75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War
15 August 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Japan in Australia. This is considered the end of the Second World War and is referred to here as […]
Category: History
The tank that Australia built
The story of Australia’s first locally-designed and manufactured tank is a fascinating one. I think that it’s an overlooked part of our history that deserves more recognition than it currently […]
Which is the oldest roundabout in Melbourne?
Finding out which roundabout was the first to be built in Melbourne may be one of the most vexxed and complicated local history topics possible. There are so many contradictory […]
Tram roundabouts of Melbourne
With 85 percent of Melbourne’s tram network mixed with general traffic, it is inevitable that they will have to pass through some interesting intersections. In Melbourne, there are 19 roundabouts […]
Are more people living in apartments now than in 1954?
65 years ago the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) released the Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme. This formed the foundations for our current planning system. Some aspects, like car […]
What happened to the closed schools of the 1990s? Part 2
Read Part 1 here. Keysborough Primary School The original school in this area was opened in 1869 and moved to this cosy country school building in 1874. Not to be […]
The shopping strips of Reservoir
Just before the prominence of private cars engrained itself into Melbourne’s urban planning after the Second World War, Reservoir went through a major housing expansion. Although there was some European […]
Victoria’s rocket playgrounds
Googie architecture (1950s, 60s and 70s) has not been preserved as well as other periods in Melbourne and Victoria. Many of the examples of this brief but fascinating time in […]
What happened to the closed schools of the 1990s? Part 1
While doing some research for BoroondaraWiki on the closed Greythorn High School, I stumbled across a whole host of other resources related to schools that are no longer around. Greythorn […]
Visit to the Army Tank Museum, Puckapunyal
One of the many things on my ever-expanding list of places to see in Victoria was the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) Army Tank Museum in Puckapuynal. As the Museum […]