long platform to the Victorian tracks and train.

The air-conditioned carriages  and compartments of the Spirit of Progress were a revelation , the great wide picture windows of the compartment were impressive. Our seats were near the side corridor rather than the window, which slightly dampened the enthusiasm. The journey was principally noteworthy for the continual bleating of the Diesel loco's horn as we approached the repeated  level crossings so much a feature of the VR track. 

The Chocolate Box image of the Spirit of Progress kept the glamour alive,

long after the steam locomotives were all gone to ignominious scrapping yards.

We arrived at Spencer Street Station and took an electric train out to Jolimont where we were booked into a very nice small hotel which I think was called the Cliveden ( the name is preserved in the Dining Room of the Hilton Hotel which now occupies the proximate or even precise site.)The hotel was brilliantly presented, clean and crisp as its linen and the white capped, black aproned with white lace trimmed waitresses. We made our way down to the City and by some miracle of Guardian Angelic care found the Hopetoun Tea Rooms, where we had a light lunch of really delightful Pin Wheel sandwiches. Over the several days of our visit we saw all the sights, rode the trams, and explored the Bookshops which I found to be a particular asset of the City. At that time, my interests in books centred on History and Steam Locomotives. In those days nearly every book available in Australia was published in England. This was an unfortunate result of the Commonwealth licensing arrangements which locked out European or American published books which generally were produced on high quality paper and featured high quality, even colour photography . How did we know? Well, some importers bypassed the big agencies and brought American and European titles in directly. The price was very high because numbers were small - but what a joy. However, mostly we got by on British blotting paper and cardboard - slight exaggeration - but only slight. Australian published books were printed here, dear and approx. English quality.

There was always much talk by Melbournians about the wonders of the Myer Store - but we were underwhelmed. It had the appearance internally of WALTONS Sydney store - an American chain that had takenover Murdochs ( I think)  and turned it into a junk bazaar with merchandise hanging off tables cluttering every aisle - and that is just how Myers struck us. MYER had their revenge on us, coming to Sydney after a few years and taking over our beloved, staid FARMERS Department Store on the Corner of George , Market and Pitt Streets and raping it until it too was another WALTONS.

So we did the return trip without incident and that was Melbourne - I was unchanged, it was unchanged,but I was at least oriented for future trips . Both Wallace and I had a good time and I think Mum also enjoyed herself all going well and the pace only moderate.

Not quite St Mary's Basilica, but St. Patrick's 
is a very beautiful Cathedral.

A light lunch of Pin Wheel Sandwiches 
at the Hopetoun Tea rooms has stayed in my memory,
 57 years later.

The ugly truth -  by 1954 The Spirit of Progress
 was hauled by one of VR's double-ended 
(rather ridiculous) Clyde - built GM Diesels,

2011 *WHY WAS IT KEPT SECRET ? DISCOVERED AFTER 71 YEARS!

SYDNEY'S GARDEN PALACE EXHIBITION BUILDING  1879

In 71 years of keenly interested living in Australia, most of the first 42 years living in Sydney, I knew nothing of the Garden Palace Exhibition Building which housed the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879.

But in the course of research for my Blog "EDWARD BECKMANN"http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/

I stumbled upon the picture above and I learned that this huge building had been situated on what is now the South West corner of the Botanical Gardens , opposite the State Library. All that remains of it are the Stone gate posts and wrought iron gates that now give entry to the Gardens. I have walked through and past those gates many times - how did I not know?

The great building was crowned by a massive Dome at the intersection of its three turreted wings. The Dome was 100 feet in diameter and 210 feet high.To speed construction, which was completed in only eight months, the building was largely constructed of timber. This was its undoing, for early in the morning of 22nd September, 1882 a fire broke out and steadily engulfed the entire building. So intense was the fire that flames were reported to reach 100 feet into the air. The destruction of the building was total. The site was cleared and incorporated into the Royal Botanical Gardens,of which it had not originally been part .

Perhaps the blow to the City's collective psychology had been so severe that it was wiped from memories - too painful to talk about. How wonderful it would have looked to-day, soaring above the top of that hill in all its Victorian era exuberance and self-confidence with an extravagance that was very Sydney !

Let's just hope to re-kindle (bad choice of words!) , no to resurrect the memory and dream about "what might have been! "

DIDN'T HEED MY OWN WARNING! - WHAT A DAY THE 9TH WAS!

