Some pics of the past, Sydney

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Working on the Great Ocean Road, 1930.

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243 kilometres (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. 

Construction on the road began in 1919, with approximately 3,000 returned servicemen building it as a war memorial for fellow servicemen who had been killed in World War I. Approximately 3 kilometres a month was carried out with construction done by hand, using explosives, pick and shovel, wheel barrows, and some small machinery. Several workers were killed on the job. Anecdotal evidence from ABC archives in 1982 suggested workers would rest detonators on their knees during travel, as it was the softest ride for them.

In 1924, the steamboat Casino became stranded near Cape Patton after hitting a reef, forcing it to jettison 500 barrels of beer and 120 cases of spirits. The workers obtained the cargo, resulting in an unscheduled two-week-long drinking break.

Great Ocean Road, 1930

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George Street, Sydney, c1910-1920

George Street, c 1900

George Street, as it is now

George Street as it is going to be, work underway now, the $2.1 billion light rail line expected to be completed in 2020

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Princes Highway, Rockdale, 1955

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Collapse of the Glebe Island Bridge, 1899

At 3am Saturday 5 August 1899, the Glebe Island Bridge, which served the road between Glebe Island and Pyrmont in Sydney since 1860, collapsed. Spectators gathered and traffic access to Balmain was halted. The collapse was caused by unsecured ballast, seen in the image, that was put in place for the new swing bridge already under construction. The Glebe swing bridge eventually opened in 1903 and still exists today.

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Parramatta Road. Lidcombe, looking West, 1927.

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Parramatta Road, Auburn, 1920

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Pyrmont Bridge, c 1890

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Moore Park, corner Anzac Parade and South Dowling Street, 1881

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Air raid shelter in Sydney’s Hyde Park during World War 2

In 2014, during an upgrade at Wynard Station in Sydney, workers discovered an old air raid shelter sign painted on a metal beam. A reminder of the days from WW2 when Sydney was preparing for Japanese bomber rids, it illustrates how railway stations were used for such shelters.