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GLEN IRIS TO CAMBERWELL BUS: MELBOURNE. 1932

This is one of two buses operated by brothers Eric and Reg Driver, that helped establish a business that today operates nationally with over 150 coaches.

This seven seat bus was built on a 1931 Pontiac 29-6 chassis. The body was built by Grant brothers.

The little bus is photographed at Glen Iris railway station. Glen Iris is a suburb about 10kms south east of the city. The buses operated between this point and Camberwell, about 4 kms to the north east.

The brothers Eric and Reg Driver, recognised passenger transport as a lucrative growth area and with their father's assistance, had the two 7 passenger Pontiac 6 buses built.

Authority to operate the service was granted in March 1931 and an enthusiastic Reg commenced the first run on the afternoon of March 31st.

by Tony Beyer

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BUSY AFTERNOON ON PRINCES BRIDGE: MELBOURNE. 1908

This 1908 shot - one half of an Underwood & Underwood Stereoscope - was taken from the roof of Melbourne’s Princes Bridge railway station on the Flinders Street/Swanston Street corner.

The photo looks south toward Batman Avenue and beyond to Princes Bridge and St Kilda Road. The shadows show it is early afternoon and the large crowd numbers, showing ladies and gents in their Edwardian finery, suggest the shot was taken on a Sunday.

There is so much of interest here...

The roadway is filled with cable trams and horse-drawn vehicles, while the footpath on both sides is lined with the push-carts of Fruit and Vegetable vendors.

At the extreme left you will note an iron tower built within the railyards. This held Melbourne’s famous Water-Tower clock. The clock had been at the Elizabeth Street entrance to Flinders Street station and was shifted here during the rebuilding of the station. After many moves, this is now in the Collins Street foyer of Southern Cross station. See 1908 and current photo below.

On the horizon in the distance is the Homeopathic Hospital, later to become Prince Henry’s Hospital.

On the right hand side over the bridge is the gable-roofed Wirths Olympia. This area known broadly as Wirths Park was for many years the site of a circus and funpark. To the right of Wirths is Yardley Bros book-binding factory and warehouse. This is today the locale of the Melbourne Arts Centre.

Street lighting you will notice is provided by electric arc lamps, one of which can be seen hanging from a pole mid shot. In the late nineteenth century, electric arc lighting became a popular form of public lighting despite their tendency to flicker and hiss.

by Tony Beyer

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Hostel life in Millers Road Altona Victoria

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STATION PLACE: WERRIBEE. MELBOURNE. 1928/30

Werribee is today a western suburb of Melbourne, about 32 kms south west of the city, with a population of 50,000. At the time of this photo, this was a rural township with a population of fewer than 1000.

It looks south from Station Place toward the Watton Street/Duncan's Road intersection. Mr J. P. O’Toole’s General Store in the middle, was on the south western corner of Watton Street and Duncan's Road.

The church spire seen behind his store is that of the 1884 built Presbyterian Church, now Uniting Church.

The church still stands on the corner of Duncan’s Road (which is the continuation of Station Place) and Synnot Street (Princes Highway). Viewed today however, the spire is hidden behind a multi-level building which stands where Mr O’Toole’s business once did. See this in comments below.

Three lads play on the dirt road and beyond them a horse and gig stands unaccompanied in the middle of the road, the owner obviously trusts his horse to stay put.

A wagon loaded with milk cans is parked on the left, with several more horse-drawn and motorised vehicles in the shot. Note also the horse water trough at left and the electric arc lamp above.

Tony Beyer

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Coles Bourke Street Store No. 12. John Batman Pioneer Diorama and Olympic Torch display during the Olympic Games, 1956.

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1979 Newport Power Station, Webb Dock and wetlands.

The large grey depression on the extreme right of the photo is one of several settling ponds for the soot and ash from the power house. In the early fifties it was pumped in a creamy gloopy quick sand like form into the ponds to finally settle into a solid.

Williamstown aerial 1979

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1. Essendon Airport 1942, Military aircraft, zig zag trenches and very busy infrastructure.

2. The Army site on Keilor rd set up to protect Essendon Airport and Maribyrnong Factories against air raids.

3. A wide aerial showing the location of the Army site (circled) with reference to the Airport and Keilor Road. The original Niddrie homestead at the end of the tree-lined drive way.

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Labassa, Caulfield North VIC (This mansion resulted from extensive remodelling in 1889-90, of an earlier house, known as Sylliott Hill, which was begun in 1862-3.)

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Bourke St Melbourne, looking west toward Elizabeth st, early 1930s. (Hall's Book Shop, just up from Elizabeth st, opened in Oct 1932).

SLV

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Victoria Street, North Melbourne, c. 1880, looking west towards the Benevolent Asylum.

The Benevolent Asylum opened in 1851 to house the poor, the disabled, the infirm and the destitute. The service was relocated to Cheltenham in 1911 and the North Melbourne building was demolished the same year.

State Library of Victoria image H11738

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Flinders Street with old fish market, Melbourne

Source: State Library of Victoria

Date: [ca. 1910 - ca. 1914]

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Melbourne 1838

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Bracknell mansion, St George's Road, Toorak, built in 1882 on 16 acres by politician and property speculator Sir Matthew Davies. Bracknell was demolished in 1927.

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1937 with the ANA DC3 flying over Victoria Parade looking towards the Docklands, the spire of St.Patricks Cathedral being constructed

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𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 - 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐜. c1920s

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Looking west along Flinders Street, railway bridge on left.

Location: Melbourne

Source: State Library of Victoria.

Date: 1891

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Victoria Market, c. 1907. State Library of Victoria image H92.290/31