Soon-to-arrive i PAD 2

What a blast! My 71st Birthday on the 9th has taken some recovering from . All it lacked was the presence of the Southern Dixons, but they were pretty swiftly on the phone, and a very generous Brother-in -Law Tony Hannon has already sent various appurtenances of an i PAD 2, with the iPAD itself to follow when the Apple dream factory thinks the appetite has been sufficiently excited! Add to that a super new Nikon camera from my dear wife . My head has been reeling for two days!So clutching my Kindle 3G  for security I have my eyes set firmly on the future - or I will have, once I have mastered all the new electronic wizardry!

In the meantime , it is back to earth with a thud ! The rain has been giving us a brief respite over the last day, and the morning is fine - so its out with auto mow grass and 71 or not, the 4 section lawn must be mowed before its length becomes unmanageable.

So, my very deepest thanks to all who helped me celebrate and did so, so very generously!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! - TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!

This little girl Louisa Wilson was born in Sydney on 5th September,1886, she married Edward Beckmann on 1st March,1904. On 28th May 1905 she gave birth to her first child:

Elsie Georgina Beckmann. On 22nd March,1927 she married John Joseph Dixon at St. Joachim's Catholic Church Lidcombe , and on 9 th April, 1940 she gave birth to her second child :

Anthony John Dixon your scribe! Here I am seen in later months Alert but not Alarmed - you try looking alarmed after being woken up from a nice nap on the way to the doctor's for a check up ! But DEFINITELY interested in all that's going on! That's still the case!! And yes I'm looking forward to a Happy 71st Birthday tomorrow, including a family celebration with our son Matthew and his wife Cathryn and their dear children : Stephen, Josephine, Gabriel and Anastasia and phone lines running hot from the South. I was delighted this morning to receive in the mail a Birthday Card from Marist Brother Peter Salta ( Brother Albanus in better times) a great teacher and devout Religious.

So, there you are - so many significant events on the one day! So many people for me to remember and be thankful for.

AN UNUSUAL VIEW - DISASTER AND PROGRESS

H.M.A.S. CANBERRA passing under the incomplete Sydney Harbour Bridge - 1930.

In happy times - H.M.A.S. CANBERRA "Dressed Overall"to mark some State occasion apparently firing a Saluting Gun. 

U.S.S. CANBERRA

A picture is said to be "worth a thousand words". The top picture showing H.M.A.S. CANBERRA passing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the course of its construction, could easily provoke a thousand words to deal with the various streams of thought it calls forth. Thoughts of Progress and Disaster.

The completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge some two years later , was to transform the life of the City of Sydney which lies behind H.M.A.S. CANBERRA in the picture which is looking South from Dawes Point on the North Shore of the Harbour. No more would train,trams,buses and cars transfer their passengers to ferries into the City and return to collect them in the evening, no more would the car ferry ( later to cruise the Harbour as the Showboat "Kalang"), ply its trade taking cars and trucks to and fro.The old Sydney would receive a second jolt, which, together with the first, the Underground Railway, would transform its life entirely.There was a strong sense that the Bridge had demonstrated the great achievements Australia was capable of once we shook off the gloom of the Great Depression.

H.M.A.S. CANBERRA was one of two Kent Class Heavy Cruisers in the Royal Australian Navy, the other being H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA.The two 10,000 ton vessels were built by John Brown & Sons on Clydebank and CANBERRA was only two years old when the photo was taken .The ships had been built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty which limited their armament and armour.

H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA was refitted as the coming of war threatened and her armour at the waterline was increased. She survived the war. H.M.A.S. CANBERRA was not refitted due to budgetary restraints in the wake of the Great Depression.She did not survive even the early years of the war. On the night of 8/9 August, 1942 CANBERRA formed part of the Cruiser Screen protecting the Allied Amphibious Force supporting the landing on Guadalcanal. Ships of the Cruiser Screen had been continuously at Action Stations for nearly two days and fatigue resulting from this factor is thought to have played a part in what happened.

A superior Japanese Heavy Cruiser force with Destroyer Screen attacked during the night and, using the very advanced and fast steam powered heavy "Long Tom"torpedoes and maximum heavy armament fire, they quickly knocked CANBERRA out of action, and sank U.S.S.s  Quincy, Astoria and Vincennes . CANBERRA remained afloat but could not be saved.She became a hazard to navigation and had to be sunk. Ironically this took two hours to achieve. The Allied forces were forced to withdraw leaving the seaway to the Japanese, and abandoning the United States Marines on Guadalcanal. The Marines heroic fighting on the Island has become legendary. Some months later the Allies returned for good and the Marines were relieved.

