*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!