In an extraordinary gesture which seems to have no parallel in world naval annals, the United States Navy apparently at the decision of President Franklin D.Roosevelt, named one of its Baltimore Class Heavy Cruisers, U.S.S. CANBERRA. This must have been a decision encountering very strong opposition among traditionalists ( and most Navy folk ARE traditionalists around the world) - imagine the furore if it was decided to name a major ( or any) Australian warship H.M.A.S. WASHINGTON!  It was a grand tribute to the heroism and support of the men of the R.A.N. and the people of Australia. U.S.S. CANBERRA was one of the first ships converted to a Guided Missile Cruiser in the post war period. She gave long service and was frequently used on representative visits around the world. When she came to the end of her life , a second U.S.S. CANBERRA, a frigate, was commissioned.

The loss of the CANBERRA left a gap in the Australian Fleet and this was filled by the gift of H.M.S. SHROPSHIRE a London Class Heavy Cruiser, which like the Kent Class, belonged to the County Class  design family.  King George VI had announced the gift saying that SHROPSHIRE would become the new H.M.A.S. CANBERRA. But then the exceptional tribute by the UNITED STATES was announced and it was thought best to retain the name she had.As H.M.A.S. SHROPSHIRE she served with distinction through the remainder of the Pacific War and proved to be a "lucky"ship - only five of her crew died during the war - one drowning and four accidents - none to enemy action. SHROPSHIRE was scrapped in 1949. I have clear personal memories of seeing her on Sydney Harbour on several occasions as a young boy.

I wonder how many other tranquil pictures can so readily conjure up so many memories? 

"THE KING'S SPEECH" MOVIE

Four Kings of England: Edward VII (R), George V (L), Edward VIII(Boy Front) and George VI (Boy Rear)

H.M. King George VI King and Emperor

1927 CANBERRA Opening of Parliament House -The Duke of York( future George VI) takes the Salute, the Duchess( future Queen Elizabeth) by his side and Dame Nellie Melba, who sang "" God Save the King"stands with them.

The real Lionel Logue much more handsome than his actor representative.

"The King's Speech" has been critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic.It brings to life the real life agony of Prince Albert Duke of York, who suffered a terrible stutter.

While the story commences in the U,K, in the appalling trial of a public speech before thousands, The Duke's troubles were well in evidence back in 1927 when duty brought him and his lovely wife to Australia for the opening of the then new ( now the Old) Parliament House. The Duke's entourage were well aware of his problem. When it became known that the Australian Government intended to film the entire proceedings a furore erupted. Urgent phone calls went through to the Australian Prime Minister insisting that this filming MUST NOT HAPPEN. 

The Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was taken aback, but insisted that the event was of such a historic nature that it MUST be filmed. Finally it was agreed that the filming of the actual opening would Stop whilst the Duke spoke, and resume thereafter.

The film shows the fundamental role of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue in correcting the Duke and future King's problem.The real Lionel Logue was quite dashingly handsome as opposed to Geoffrey Rush the Actor. Nevertheless, Rush's performance is brilliant.

What comes out in the film is the VERY distant role of the Duke of York's parents King George V and Queen Mary in the raising of their children and the cruel treatment Prince Albert received at the hands of his Nanny who would deliberately get him into trouble and then administer the harsh punishment decreed for his "offence". There was no appeal to his parents who might have lived in another world.He was made to "correct"his natural left-handedness and to wear wooden splints to correct his knock knees. Pinched, abused physically and psychologically , it is little wonder that he came to stutter.

The parental neglect is highlighted in another film "The Lost Prince".Directed by the brilliant David Poliakoff it is a tour de force -each of his films is a joy to experience.It tells the story of King GeorgeV and Queen Mary's youngest son, Prince John who had the misfortune to be an epileptic. Of course this would never do for a member of the Royal Family. He was kept out of view , further and further out of view as he grew until his premature death. The real shame in this situation was not Prince John's, but his parents 'cold and un Christian attitude to their very own flesh and blood. No wonder Bertie ( the future George VI) and Johnnie were very close. That poor little disregarded innocent Prince was a victim of great parental neglect.The fact of that neglect only serves to underline the simultaneous abuse of Bertie himself.What horrors were perpetrated just out of the public gaze.

Don't miss "The King's Speech"and get hold of "The Lost Prince"on DVD ( or any David Poliakoff film - for a rare treat.)

And we wonder why Charles is such a muddle-headed wombat!